4th Academy Awards — award ceremony presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for achievement in filmmaking in 1930/1931
The 4th Academy Awards marked the first time a Western film won Best Picture, with Cimarron setting multiple nomination and win records.
Key Facts
- Date held
- November 10, 1931
- Guests in attendance
- 1,800
- Best Picture winner
- Cimarron
- Cimarron nominations
- 7 (a then-record)
- Youngest nominee
- Jackie Cooper, age 9
- Notable attendee
- Vice President Charles Curtis
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences organized its annual ceremony to recognize outstanding achievements in filmmaking for films released between August 1, 1930, and July 31, 1931, continuing a tradition established at the first ceremony in 1929.
Held on November 10, 1931, the ceremony drew 1,800 guests and was addressed by Vice President Charles Curtis. Cimarron won Best Picture along with multiple other awards, while Lionel Barrymore took Best Actor and Marie Dressler won Best Actress. Nine-year-old Jackie Cooper became the youngest Best Actor nominee in history.
Cimarron's Best Picture victory stood as the sole Western to achieve that distinction for sixty years until Dances With Wolves in 1990. Lionel Barrymore became the first multi-category nominee to win, and Jackie Cooper remained the second-youngest Oscar nominee of all time and the only Best Actor nominee under age 18.