'Of Pups And Puzzles' Might Be The Worst Oscar Winner, While 'Main Street On The March!' Was The Most Immediate
Two very different John Nesbitt documentary shorts received Academy Awards in 1941, neither of them in the new category designated for documentary shorts.
The Oscars finally created a documentary category with their 14th ceremony. This was specifically for short documentaries. Churchill’s Island beat out 10 other titles to be named the first winner. The same year, two “features” were honored with Special Academy Awards. But that wasn’t all. Short documentaries also won in two other categories, making the Best Documentary (Short Subject) category seem less distinct. Of Pups and Puzzles won the Academy Award for Best Short (One-Reel), and Main Street on the March! won the Academy Award for Best Short (Two-Reel). Both were produced and narrated by John Nesbitt, who also won two years earlier in the Best Short Subject (One-Reel) category with the nonfiction film That Mothers Might Live.
