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The Oscars: Best Picture Edition

The race for the last award of the night is always a nail-biter. See if you can remember which movie snagged the golden boy for Best Picture!

1. The nominees for Best Picture of 1984 are:
   • Amadeus
   • The Killing Fields
   • A Passage to India
   • Places in the Heart
   • A Soldier’s Story
   The winner is:

   Amadeus

   

   In total, Amadeus was nominated for 53 awards and received 40, including eight Academy Awards, four BAFTA Awards, and four Golden Globes.

2. The nominees for Best Picture of 1944 are:
   • Double Indemnity
   • Gaslight
   • Going My Way
   • Since You Went Away
   • Wilson
   The winner is:

   Going My Way

   

   Going My Way was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won 7; it was also the highest grossing movie of 1944, beating out powerhouses such as Gaslight and Double Indemnity.

3. The nominees for Best Picture of 1977 are:
   • Annie Hall
   • The Goodbye Girl
   • Julia
   • Star Wars
   • The Turning Point
   The winner is:

   Annie Hall

   

   Annie Hall is the second-shortest Best Picture winner of all time, at 1 hour and 33 minutes (Marty was the shortest, at 1 hour and 31 minutes).

4. The nominees for Best Picture of 1937 are:
   • The Awful Truth
   • Captains Courageous
   • Dead End
   • The Good Earth
   • In Old Chicago
   • The Life of Emile Zola
   • Lost Horizon
   • One Hundred Men and a Girl
   • Stage Door
   • A Star Is Born
   The winner is:

   The Life of Emile Zola

   

   The Life of Emile Zola was the first biopic to win Best Picture, and is actually one of only two biopics that have ever won the award. The other was The King’s Speech in 2010.

5. The nominees for Best Picture of 1967 are:
   • Bonnie and Clyde
   • Doctor Dolittle
   • The Graduate
   • Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
   • In the Heat of the Night
   The winner is:

   In the Heat of the Night

   

   In the Heat of the Night was the first (and, to this day, the only) mystery to win Best Picture.

6. The nominees for Best Picture of 1991 are:
   • Beauty and the Beast
   • Bugsy
   • JFK
   • The Prince of Tides
   • The Silence of the Lambs
   The winner is:

   The Silence of the Lambs

   

   The Silence of the Lambs is the only horror movie to date to ever win Best Picture, and is only the third movie in history to win every major Academy Award (Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, and Screenwriter).

7. The nominees for Best Picture of 1952 are:
   • The Greatest Show on Earth
   • High Noon
   • Ivanhoe
   • Moulin Rouge
   • The Quiet Man
   The winner is:

   The Greatest Show on Earth

   

   Many consider The Greatest Show on Earth to be the worst film ever to win Best Picture. Some have alleged that it won because of the political climate in Hollywood (director Cecil B. DeMille was one of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s supporters), although it is more likely that it was seen as a “last chance” vote for De Mille, to honor his work going back to the silent era.

8. The nominees for Best Picture of 1989 are:
   • Born on the Fourth of July
   • Dead Poets Society
   • Driving Miss Daisy
   • Field of Dreams
   • My Left Foot
   The winner is:

   Driving Miss Daisy

   

   Driving Miss Daisy is the last film to date to win Best Picture without being nominated for Best Director. It is also the last picture to date to win with a PG rating (or lower).

9. The nominees for Best Picture of 1958 are:
   • Auntie Mame
   • Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
   • The Defiant Ones
   • Gigi
   • Separate Tables
   The winner is:

   Gigi

   

   Gigi, with 9 Oscars, broke the record for most Academy Award win, but the record only held for one year. The following year Ben-Hur won 11 Oscars, a number that remains unbeaten to this day.

10. The nominees for Best Picture of 2002 are:
    • Chicago
    • Gangs of New York
    • The Hours
    • The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
    • The Pianist
    The winner is:

    Chicago

    

    Chicago was the first musical in nearly 40 years to win Best Picture. The last musical to win was Oliver! in 1968.

11. The nominees for Best Picture of 1960 are:
    • The Alamo
    • The Apartment
    • Elmer Gantry
    • Sons and Lovers
    • The Sundowners
    The winner is:

    The Apartment

    

    The Apartment was the last completely black-and-white film to win Best Picture. In 2000, Kevin Spacey dedicated his Best Actor award for American Beauty to Jack Lemmon’s performance in this film.

12. The nominees for Best Picture of 1996 are:
    • The English Patient
    • Fargo
    • Jerry Maguire
    • Secrets & Lies
    • Shine
    The winner is:

    The English Patient

    

    The English Patient is tied with Gandhi for the record of most Oscars for a British production.

13. The nominees for Best Picture of 1929 are:
    • Alibi
    • The Broadway Melody
    • The Hollywood Revue of 1929
    • In Old Arizona
    • The Patriot
    The winner is:

    The Broadway Melody

    

    The Broadway Melody was the first sound film to win Best Picture.

14. The nominees for Best Picture of 1933 are:
    • 42nd Street
    • Cavalcade
    • A Farewell to Arms
    • I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
    • Lady for a Day
    • Little Women
    • The Private Life of Henry VIII
    • She Done Him Wrong
    • Smilin’ Through
    • State Fair
    The winner is:

    Cavalcade

    

    Cavalcade was the first film produced by Fox Studios to win Best Picture. It is also the only Best Picture winner that is not available as a DVD (with the exception of a limited-edition box set that retails at more than $400).

15. The nominees for Best Picture of 2006 are:
    • Babel
    • The Departed
    • Letters from Iwo Jima
    • Little Miss Sunshine
    • The Queen
    The winner is:

    The Departed

    

    The Departed, directed by Martin Scorsese, is the first (and only) remake of a foreign film to win Best Picture.

16. The nominees for Best Picture of 1940 are:
    • All This, and Heaven Too
    • Foreign Correspondent
    • The Grapes of Wrath
    • The Great Dictator
    • Kitty Foyle
    • The Letter
    • The Long Voyage Home
    • Our Town
    • The Philadelphia Story
    • Rebecca
    The winner is:

    Rebecca

    

    Rebecca is the first and only thriller to date to win Best Picture.