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Between the megawatt stage and diamond-encrusted gowns, the Oscars are all about glamour.
But for a few strange years, the Oscars had to reinvent this glittering image.
The Oscars, like much of America, were largely untouched by the war prior to Pearl Harbor.
Roughly seven months later, the bombs hit Pearl Harbor and the U.S. formally entered World War II.
These developments left the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences scrambling.
But Bette Davis thought there was a way to reconfigure the Academy Awards to suit the new national mood.
All proceeds would go to the Red Cross.
Daviss plan was ultimately rejected, but the board of governors decided to resurrect the ceremony under new conditions.
It would now be an informal dinner, with the dress code to match.
The shift in tone was immediately apparent when the guests arrived on February 26, 1942.
But the celebrities werent just dressing the part.
You understand that this is truly a total war, Willkie dramatically intoned.
Willkie didnt need to worry; Hollywood had definitely gotten the memo.
At the 1943 ceremony, the Academy commissioned the operatic musical star Jeanette MacDonald to sing the national anthem.
(As this clip shows, some of them wereseated right on the stage.)
The WWII effect extended well beyond the decorations and guest list.
In her 1943 Best Actress acceptance speech forMrs.
But perhaps the most remarkable sign of wartime austerity was in the Oscars themselves.
Due to metal shortages, the Academy was forced to choose new materials for its statuettes.
Both of his statuettes were plated in gold.
