Ending my posts of favorite Oscar winners this month with the big one: Best Picture! As I’ve said before, I finished seeing all the winners throughout Oscar history last year, so I’m happy to say that this top 15 is very definite.
In chronological order, my 15 favorite Best Picture winners!
It Happened One Night (1934)
The Best Picture Winner of the 7th Academy Awards – It Happened One Night
Competition: The Barretts of Wimpole Street; Cleopatra; Flirtation Walk; The Gay Divorce; Here Comes the Navy; The House of Rothschild; Imitation of Life; One Night of Love; The Thin Man; Viva Villa!; The White Parade
Other Wins: Best Actor; Best Actress; Best Director; Best Writing, Adaptation
Other Nominations: N/A
Gone with the Wind (1939)
The Best Picture Winner of the 12th Academy Awards – Gone with the Wind
Competition: Dark Victory; Goodbye, Mr. Chips; Love Affair; Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; Ninotchka; Of Mice and Men; Stagecoach; The Wizard of Oz; Wuthering Heights
Other Wins: Best Actress; Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel); Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay; Best Cinematography, Color; Best Art Direction; Best Film Editing
Other Nominations: Best Actor; Best Supporting Actress (Olivia de Havilland); Best Sound; Best Special Effects; Best Original Score
Rebecca (1940)
The Best Picture Winner of the 13th Academy Awards – Rebecca
Competition: All This, and Heaven Too; Foreign Correspondent; The Grapes of Wrath; The Great Dictator; Kitty Foyle; The Letter; The Long Voyage Home; Our Town; The Philadelphia Story
Other Wins: Best Cinematography, Black-and-White
Other Nominations: Best Actor; Best Actress; Best Supporting Actress; Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay; Best Art Direction, Black-and-White; Best Film Editing; Best Special Effects; Best Original Score
Casablanca (1942)
The Best Picture Winner of the 16th Academy Awards – Casablanca
Competition: For Whom the Bell Tolls; Heaven Can Wait; The Human Comedy; In Which We Serve; Madame Curie; The More the Merrier; The Ox-Bow Incident; The Song of Bernadette; Watch on the Rhine
Other Wins: Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay
Other Nominations: Best Actor; Best Supporting Actor; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
The Best Picture Winner of the 19th Academy Awards – The Best Years of Our Lives
Competition: Henry V; It’s a Wonderful Life; The Razor’s Edge; The Yearling
Other Wins: Best Actor; Best Supporting Actor; Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
Other Nominations: Best Sound
All About Eve (1950)
The Best Picture Winner of the 23rd Academy Awards – All About Eve
Competition: Born Yesterday; Father of the Bride; King Solomon’s Mines; Sunset Blvd.
Other Wins: Best Supporting Actor; Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay; Best Costume Design, Black-and-White; Best Sound
Other Nominations: Best Actress (Anne Baxter and Bette Davis); Best Supporting Actress (Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter); Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
On the Waterfront (1954)
The Best Picture Winner of the 27th Academy Awards – On the Waterfront
Competition: The Caine Mutiny; The Country Girl; Seven Brides for Seven Brothers; Three Coins in the Fountain
Other Wins: Best Actor; Best Supporting Actress; Best Director; Best Writing, Story and Screenplay; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White; Best Film Editing
Other Nominations: Best Supporting Actor (Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, and Rod Steiger); Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Best Picture Winner of the 30th Academy Awards – The Bridge on the River Kwai
Competition: Peyton Place; Sayonara; 12 Angry Men; Witness for the Prosecution
Other Wins: Best Actor; Best Director; Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Cinematography; Best Film Editing; Best Original Score
Other Nominations: Best Supporting Actor
The Apartment (1960)
The Best Picture Winner of the 33rd Academy Awards – The Apartment
Competition: The Alamo; Elmer Gantry; Sons and Lovers; The Sundowners
Other Wins: Best Director; Best Original Screenplay; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White; Best Film Editing
Other Nominations: Best Actor; Best Actress; Best Supporting Actor; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; Best Sound
West Side Story (1961)
The Best Picture Winner of the 34th Academy Awards – West Side Story
Competition: Fanny; The Guns of Navarone; The Hustler; Judgment at Nuremberg
Other Wins: Best Supporting Actor; Best Supporting Actress; Best Director ( Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins); Best Cinematography, Color; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color; Best Costume Design, Color; Best Sound; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture
Other Nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
The Best Picture Winner of the 35th Academy Awards – Lawrence of Arabia
Competition: The Longest Day; The Music Man; Mutiny on the Bounty; To Kill a Mockingbird
Other Wins: Best Director; Best Cinematography, Color; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color; Best Sound; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Score – Substantially Original
Other Nominations: Best Actor; Best Supporting Actor; Best Adapted Screenplay
The Godfather (1972)
The Best Picture Winner of the 45th Academy Awards – The Godfather
Competition: Cabaret; Deliverance; The Emigrants; Sounder
Other Wins: Best Actor; Best Adapted Screenplay
Other Nominations: Best Supporting Actor (James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Al Pacino); Best Director; Best Costume Design; Best Sound; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Original Dramatic Score (later withdrawn)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
The Best Picture Winner of the 48th Academy Awards – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Competition: Barry Lyndon; Dog Day Afternoon; Jaws; Nashville
Other Wins: Best Actor; Best Actress; Best Director; Best Adapted Screenplay
Other Nominations: Best Supporting Actor; Best Cinematography; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Original Dramatic Score
Schindler’s List (1993)
The Best Picture Winner of the 66th Academy Awards – Schindler’s List
Competition: The Fugitive; In the Name of the Father; The Piano; The Remains of the Day
Other Wins: Best Director; Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Cinematography; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration; Best Film Editing; Best Original Score
Other Nominations: Best Actor; Best Supporting Actor; Best Costume Design; Best Sound; Best Makeup
No Country for Old Men (2007)
The Best Picture Winner of the 80th Academy Awards – No Country for Old Men
Competition: Atonement; Juno; Michael Clayton; There Will Be Blood
Other Wins: Best Supporting Actor; Best Director; Best Adapted Screenplay
Other Nominations: Best Cinematography; Best Film Editing; Best Sound Mixing; Best Sound Editing
Am I missing any good winners? What are your favorite Best Picture winners in Oscar history?
