As Hollywood is preparing for the 86th Academy Awards ceremony and the world is guessing at which of the ten best picture nominated films will walk away with Oscar gold, we looked back at past best picture winners. It’s interesting to find that only one person has directed more than two best picture winners. Most of the directors that today’s audiences consider the greatest have no more than one best picture under their belt and only a few have two.
Perfect example is Rebecca winner of the best picture of 1940. This is the only picture directed by Alfred Hitchcock to win the Oscar for best picture.
Lawrence of Arabia swept the 35th Academy Awards with 10 nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Substantially Original Score, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay and won seven awards including best director to David Lean and Best Cinematography to Frederick A. Young.
Elia Kazan directed the 1954 best picture Oscar winner On the Waterfront. This was the 2nd best picture winner for Kazan.
Francis Ford Coppola, directed two best picture winners, The Godfather (1972) and of course The Godfather Part II (1974).
Billy Wilder also only directed two winners, The Lost Weekend in 1945 and fifteen years later with The Apartment (1960).
To date only William Wyler directing three best picture winners, Mrs. Miniver (1942), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) and Ben-Hur (1959).
There have been a number of best picture winners that were directed by the film’s star, the first being Hamlet (1948) Laurence Olivier (director and star).
Braveheart (1995) by Mel Gibson
Clint Eastwood for the Unforgiven in 1992 and Million Dollar Baby in 2004, Kevin Costner in 1990 for Dances With Wolves and 2012 winner Argo by Ben Affleck.
Other best picture winners include:
Third Academy Award celebration winner All Quiet on the Western Front (1929/1930) directed by Lewis Milestone
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) directed by Frank Lloyd
The Great Ziegfeld (1936) directed by Robert Z. Leonard
You Can’t Take It with You (1938) directed by Frank Capra (who also directed the 1934 winner It Happened One Night).
Gone with the Wind (1939) directed by Victor Fleming
All About Eve (1950) directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (this was the only film that Marilyn Monroe appeared which won the Oscar for best picture)
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