16th Academy Awards


The 16th Academy Awards, in 1944, was the first Oscar ceremony held at a large public venue, Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Free passes were given out to men and women in uniform. Originating on KFWB, the complete ceremony was internationally broadcast by CBS Radio via shortwave. Jack Benny served as master of ceremonies for the event, which lasted fewer than 30 minutes.
The Tom and Jerry cartoon series won its first Oscar this year for The Yankee Doodle Mouse after two failed nominations in a row. It would go on to win another six Oscars, including three in a row for the next three years, and gained a total of 13 nominations.
For the first time, supporting actors and actresses took home full-size statuettes, instead of smaller-sized awards mounted on a plaque.
For Whom the Bell Tolls was the third film to receive nominations in all four acting categories. This marked the first time that each acting category had at least one nominee from a color film.
This was the last year until 2009 to have 10 nominations for Best Picture; The Ox-Bow Incident is, as of 2019, the last film to be nominated solely in that category.

Awards

Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

  • Michael CurtizCasablanca
  • *Ernst Lubitsch – Heaven Can Wait
  • *Clarence Brown – The Human Comedy
  • *George Stevens – The More the Merrier
  • *Henry King – The Song of Bernadette
  • Paul LukasWatch on the Rhine as Kurt Muller
  • *Humphrey Bogart – Casablanca as Rick Blaine
  • *Gary Cooper – For Whom the Bell Tolls as Robert Jordan
  • *Walter Pidgeon – Madame Curie as Pierre Curie
  • *Mickey Rooney – The Human Comedy as Homer Macauley
  • Jennifer JonesThe Song of Bernadette as Bernadette Soubirous
  • *Jean Arthur – The More the Merrier as Constance Milligan
  • *Ingrid Bergman – For Whom the Bell Tolls as María
  • *Joan Fontaine – The Constant Nymph as Tessa Sanger
  • *Greer Garson – Madame Curie as Marie Curie
  • Charles CoburnThe More the Merrier as Benjamin Dingle
  • *Charles Bickford – The Song of Bernadette as Abbé Dominique Peyramale
  • *J. Carrol Naish – Sahara as Giuseppe
  • *Claude Rains – Casablanca as Captain Louis Renault
  • *Akim Tamiroff – For Whom the Bell Tolls as Pablo
  • Katina PaxinouFor Whom the Bell Tolls as Pilar
  • *Gladys Cooper – The Song of Bernadette as Marie Therese Vauzou
  • *Paulette Goddard – So Proudly We Hail! as Lt. Joan O'Doul
  • *Anne Revere – The Song of Bernadette as Louise Casterot Soubirous
  • *Lucile Watson – Watch on the Rhine as Fanny Farrelly
  • Princess O'RourkeNorman Krasna
  • *Air ForceDudley Nichols
  • *In Which We Serve – Noël Coward
  • *The North StarLillian Hellman
  • *So Proudly We Hail!Allan Scott
  • CasablancaJulius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and Howard E. Koch, based on Everybody Comes to Rick's by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison
  • *Holy MatrimonyNunnally Johnson, based on Buried Alive by Arnold Bennett
  • *The More the Merrier – Richard Flournoy, Lewis R. Foster, Frank Ross, and Robert Russell, based on a story by Frank Ross and Robert Russell
  • *The Song of BernadetteGeorge Seaton, based on the novel by Franz Werfel
  • *Watch on the RhineDashiell Hammett, based on the play by Lillian Hellman
  • The Human ComedyWilliam Saroyan
  • *Action in the North AtlanticGuy Gilpatric
  • *Destination TokyoSteve Fisher
  • *The More the Merrier – Robert Russell and Frank Ross
  • *Shadow of a DoubtThornton Wilder
  • Desert Victory British Ministry of Information
  • *Baptism of FireUnited States Army
  • *The Battle of RussiaUnited States Department of War, Special Service Division
  • *Report from the AleutiansUnited States Army Pictorial Service
