The five Best Picture nominees are all period films: Lawrence of Arabia (1962) (Arabia, WWI, including pre and post-events), The Longest Day (1962) (France, WWII), The Music Man (1962) (Iowa, 1912), Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) (late 18th-century French Polynesia), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) (1930s Alabama).
Crawford told the other nominated actresses that, as a courtesy, she would accept their awards for them should they be unavailable on the night of the ceremony. Davis did not object as her rival had often done this, but on the night of the ceremony she was livid when Crawford took the stage to cheerfully accept the award on behalf of Anne Bancroft, who had a Broadway commitment. Davis believed that Crawford had told other Oscar voters to vote for the Miracle Worker star in order to upstage her. The rekindled animosity between the two resulted in Crawford leaving the cast of Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, a planned followup to Baby Jane that began filming the next summer, early in production; she would never take any major roles again.