21st Academy Awards 21st Academy Awards The 21st Academy Awards features numerous firsts. It was the first time a non-Hollywood production won Best Picture, "Hamlet" and the first time an individual (Laurence Olivier) directed himself in an Oscar-winning performance. It was the first Academy Awards ceremony to be giving awards for Best Costume Design. John Huston directed two films in this awards year for which his actors won Oscars: his father, Walter Huston, in "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre"; and Claire Trevor for "Key Largo". The Huston family won three Oscars that evening. The ceremony was moved from the Shrine Auditorium to
John Huston Maxwell Anderson, and the film itself seemed overly stage-bound for many viewers. However, the "outstanding performances" by all the actors saved the film, and Claire Trevor won an Oscar for best supporting actress. Huston was annoyed that the studio cut several scenes from the final release without his agreement. That, along with some earlier disputes, angered Huston enough that he left the studio when his contract expired. In 1950 he wrote and directed "The Asphalt Jungle", a film which broke new ground by depicting criminals as somewhat sympathetic characters, simply doing their professional work, "an occupation like any other", or