  • *War Department ReportUnited States Office of Strategic Services, Field Photographic Bureau
  • United States Navy
  • *Children of MarsRKO Radio
  • *Plan for Destruction – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
  • *Swedes in AmericaUnited States Office of War Information, Overseas Motion Picture Bureau
  • *To the People of the United StatesWalter Wanger
  • *Tomorrow We FlyUnited States Navy Bureau of Aeronautics
  • *Youth in CrisisThe March of Time
  • The Yankee Doodle Mouse Fred Quimby
  • *The 500 Hats of Bartholomew CubbinsGeorge Pal
  • *The Dizzy AcrobatWalter Lantz
  • *Greetings, Bait!Leon Schlesinger
  • *ImaginationDave Fleischer
  • *Reason and EmotionWalt Disney
  • Amphibious FightersGrantland Rice
  • *Cavalcade of DanceGordon Hollingshead
  • *Champions Carry On – Edmund Reek
  • *Hollywood in UniformRalph Staub
  • *Seeing HandsPete Smith
  • Heavenly Music – Jerry Bresler and Sam Coslow
  • *Letter to a Hero – Frederic Ullman Jr.
  • *Mardi Gras – Walter MacEwen
  • *Women at War – Gordon Hollingshead
  • The Song of BernadetteAlfred Newman
  • *The Amazing Mrs. Holliday – Hans J. Salter and Frank Skinner
  • *CasablancaMax Steiner
  • *Commandos Strike at DawnLouis Gruenberg and Morris Stoloff
  • *The Fallen Sparrow – C. Bakaleinikoff and Roy Webb
  • *For Whom the Bell TollsVictor Young
  • *Hangmen Also Die!Hanns Eisler
  • *Hi Diddle DiddlePhilip Boutelje
  • *In Old OklahomaWalter Scharf
  • *Johnny Come LatelyLeigh Harline
  • *The KansanGerard Carbonara
  • *Lady of BurlesqueArthur Lange
  • *Madame CurieHerbert Stothart
  • *The Moon and SixpenceDimitri Tiomkin
  • *The North StarAaron Copland
  • *Victory Through Air Power – Edward H. Plumb, Paul J. Smith, and Oliver Wallace
  • This Is the Army – Ray Heindorf
  • *Coney Island – Alfred Newman
  • *Hit Parade of 1943 – Walter Scharf
  • *Phantom of the OperaEdward Ward
  • *Saludos Amigos – Edward H. Plumb, Paul J. Smith, and Charles Wolcott
  • *The Sky's the Limit – Leigh Harline
  • *Something to Shout About – Morris Stoloff
  • *Stage Door Canteen – Frederic E. Rich
  • *Star Spangled RhythmRobert Emmett Dolan
  • *Thousands Cheer – Herbert Stothart
  • "You'll Never Know" from Hello, Frisco, Hello – Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Mack Gordon
  • *"A Change of Heart" from Hit Parade of 1943 – Music by Jule Styne; Lyrics by Harold Adamson
  • *"Happiness is a Thing Called Joe" from Cabin in the Sky – Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by E. Y. Harburg
  • *"My Shining Hour" from The Sky's the Limit – Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
  • *"Saludos Amigos" from Saludos Amigos – Music by Charles Wolcott; Lyrics by Ned Washington
  • *"Say a Pray'r for the Boys Over There" from Hers to Hold – Music by Jimmy McHugh; Lyrics by Herb Magidson
  • *"That Old Black Magic" from Star Spangled Rhythm – Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
  • *"They're Either Too Young or Too Old" from Thank Your Lucky Stars – Music by Arthur Schwartz; Lyrics by Frank Loesser
  • *"We Mustn't Say Goodbye" from Stage Door Canteen – Music by James V. Monaco; Lyrics by Al Dubin
  • *"You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" from Something to Shout AboutMusic and Lyrics by Cole Porter
  • This Land Is MineStephen Dunn
  • *Hangmen Also Die!Jack Whitney
  • *In Old Oklahoma – Daniel J. Bloomberg
  • *Madame CurieDouglas Shearer
  • *The North Star – Thomas T. Moulton
  • *Phantom of the Opera – Bernard B. Brown
  • *Riding High – Loren L. Ryder
  • *Sahara – John P. Livadary
  • *Saludos Amigos – C. O. Slyfield
  • *So This Is Washington – J. L. Fields
  • *The Song of Bernadette – E. H. Hansen
  • *This Is the ArmyNathan Levinson
