One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a film about a group of
patients at a mental institution, opened in theaters. Directed
by Milos Forman and based on a 1962 novel of the same
name by Ken Kesey, the film starred Jack Nicholson and
was co-produced by the actor Michael Douglas.

Louise Fletcher (1934 – 2022) & Jack Nicholson (87).

On November 4, 1990, Dances with Wolves, a film about an
American Civil War–era soldier and a group of Sioux Native
Americans that stars Kevin Costner and also marks his
directorial debut, premieres in Los Angeles.

Dances with Wolves took home seven Oscars, including Best
Picture and Best Director, and solidified Costner’s place on
Hollywood’s A-list.

On June 20, 1975, Jaws, a film directed by Steven Spielberg that
made countless viewers afraid to go into the water, opened in
theaters. The story of a great white shark that terrorizes a New
England resort town became an instant blockbuster and the
highest-grossing film in movie history until it was bested by
1977’s Star Wars.

Steven Spielberg (77)

On May 25, 1977, Memorial Day weekend opened with an
intergalactic bang as the first of George Lucas’ blockbuster
Star Wars movies hit theaters.

The incredible success of Star Wars–it received seven Oscars,
and earned $461 million in U.S. ticket sales and a gross of close
to $800 million worldwide–began with an extensive, coordinated marketing push by Lucas and his studio, 20th Century Fox,
months before the movie’s release date.

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas

On May 16, 1929, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences handed out its first awards, at a dinner party for
around 250 people held in the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood,
California.

The brainchild of Louis B. Mayer, head of the powerful MGM
film studio, the Academy was organized in May 1927 as a non-
profit organization dedicated to the improvement of the film
industry.

Its first president and the host of the May 1929 ceremony was
the actor Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Unlike today, the winners of
the first Oscars—as the coveted gold-plated statuettes later
became known—were announced before the awards
ceremony itself.

The winners of the first ceremony, including Janet Gaynor
for best actress, were announced a few months in advance. Douglas Fairbanks, president of the academy, handed out
the honors.

Vice president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science, Conrad Nigel, presents the Oscar to actress
Norma Shearer.

William C Demille, President Of The Academy Of Motion
Picture Arts And Sciences hands an Oscar to Mary
Pickford (with Warner Baxter and Hans Kraly looking
on.