Academy Awards - Best Picture Winners: 1927/8--

Order by: Date | Film Title

This page presents an alphabetical (by film title) listing of all films voted "Best Picture" by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
To view other Oscar category winners, consult the Official Academy Awards Database.

Alphabetical List of Best Picture Winners

1927/8-1929 · 1930s · 1940s · 1950s · 1960s · 1970s · 1980s · 1990s · 2000s

1927/8-1929

Wings (1927/8): PN1997 .W5639x 1989 VIDEO West Media; The story of two men who have gone to war and the girl they both leave behind. (catalog record)

The Broadway Melody (1928/29): A videotape copy is on order for the West Library.

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1930s

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930): PT2635 .E68 I613 1994 West Media; #54 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; A group of young World War I German recruits pass from idealism to disillusionment with war. (catalog record)

Cimarron (1930/31): PN1997 .C496x 1989 VIDEO West Media; Epic western about the Cravat family settling the Oklahoma prairie. (catalog record)

Grand Hotel (1931/32): PN1997 .G6798 2004 DVD West Media; Set in the 1930s this drama presents the comings and goings of guests at an expensive Berlin hotel. (catalog record)

Cavalcade (1932/33): PN1997 .C38 1993 VIDEO West Media; The film traces the lives of two different families over three decades from the Boer War to the close of the 19th century through World War I and the early 1930's. (catalog record)

It Happened One Night (1934): PN1995.9.C55 I843 1999 DVD West Media; #35 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; A rich young woman marries an idle playboy against her father's will. Her father holds her captive on his yacht but she escapes and, while on her way to New York, becomes entangled with an unemployed news reporter. (catalog record)

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935): PN1997 .M872x 1984 VIDEO West Media; A detailed account about the conflicts between the brutal Captain Bligh and his first mate, Fletcher Christain, which led to the mutiny aboard H.M.S. Bounty in the South Pacific in 1789. (catalog record)

The Great Ziegfeld (1936): PN1997 .G6889x 1989 VIDEO v.1-2 West Media; A biography of the theatrical impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. (catalog record)

The Great Ziegfeld (1936): PN1997 .G68892 1999 VIDEO v.1-2 West Media; (catalog record)

The Life of Emile Zola (1937): PN1997 .L5754x 1989 VIDEO West Media; Explores the career of the novelist Emile Zola who rises from the ranks of a starving artist to high acclaim. He risks everything when he defends the case of Alfred Dreyfus who was sent to Devil's Island for a crime he did not commit. (catalog record)

You Can't Take It With You (1938): PN1995.9 .C55 Y673x 1989 VIDEO West Media; The antics of an eccentric family and the evils of big business come to the fore in this comedy. The hilarity hits fever pitch when the daughter in this wacky family falls for a rich young man and brings him home. (catalog record)

Gone With the Wind (1939): PN1997 .G5883 1999 DVD West Media; #4 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; Set during the American Civil War, this story focuses on the lives and loves of Southerners during this period and the hardships they endured. (catalog record)

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1940s

Rebecca (1940): PN1997 .R2573 1998 VIDEO West Media; A young bride is brought by her new husband to his manor house in England. There she finds that the memory of her husband's first wife haunts her, and she tries to discover the secret of that mysterious woman's death. (catalog record)

Rebecca (1940): PN1997 .R2575 2001 DVD West Media; (catalog record)

How Green Was My Valley (1941): PN1997 .H666 2002 DVD West Media; A man looks back on his life as a boy in a small Welsh mining town. His reminiscences reveal the disintegration of his closely knit family while capturing the sentiments and issues of their time. (catalog record)

Mrs. Miniver (1942): PN1997 .M81196 2004 DVD West Media; The story of a middle-class British family and their struggle to survive during WWII. (catalog record)

Casablanca (1943): PN1997 .C3525x 1998 VIDEO West Media; #2 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; In World War II Morocco, seething with European refugees desperate for passage to neutral Lisbon, only a world-weary and bitter nightclub owner can help his former lover and her Resistance-hero husband escape from the Nazis. (catalog record)

Going My Way (1944): PN1997.G568372 1999 DVD West Media; When old and fading St. Dominic's Church gets a new priest, things are bound to change. For starters, young Father O'Malley meets the crusty old Father Fitzgibbon, who doesn't think much of him or his ideas. The two have their differences but O'Malley is able to inspire some neighborhood roughnecks to open their hearts and minds in a way the old priest simply could not do. (catalog record)

