There was no envelope shuffle at the Oscars Sunday night, but there was a little head scratching in the audience when Al Pacino announced the best picture winner to be "Oppenheimer.

The host announced in a matter-of-fact monotone that only one film would take the award for best picture out of the ten nominated. "I've got to go to the envelope for that, and I'll do so."Here it comes... and my eyes see 'Oppenheimer.' Yes. Yes."

The news Pacino dropped seemed to stun for a minute in the Dolby Theatre, but then applause grew continuous as the cast and crew of 'Oppenheimer' rose to the stage. A representative for Pacino indicated the actor was acting in accordance with instructions coming from the producers of the telecast.

In a released statement on Sunday, Pacino said the show's producers had asked him not to name each of the nominees in a bid to save time, following which they could get on with the program. He said he had respected their decision and their process for giving the award.

As with all of the above, through the ceremony of the Oscars, clips are played from some of the best picture nominees, so as not to run the show long. He recognized that he was one of the ones selected and felt bad for those that potentially got missed and were thereby missed by the oversight.

The insiders suggest that, despite what looked like a heavy lisp at first, it was now a creative choice. "He was to walk onto a breakneck clip on the stage," they explained, "but his specific delivery was all his own.

Chief Executive at the Academy, Bill Kramer, thought of the night as perfect, somehow people alleged, and that allegations seemed overblown or out of whack in one way or another, just like the bizarre Oscar controversies of the past. He said that Seacrest's act was only a comic indulgence at another successful event.