Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film

摘要

The Academy Awards, or Oscars, are known to film audiences the world over. The awards began in 1929 when the names of 15 winners werernannounced at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in front of 250 guests each paying $10 each. For the first 15 years the winners received their Oscars at private dinners, and it was not until later that media coverage began with a live, hour-long, local radio broadcast. Did you know that the awards have been postponed on three occasions, but that they have never been cancelled? The Oscar statuette, officially referred to as "The Academy Award of Merit", takes 12 workers five hours to hand cast and complete at the Chicago factory of R.S. Owens; the original Oscar was solid bronze but is now made of britannium alloy, roughly 90 percent tin and 10 percent antimony; the base is made of brass and R.S. Owens produce brass name plates with the winner's name and category.