1938 Academy Awards

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff

The 1938 Academy Awards were presented Feb. 23, 1939 at the Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles.

Outstanding Production

The Adventures of Robin Hood (Warner Bros.-First National)

Alexander's Ragtime Band (Twentieth Century-Fox)

Boys Town (MGM)

The Citadel (MGM)

Four Daughters (Warner Bros.-First National)

Grand Illusion (Realization D'Art Cinematographique; World Pictures)

Jezebel (Warner Bros.)

Pygmalion (MGM)

Test Pilot (MGM)

You Can't Take It With You (Columbia)

Best Actor

Charles Boyer, Algiers

James Cagney, Angels With Dirty Faces

Robert Donat, The Citadel

Leslie Howard, Pygmalion

Spencer Tracy, Boys Town

Best Actress

Fay Bainter, White Banners

Bette Davis, Jezebel

Wendy Hiller, Pygmalion

Norma Shearer, Marie Antoinette

Margaret Sullavan, Three Comrades

Bette Davis, Jezebel

Archive Photos

Actor in a Supporting Role

Walter Brennan, Kentucky

John Garfield, Four Daughters

Gene Lockhart, Algiers

Robert Morley, Marie Antoinette

Basil Rathbone, If I Were King

Actress in a Supporting Role

Fay Bainter, Jezebel

Beulah Bondi, Of Human Hearts

Billie Burke, Merrily We Live

Spring Byington, You Can't Take It With You

Miliza Korjus, The Great Waltz

Directing

Frank Capra, You Can't Take It With You

Michael Curtiz, Angels With Dirty Faces

Michael Curtiz, Four Daughters

Norman Taurog, Boys Town

King Vidor, The Citadel

Writing

Original Story	Irving Berlin, Alexander's Ragtime Band
	Rowland Brown, Angels With Dirty Faces
	Marcella Burke and Frederick Kohner, Mad About Music
	Eleanore Griffin and Dore Schary, Boys Town
	John Howard Lawson, Blockade
	Frank Wead, Test Pilot
Screenplay	Lenore Coffee and Julius J. Epstein, Four Daughters
	Ian Dalrymple, Elizabeth Hill and Frank Wead, The Citadel
	John Meehan and Dore Schary, Boys Town
	Robert Riskin, You Can't Take It With You
	George Bernard Shaw, writer; Ian Dalrymple, Cecil Lewis and W. P. Lipscomb, adaptation, Pygmalion

Cinematography

Norbert Brodine, Merrily We Live

Robert de Grasse, Vivacious Lady

Ernest Haller, Jezebel

James Wong Howe, Algiers

Peverell Marley, Suez

Ernest Miller and Harry Wild, Army Girl

Victor Milner, The Buccaneer

Joseph Ruttenberg, The Great Waltz

Leon Shamroy, The Young in Heart

Joseph Valentine, Mad About Music

Joseph Walker, You Can't Take It With You

Art Direction

Richard Day, The Goldwyn Follies

Hans Dreier and John Goodman, If I Were King

Cedric Gibbons, Marie Antoinette

Stephen Goosson and Lionel Banks, Holiday

Charles D. Hall, Merrily We Live

Bernard Herzbrun and Boris Leven, Alexander's Ragtime Band

Jack Otterson, Mad About Music

Van Nest Polglase, Carefree

Alexander Toluboff, Algiers

Carl J. Weyl, The Adventures of Robin Hood

Lyle Wheeler, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Sound Recording