The Lost Weekend (1945): PN1997 .L763 1990 VIDEO West Media; A would-be writer's dissatisfaction with his life leads him on a three-day binge. This film gives an uncompromising look at the devestating effects of alcoholism. (catalog record)

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946): PN1997 .B43x 1985 VIDEO v.1-2 West Media; #37 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; Three returning WWII veterans face problems as they attempt to pick up the threads of their previous lives. (catalog record)

Gentleman's Agreement (1947): PN1997 .G426x 1993 VIDEO West Media; A writer who is assigned to do a magazine series on anti-Semitism decides to pose as a Jew, and soon discovers what it is like to be a victim of religious intolerance. (catalog record)

Hamlet (1948): PN1997 .H255x 1987 VIDEO v.1-2 West Media; Hamlet, a prince of medieval-era Denmark, senses treachery behind his royal father's death. His mother is all too dangerously entangled in that treachery. This film portrays Shakespeare's immortal tale of high adventure and evil deeds. (catalog record); Note: Fletcher Library has other videorecording productions of "Hamlet" - productions with different casts.

All The King's Men (1949): PN1997 .A3247x 1990 VIDEO West Media; Based on the life of Louisiana's Huey Long, the film shows the transformation of a backwoods Southern lawyer to a corrupt politician. (catalog record)

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1950s

All About Eve (1950): PN1997 .A3229x 1980 VIDEO v.1-2 West Media; #16 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; The rise to fame of a ruthless and ambitious young actress. (catalog record)

An American in Paris (1951): PN1997 .A343 1986 VIDEO West Media; #68 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; A musical based on George Gershwin's popular songs about an ex-American G.I. artist in Paris after the war who becomes involved in a love triangle, between his sponser, best friend and a lovely young woman. (catalog record)

The Greatest Show on Earth (1952): PN1997 .G68895 2004 DVD West Media; Drama based on the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. (catalog record)

From Here to Eternity (1953): PN1997 .F7653 2001 DVD West Media; #52 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; A drama about life in the regular Army in the days prior to World War II. Shows the effect of Army discipline on an individualistic former boxing champion who defies the attempts of officers and men to break him when he refuses to fight on the company's boxing team. Includes actual scenes of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. (catalog record)

On the Waterfront (1954): PN1997 .O4344 2001 DVD West Media; #8 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; An ex-fighter gets a job working on the gang-ridden waterfront under a crooked gangster boss. (catalog record)

Marty (1955): PN1997 .M374x 1988 VIDEO West Media; A 34-year-old Brooklyn plain-looking butcher fears that he will never find love but at a Saturday night dance he meets a girl with similar fears. (catalog record)

Around the World in 80 Days (1956): PN1997 .A766 1990 VIDEO v.1-2 West Media; A Victorian era adventure in which the eccentric and precise Phineas Fogg makes a daring wager that he can circle the globe in just eighty days. (catalog record)

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957): PN1997 .B7393 2000 DVD West Media; #13 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; When British P.O.W.s build a vital railway bridge in enemy-occupied Burma, Allied commandos are assigned to destroy it. (catalog record)

Gigi (1958): PN1997 .G4453 2000 DVD West Media; A musical set in Paris in the 1890's about a young girl groomed to be a courtesan; but, who blossoms into a lady and reforms the rake to whom she has been married. (catalog record)

Ben-Hur (1959): PN1997 .B3763 1983 VIDEO v.1-2; PN1997 .B37632 1988 VIDEO v.1-2 Hayden Lower Level (Tempe); #72 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; The story of a Jewish prince, set in the time of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Christianity. Starrring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet and Stephen Boyd. (catalog record)

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1960s

The Apartment (1960): PN1995.9 .C55 A63x 1989 DVD West Media; #93 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; An ambitious office clerk plans to get ahead by lending out his apartment to his supervisor, but falls in love with the supervisor's girlfriend. (catalog record)

West Side Story (1961): PN1997 .W4563 2003 DVD West Media; #41 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; This musical sets the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet against a backdrop of the rivalry of two street gangs, the Sharks and the Jets, in New York of the 1950s. (catalog record)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962): PN1997 .L3833 1999 DVD West Media; #5 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; Presents the story of T.E. Lawrence, the man who organized the Arab nations to fight the Turks in World War I and then, having reached a pinnacle of power in Mideast politics, retired to postwar military obscurity. (catalog record)

