Top 10 Best Picture Winners: 1927-1960
The Oscars are this weekend and, as we at TheCelebrityCafe.com are sure you’ve heard, a silent film called The Artist is a favorite to win Best Picture. The film is an ode to the days of old Hollywood, when actors had restrictive contracts and the studio bosses had all the power. Here is a list of the ten best winners of the Best Picture Oscar from that time period, from 1927, when Wings won the first award, to The Apartment, the winner of the 1960 award. Let us know what your favorite winners are in the comments below. Michael Murphy continues the list by counting down the Top 10 Winners from 1961-2010.
10. Mrs. Miniver - directed by William Wyler (1942; 6 Oscars)
William Wyler’s films are about the emotional people that inhabit our world and are put in extraordinary circumstances. In Mrs. Miniver, Wyler told the emotionally wrenching story of the title character, a strong woman, played to perfection by Greer Garson, who has to help her family survive the beginning of World War II on the home front in Britain. Mrs. Miniver is one of the best Hollywood films made during the war and helped Americans understand just what our allies were going through. Just two years later, David O. Selznick would produce Since You Went Away, which told the story of what American housewives went through at home. While Selznick’s film is touching, it is simply nowhere near as powerful as Mrs. Miniver.
9. Mutiny on the Bounty - directed by Frank Lloyd (1935; 1 Oscar)
Mutiny on the Bounty remains the only film to have all three of its lead actors nominated for Best Actor. Unfortunately, they all split the vote and Mutiny became one of the few films to win only Best Picture. It is an epic of the finest Hollywood tradition, including majestic locales and powerful performances from Clark Gable and Charles Laughton. Laughton’s performance is especially gripping. So few characters exemplify pure evil as Captain Bligh.
8. The Bridge on the River Kwai - directed by David Lean (1957; 7 Oscars)
It really doesn’t get any more magical than a David Lean epic. Lean had an unparalleled ability to keep your attention for two-and-a-half (or more) hours without ever letting up. There is no lull in The Bridge on the River Kwai and no matter how many times you see that unbelievable ending, you still get wrapped up in it.
7. On The Waterfront - directed by Elia Kazan (1954; 8 Oscars)
If David Lean made great action films, Elia Kazan made great acting films. What a performance Marlon Brando pulls off here! And it’s not just Brando. Eva Marie Saint (in her first film), Rod Steiger, Lee J. Cobb and Karl Malden were also all nominated, with Saint winning Supporting Actress. I think when Kazan won for On The Waterfront, it must have been a big sigh of relief because the last film he directed that won best picture, 1947’s Gentleman’s Agreement, is just bad.
6. Gone with the Wind - directed by Victor Flemming (1939; 8 Oscars, 2 Honorary Oscars)
So many great films were made in 1939, but Gone with the Wind came out on top and has since become one of the shining examples of what could come out of the old Hollywood studio system if everyone (literally) put their lives on the line. Even with the obvious and unavoidable racial problems embedded in Margaret Mitchell’s novel and the final film, it is still an enjoyable piece of work, with stunning performances.
5. All Quiet on the Western Front - directed by Lewis Milestone (1929/1930; 2 Oscars)
As long as wars are fought, there will be two sides: those who are so patriotic that they cannot see the brutal realities of war and those that can because they actually have to fight. All Quiet on the Western Front shows the contrast of these two sides during World War I to surprising perfection. This timeless story of boys who go off to war, only to find out just how horrible it is, can never age, even if the filming techniques permanently place the acting and style of the film in the early sound era.
4. Ben-Hur - directed by William Wyler (1959; 11 Oscars)
Ben-Hur feels like much more than your standard epic. While it is known for the chariot race, there’s another three and a half hours of film that surround it, effortlessly directed by Wyler, who had never done anything like this before. While many epics dehumanize their characters, turning them into wooden idols (cough...The Ten Commandments...cough), Wyler brought the same touch that made Mrs. Miniver great: his way to ground his characters in reality. Somehow, Charlton Heston and Wyler make Judah Ben-Hur a character anyone could relate to.
3. The Apartment - directed by Billy Wilder (1960; 5 Oscars)
How great is Billy Wilder’s The Apartment? It makes you laugh. It makes you cry. And just like Some Like It Hot the year before, it is filled with hilarious lines and an incredible ending. Wilder and co-writer I.A.L. Diamond collaborated together for all of Wilder’s remaining films, but none of them are as good as The Apartment. “Well, that’s the way it crumbles...cookie-wise.”
2. All About Eve - directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1950; 6 Oscars)
“Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy night.” All About Eve tells the story of backstabbing, intrigue and manipulation, all in front of the backdrop of the theater. Joseph L. Mankiewicz’ script is among the best ever written and features some unbelievable performances from its ensemble cast. It remains the only film to receive four nominations in the female acting categories. Anne Baxter and Bette Davis were nominated for Best Actress, while Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter were nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
1. Casablanca - directed by Michael Curtiz (1943; 3 Oscars)
Casablanca has been talked about and quoted so many times that, at this point, it feels like one long cinematic cliché, but it’s so hard not to get completely wrapped up in it and enjoy it every time you watch it. For me, the film defines the best of what movies were like during the ‘40s. The film will likely remain fresh, until the last person on earth hears Humphrey Bogart say, “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”