Oscar Winners

1927 Wings       Action N/R, 139 Minutes
Director: William A. Wellman  
Starring: Clara Bow, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Richard Arlen, Gary Cooper, El Brendel, Jobyna Ralston, Richard Tucker, Henry B. Walthall, Roscoe Karns, Julia Swayne Gordon

 "Wings" won the first Academy Award for Best Picture. It is a silent film that depicts the World War I Air Corps aerial flight sequences and an anti-war statement that tells of buddies who fly in the face of danger.

1929 The Broadway Melody       Musical / Romance N/R, 110 Minutes
Director: Harry Beaumont  
Starring: Anita Page, Bessie Love, Charles King, Jed Prouty, Kenneth Thomson, Mary Doran, Eddie Kane, James Gleason

 This film captured the Oscar for Best Picture. Cole Porter songs are the backdrop for two vaudeville sisters (Anita Page and Bessie Love) who are in love with the same man. Nominations also went to Bessie Love and Director Harry Beaumont.

1930 All Quiet on the Western Front       Drama / Action N/R, 140 Minutes
Director: Lewis Milestone  
Starring: Louis Wolheim, Lew Ayres, John Wray, Raymond Griffith, Slim Summerville, Fred Zinnemann, Russell Gleason, Ben Alexander, Harold Goodwin, William Bakewell

 The horrors of war along the Western Front during World War I are experienced by a group of young German soldiers and are told in this powerful story about the futility of war. Paul Bauman (Lew Ayres) and his classmates arrive on the front lines ready for battle. Their sergeant, Katczinsky (Louis Wolheim), briefs them on how to survive, but that night one of them is shot, and they learn that they are low on supplies and food. Now, they face days and nights fighting from the trenches and realize that fighting for their country is not what they had once believed it would be. The film won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Director.

1931 Cimarron       Drama / Western N/R, 131 Minutes
Director: Wesley Ruggles  
Starring: Richard Dix, Irene Dunne, Estelle Taylor, Nance O'Neil, William Collier Jr., Roscoe Ates, George E. Stone, Robert McWade, Edna May Oliver, Frank Darien

 This early sound film won the Academy Award for Best Picture and is based on Edna Ferber's novel about the hardships faced by Yancey and Sabra Cravat (Richard Dix and Irene Dunne) staking a land claim during the Oklahoma land rush. Yancey starts a newspaper business and crusades for justice. His efforts lead to long separations from Sabra, which prove fatal for the marriage, and Yancey leaves Sabra and their children to continue his "quick draw" brand of justice. With help from her friend, Mrs. Wyatt (Edna May Oliver), Sabra takes over the newspaper business and turns it into a powerful empire.

1932 Grand Hotel       Drama / Romance N/R, 115 Minutes
Director: Edmund Goulding  
Starring: Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, Jean Hersholt, Robert McWade, Purnell Pratt, Rafaela Ottiano, Tully Marshall

 This anthology won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1931-1932. The story takes place in Berlin following World War I and involves guests of the Grand Hotel. Among those visiting are a ballerina (Greta Garbo), a jewel thief (John Barrymore), and a young stenographer (Joan Crawford).

1933 Cavalcade       Drama / Romance N/R, 110 Minutes
Director: Frank Lloyd  
Starring: Diana Wynyard, Clive Brook, Ursula Jeans, Herbert Mundin, Una O'Connor, Beryl Mercer, Irene Browne, Frank Lawton, Margaret Lindsay, Billy Bevan

 This film, an Oscar winner for Best Picture, is Noel Coward's story of the effects of World War I on the British Marryot family (Diana Wynyard and Clive Brook) over a 30 year period–before, during, and after the war. Frank Lloyd also won an Oscar for Best Director. A third Oscar was received for Art Direction.

1934 It Happened One Night       Comedy / Romance N/R, 105 Minutes
Director: Frank Capra  
Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Alan Hale, Roscoe Karns, Henry Wadsworth, Claire McDowell, Walter Connolly, Arthur Hoyt, Ward Bond, Milton Kibbee

 This movie took a clean sweep of the Academy Awards with Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Writer. It relates the romance of a news reporter (Clark Gable) who is out for a story about a spoiled rich girl (Claudette Colbert) who is on the run from her father and fiance. Of course, they fall in love. Clark Gable, "Remember me? I'm the fellow you slept on last night."

