The first Academy Awards were given for movies released in 1927 and 1928. The awards were presented on May 16, 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The first film to win Best Picture (then called Outstanding Picture) was the one and only silent film to win an Academy Award: Wings.
Outstanding Picture:
The Racket
Seventh Heaven
WINNER: Wings
Unique and Artistic Production:
Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness
The Crowd
WINNER: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Best Director, Comedy Picture:
Ted Wilde—Speedy
WINNER: Lewis Milestone—Two Arabian Knights
Best Director, Drama Picture:
King Vidor—The Crowd
WINNER: Frank Borzage—Seventh Heaven
Herbert Brenon—Sorrell and Son
Best Actor in a Leading Role:
Richard Barthelmess—The Noose/The Patent Leather Kid
WINNER: Emil Jannings—The Last Command/The Way of All Flesh
Best Actress in a Leading Role:
Louise Dresser—A Ship Comes In
WINNER: Janet Gaynor—Seventh Heaven/Street Angel/Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Gloria Swanson—Sadie Thompson
Best Writing, Original Story:
The Last Command
WINNER: Underworld
Best Writing, Adapted Story:
Glorious Betsy
The Jazz Singer
WINNER: Seventh Heaven
Best Cinematography:
The Devil Dancer
The Magic Flame
Sadie Thompson
WINNER: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Best Art Direction:
WINNER: The Dove/Tempest
Seventh Heaven
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Best Engineering Effects:
Ralph Hammeras—No Specific Film
WINNER: Roy Pomeroy—Wings
Nugent Slaughter—No Specific Film
Best Writing, Title Writing:
The Magic Flame
The Private Life of Helen of Troy
WINNER: The Red Mill
Followed By:
