20th Academy Awards

20th Academy Awards
Date	March 20, 1948
Site	Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, USA
Host	Agnes Moorehead and Dick Powell
Highlights
Best Picture	Gentleman's Agreement
Most awards	Gentleman's Agreement and Miracle on 34th Street (3)
Most nominations	Gentleman's Agreement (8)
< 19th Academy Awards 21st >

The 20th Academy Awards spread awards around, with no film receiving more than 3 awards, the last time this would happen until the 78th Academy Awards.

The surprise winner for this year was Loretta Young for The Farmer's Daughter despite Rosalind Russell campaigning heavily for her performance in Mourning Becomes Electra.

James Baskett received a special Oscar for portrayal of Uncle Remus in Song of the South, which had the effect of taking him out of the running for a Best Actor nomination. Nonetheless, civil rights organizations were unhappy at what was believed to be an unflattering portrait of African-Americans.

At age 71 Edmund Gwenn was the oldest Oscar winner ever at that time, which was previously held by Charles Coburn who was 66 at the time of his win. He also held the record for many years until 1976 when George Burns won at age 80.

Awards

Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

Best Picture	Best Director
Gentleman's Agreement The Bishop's Wife Crossfire Great Expectations Miracle on 34th Street	Elia Kazan – Gentleman's Agreement George Cukor – A Double Life Edward Dmytryk – Crossfire Henry Koster – The Bishop's Wife David Lean – Great Expectations
Best Actor	Best Actress
Ronald Colman – A Double Life John Garfield – Body and Soul Gregory Peck – Gentleman's Agreement William Powell – Life With Father Michael Redgrave – Mourning Becomes Electra	Loretta Young – The Farmer's Daughter Joan Crawford – Possessed Susan Hayward – Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman Dorothy McGuire – Gentleman's Agreement Rosalind Russell – Mourning Becomes Electra
Best Supporting Actor	Best Supporting Actress
Edmund Gwenn – Miracle on 34th Street Charles Bickford – The Farmer's Daughter Thomas Gomez – Ride the Pink Horse Robert Ryan – Crossfire Richard Widmark – Kiss of Death	Celeste Holm – Gentleman's Agreement Ethel Barrymore – The Paradine Case Gloria Grahame – Crossfire Marjorie Main – The Egg and I Anne Revere – Gentleman's Agreement
Best Original Screenplay	Best Adapted Screenplay
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer – Sidney Sheldon Shoeshine – Sergio Amidei, Adolfo Franci, C. G. Viola and Cesare Zavattini Monsieur Verdoux – Charles Chaplin A Double Life – Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin Body and Soul – Abraham Polonsky	Miracle on 34th Street – George Seaton Great Expectations – David Lean, Ronald Neame and Anthony Havelock-Allan Boomerang! – Richard Murphy Crossfire – John Paxton Gentleman's Agreement – Moss Hart
Best Story	Best Animated Short Film
Miracle on 34th Street – Valentine Davies A Cage of Nightingales – Georges Chaperot and René Wheeler It Happened on Fifth Avenue – Herbert Clyde Lewis and Frederick Stephani Kiss of Death – Eleazar Lipsky Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman – Dorothy Parker and Frank Cavett	Tweetie Pie – Edward Selzer Chip an' Dale – Walt Disney Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse – Frederick Quimby Pluto's Blue Note – Walt Disney Tubby the Tuba – George Pal
Best Documentary Feature	Best Documentary Short
Design for Death Journey Into Medicine The World Is Rich	First Steps Passport to Nowhere School in the Mailbox
Best Live Action Short Film, One-Reel	Best Live Action Short Film, Two-Reel
Goodbye Miss Turlock – Herbert Moulton Brooklyn, U.S.A. – Thomas Mead Moon Rockets – Jerry Fairbanks Now You See It – Pete Smith So You Want to Be in Pictures – Gordon Hollingshead	Climbing the Matterhorn – Irving Allen Champagne for Two – Harry Grey Fight of the Wild Stallions – Thomas Mead Give Us the Earth – Herbert Morgan A Voice Is Born: The Story of Niklos Gafni – Ben Blake
Best Dramatic or Comedy Score	Best Musical Score
A Double Life – Miklos Rozsa The Bishop's Wife – Hugo Friedhofer Captain from Castile – Alfred Newman Forever Amber – David Raksin Life With Father – Max Steiner	Mother Wore Tights – Alfred Newman Song of the South – Daniele Amfitheatrof, Paul J. Smith and Charles Wolcott Road to Rio – Robert Emmett Dolan Fiesta – Johnny Green My Wild Irish Rose – Ray Heindorf and Max Steiner
Best Original Song	Best Sound Recording
"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" from Song of the South – Music by Allie Wrubel; Lyric by Ray Gilbert "A Gal in Calico" from The Time, the Place and the Girl – Music by Arthur Schwartz; Lyric by Leo Robin "I Wish I Didn't Love You So" from The Perils of Pauline – Music and Lyric by Frank Loesser "Pass That Peace Pipe" from Good News – Music and Lyric by Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin and Roger Edens "You Do" from Mother Wore Tights – Music by Josef Myrow; Lyric by Mack Gordon	The Bishop's Wife – Gordon E. Sawyer, Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department Green Dolphin Street – Douglas Shearer, MGM Studio Sound Department T-Men – Jack R. Whitney, Sound Service, Inc.
Best Art Direction, Black and White	Best Art Direction, Color
Great Expectations – Art Direction: John Bryan; Set Decoration: Wilfred Shingleton The Foxes of Harrow – Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler and Maurice Ransford; Set Decoration: Thomas Little and Paul S. Fox	Black Narcissus – Art Direction and Set Decoration: Alfred Junge Life With Father – Art Direction: Robert M. Haas; Set Decoration: George James Hopkins
Best Cinematography, Black and White	Best Cinematography, Color
Great Expectations – Guy Green Green Dolphin Street – George Folsey The Ghost and Mrs. Muir – Charles Lang, Jr.	Black Narcissus – Jack Cardiff Mother Wore Tights – Harry Jackson Life With Father – Peverell Marley and William V. Skall
Best Film Editing	Best Visual Effects
Body and Soul – Francis Lyon and Robert Parrish The Bishop's Wife – Monica Collingwood Gentleman's Agreement – Harmon Jones Odd Man Out – Fergus McDonnell Green Dolphin Street – George White	Green Dolphin Street – A. Arnold Gillespie, Warren Newcombe, Douglas Shearer and Michael Steinore Unconquered – Farciot Edouart, Devereux Jennings, Gordon Jennings, Wallace Kelley, Paul Lerpae and George Dutton

Academy Honorary Awards

• James Baskett
• Bill and Coo
• Colonel William N. Selig, Albert E. Smith, Thomas Armat and George K. Spoor

Best Foreign Language Film

• Shoeshine (Italy)

Presenters

• Anne Baxter (Presenter: Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Screenplay)
• Ingrid Bergman (Presenter: Honorary Award to James Baskett)
• Donald Crisp (Presenter: Best Supporting Actress and Best Director)
• Olivia de Havilland (Presenter: Best Actor)
• Jean Hersholt (Presenter: Honorary Awards)
• Fredric March (Presenter: Best Actress and Best Picture)
• Robert Montgomery (Presenter: Scientific & Technical Awards)
• Agnes Moorehead (Presenter: Best Cinematography)
• George Murphy (Presenter: Writing Awards)
• Larry Parks (Presenter: Best Special Effects, Best Musical Score, and Best Sound Recording)
• Dick Powell (Presenter: Best Art Direction)
• Dinah Shore (Presenter: Best Original Song)
• Shirley Temple (Presenter: Documentary Awards and Short Subject Awards)

Performers

• Dennis Day
• Frances Langford
• Gordon MacRae
• Johnny Mercer
• Dinah Shore

Multiple nominations and awards

These films had multiple nominations:

• 8 nominations: Gentleman's Agreement
• 5 nominations: The Bishop's Wife, Crossfire, Great Expectations
• 4 nominations: A Double Life, Green Dolphin Street, Life with Father, Miracle on 34th Street
• 3 nominations: Body and Soul, Mother Wore Tights
• 2 nominations: Black Narcissus The Farmer's Daughter, Kiss of Death, Mourning Becomes Electra, Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman, Song of the South

The following films received multiple awards.

• 3 wins: Gentleman's Agreement, Miracle on 34th Street
• 2 wins: Black Narcissus, A Double Life, Great Expectations