13th Academy Awards — American Motion Picture Academy film award ceremony
The 13th Academy Awards introduced sealed envelopes for winner secrecy and saw Rebecca become the first Hitchcock film to win Best Picture.
Key Facts
- Date held
- February 27, 1941
- Films honored from
- 1940
- Best Picture winner
- Rebecca (Alfred Hitchcock)
- Most Oscars won that night
- The Thief of Bagdad (3 awards)
- Rebecca nominations
- 11
- First use of sealed envelopes
- Yes, to prevent leaking of winners
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Voting results at the 1939 Academy Awards had been leaked by the Los Angeles Times, undermining the ceremony's integrity. In response, the Academy hired accounting firm Price Waterhouse to count ballots and introduced sealed envelopes to keep winner names secret until the moment of announcement.
Held on February 27, 1941, the 13th Academy Awards honored films from 1940. Rebecca won Best Picture, making producer David O. Selznick the first to produce two consecutive winners. Walter Brennan became the first actor to win more than two Oscars, and Pinocchio became the first animated feature to win competitive Academy Awards.
The introduction of sealed envelopes became a defining tradition of the Academy Awards. Rebecca's win cemented Alfred Hitchcock's profile in Hollywood, while Pinocchio's wins established a lasting pattern of animated films succeeding in music categories. Best Original Screenplay was also introduced as a permanent award category at this ceremony.