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Every Best Picture Winner In Oscar History

By Cheryl Wassenaar

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The ’20s and ’30s

As noted on the Academy Awards’ own website, the eligibility window originally overlapped. For example, Wings won for all films released between Aug. 1, 1927 and Aug. 1, 1928. This changed starting in 1935, which moved the eligibility window to the preceding calendar year, 1934.

The Winners

1927/28: Wings

  • Wings also won an Oscar for Best Effects in Engineering.

1928/29: The Broadway Melody

  • The Broadway Melody only had three nominations and one win.

1929/30: All Quiet on the Western Front

  • All Quiet on the Western Front director Lewis Milestone also took home an Oscar.

1930/31: Cimarron 

  • Cimarron also won Oscars in the Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Art Direction categories.

1931/32: Grand Hotel 

  • Despite having a cast that included Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford, Grand Hotel received only a Best Picture nod that year.

1932/33: Cavalcade

  • Cavalcade took home the Best Director (Frank Lloyd) and Best Art Direction Oscars as well.

1934: It Happened One Night 

  • Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert won the Best Actor and Best Actress in a Leading Role Awards; Frank Capra won Best Director. It Happened One Night also won for Best Adapted Screenplay.

1935: Mutiny on the Bounty 

  • Clark Gable had a shot at a second Best Actor Oscar win here for Mutiny on the Bounty.

1936: The Great Ziegfeld

  • The Great Ziegfeld also won Luise Rainer a Best Actress in a Leading Role Oscar and Best Dance Direction.

1937: The Life of Emile Zola

  • Emile Zola had 10 nominations, but only won three awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Joseph Schildkrauer), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture.

1938: You Can’t Take It with You

  • Director Frank Capra took home another Best Director win for this film.

1939: Gone with the Wind

  • Vivien Leigh and Hattie McDaniel swept the Best Actress categories. Victor Fleming snagged the Best Director win. Additionally, the movie won in the Color Cinematography, Art Direction, Adapted Screenplay, and Film Editing categories.

Key Picks

It’s tough to go wrong with any of the three Clark Gable movies represented here, but to pull it down to two we’ll suggest It Happened One Night and Gone with the Wind, mostly because you can also see Claudette Colbert and Vivien Leigh in action, respectively. Alternatively, Grand Hotel won’t steer you wrong.

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