ACADEMY AWARDS
BEST PICTURE*

WINNERS


(*originally known as Best Production)

1927/28 - 1959


Part 1
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Best Pictures Sections
Facts & Trivia (1) | Facts & Trivia (2) | Genre Biases | Winners Chart (part 1) | Winners Chart (part 2)
20th Century Best Pictures (ranked) (part 1) | 20th Century Best Pictures (ranked) (part 2)
Best Pictures (through 2022) Ranked | Best Picture Milestones (multi-sections)


Film Year
Best Picture
Academy Award Winners
Director
(* Did not also win Best Director)
Title Screen and
Studio or
Production Company
NOT Nominated for
Best Picture
Should Have Won
(possibly?)






1927-28
Wings (Outstanding Picture)
Sunrise (Unique and Artistic Picture)
William A. Wellman*

(The two Best Director nominees/winners were Lewis Milestone and Frank Borzage)

Paramount Famous Lasky
Metropolis
Sunrise
Sunrise
or
7th Heaven
1928-29
The Broadway Melody (Outstanding Picture) Harry Beaumont*

MGM
The Wind
The Wedding March
The Wind
or
In Old Arizona
1929-30
All Quiet on the Western Front
(Outstanding Production)
Lewis Milestone

Universal
Applause  
1930-31
Cimarron Wesley Ruggles*

RKO Radio
City Lights
Dracula
Frankenstein
Little Caesar
Public Enemy
City Lights
or
The Front Page
1931-32
Grand Hotel Edmund Goulding*

MGM
Scarface: The Shame of a Nation Scarface: The Shame of a Nation
or
Shanghai Express
1932-33
Cavalcade Frank Lloyd

Fox
King Kong
Queen Christina
Trouble in Paradise
Dinner at Eight

Duck Soup
King Kong
or
I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
1934
It Happened One Night Frank Capra

Columbia
The Scarlet Empress
It's a Gift
Twentieth Century
 
1935
Mutiny on the Bounty Frank Lloyd*

MGM
The 39 Steps
A Night At The Opera

The 39 Steps
or
The Informer

1936
The Great Ziegfeld Robert Z. Leonard*

MGM
Modern Times
Swing Time
My Man Godfrey
Fury
Show Boat
Modern Times
or
Dodsworth
or
My Man Godfrey
1937
The Life of Emile Zola William Dieterle*

Warner Bros
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs The Awful Truth
or
Lost Horizon
or
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
1938
You Can't Take It With You Frank Capra

Columbia
Bringing Up Baby
Angels With Dirty Faces
The Lady Vanishes
The Adventures of Robin Hood
or
La Grand Illusion
1939
Gone With The Wind Victor Fleming

MGM
(Selznick)
Destry Rides Again
Gunga Din
The Women
The Wizard of Oz
or
Stagecoach
1940
Rebecca Alfred Hitchcock*

United Artists (Selznick)
His Girl Friday
Pinocchio
The Sea Hawk
The Shop Around the Corner
The Grapes of Wrath
1941
How Green Was My Valley John Ford

20th Century-Fox
Ball of Fire
Meet John Doe
That Hamilton Woman
Citizen Kane
1942
Mrs. Miniver William Wyler

MGM
Sullivan's Travels
The Palm Beach Story
To Be or Not to Be
Sullivan's Travels
or
The Magnificent Ambersons
1943
Casablanca Michael Curtiz

Warner Bros
Shadow of a Doubt The Ox-Bow Incident
1944
Going My Way Leo McCarey

Paramount
The Curse of the Cat People
Laura
Meet Me in St. Louis
Murder, My Sweet
The Suspect
Hail the Conquering Hero
Lifeboat
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
Double Indemnity
1945
The Lost Weekend Billy Wilder

Paramount
They Were Expendable
Scarlet Street
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
 
1946
The Best Years of Our Lives William Wyler

RKO Radio
(Goldwyn)
My Darling Clementine
Notorious
The Big Sleep
Brief Encounter
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Gilda
It's A Wonderful Life
or
Notorious
1947
Gentleman's Agreement Elia Kazan

20th Century-Fox
Monsieur Verdoux
Black Narcissus
Nightmare Alley
Out of the Past

Crossfire
Out of the Past
or
Crossfire
1948
Hamlet Laurence Olivier*

Universal - International (British)
J. Arthur Rank-Two Cities Films
Fort Apache
Letter From an Unknown Woman
Red River
Oliver Twist
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
or
Johnny Belinda
1949
All the King's Men Robert Rossen*

Columbia
Gun Crazy
On the Town
They Live By Night
White Heat
Gun Crazy
or
The Heiress
or
A Letter to Three Wives
1950
All About Eve Joseph L. Mankiewicz

20th Century Fox
The Asphalt Jungle
In a Lonely Place
The Third Man
Winchester '73

Sunset Boulevard

1951
An American In Paris Vincente Minnelli*

MGM

The African Queen Strangers on a Train
Ace in the Hole
The Thing (From Another World)
The Day the Earth Stood Still

A Streetcar Named Desire
or
A Place in the Sun
1952
The Greatest Show on Earth Cecil B. DeMille*

Paramount
Singin' in The Rain
The Bad and the Beautiful
The Member of the Wedding
Rancho Notorious
Pat and Mike
Singin' in The Rain
or
The Quiet Man
or
High Noon
1953
From Here to Eternity Fred Zinnemann

Columbia
The Big Heat
Stalag 17
The Band Wagon
Shane
1954
On The Waterfront Elia Kazan

Columbia
Rear Window
Johnny Guitar
A Star is Born
Rear Window
1955
Marty Delbert Mann

United Artists
The Night of the Hunter
The Blackboard Jungle
East of Eden
Kiss Me Deadly
Rebel Without a Cause
Bad Day at Black Rock
Oklahoma!
To Catch a Thief
The Night of the Hunter
or
Rebel Without a Cause
1956
Around the World in 80 Days Michael Anderson*

United Artists
The Searchers
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Killing
Richard III
The Seven Samurai
The Bad Seed
Bus Stop
High Society
Lust for Life
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Written on the Wind
The Searchers
or
Friendly Persuasion
or
Giant
1957
The Bridge On The River Kwai David Lean

Columbia
Paths of Glory
A Face in the Crowd
Sweet Smell of Success
Paths of Glory
or
12 Angry Men
1958
Gigi Vincente Minnelli

MGM
Vertigo
Touch of Evil
I Want to Live!
Some Came Running
South Pacific
Teacher's Pet
The Tarnished Angels
Touch of Evil
or
The Defiant Ones
or
Vertigo
1959
Ben-Hur William Wyler

MGM
Some Like It Hot
North by Northwest
Rio Bravo

Imitation of Life
Pillow Talk
Porgy and Bess
Some Like It Hot
or
Anatomy of a Murder
continued - click Next arrow below


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