Oscar-winning films: a list of the best

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

This year, world cinema is celebrating its 120th anniversary. In February 1895, two French inventors - Auguste and Louis Lumiere - created a device that allowed you to shoot on film and then show moving objects on the screen.

A bit of history

This is how cinema appeared - a global, all-consuming art that has changed the lives of millions of people. As soon as the invention of the Lumiere brothers was improved and it became possible to make films, film studios began to appear everywhere. The most successful creative enterprises came together, and thus "Hollywood" was born - a factory of dreams, constantly releasing films for every taste.

Initially, motion picture production was aimed at the most unpretentious audience, who visited booths and other similar places of entertainment. In the course were funny comedies,meaningless in essence, but people liked them. Then films with a dramatic plot began to appear, which quickly gained popularity and won the recognition of millions of moviegoers.

Spontaneous rewards

As the cinema developed, the plots of the films became deeper and more meaningful. The most successful films, which gathered a large audience and were commercially successful, began to be awarded with prizes and prizes. However, this process was spontaneous, there was no incentive system as such.

The advent of the Oscars

Only in 1929, the head of the MGM (Metro Goldwyn Mayer) film studio, Louis Mayer, created a special kind of film award, which became known as the "OSCAR". The difference between this prize and other types of promotion was that it was awarded in several categories at once: "Best Film", "Best Role (female and male)", "Best Screenplay", "Music", "Editing" and a number of other various positions that deserved the award.

At first, this "universality" of the Oscars scared away Hollywood producers, who felt that they should not reward all the filmmakers without exception, but Louis Mayer managed to prove that with a sufficiently strict approach, the Oscars can become a coveted award for all filmmakers, which means that each participant in the film project will try to earn encouragement and work with full dedication. And so it happened:The Oscar has become the dream of all filmmakers and is today the top prize for excellence in the art of cinema.

In the entire history of cinema, in the period from 1929 to the present, more than one hundred films have been awarded the honorary prize. 100 Oscar-winning films in 90 years of active motion picture production is an impressive feat.

First awards

The first "Oscar" was awarded to the creators of the film "Wings", directed by William Wellman back in 1927. The picture was awarded two statuettes: in the nominations "Best Film" and "Best Special Effects".

The second motion picture to win an Oscar was called "Broadway Melody" and was created by director Harry Beaumont in 1929 at the Metro Godwin Mayer film studio. There were three nominations: "Best Film", "Best Director" and "Best Actress". "Oscar" was awarded one - in the first nomination.

Famous movies

Then the highest cinema award went to films:

• Cimarron (1931) is the first Western to win an Oscar. In total, the film won three top awards, but this did not prevent it from failing at the box office.
• "Grand Hotel" (1932) - directed by Edmond Goulding and starring Greta Garbo. The film won an Oscar for Best Picture.
• FilmCavalcade (1933) directed by Frank Lloyd. The picture was awarded three awards "Oscar": "Best Film of the Year", "Best Director" and "Best Actress". The statuette in the last category went to actress Diana Wynyard. She became the first recipient of the prestigious award.
• In 1936, another picture was made, which was included in the list of "Oscar-winning films". Its name is Mutiny on the Bounty. Director Frank Lloyd spent an unheard of sum of $2,000,000 on the production, but the commercial success exceeded all expectations, and the box office receipts far exceeded the costs. Mutiny on the Bounty won the Best Picture award, which was presented in a ceremony to producer Irving Thalberg.
• In the same 1936, the biopic The Great Ziegfeld, directed by Robert Leonard, was released. The picture told about the successful director of Broadway musicals Florence Ziegfeld. The film won three Oscars: one went to MGM, the second went to actress Louise Reiner for best actress, and the third was awarded for choreography.
• When considering Oscar-winning films, one cannot fail to mention the film directed by William Dieterle "The Life of Emile Zola", filmed in 1937. The picture brought the creators three "Oscars": for "Best Film", "Supporting Actor", "Best Screenplay".
• 1938 was the year of the cinema screensYou Can't Take It With You, directed by Frank Capra. The picture received two "Oscars": in the nominations "Best Film" and "Best Director".
• Oscar-winning films, the list of which was replenished with the dramatic film "Rebecca" in 1941, are distinguished by great plot diversity. This time the film was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, a well-known master of the detective genre and director of horror films. The film was presented in 11 nominations, but received only two "Oscars": for "Best Film" and "Best Cinematography".

Best movies

A special list includes the most Oscar-winning films that received five or more prestigious statuettes. There could have been more nominations.