Tom Jones (1963): PN1995.9 .C55 T6134x 1992 VDISC West Media; Lusty tale set in 18th century England. Tom Jones is an orphan raised by the village squire who grows up to be a handsome young man with a way with women. He loves the daughter of a neighboring landowner, and falls into many adventures in pursuit of her, including duels, bedroom romps and prison! (catalog record)

My Fair Lady (1964): PN1997 .M894x 1990 VIDEO v.1-2; A Cockney waif is transformed by Professor Henry Higgins into an elegant lady. (catalog record)

My Fair Lady (1964): PN1997 .M8942 1998 DVD West Media; (catalog record)

The Sound of Music (1965): PN1997 .S6389792 2002 DVD West Media; #55 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; A young novice, uncertain about becoming a nun, becomes governess to seven children of an autocratic ex-naval captain. Her charm wins over the rebellious children and the unbending captain. (catalog record)

A Man for All Seasons (1966): PN1997 .M2568x 1987 VIDEO West Media; Historical drama about the opposition of Sir Thomas More to the divorce of King Henry VIII and the events which lead to More's execution. (catalog record)

In the Heat of the Night (1967): PN1997 .H4779 1998 VIDEO West Media; While traveling in the deep south, Virgil Tibbs, a black Philadelphia homicide detective, becomes unwittingly embroiled in a murder case when he is first accused of the crime, and then asked to solve it! Finding the killer proves to be difficult, especially when his efforts are constantly thwarted by the ignorant and bigoted town sheriff. But neither man can solve this case alone. Putting aside their differences and prejudices, they join forces in a desperate race against time to discover the shocking truth. (catalog record)

Oliver! (1968): PN1997 .O398x 1985 VDISC West Media; As a young orphan, Oliver is left to fend for himself until he is befriended by a band of young thieves who quickly train him in their craft. But, Oliver is not content to be a thief for he knows that life holds great joys and that true happiness cannot be stolen, but must be earned. (catalog record)

Midnight Cowboy (1969): PN1997 .M437x 1983 VIDEO West Media; #36 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; A Texas "cowboy" takes a bus to New York in search of lonely, rich women who will pay for his sexual services, but spends a hard winter helping a con man. (catalog record)

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1970s

Patton (1970): PN1997 .P3682 2001 DVD West Media; #89 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; Story of General Patton in World War II whose military brilliance was balanced by his inability to deal with the social and political aspects of war, causing him difficulties in his dealings with the War Department. (catalog record)

The French Connection (1971): PN1997 .F7432 2001 DVD West Media; Two New York City narcotics detectives learn of a scheme to smuggle a large quantity of heroin inside an automobile being shipped from France. (catalog record)

The Godfather (1972): PN1997 .G5683x 1997 VDISC West Media; #3 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; A portrait of the Corleone family's rise to power. Shows family life and the crime business in which they are engaged. (catalog record)

The Godfather (1972): PN1997 .G568342 2001 DVD v.1 West Media; Included in "The Godfather DVD Collection." (catalog record)

The Sting (1973): PN1997 .S733 2001 DVD West Media; Set in 1930's Chicago, this story deals with two con men who seek revenge on a big-time gangster who was responsible for the murder of their friend. (catalog record)

The Godfather, Part II (1974): PN1997 .G56832x 1997 VDISC West Media; #32 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; The continuation of the saga of a Mafia family in America with its far-reaching effects on politics, law enforcement and other seemingly legitimate organizations. (catalog record)

The Godfather, Part II (1974): PN1997 .G568342 2001 DVD v.2 West Media; Included in "The Godfather DVD Collection." (catalog record)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975): PN1997 .O4523 1997 DVD West Media; #20 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; Documents the symbolic struggle of the iconoclastic patient-prisoner Randle Patrick McMurphy who has deliberately feigned his insanity to be transferred from prison to a state mental facility. While there, he unites the patients as he rebels against the oppressive Nurse Ratched and the system that now surrounds him. (catalog record)

Rocky (1976): PN1997 .R575393 1996 VIDEO West Media; Rocky Balboa, a Philadelphia club fighter who seems to be going nowhere, gets his million-to-one shot at love, self-respect and the world heavyweight boxing crown. (catalog record)

Rocky (1976): PN1997 .R575394 2001 DVD West Media; (catalog record)

