On March 24, 1972, The Godfather—a three-hour epic
chronicling the lives of the Corleone’s, an Italian-
American crime family led by the powerful Vito
Corleone (Marlon Brando)—was released in theaters
nationwide.

By the time James Cameron took the stage to accept his Academy
Award for Best Director on the night of March 23, 1998, the Oscar dominance of his blockbuster film Titanic was all but assured.

Titanic tied the record for most Oscar nominations with 14—joining 1950’s All About Eve—and by night’s end would tie with Ben Hur
(1959) for most wins by sweeping 11 categories, including the
coveted Best Picture.

"Oppenheimer" led the night with the most nominations,
netting 13 at the beginning of the night. The film took
home seven awards.

Starring Irish actor Cillian Murphy (47) as J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon.

The movie was written, produced, and directed by
Christopher Nolan.

On March 7, 2010, Kathryn Bigelow became the first
woman to win an Academy Award for best director,
for her movie “The Hurt Locker,” about an American
bomb squad that disables explosives in Iraq in 2004.

Prior to Bigelow, only three other women had been
nominated for a best director Oscar: Lina Wertmueller
for 1975’s “Seven Beauties,” Jane Campion for 1993’s
“The Piano” and Sofia Coppola for 2003’s “Lost in
Translation.”

Bigelow was born in San Carlos, California, in 1951
and is a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute
and earned a master’s degree in film from Columbia
University.

She made her feature film debut with 1982’s “The
Loveless,” which she co-wrote and co-directed.

It received generally positive reviews upon its release on
December 15, 1939. While the casting was widely praised,
the long running time received criticism.

At the 12th Academy Awards, Gone with the Wind received
ten Academy Awards (eight competitive, two honorary) from
thirteen nominations, including wins for Best Picture, Best
Director (Fleming), Best Adapted Screenplay (posthumously
awarded to Sidney Howard), Best Actress (Leigh), and Best
Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel, becoming the first
African American to win an Academy Award). It set records
for the total number of wins and nominations at the time.

Hattie McDaniel
(June 10, 1893 – October 26, 1952