• "It Happened One Night" is the title of an Oscar-winning film starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Comedy melodrama directed by Frank Capra in 1934. The film can also be categorized as "Best Oscar-winning films" as it won as many as five "Oscar" awards. The coveted statuette was awarded in the nominations: "Best Film", "Script", "Direction", "Female Role", "Male Role".
• The category "Oscar-winning films", the list of which is quite extensive, also includes a 1940 motion picture called "Gone with the Wind" with Vivien Leigh andStarring Clark Gable. The film was directed by Victor Fleming. For this masterpiece of cinematography, another category should have been created - "Oscar-winning films of all time", so popular and successful is it. Box office receipts amounted to $ 200 million and exceeded the cost of producing the picture fifty times. The film received 8 "Oscars" in various categories.
• Ben Hur, directed by William Wyler in 1959 at MGM Studios, grossed $164 million at the box office and won eleven Oscars in various categories.
• The Sound of Music is a 1965 film directed by Robert Wise at 20th Century Fox. Starring Julia Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film received five Oscars in the nominations: "Best Film", "Best Director", "Music", "Best Sound".
• The historical film "Gladiator" directed by Ridley Scott won five Oscars. The picture was nominated for 12 positions, while the award was received in the categories: "Best Film", "Best Actor", "Visual Effects", "Sound Accompaniment", "Best Costumes".

• Hamlet is a 1948 film based on the tragedy of the same name by William Shakespeare, starring Laurence Olivier and Gene Simmons. The picture won in five categories: "BestFilm", "Female Lead", "Best Actor", "Artist's Work", "Best Costumes".
• The 1994 film "Forrest Gump" directed by Robert Zemeckis is a touching melodramatic story about lovers. Starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright. The film won six Oscars.
• The English Patient is a 1996 drama film directed by Anthony Minghella. The film was nominated for 12 Oscars and won nine awards. The director believes that 9 "Oscars" is a well-deserved award for his team.
• The film called "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", which made a splash and is still considered the main event of American cinema, was created by director Milos Forman in 1959. The main character, played by Jack Nicholson, is a patient in a psychiatric clinic. The film won five Oscars.
• The film "Titanic" is one of the main films in the category "Most Oscar-winning films". It was created by director James Cameron, who has more than one large-scale film project to his credit. Starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. The film received eleven Oscars, countless nominations and entered the TOP Oscar-winning films. The success of the picture is not least due to Cameron's traditional manner - his desire for scale and super effects.

List of Oscar winnersfilms by year

All film production is subject to the rules adopted for all film studios. First of all, this is a kind of centralization: producers make sure that somewhere on the other side of the world they do not launch a film project that is already in progress. This is not prohibited in principle, but everyone understands that the same theme cannot be in circulation, and even more so at the box office. Therefore, there is an unspoken agreement for the exchange of information between film studios. This rule does not apply to studios located in Hollywood, as everything is in plain sight and there are no overlaps, but in other countries, especially where they like to shoot westerns and other American-style films, coordination is needed.

The period from 1929 to 1951

• "Wings",
• "Broadway Tune",
• "All Quiet on the Western Front",
• "Cimarron",
• "Grand Hotel",
• "Cavalcade",
• "It happened one night",
• "The Bounty Mutiny",
• "Great Ziegfeld",
• "The Life of Emile Zola",
• "You can't take it with you",
• "Gone with the Wind",
• "Rebecca",
• "How green was my valley",
• "Mrs Miniver",
• "Casablanca",
• "Go your own way",
• "The Lost Weekend",
• "The best years of our lives",
• "Gentleman's Agreement",
• "Hamlet",
• "All the King's Men".

From 1952 to 1971

• "All About Eve",
• "An American in Paris",
• "The Greatest Show in the World",
• "From now on and forever and ever",
• "In the port",
• "Marty",
• "Around the World in 80 Days",
• "Bridge over the River Kwai",
• "Gee",
• "Ben Hur",
• "Apartment",
• "West Side Story",
• "Lawrence of Arabia",
• "Tom Jones",
• "My Fair Lady",
• "The Sound of Music",
• "A Man for All Seasons",
• "Midnight Heat",
• "Oliver!",
• "Midnight Cowboy",
• "Patton".

From 1972 to 1990

• "French connection",
• "The Godfather",
• "Scam",
• "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest",
• "Rocky",
• "Annie Hall",
• "The Deer Hunter",
• "Kramer vs. Kramer",
• "Ordinary people",
• "Fire Chariots",
• "Gandhi",
• "Tenderness",
• "Amadeus",
• "From Africa",
• "Platoon",
• "The Last Emperor",
• "Rain Man",
• "Driver Miss Daisy".

From 1991 to 2014

• "Dancing with Wolves",
• "Silence of the Lambs",
• "Unforgiven",
• "Schindler's List",
• "Forrest Gump",
• "Braveheart",
• "The English Patient",
• "Titanic",
• "Shakespeare in Love",
• "American Beauty",
• "Gladiator",
• "Mind Games",
• "Chicago",
• "The Lord of the Rings",
• "Million Dollar Baby",
• "Collision",
• "Renegades",
• "No Country for Old Men",
• "Slumdog Millionaire",
• "The Hurt Locker",
• "The King's Speech!",
• "Artist",
• "Operation Argo",
• "12 years a slave".

The best Oscar-winning films, the list of which could go on, are inscribed in golden letters in the history of world cinema.