16th Academy Awards

The 16th Academy Awards were held on March 2, 1944, to honor the films of 1943. This was the first Oscar ceremony held at a large public venue, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and the first ceremony without a banquet as part of the festivities. The ceremony was broadcast locally on KFWB, and internationally by CBS Radio via shortwave. Jack Benny hosted the event, which lasted one hour and 42 minutes. This was the first ceremony to welcome admissions from the general public.

For the first time, winners for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress were awarded full-size statuettes, instead of smaller-sized awards mounted on a plaque. This was the last year until 2009 to have 10 nominations for Best Picture; The Ox-Bow Incident is,, the last film to be nominated solely in that category.

For Whom the Bell Tolls was the third film to receive nominations in all four acting categories. This was the first year in which each acting category had at least one nominee from a color film.

The Tom and Jerry cartoon series won its first Oscar this year for The Yankee Doodle Mouse; it would go on to win another six Oscars, including three in a row over the next three years, from a total of 13 nominations.

Awards
Nominees were announced on February 6, 1944. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

Academy Honorary Award

 * George Pal "for the development of novel methods and techniques in the production of short subjects known as Puppetoons".

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

 * Hal B. Wallis

Presenters

 * Donald Crisp (Presenter: Best Supporting Actor)
 * Howard Estabrook (Presenter: Documentary Awards)
 * Sidney Franklin (Presenter: Outstanding Motion Picture)
 * Y. Frank Freeman (Presenter: Best Film Editing, Best Sound Recording, Best Special Effects and the Scientific & Technical Awards)
 * Greer Garson (Presenter: Best Actress)
 * James Hilton (Presenter: Writing Awards)
 * Carole Landis (Presenter: Best Art Direction)
 * George Murphy (Presenter: Best Actor)
 * Rosalind Russell (Presenter: Best Cinematography)
 * Mark Sandrich (Presenter: Best Director)
 * Dinah Shore (Presenter: Music Awards)
 * Walter Wanger (Presenter: Short Subject Awards and the Honorary Award)
 * Teresa Wright (Presenter: Best Supporting Actress)
 * Darryl F. Zanuck (Presenter: Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award)

Performers

 * Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy
 * Ray Bolger
 * Susanna Foster
 * Mitzi Gerber
 * Lena Horne
 * Betty Hutton
 * Kay Kyser & His Band
 * Red Skelton