18th Academy Awards

The 18th Academy Awards were held on March 7, 1946, at Grauman's Chinese Theatre to honor the films of 1945. Being the first Oscars after the end of World War II, the ceremony returned to the glamour of the prewar years; notably, the plaster statuettes that had been used during the war were replaced by bronze statuettes with gold plating and an elevated base.

Despite the optimistic postwar mood, director Billy Wilder's grim and socially significant drama The Lost Weekend won the major awards of Best Picture and Best Director, as well as two other awards. It was the first film to win both Best Picture and the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Best Actress nominee Joan Crawford was absent due to illness.

This was the first year in which every film nominated for Best Picture won at least one Oscar, and also the first time a sequel (The Bells of St. Mary's) was nominated for Best Picture.

Winners and nominees

Awards

Nominations announced on January 27, 1946. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

Special Awards

To Walter Wanger for his six years service as President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
To Peggy Ann Garner, outstanding child actress of 1945.
To The House I Live In, tolerance short subject; produced by Frank Ross and Mervyn LeRoy; directed by Mervyn LeRoy; screenplay by Albert Maltz; song "The House I Live In", music by Earl Robinson, lyrics by Lewis Allan; starring Frank Sinatra; released by RKO Radio.
To Republic Studio, Daniel J. Bloomberg and the Republic Studio Sound Department for the building of an outstanding musical scoring auditorium which provides optimum recording conditions and combines all elements of acoustic and engineering design.

Presenters and performers

Presenters

Ingrid Bergman (Presenter: Best Actor)
Charles Boyer (Presenter: Best Actress)
Frank Capra (Presenter: Best Film Editing, Best Sound Recording and Best Special Effects)
Bette Davis (Presenter: Writing Awards)
Y. Frank Freeman (Presenter: Short Subject Awards)
D. W. Griffith (Presenter: Best Cinematography)
Van Heflin (Presenter: Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor)
Eric Johnston (Presenter: Best Picture)
George Murphy (Presenter: Honorary Award to Peggy Ann Garner)
Donald Nelson (Presenter: Honorary Awards)
Ginger Rogers (Presenter: Best Art Direction)
Cesar Romero and Peter Viertel (Presenters: Show Introduction)
William Wyler (Presenter: Best Director)