1935 Mutiny on the Bounty       Adventure / Drama N/R, 135 Minutes
Director: Frank Lloyd  
Starring: Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, Dudley Digges, Donald Crisp, Herbert Mundin, Eddie Quillan, Henry Stephenson, Spring Byington, Ian Wolfe

 This depiction of the 1787 mutiny aboard H.M.S. Bounty is a classic. The cruel Captain Bligh (Charles Laughton) sails his ship, H.M.S. Bounty, from England to Tahiti where the crew, including Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable) and his friend midshipman Byam (Franchot Tone), enjoy the island paradise. While Tahiti was a paradise, life on the Bounty proves anything but, and the overly strict discipline of Bligh becomes so intense that First Mate Fletcher Christian leads the crew in a mutiny and sends Bligh and a few crew members adrift at sea in an open boat. The film received an Academy Award for Best Picture. It also was nominated for seven others–including three for Best Actor (Laughton, Gable, and Tone) and Best Director (Frank Lloyd).

1936 The Great Ziegfeld       Musical / Comedy / Romance N/R, 180 Minutes
Director: Robert Z. Leonard  
Starring: William Powell, Luise Rainer, Myrna Loy, Frank Morgan, Reginald Owen, Nat Pendleton, Virginia Bruce, Ernest Cossart, Robert Greig, Ray Bolger

 This film won the Oscar for Best Picture. It is the story of Flo Ziegfeld's (William Powell) rise from carnival work to the top of the entertainment world. Luise Rainer won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance as Flo's wife, French singer Anna Held.

1937 Life of Emile Zola       Drama N/R, 116 Minutes
Director: William Dieterle  
Starring: Paul Muni, Gale Sondergaard, Donald Crisp, Joseph Schildkraut, Gloria Holden, Louis Calhern, Harry Davenport, Erin O'Brien-Moore, John Litel, Henry O'Neill

 This film won the Academy Award for Best Picture. It tells the story of writer Emile Zola (Paul Muni) who was aroused by the unfair trial of Alfred Dreyfus in the 1800s. Oscars also went to Joseph Schildkraut for Best Supporting Actor and to Norman Raine for Best Screenplay. There were seven other nominations, including Best Actor (Muni) and Director.

1938 You Can't Take It with You       Comedy / Romance N/R, 120 Minutes
Director: Frank Capra  
Starring: Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart, Edward Arnold, Mischa Auer, Ann Miller, Spring Byington, Samuel S. Hinds, Mary Forbes, Dub Taylor

 Alice (Jean Arthur) and Tony (James Stewart) meet and fall in love. Alice's family of activists–including patriarch Grandpa Vanderhof (Lionel Barrymore), his daughter Penny (Spring Byington), her husband Paul (Samuel S. Hinds) who is into explosives, their would-be ballet dancer daughter Essie (Ann Miller), and her husband Ed (Dub Taylor) who is addicted to his xylophone–"entertain" Tony's aristocratic parents (Edward Arnold and Mary Forbes) in their decaying home. Complications arise with future in-laws' acceptance of each others' families–especially when Tony's parents show up one day early. The film received the Oscar for Best Picture. An Academy Award was also won by Frank Capra as Best Director, and the film received five other nominations, including Spring Byington for Best Supporting Actress.

1939 Gone with the Wind       Drama / Romance G, 219 Minutes
Director: Victor Fleming  
Starring: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Olivia de Havilland, Leslie Howard, Thomas Mitchell, Hattie McDaniel, Ward Bond, Jane Darwell, Victor Jory, Butterfly McQueen

 Based on Margaret Mitchell's popular novel, this story takes place during the Civil War. When southern belle Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) learns that her beloved Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard) is going to marry his cousin Melanie (Olivia de Havilland), she is crushed. Despite warnings from her faithful servant Mammy (Hattie McDaniel), Scarlett accosts Ashley at a barbeque. Charleston profiteer Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) listens in on the confrontation and falls in love with Scarlett. Their affair begins, and as Scarlett flirts, cries, struggles, and dances with Rhett, she manages to survive the changes brought on as the South fights to maintain plantation life. Ashley to Scarlett: "Isn't it enough that you've gathered every other man's heart today? You've always had mine. You cut your teeth on it." This film won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Actress (Leigh), and Supporting Actress (McDaniel). It was also nominated for five other awards.

1940 Rebecca       Drama / Thriller / Mystery / Romance N/R, 130 Minutes
Director: Alfred Hitchcock  
Starring: Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier, George Sanders, Judith Anderson, Nigel Bruce, Gladys Cooper, Florence Bates, Reginald Denny, C. Aubrey Smith, Leo G. Carroll

 In this film, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Joan Fontaine plays a naive woman married to a brooding widower (Laurence Olivier). After moving into his country estate, she finds that she must live in the shadow of Rebecca, his first wife. Based on Daphne du Maurier's Gothic novel. The film also won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography and was nominated for nine other awards, including Best Actor (Olivier), Actress (Fontaine), Supporting Actress (Judith Anderson) and Director.

1941 How Green Was My Valley       Family / Drama N/R, 118 Minutes
Director: John Ford  
Starring: Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, Donald Crisp, Anna Lee, Roddy McDowall, John Loder, Sara Allgood, Barry Fitzgerald, Patric Knowles, Morton Lowry

 Based on Richard Llewellyn's novel, this touching story about the changing world of a Welsh coal-mining family won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1941, John Ford won an Oscar for Best Director, and Donald Crisp won for Best Supporting Actor. The film won two additional Academy Awards and was nominated for five others.

1942 Mrs. Miniver       Drama / Romance N/R, 135 Minutes
Director: William Wyler  
Starring: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright, Dame May Whitty, Henry Travers, Richard Ney, Reginald Owen, Miles Mander, Henry Wilcoxon, Rhys Williams

 Kay Miniver (Greer Garson) is the matriarch of a British family who holds things together as World War II closes in around them. While she tends to the children and her garden, her husband Clem (Walter Pigeon) takes part in the evacuation of Dunkirk. Meanwhile, German bombs are dropping on their peaceful village, and the eldest son Vin (Richard Ney) falls in love with upper-crust Carol (Teresa Wright). The family seems able to face the tragedies of the war, but will the war take its toll on their young love? This film was awarded the Oscar for Best Picture, Director (William Wyler), Actress (Garson), and Supporting Actress (Wright). It also won two more Oscars and was nominated for six others, including Best Actor (Pidgeon), Supporting Actor (Henry Travers), and Supporting Actress (Dame May Whitty).

1942 Casablanca       Drama / Romance N/R, 104 Minutes
Director: Michael Curtiz  
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Peter Lorre, Paul Henreid, Sydney Greenstreet, S.Z. Sakall, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, John Qualen, Leonid Kinskey

 One of the best films ever, this Oscar winner for Best Picture stars Humphrey Bogart as Rick, the owner of a Moroccan bar during the German occupation of Northern Africa in WWII. When the love of his life, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), shows up in his joint one night, their old romance is rekindled; but Nazi politics make strange bedfellows. Rick: "Here's looking at you, kid." Another major Academy Award went to Michael Curtiz for his directing. The film also won for Best Writing, and had several nominations, including Best Actor (Bogart) and Supporting Actor (Claude Rains).

1944 Going My Way       Drama / Comedy / Musical N/R, 130 Minutes
Director: Leo McCarey  
Starring: Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, Frank McHugh, Rise Stevens, Gene Lockhart, William Frawley, James Brown, Jean Heather, Porter Hall, Fortunio Bonanova

 Besides winning the Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writer Awards, both Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald won Academy Awards for their roles as Father O'Malley and Father Fitzgibbon. In the film, Father O'Malley is sent to the parish to help the elderly Father Fitzgibbon. It is a heartwarming story about their developing friendship. To top off the Oscars, it also won for Best Song: "Swinging on a Star."

1945 The Lost Weekend       Drama / Romance N/R, 101 Minutes
Director: Billy Wilder  
Starring: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry, Howard Da Silva, Doris Dowling, Frank Faylen, Mary Young, Anita Sharp-Bolster, Frank Orth, Byron Foulger

 Ray Milland won the Oscar for his portrayal of Don Birnam, writer and alcoholic. Birnam's problem reaches a crisis during one long weekend of drinking, after which he suffers the D.T.s as his girlfriend Helen St. James (Jane Wyman) begs him to stop drinking. Ray Milland: "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation. I can't take quiet desperation." This film also won the Best Picture Academy Award, as did Billy Wilder for his directing and writing.

1946 The Best Years of Our Lives           Drama / Romance N/R, 172 Minutes
Director: William Wyler  
Starring: Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Myrna Loy, Hoagy Carmichael, Harold Russell, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo, Cathy O'Donnell, Gladys George, Ray Collins

 This Best Picture Oscar winner tells the story of three WWII soldiers who come home and find that they can't just pick up where they left off. A classic film in which Harold Russell, an actual veteran, made history by winning two Oscars for one role (Best Supporting Actor Oscar and a Special Award Oscar). William Wyler also took home an Oscar for his directing, as did Fredric March for Best Actor. There were three other Oscars awarded.

