5 random things that happened on this day, February 27th, in OSCAR history...
Shirley Temple presenting Best Actress to Claudette Colbert for IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)
Yup, it's just Oscar history today, because today is a special date. February 27th is currently tied for second place with "most Oscar ceremonies held on this date" a distinction it shares with March 24th. Both dates have seen four Oscar ceremonies (to date). But that will soon change. More on that after the jump...
1935 The 7th Oscars are held at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles honoring the Best of 1934. It Happened One Night has a clean sweep triumph becoming the first (of only 3 films in history) to win all five top prizes: Picture, Director, Actress, Actor, and Screenplay. The opera musical One Night of Love had gone into the night with the most nominations, six, but emerged with only two wins Sound and Score along with a special Technical Achievement Oscar, also for its sound)
Fontaine and Hitchcock. They both lost but REBECCA won.
1941 The 13th Oscars are held at the Biltmore again, honoring 1940. Rebecca, which we've written about in depth here at TFE, becomes the first and only Alfred Hitchcock film to win Best Picture but perhaps just barely! It went into the big night with 11 nominations but won only one additional Oscar in the form of Best Cinematography.
2005 The 77th Oscars are held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Million Dollar Baby swipes Best Picture / Best Director from the early frontrunner The Aviator but The Aviator still wins the most Oscars due to its dominance in the craft categories.
2011 The 83rd Oscars are held with The King's Speech triumphant but sharing "most wins" with Christopher Nolan's Inception. (More on this later today for this 10th anniversary.)
2022 The 94th Oscars are currently scheduled for this date honoring the best of 2021. Hmmm. What will we see nominated for Best Picture: West Side Story? In the Heights? Nightmare Alley? King Richard? The Last Duel? Dune? There are a lot of giant films coming since most of the expensive biggies were delayed from 2020 due to the pandemic.
If this 2022 ceremony date holds February 27th will then tie the record for "most Oscar ceremonies". That's a record currently held by March 25th alone which has hosted five Oscar nights in total. If you're born on either of these two days you should definitely brag about this factoid. And if you are a February 27th baby, HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Or if you know someone that is... share this post with 'em, won'cha?
Today's Birthday Suits
OSCARS ONLY EDITION
Two time Best Actress winner and Jean Hersholt Humanitarian honoree Elizabeth Taylor (BUtterfield 8, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf)
Happy 91st birthday today to Best Actress winner Joanne Woodard (Three Faces of Eve)
Best Actor nominee Franchot Tone (Mutiny on the Bounty)
Best Actor nominee Dexter Gordon (Round Midnight)
Other Oscariffic birthdays today:
Thrice nominated Screenwriter John Steinbeck (Lifeboat, A Medal for Benny, Viva Zapata!)
Best Cinematography nominee Roger Pratt (The End of the Affair)
Best Screenplay winner Peter Stone (Father Goose)