Academy Awards
And The Oscar Goes To …
The Highest Bidder!!!
Published March 29, 2025 7:00 AM PDT
One of the most coveted collectibles in Hollywood is on the open market … an Oscar statuette from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
The Oscar for Best Cinematography from the 1930 Academy Awards is up for auction over at RR Auction … and this Oscar is going to the highest bidder.
The golden statuette was presented to Clyde De Vinna for his work on the 1928 film “White Shadows in the South Seas.”
The movie, starring Monte Blue and Raquel Torres, was groundbreaking … it was MGM’s first sound film — allowing theatergoers to hear the MGM lion roar for the first time — and it was shot on location in Tahiti.
It’s super rare to see Oscars on the market … the Academy made a rule in 1951 preventing Oscar winners from selling their statuettes without first offering them back to the Academy for $1 … but it only applies to statues awarded after 1950, so this Oscar gets a pass.
This Oscar was presented at the second annual Academy Awards … held at the swanky Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on April 3, 1930 … the first ceremony to be broadcast on radio as a public event.
The award’s plaque is engraved with information about the award … the base reads, “Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences First Award 1929.”
There’s a golden disc on the underside of the award that says … “AMPAS, 1929 Academy First Award to Clyde De Vinna for Distinguished Achievement in Cinematography of White Shadows of the South Seas.”
RR Auction tells us the seller is a private collector who wishes to remain anonymous … bids are now coming in above $70,000 and the auction house estimates the winning bid will go beyond $150,000.
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