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The Academy Award statuette depicts a knight holding a crusader’s sword standing on a reel of film.

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Oscar awards are electroplated with layers of copper, nickel, silver, and 24 carat gold.

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During World War II, Oscar statuettes were made from plaster. After the war, winners exchanged their temporary awards for Oscars made with gold.

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Each Oscar has its own unique number engraved behind its heels. The academy began putting numbers on Oscars in 1949, starting with number 501.

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The Golden Raspberry Awards take place the night before the Academy Awards. The Razzies were created in 1980 as the opposite of the Oscars, choosing the worst movies, worst actors, etc. The Razzie Award is a fake raspberry atop a Super 8 film reel that is spray-painted gold.

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Movies nominated for Best Picture usually make more than $10 million in box office sales after the nomination is announced. A movie that wins for Best Picture and is still being shown in theaters will earn between $20 to $50 million at the box office.

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Among the Best Picture winners of the Academy Awards, do you know which movie was the only sequel to win the honor?  The only G-rated movie to win? Do you know what movie was the first movie filmed in color that won  Best Picture? See answer at end.  

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Vivien Leigh’s (1913-1967) Oscar for Best Actress for “Gone With the Wind” (1939) was sold at an auction in 1993 for $563,000.

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During the 1978 Academy Awards, Debbie Boone (born 1956) sang the Oscar-nominated song “You Light Up My Life” accompanied by children performing the lyrics in sign language. When deaf viewers complained they couldn’t understand the sign language, the Academy confessed that the children were not deaf and were not fluent in sign language.

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John Huston (1906-1987) is the only director that has directed his father, Walter Huston (1884-1950), and his daughter, Angelica Huston (born 1951) to Academy Award wins.

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Orson Welles (1915-1985) was the first person to be nominated for four Academy Awards for one movie. Welles directed, produced and starred in “Citizen Kane” (1941). He lost Best Picture, Actor and Director, but won for Best Original Screenplay.

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Every year, Academy Award nominees and presenters receive a gift bag. The gifts get more elaborate each year. Just one of the many gifts this year is a luxury package vacation at an exclusive resort in Honolulu worth $25,000.

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Since 1930, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has recognized inventions that are valuable to the industry of motion pictures. They are the Scientific and Technical Awards, presented during a ceremony separate from the Oscars. Winners receive a plaque.

Answer: The sequel was “The Godfather: Part II” (1974). The G-rated movie was “Oliver!” (1968). The first color movie was “Gone With The Wind” (1939).

Know It All is by Kerry McArdle. It runs in the weekend and Wednesday editions of the Daily Journal. Questions? Comments? E-mail knowitall@smdailyjournal.com or call 344-5200 x114.