This established a trend toward blockbusters and colorful spectaculars in the category, with The Bridge on the River Kwai, Gigi, and Ben-Hur following as Best Picture winners.
The winner, Robert Rich (for The Brave One) was in fact a pseudonym of Dalton Trumbo, who was blacklisted at the time and thus unable to receive credit under his own name.
Bergman, who was doing a play in Paris, praised her own victory, saying that the Oscar is "the most wished-for award by all movie artists because it comes from your co-workers".
Director John Ford's classic western The Searchers, widely seen as one of the best American films of all time, failed to receive a single nomination.
This was the second time since the introduction of the Supporting Actor and Actress awards that Best Picture, Best Director, and all four acting Oscars were given to different films.