6th Academy Awards: History and Background

The 6th Academy Awards were held on March 16, 1934, to honor films released between August 1, 1932, and December 31, 1933, at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by Will Rogers, who also presented the awards.

When Rogers presented Best Director, he opened the envelope and simply announced, "Come up and get it, Frank!" Frank Capra, certain he was the winner, ran to the podium to collect the Oscar, only to discover Rogers had meant Frank Lloyd, who had won for Cavalcade. Rogers then called the third nominee, George Cukor, to join the two Franks on stage. After this, he summoned two of the Best Actress nominees—Diana Wynyard and May Robson—to the stage. Although they both thought they won in a tie, Rogers thanked them for their performances before announcing the actual winner: Katharine Hepburn.

A change in the eligibility rules resulted in the longest time frame for which films could be nominated: the seventeen months from August 1, 1932, to December 31, 1933. After this, the eligibility period would coincide with the calendar year. This resulted in the only time no ceremony was held in a calendar year (1933).

This was the last time that no film had more than four nominations, as well as the only year in Academy history in which no film other than the Best Picture nominees received multiple nominations. Cavalcade became the fourth film to win Best Picture without a writing nomination, and the last until Hamlet (1948) at the 21st Academy Awards.

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