Columbia Studio Sound Dept., You Can't Take It With You

Hal Roach Studio Sound Dept., Merrily We Live

MGM Studio Sound Dept., Sweethearts

Paramount Studio Sound Dept., If I Were King

Republic Studio Sound Dept., Army Girl

RKO Radio Studio Sound Dept., Vivacious Lady

Twentieth Century-Fox Studio Sound Dept., Suez

United Artists Studio Sound Dept., The Cowboy and the Lady

Universal Studio Sound Dept., That Certain Age

Warner Bros. Studio Sound Dept., Four Daughters

Music

Song	“Always and Always,” Mannequin, Edward Ward, music; Chet Forrest and Bob Wright, lyrics
	“Change Partners,” Carefree, Irving Berlin, music and lyrics
	“The Cowboy and the Lady,” The Cowboy and the Lady, Lionel Newman, music; Arthur Quenzer, lyrics
	“Dust,” Under Western Stars, Johnny Marvin, music and lyrics
	“Jeepers Creepers,” Going Places, Harry Warren, music; Johnny Mercer, lyrics
	“Merrily We Live,” Merrily We Live, Phil Charig, music; Arthur Quenzer, lyrics
	“A Mist Over the Moon,” The Lady Objects, Ben Oakland, music; Oscar Hammerstein II, lyrics
	“My Own,” That Certain Age, Jimmy McHugh, music; Harold Adamson, lyrics
	“Now It Can Be Told,” Alexander's Ragtime Band, Irving Berlin, music and lyrics
	*“Thanks for the Memory,” The Big Broadcast of 1938, Ralph Rainger, music; Leo Robin, lyrics*
Score	Victor Baravalle, Carefree
	Cy Feuer, Storm Over Bengal
	Marvin Hatley, There Goes My Heart
	Boris Morros, Tropic Holiday
	Alfred Newman, Alexander's Ragtime Band
	Alfred Newman, The Goldwyn Follies
	Charles Previn and Frank Skinner, Mad About Music
	Max Steiner, Jezebel
	Morris Stoloff and Gregory Stone, Girls' School
	Herbert Stothart, Sweethearts
	Franz Waxman, The Young in Heart
Original Score	Russell Bennett, Pacific Liner
	Richard Hageman, If I Were King
	Marvin Hatley, Block-Heads
	Werner Janssen, Blockade
	Erich Wolfgang Korngold, The Adventures of Robin Hood
	Alfred Newman, The Cowboy and the Lady
	Louis Silvers, Suez
	Herbert Stothart, Marie Antoinette
	Franz Waxman, The Young in Heart
	Victor Young, Army Girl
	Victor Young, Breaking the Ice

Film Editing

Ralph Dawson, The Adventures of Robin Hood

Tom Held, The Great Waltz

Tom Held, Test Pilot

Gene Havlick, You Can't Take It With You

Barbara McLean, Alexander's Ragtime Band

Short Subjects

Cartoon	Brave Little Tailor (Mickey Mouse Series) (Walt Disney Productions; RKO Radio)
	Ferdinand the Bull (Walt Disney Productions; RKO Radio)
	Good Scouts (Donald Duck Series) (Walt Disney Productions; RKO Radio)
	Hunky and Spunky (Paramount)
	Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (Silly Symphony Series) (Walt Disney Productions; RKO Radio)
One-Reel	The Great Heart (Miniature Series) (MGM)
	That Mothers Might Live (Miniature Series) (MGM)
	Timber Toppers (Ed Thorgensen-Sports Series) (Twentieth Century-Fox)
Two-Reel	Declaration of Independence (Historical Featurette Series) (Warner Bros.)
	Swingtime in the Movies (Broadway Brevities Series) (Warner Bros.)
	They're Always Caught (Crime Doesn't Pay Series) (MGM)

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

Hal B. Wallis

Special Awards

To Deanna Durbin and Mickey Rooney for their significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth, and as juvenile players setting a high standard of ability and achievement

To Harry M. Warner in recognition of patriotic service in the production of historical short subjects presenting significant episodes in the early struggle of the American people for liberty

To Walt Disney for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, recognized as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field for the motion picture cartoon

To Oliver Marsh and Allen Davey for the color cinematography of the MGM production Sweethearts

For outstanding achievement in creating special photographic and sound effects in the Paramount production, Spawn of the North; special effects by Gordon Jenning; assisted by Jan Domela, Dev Jennings, Irmin Roberts and Art Smith; transparencies by Farciot Edouart; assisted by Loyal Griggs; sound effects by Loren Ryder; assisted by Harry Mills, Louis H. Mesenkop and Walter Oberst

To J. Arthur Ball for his outstanding contributions to the advancement of color in motion picture photography

1939 Academy Awards 1937 Academy Awards

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