And the Oscar Goes to... (1941) Quiz

Answer: The winning names were kept in sealed envelopes.

For the first time, the winners for each category were kept in sealed envelopes before being presented. This was a direct result of "The Los Angeles Times" leaking vote results in 1939.

But, there was more than one Oscar first on this night.

A first for Bob Hope was receiving a Special Award, "in recognition of his unselfish services to the motion picture industry" from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; he would receive four more in the years to come.

While president Franklin Delano Roosevelt did not actually attend, he did give a direct-line radio address from the White House, lasting six minutes, paying tribute to the film industry and the people working within it.

The award for Writing (Screenplay) was split into two categories: Original Screeplay and Adapted Screenplay.

"Pinocchio" became the first animated film to win an Oscar (taking home two for Best Score and Best Song).

And for the first time, a film NOT nominated for Outstanding Production (Best Picture) actually won the most awards. It was "The Thief of Bagdad", winning three Oscars (Best Art Direction (Color), Best Cinematography (Color), and Best Special Effects).

Answer: James Stewart

James Maitland "Jimmy" Stewart (1908-1997) began his acting career as a sidebar activity in high school and while attending Princeton University, then continued on after graduating in 1932 with appearances on Broadway. Three years hard work (rooming with Henry Fonda) eventually led to a screen test with MGM that led to a 7-year contract. Stewart's first film credit was 1935's "The Murder Man".

"The Philadelphia Story" is a romantic comedy where socialite Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) is getting married... but her ex-husband (Cary Grant) has plans to sabotage the works with an article in "Spy" magazine. Stewart played the part of the magazine reporter hired to cover the wedding, who also ends up taking a liking to Tracy.

Answer: Walter Brennan

Walter Andrew Brennan (1894-1974) found himself in financial straits following his service in World War I, and began taking on jobs acting as an extra to make ends meet. His first credited movie credit was 1926's "Watch Your Wife" and he acted right into the 1970s, including his last film, "Smoke in the Wind" (1975), which came out after his death.

Brennan was the first person to win three acting Oscars.

"The Westerner" tells the tale of a drifter (Gary Cooper) who stands up to a Texas judge (Brennan) who rules his town with ruthlessness, giving 'suspended sentences' (hanging) to people who go against him.

Answer: Kitty Foyle

Perhaps best known for her dancing partnership with Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers (aka Virginia Katherine McMath, 1911-1995) also delved into drama and comedy films. She entered show business by winning a dance contest and working the vaudeville circuit, then moving on to Broadway musicals. Her first feature-length film credit was 1930's "Young Man of Manhattan".

In "Kitty Foyle", Rogers plays a saleswoman who faces a decision on whom to marry... and the movie flashes back to the story behind her choice. Will it be Wyn (Dennis Morgan) - the man she loved and married - then divorced due to the pressures of his social status - or Mark (James Craig), the New York doctor whom she meets by chance, but who shows great interest in her?

This was Ginger Rogers' one and only Oscar nomination and win in her career.

Answer: The Grapes of Wrath

Jane Darwell (1879-1967) was born Patti Woodard, but changed her name when she became an actress. She began her career in theater at the age of 33, then moved into film for a brief time (about two years) at the age of 40 before returning exclusively to theater for a period of 15 years. She returned to the screen with 1930's "Tom Sawyer", and continued to act in film until her final credit, "Mary Poppins" (1964).

Perhaps her most famous role was as Ma Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath", the John Steinbeck American classic novel-turned-film that saw the misfortunes of an Oklahoma family during the Depression as they were forced from their farm and had to travel to California as migrant workers.

Answer: The Great McGinty

Edmund Preston Biden, aka Preston Sturges (1898-1959), was a writer/director/producer in the film industry from 1928 until 1956, garnering 43 writing credits, 14 directing credits, and eight producing credits in his career. His story, "The Great McGinty", was his first of three Academy Award nominations for original screenplay, and his only Oscar win.

In "The Great McGinty", Dan McGinty (Brian Donlevy) begins the film as a bartender who recounts his story of political success through corruption and his subsequent fall from grace. Starting out as a bum paid to help rig an election by voting multiple times, McGinty catches the eye of the boss behind the scheme. He becomes an enforcer, then the boss' right-hand man, until he is convinced to stand for office himself. Further success eventually leads McGinty into thinking he no longer needs 'The Boss' for his success... which ends up leading to his downfall.

Muriel Angelus played his wife Catherine, and Akim Tamiroff was the Boss who masterminded McGinty's career.

Answer: The Philadelphia Story

Donald Ogden Stewart (1894-1980) began writing plays after his service in World War I, and it was not long before he began writing for the screen. His first adaptation was 1926's "Brown of Harvard", based on the 1906 Broadway play by Rida Johnson Young.

Philip Barry (1896-1949) wrote "The Philadelphia Story" as a play in 1939, specifically with Katharine Hepburn in mind, who starred in (and financed) the Broadway production. It fared very well, and in short order was transformed (by Donald Ogden Stewart) into a successful romantic 'remarriage' comedy film. The play and film combined to turn Hepburn's career around, who had been labeled 'box office poison' in an "Independent Film Journal" article in 1938.

In "The Philadelphia Story", a love quadrangle occurs when Hepburn's character (Tracy Lord) is about to get married to George Kittredge (John Howard). Her ex-husband C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) worms his way into the scenario, bringing along a photographer and a writer (Mike Connor, played by Jimmy Stewart) from the magazine he has been working with. Tracy ends up being torn between her fiancé and her ex-husband, while Mike the photographer lends a sympathetic ear to her plight.

Answer: Arise, My Love

Writers Benjamin Glazer (1887-1956) and János Székely (1901-1958) accepted the Academy Award for Best Story for "Arise, My Love". The plot follows an American pilot named Tom Martin (Ray Milland) who flies as a mercenary in the Spanish Civil War. Captured and sentenced to die, he is granted a pardon through the efforts of Augusta "Gusto" Nash (Claudette Colbert), a reporter who poses as his wife to plead for his life.

Afterwards, Tom pursues a relationship with Gusto with the backdrop of the onset of World War II.

Answer: John Ford

John Ford (1894-1973) directed more than 140 films over his 50-year career. He entered the field following in the footsteps of his elder brother Francis, working as his assistant and cameraman for a number of years before making a name for himself. His first directing credit came for a short film entitled "The Tornado" in 1917.

"The Grapes of Wrath", telling the story of the Joad family's struggle to survive in the Depression, was among the first 25 films to be preserved in the U.S. National Film Registry by the government, inducted in 1989.

Answer: Rebecca

Despite receiving 11 award nominations, "Rebecca" only won two Oscars. Along with Outstanding Production, it also earned the award for Best Cinematography, Black and White.

Based on the novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier, "Rebecca", is a dark thriller (directed by Alfred Hitchcock) about a young woman (Joan Fontaine) who meets and marries a rich widower (Laurence Olivier) in a whirlwind romance in Monte Carlo. They return to his estate at Manderley in Cornwall, where the new Mrs. de Winter must fight against the legacy left behind by her predecessor. But all is not as it first appears, and Mrs. de Winter eventually learns the truth, to the peril of everything.

David O. Selznick (1902-1965) accepted his second Oscar in as many years for Outstanding Production with "Rebecca" (and "Gone With the Wind"). Altogether, he would receive eight nominations for Outstanding Production/Best Picture, winning just these two. He is credited with producing 87 films over his career.