AllMovie

Assembled by MGM short-subject producer Carey Wilson, 20 Years of Academy Awards was released by RKO Radio -- who ironically hadn't won an Oscar since 1931's Cimarron. The film's 18 minutes are jam-packed with clips from Hollywood's award-winning films, from 1927's Wings to 1947's Gentleman's Agreement. Also acknowledged are the "special" Oscars bestowed upon such moneymaking screen personalities as Al Jolson and Shirley Temple. Contemporary critics applauded the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for underwriting this projecting, suggesting that it could matriculate into an annual event. Many of the rarer clips in 20 Years of Academy Awards found their way into countless TV documentaries of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.