Ka cika wannan magana: Sa'ad da aka ba da lambar yabo ta farko ta Academy Awards a shekara ta 1929, ba a ba da lambar yabo ga wani fim da aka yi a wani yare ba. A farkon zamanin bayan yaƙin (1947<unk>1955), fina-finai takwas na yare na waje sun sami Kyaututtuka na Musamman ko Kyauta. Shugaban makarantar da kuma memba na kwamitin Jean Hersholt ya yi jayayya cewa "lambar yabo ta duniya, idan aka gudanar da ita yadda ya kamata kuma a hankali, za ta inganta kyakkyawar dangantaka tsakanin masu fasahar fim na Amurka da na wasu ƙasashe". Fim na farko na yaren waje da aka karrama da irin wannan lambar yabo shi ne wasan kwaikwayo na Italiyanci mai suna "Shoeshine", wanda ambatonsa ya karanta: "babban ingancin wannan fim ɗin, wanda aka kawo shi cikin rayuwa mai ban sha'awa a cikin ƙasar da ke fama da yaƙi, ya tabbatar wa duniya cewa ruhun kirkira na iya cin nasara kan wahala". A cikin shekaru masu zuwa, an ba da irin wannan lambar yabo ga wasu fina-finai bakwai: daya daga Italiya ("The Bicycle Thief"), biyu daga Faransa ("Monsieur Vincent" da "Forbidden Games"), uku daga Japan ("Rashomon", "Gate of Hell" da ""), da kuma haɗin gwiwar Franco-Italiyanci ("Ganuwar Malapaga"). Wadannan kyaututtuka, duk da haka, an ba da su a kan wani zaɓi maimakon a kai a kai (ba a ba da kyauta ba a lokacin taron).
26th Academy Awards da aka gudanar a 1954), kuma ba su da gasa tun da babu wadanda aka zaba amma kawai fim daya ya lashe a kowace shekara.