Annie Hall (1977): PN1995.9.C55 A563 1998 DVD West Media; #31 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; Woody Allen's semiautobiographical portrait of his amorous, but ultimately mismatched, relationship with co-star Diane Keaton. (catalog record)

The Deer Hunter (1978): PN1997 .D436x 1991 VDISC West Media; #79 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; Drama of the friendship of a group of steelworkers from Pennsylvania who have their relationship and their courage tested when three of them go to war in Vietnam. (catalog record)

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979): PN1997 .K73x 1987 VIDEO West Media; When his wife walks out on Ted Kramer and his six-year-old son they have a chance to really get to know each other. Then Ted's wife returns and she wants her son back. (catalog record)

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1980s

Ordinary People (1980): PN1997 .O635x 1995 VDISC West Media; The "ordinary" existence of an upper middle class family is shattered with the death of the older son and the struggle of the younger son against guilt and suicide. (catalog record)

Chariots of Fire (1981): PN1997 .C436 1986 VIDEO Hayden Lower Level (Tempe); True story of Harold Abrahams, Eric Liddell, and the team of athletic competitors who brought victory to Britain in the 1924 Olympics. (catalog record)

Gandhi (1982): PN1997 .G3144 1990 VIDEO v.1-2 West Media; Chronicles the life of Mahatma Ghandi beginning with his political activities in South Africa during the late 1890's and ending with his assassination at the hands of a Hindu extremist in 1948. Shows the development of his philosophy of non-violence as he leads the people of India to independence from the British. (catalog record)

Terms of Endearment (1983): PN1997 .T4175x 1984 VDISC West Media; A comedy-drama that spans 30 years in the lives of a mother and daughter. (catalog record)

Amadeus (1984): PN1997 .A34223 1984 DVD West Media; Adapted from Peter Shaffer's play, the film presents the life of Antonio Salieri, an 18th century Viennese composer obsessed with and jealous of the musical genius of the age, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. (catalog record)

Out of Africa (1985): PN1997 .O9742 2000 DVD West Media; The true story of Karen Blixen, a strong-willed woman who runs a coffee plantation in Kenya in 1914. (catalog record)

Platoon (1986): PN1997 .P5266x 1995 VDISC West Media; A young soldier in Vietnam discovers that his enemies are not just the Viet Cong, but fear, physical exhaustion, and anger within himself and others. Sergeants Barnes and Elias - one hard and callous, the other tough yet compassionate - draw a fine line between the war they wage against the enemy and each other, dangerously dividing the loyalties of the platoon. (catalog record)

The Last Emperor (1987): PN1997 .L3365 1998 DVD West Media; The true story of Pu Yi, who, at the age of 3, toddled to the Imperial Dragon Throne to become "Lord of 10,000 Years," China's last emperor. (catalog record)

Rain Man (1988): PN1997 .R2254 2004 DVD West Media; A callous young hustler living in California finds his father has died and left him only rose bushes and a '49 Buick convertible. Feeling cheated out of what he thinks should be his 3 million dollar inheritance, he kidnaps the autistic brother he never knew he had, and takes him on the ride of his life. (catalog record)

Driving Miss Daisy (1989): PN1995.9 .C55 D7252 2003 DVD West Media; Set in Atlanta in the 1950's, a textile factory owner insists on hiring an ever-patient chauffeur for his aging head-strong mother. The Jewish woman and her African American driver eventually build a relationship over many years. (catalog record)

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1990s

Dances with Wolves (1990): PN1997 .D2635 1999 VIDEO West Media; Rewarded for his heroism in the Civil War, Lt. John Dunbar wants to see the American frontier before it is gone. He is assigned to an abandoned fort, with a Sioux tribe as his only neighbor. They overcome the language barrier and mutual fear and distrust to become friends. His knowledge of their ultimate fate forces him to make a crucial decision. (catalog record)

The Silence of the Lambs (1991): PN1997 .S4135x 1999 VIDEO West Media; This title has been selected for the National Film Registry list.; Clarice Starling, a young female FBI agent, is sent to interview notorious serial killer, Dr. Hannibal Lecter in hopes of obtaining information that will help the bureau catch another killer. (catalog record)

Unforgiven (1992): PN1997.U464x 1996 VIDEO West Media; #98 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; Two retired, down-on-their luck outlaws pick up their guns one last time to collect a bounty offered by the vengeful prostitutes of the remote Wyoming town of Big Whiskey. (catalog record)

Schindler's List (1993): PN1997.S3138x 1997 VIDEO West Media; #9 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.; The true story of the Oskar Schindler, a member of the Nazi party who saved the lives of more than 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust. (catalog record)

Forrest Gump (1994): PN1997 .F5859x 1995 VDISC West Media; Through three turbulent decades, Forrest rides a tide of events that whisks him from physical disablility to football stardom, from Vietnam hero to shrimp tycoon, from White House honors to the arms of his one true love. (catalog record)

Forrest Gump (1994): PN1997 .F8593 1996 VIDEO West Media; (catalog record)

Braveheart (1995): PN1997 .B7227x 1996 VIDEO v.1-2 West Media; The dramatic story of William Wallace, who rallied medieval Scotland to fight for liberty. (catalog record)

The English Patient (1996): PN1997 .E665 1998 DVD West Media; During World War II, a mysterious stranger is rescued from a fiery plane crash. The American allies care for him and the dangerous secrets from his past come to light. (catalog record)

Titanic (1997): PN1997 .T5492 1999 DVD West Media; Two people from different levels of society meet and fall in love on the brief, tragic maiden voyage of the grand ocean liner "Titanic". (catalog record)

Shakespeare in Love (1998): PN1995.9.C55 S499x 1999 VIDEO West Media; When Will Shakespeare needs passionate inspiration to break a bad case of writer's block, a secret romance with the beautiful Lady Viola starts the words flowing like never before! (catalog record)

American Beauty (1999): PN1995.9.C55 A528 2000 VIDEO West Media; An emotionally and spiritually comatose suburban man decides "to hell with it all" and reverts to living as he did when he was happiest--as a carefree teenager. His desperately uptight wife and sullen daughter can only look on as he quits his corporate job to become a burger flipper, starts getting high with a strange new neighbor (whose parents are even stranger) and lusts after a pouty blonde teenager--his daughter's best friend. (catalog record)

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2000s

Gladiator (2000): PN1997 .G54852 2000 DVD West Media; Maximus, a Roman general, refuses to transfer his loyalty to the new Emperor, Commodus. Forced into slavery, he then becomes a gladiator, fighting in the Roman Colosseum in defiance of the Emperor. (catalog record)

A Beautiful Mind (2001): PN1997.2 .B35895 2006 DVD Hayden Lower Level; Drama about the life struggles of mathematical genius John Nash. (catalog record); Note: Hayden Library in Tempe owns A Brilliant Madness, a biography of Nash.

Chicago (2002): PN1997.2 .C454 2002 DVD West Media; At a time when crimes of passion result in celebrity headlines, nightclub sensation Velma Kelly and spotlight-seeking Roxie Hart both find themselves on Chicago's famed Murderess Row. They also share Billy Flynn, the town's slickest lawyer with a talent for turning notorious defendants into local legends. (catalog record)

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): PN1997.2 .L674 2004 DVD West Media; Frodo makes his way through the darkness to Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring. Aragon learns of his destiny as the true King and the others prepare for a massive battle that will determine the fate of Middle-Earth. (catalog record)

Million Dollar Baby (2004): PN1997.2 .M555 2005 DVD West Media; Frankie is a former boxing manager, who initially refuses to train Maggie due to her gender and age. With her talent and his coaching the spirited young fighter rises through the ranks of women's boxing, the pair form a touching bond in the process. (catalog record)

Crash (2005): PN1997.2 .C72 2005 DVD West Media; Taking a provocative, unflinching look at the complexities of racial tolerance in contemporary America, a car accident brings a group of ethnically diverse strangers together in Los Angeles. (catalog record)

The Departed (2006): PN1997.2 .D473 DVD Hayden Lower Level; In South Boston, the state police force are waging a war on Irish-American organized crime. Undercover cop Billy Costigan is assigned to infiltrate the mob syndicate, which is run by gangland chief Frank Costello. Billy quickly gains Costello's confidence. Colin Sullivan is a hardened young criminal who has infiltrated the police department as an informer for the syndicate. Colin is rising to a position of power within the Special Investigation Unit. Each man becomes deeply consumed by his double life, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operations he has penetrated. But when it becomes clear to both the mob and the police that there's a mole in their midst, Billy and Colin are suddenly thrust into danger. Afraid of being caught and exposed to the enemy, they each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save himself.. (catalog record)

No Country for Old Men (2007): This title is not yet commercially available and therefore not owned by the ASU Libraries.

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Modified: February 25, 2008,