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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment

The Oscars: how they have changed since 1929

US TV audience

1929 0

2012 40m

Twitter

1929 0

2012 1,269,970+ tweets sent during last year's broadcast

Host with the most

1929 Douglas Fairbanks Jr

2012 Billy Crystal

Statuette

1929 Gold-plated solid Britannia

2012 Gold-plated solid bronze

Most nominations

1929 7th Heaven

2012 Hugo

Dinner

1929 $5 a head at the Roosevelt Hotel

2012 None, just the epic ceremony at the Kodak Theatre

Best actor

1929 Didn't turn up (Emil Jannings sailed to Europe)

2012 Guaranteed to be sweating beneath TV lights

Announcement

1929 LA Times three months earlier

2012 Golden envelope

Running time

1929 15mins

2012 4hrs

Cash value of statuette

1929 Six figures, minimum

2012 $1, the Academy technically "owns" them

Obscurest award

1929 Best engineering effects (won by Wings)

2012 Best achievement in sound mixing

Top grossing film

1929 Gold Diggers of Broadway ($5.2m)

2012 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($381.1m in 2011)

US life expectancy

1929 58

2012 78

Average price of popcorn

1929 5c

2012 $4.78

Top pinup

1929 Clara Bow (also in Wings)

2012 Angelina Jolie

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