  • The Song of Bernadette – Art Direction: James Basevi and William S. Darling; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little
  • *Five Graves to Cairo – Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Ernst Fegté; Interior Decoration: Bertram Granger
  • *Flight for Freedom – Art Direction: Albert S. D'Agostino and Carroll Clark; Interior Decoration: Darrell Silvera and Harley Miller
  • *Madame Curie – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse; Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis and Hugh Hunt
  • *Mission to Moscow – Art Direction: Carl Jules Weyl; Interior Decoration: George James Hopkins
  • *The North Star – Art Direction: Perry Ferguson; Interior Decoration: Howard Bristol
  • Phantom of the Opera – Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen and John B. Goodman; Interior Decoration: Russell A. Gausman and Ira S. Webb
  • *For Whom the Bell Tolls – Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Haldane Douglas; Interior Decoration: Bertram Granger
  • *The Gang's All Here – Art Direction: James Basevi and Joseph C. Wright; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little
  • *This Is the Army – Art Direction: John Hughes and Lt. John Koenig; Interior Decoration: George James Hopkins
  • *Thousands Cheer – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Daniel B. Cathcart; Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis and Jacques Mersereau
  • The Song of Bernadette – Arthur C. Miller
  • *Air ForceJames Wong Howe, Elmer Dyer and Charles A. Marshall
  • *CasablancaArthur Edeson
  • *Corvette K-225Tony Gaudio
  • *Five Graves to Cairo – John F. Seitz
  • *The Human ComedyHarry Stradling
  • *Madame CurieJoseph Ruttenberg
  • *The North Star – James Wong Howe
  • *SaharaRudolph Maté
  • *So Proudly We Hail!Charles Lang
  • Phantom of the OperaHal Mohr and W. Howard Greene
  • *For Whom the Bell TollsRay Rennahan
  • *Heaven Can WaitEdward Cronjager
  • *Hello, Frisco, Hello – Charles G. Clarke and Allen Davey
  • *Lassie Come HomeLeonard Smith
  • *Thousands Cheer – George J. Folsey
  • Air Force – George Amy
  • *CasablancaOwen Marks
  • *Five Graves to CairoDoane Harrison
  • *For Whom the Bell Tolls – Sherman Todd and John F. Link Sr.
  • *The Song of BernadetteBarbara McLean
  • Crash Dive – Photographic Effects: Fred Sersen; Sound Effects: Roger Heman
  • *Air Force – Photographic Effects: Hans F. Koenekamp and Rex Wimpy; Sound Effects: Nathan Levinson
  • *Bombardier – Photographic Effects: Vernon L. Walker; Sound Effects James G. Stewart and Roy Granville
  • *The North Star – Photographic Effects: Clarence Slifer and Ray Binger; Sound Effects: Thomas T. Moulton
  • *So Proudly We Hail! – Photographic Effects: Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings; Sound Effects: George Dutton
  • *Stand By for Action – Photographic Effects: A. Arnold Gillespie and Donald Jahraus; Sound Effects: Michael Steinore
  • Academy Honorary Award

  • George Pal "for the development of novel methods and techniques in the production of short subjects known as Puppetoons".

    Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

  • Hal B. Wallis

    Presenters

  • Donald Crisp
  • Howard Estabrook
  • Sidney Franklin
  • Y. Frank Freeman
  • Greer Garson
  • James Hilton
  • Carole Landis
  • George Murphy
  • Rosalind Russell
  • Mark Sandrich
  • Dinah Shore
  • Walter Wanger
  • Teresa Wright
  • Darryl F. Zanuck

    Performers

  • Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy
  • Ray Bolger
  • Susanna Foster
  • Mitzi Gerber
  • Lena Horne
  • Betty Hutton
  • Kay Kyser & His Band
  • Red Skelton

    Multiple nominations and awards

  • The following twenty-six films received multiple nominations:
    The following three films received multiple awards: