Click on the photo for a bigger version.
On February 29, 1940 (a Leap Year Day!), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences held the 12th Academy Awards presentation at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub at the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Blvd. This was the year that Gone with the Wind won 8 of is 13 nominated categories. Back then, the ceremony included dinner, so I’d imagine the gathering became slightly rowdier as the evening went on—especially at the Selznick table, which had a lot to celebrate that night.
Here are two more photos taken that night. (Click on them for larger versions, too.)
At the moment the top photograph was taken, Judy Garland can be seen on stage accepting her honorary (i.e. not competitive) Academy Juvenile Award for her performance in The Wizard of Oz.
Here is another photo of her taken that night with Mickey Rooney:
Looks very reminiscent of the movie The Shining. Those folks sure must have had a grand time that evening.
Where are all the celebs? Interesting! Looks to be mostly the ‘suits’. Different power dynamic in those days. It does look like Mickey Rooney standing up on the left side of the second photo. And in the third photo it looks like Frank Capra over on the far left, and in uniform, so that photo must be from a ceremony a few years later, as the stage is slightly different in that shot and some palm trees are missing. Other than that, I don’t recognize a soul.
I’m thinking either (a) the celebrities were all seated down the front (as is the case these days, too, or (b) the ceremony wasn’t has celebrity-driven as it is these days.
Looks like Bob Hope seated behind Judy when she is speaking.
Image 3, Table 23 at left end…a plate is just hanging over the edge. They guy across seems to be looking at it wondering how long until it hits the floor.
You’re right, Al. That plate looks dangerously close to the edge of the table!