1947 Gentleman's Agreement       Drama / Romance N/R, 118 Minutes
Director: Elia Kazan  
Starring: Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, John Garfield, Celeste Holm, Anne Revere, June Havoc, Albert Dekker, Jane Wyatt, Dean Stockwell, Sam Jaffe

 Journalist Phil Green (Gregory Peck) pretends to be Jewish for an article he is writing; in the process he encounters anti-Semitism. This experiment affects his family when his son Tommy (Dean Stockwell) suffers prejudice at school as a direct result of his father's article. The film won the Best Picture Academy Award, Elia Kazan won for Best Director, and Celeste Holm carried away an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Nominations went to Peck, McGuire, and Revere.

1948 Hamlet           Drama N/R, 153 Minutes
Director: Laurence Olivier  
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Basil Sydney, Eileen Herlie, Jean Simmons, Felix Aylmer, Norman Wooland, Terence Morgan, Peter Cushing, Stanley Holloway, John Laurie

 This film represents Laurence Olivier at his best starring as the melancholy Dane, Prince Hamlet. Soon after his father's death, Hamlet's mother, Queen Gertrude (Eileen Herlie), marries her brother-in-law Claudius (Basil Sydney). Now his father's ghost returns to speak to Hamlet and tells him that his own brother Claudius murdered him. He wants Hamlet to be kind to Gertrude but to kill Claudius. Hamlet vows to avenge his death and fakes madness to accomplish that goal. His acts lead to the end of several lives–including Claudius, Gertrude, Hamlet's chief counselor Polonius (Felix Almer) and Polonius' daughter Ophelia (Jean Simmons) who loves Hamlet, and, finally, Hamlet. There was a well-deserved Best Actor Oscar presented to Olivier. The film also won Oscars for Best Picture, Art Direction/Set Decoration, and Costume Design. Olivier also received a nomination for Best Director, and Simmons was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

1949 All the King's Men       Drama N/R, 109 Minutes
Director: Robert Rossen  
Starring: Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge, Joanne Dru, John Derek, Shepperd Strudwick, Anne Seymour, Will Wright, Raymond Greenleaf, Houseley Stevenson

 Based on Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, inspired by the activities of Louisiana Governor Huey Long, this is a story about political corruption. Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford) rises to the governorship of his Southern state, but corruption results in his ultimate undoing. The film won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Actor (Broderick Crawford), and Supporting Actress (Mercedes McCambridge); nominations included Best Director and Supporting Actor (John Ireland).

1950 All About Eve       Drama N/R, 138 Minutes
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz  
Starring: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, Thelma Ritter, Marilyn Monroe, Hugh Marlowe, Gregory Ratoff, Barbara Bates

 This Oscar winner for Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (George Sanders), and three other awards tells the story of young actress Eve's (Anne Baxter) attempts to reach stardom without paying her dues by joining a group of famous Broadway types. A candid and humorous look at New York theater is the result. Bette Davis: "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy ride." The film also received eight other Oscar nominations including two for Best Actress (Bette Davis and Anne Baxter) and two for Supporting Actress (Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter). The 14 total nominations tied 1997's "Titanic" as the most received by any film.

1951 An American in Paris       Musical / Romance N/R, 113 Minutes
Director: Vincente Minnelli  
Starring: Gene Kelly, Oscar Levant, Leslie Caron, Nina Foch, Georges Guetary, Eugene Borden, Ann Codee, Dick Wessel, Paul Maxey, John Eldredge

 Based on the music of George and Ira Gershwin, dance and music sequences contributed to the Academy Award for Best Picture. The story is about ex-GI Jerry (Gene Kelly) who stays in Paris after the war to study art and then falls in love with Lise (Leslie Caron). The film also won five other Oscars, and Director Vincente Minnelli received a nomination.

1953 From Here to Eternity       Drama / Romance N/R, 118 Minutes
Director: Fred Zinnemann  
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Ernest Borgnine, Frank Sinatra, Donna Reed, Philip Ober, Jack Warden, Mickey Shaughnessy, Harry Bellaver

 This is the story about Karen Holmes (Deborah Kerr) and the men she encounters while looking for a break from her loneliness as an Army wife. From the quiet Hawaiian nights to the earth-shaking December 7th bombing of Pearl Harbor, this story's characters are pawns in the hands of fate. The movie won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Frank Sinatra), and Supporting Actress (Donna Reed). It was also nominated for five Oscars, including Best Actress (Kerr) and two for Best Actor (Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift).