4th Academy Awards


The 4th Academy Awards were awarded to films completed and screened released between August 1, 1930, and July 31, 1931, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. At the ceremony, nine-year-old Jackie Cooper, nominated for Best Actor in Skippy, fell asleep on the shoulder of Best Actress nominee Marie Dressler. When Dressler was announced as the winner, Cooper had to be eased onto his mother’s lap.
Cimarron was the first Western to win Best Picture, and would remain the only one to do so for 59 years. It received a then-record seven nominations, and was the first film to win more than two awards.
Jackie Cooper was the first child star to receive a nomination, and he was the youngest nominee for nearly 50 years. He is the second-youngest Oscar nominee ever and the only Best Actor nominee under age 18.
Best Actor winner Lionel Barrymore became the first person to have received nominations in multiple categories, with a Best Director nod for Madame X at the 2nd Academy Awards.
In addition, Cimarron and A Free Soul became the first movies to receive multiple acting nominations.

Awards

Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

  • Norman Taurog – Skippy
  • * Wesley Ruggles – Cimarron
  • * Clarence Brown – A Free Soul
  • * Lewis Milestone – The Front Page
  • * Josef von Sternberg – Morocco
  • Lionel Barrymore – A Free Soul as Stephen Ashe
  • * Jackie Cooper – Skippy as Skippy Skinner
  • * Richard Dix – Cimarron as Yancey Cravat
  • * Fredric March – The Royal Family of Broadway as Tony Cavendish
  • * Adolphe Menjou – The Front Page as Walter Burns
  • Marie Dressler – Min and Bill as Min Divot
  • * Marlene Dietrich – Morocco as Amy Jolly
  • * Irene Dunne – Cimarron as Sabra
  • * Ann Harding – Holiday as Linda Seton
  • * Norma Shearer – A Free Soul as Jan Ashe
  • The Dawn Patrol – John Monk Saunders
  • * The Doorway to Hell – Rowland Brown
  • * Laughter – Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast, Douglas Doty, and Donald Ogden Stewart
  • * The Public Enemy – John Bright and Kubec Glasmon
  • * Smart Money – Lucien Hubbard and Joseph Jackson
  • Cimarron – Howard Estabrook, based on the novel by Edna Ferber
  • * The Criminal Code – Seton I. Miller and Fred Niblo Jr., based on the play by Martin Flavin
  • * Holiday – Horace Jackson, based on the play by Philip Barry
  • * Little Caesar – Francis Edward Faragoh and Robert N. Lee, based on the novel by William R. Burnett
  • * Skippy – Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Sam Mintz, based on the comic strip by Percy Crosby
  • Paramount Publix Studio Sound Department
  • * MGM Studio Sound Department
  • * RKO Radio Studio Sound Department
  • * Samuel Goldwyn-United Artists Studio Sound Department
  • Cimarron – Max Rée
  • * Just Imagine – Stephen Goosson and Ralph Hammeras
  • * Morocco – Hans Dreier
  • * Svengali – Anton Grot
  • * Whoopee! – Richard Day
  • – Floyd Crosby
  • * Cimarron – Edward Cronjager
  • * Morocco – Lee Garmes
  • * The Right to Love – Charles Lang
  • * Svengali – Barney McGill
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    Multiple nominations and awards

    The following seven films received multiple nominations:
    The following one film received multiple awards: