Best Picture Nominees: 1940s-1950s

For years in which I’ve seen every film nominated for Best Picture, they’re ranked from best to worst in its listing. Otherwise, films are listed in alphabetical order. Titles in bold are ones I’ve seen, and the ones in italics are personal favorites. Additionally, titles marked with an asterisk are the films that won Best Picture in their given year.

21st Academy Awards (1948):

  1. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
  2. The Red Shoes
  3. Johnny Belinda
  4. The Snake Pit
  5. Hamlet*

22nd Academy Awards (1949):

  1. The Heiress
  2. A Letter to Three Wives
  3. Battleground
  4. Twelve O’Clock High
  5. All the King’s Men*

23rd Academy Awards (1950):

  1. Sunset Blvd.
  2. All About Eve*
  3. Born Yesterday
  4. Father of the Bride
  5. King Solomon’s Mines

24th Academy Awards (1951):

  1. An American in Paris*
  2. A Streetcar Named Desire
  3. A Place in the Sun
  4. Decision Before Dawn
  5. Quo Vadis

25th Academy Awards (1952):

  1. High Noon
  2. The Quiet Man
  3. Moulin Rouge
  4. Ivanhoe
  5. The Greatest Show on Earth*

26th Academy Awards (1953):

  1. Roman Holiday
  2. From Here to Eternity*
  3. Shane
  4. Julius Caesar
  5. The Robe

27th Academy Awards (1954):

  1. On the Waterfront*
  2. The Caine Mutiny
  3. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
  4. The Country Girl
  5. Three Coins in the Fountain

28th Academy Awards (1955):

  1. Marty*
  2. Picnic
  3. Mister Roberts
  4. The Rose Tattoo
  5. Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

29th Academy Awards (1956):

  1. Giant
  2. The Ten Commandments
  3. The King and I
  4. Friendly Persuasion
  5. Around the World in Eighty Days*

30th Academy Awards (1957):

  1. 12 Angry Men
  2. The Bridge on the River Kwai*
  3. Witness for the Prosecution
  4. Peyton Place
  5. Sayonara