Oscars best picture movies history, list of every winning movie

LOS ANGELES — In the Oscars’ 93-year history, the Academy has nominated 571 films in the best picture award.

Some winners, like “Forrest Gump” (1994), are considered classics, while others, like “Silence of the Lambs” (1991), are trailblazers in their genres.

“Titanic” (1997) and “All About Eve” (1950) top the list as the most-nominated movies to win best picture, with 14 nominations each. “La La Land” (2016) also boasts 14 nominations but did not win best picture, even if Warren Beatty’s famous faux pas had millions of ceremony viewers briefly believing it had.

“Titanic” is also one of three movies to win a record 11 awards, joined by “Ben-Hur” (1959) and “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.” Yet the latter takes the cake for being the most-nominated movie to win in every single nominated category.

FULL LIST: 2021 Oscar nominees

“Gone with the Wind” (1939) was the pioneer for color films, while “Midnight Cowboy” (1969) is the only X-rated film to ever win best picture.

Few sequels are nominated for best picture and only two have won: “The Godfather Part II” (1974) and “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.”

When “Parasite” won best picture in 2020, it became the first foreign-language film to take home the Academy’s highest honor. This is only the second time a foreign-language film has made the nominees list: “Grand Illusion” (1938), in French, was the first.

Only one best picture winner, “The Hurt Locker” (2009), was directed by a woman, Kathryn Bigelow. A 2021 win for “Nomadland” (Chloé Zhao) or “Promising Young Woman” (Emerald Fennell) could up that number to two. Female-directed movies have only made that nominee list 14 times.

As movie buffs know, winning several awards in other categories does not guarantee best picture success. “Cabaret” (1972) won in eight categories but lost to “The Godfather” for the top prize.

And even though Steven Spielberg is the most-nominated best picture film producer, with 10 nominations, he’s only taken home one golden statuette in that category for “Schindler’s List” (1993).

Here are the best picture winners listed in reverse chronolectal order. The accompanying year indicates when the film was released, not when it won its Oscar:

2010s

“Parasite” (2019)

“Green Book” (2018)

“The Shape of Water” (2017)

“Moonlight”(2016)

“Spotlight” (2015)

“Birdman” (2014)

“12 Years a Slave” (2013)

“Argo” (2012)

“The Artist” (2011)

“The King’s Speech” (2010)

2000s

“The Hurt Locker” (2009)

“Slumdog Millionaire” (2008)

“No Country for Old Men” (2007)

“The Departed” (2006)

“Crash” (2005)

“Million Dollar Baby” (2004)

“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003)

“Chicago” (2002)

“A Beautiful Mind” (2001)

“Gladiator” (2000)

1990s

“American Beauty” (1999)

“Shakespeare in Love” (1998)

“Titanic” (1997)

“The English Patient” (1996)

“Braveheart” (1995)

“Forrest Gump” (1994)

“Schindler’s List” (1993)

“Unforgiven” (1992)

“The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)

“Dances with Wolves” (1990)

1980s

“Driving Miss Daisy” (1989)

“Rain Man” (1988)

“The Last Emperor” (1987)

“Platoon” (1986)

“Out of Africa” (1985)

“Amadeus” (1984)

“Terms of Endearment” (1983)

“Gandhi” (1982)

“Chariots of Fire” (1981)

“Ordinary People” (1980)

1970s

“Kramer vs. Kramer” (1979)

“The Deer Hunter” (1978)

“Annie Hall” (1977)

“Rocky” (1976)

“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975)

“The Godfather Part II” (1974)

“The Sting” (1973)

“The Godfather” (1972)

“The French Connection” (1971)

“Patton” (1970)

1960s

“Midnight Cowboy” (1969)

“Oliver!” (1968)

“In the Heat of the Night” (1967)

“A Man for All Seasons” (1966)

“The Sound of Music” (1965)

“My Fair Lady” (1964)

“Tom Jones” (1963)

“Lawrence of Arabia” (1962)

“West Side Story” (1961)

“The Apartment” (1960)

1950s

“Ben-Hur” (1959)

“Gigi” (1958)

“The Bridge on the River Kwai” (1957)

“Around the World in 80 Days” (1956)

“Marty” (1955)

“On the Waterfront” (1954)

“From Here to Eternity” (1953)

“The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952)

“An American in Paris” (1951)

“All About Eve” (1950)

1940s

“All the King’s Men” (1949)

“Hamlet” (1948)

“Gentleman’s Agreement” (1947)

“The Best Years of Our Lives” (1946)

“The Lost Weekend” (1945)

“Going My Way” (1944)

“Casablanca” (1943)

“Mrs. Miniver” (1942)

“How Green Was My Valley” (1941)

“Rebecca” (1940)

1930s

“Gone with the Wind” (1939)

“You Can’t Take It with You” (1938)

“The Life of Emile Zola” (1937)

“The Great Ziegfeld” (1936)

“Mutiny on the Bounty” (1935)

“It Happened One Night” (1934)

“Cavalcade” (1933)

“Grand Hotel” (1932)

“Cimarron” (1931)

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (1930)

1920s

The Broadway Melody” (1929)

“Wings” (1927)

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