20. “Midnight Cowboy” (1969)
The birth of a real sea-change in Academy Award-winners (the first X-rated film, the first with gay themes), John Schlesinger‘s heartbreaking story of the relationship between two NYC hustlers has aged a little in 45 years, but remains hugely potent thanks to Waldo Salt‘s phenomenal script, and, more than anything, the wrenching performances from Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman. Plus Harry Nilsson, obviously…
19. “Gone With The Wind” (1939)
“Gone With The Wind” had a production of almost unrivaled difficulty, burning through multiple directors, but the result was absolutely worth it—the film won more Oscars than anything else up to that point, and adjusted for inflation, is the most successful film in history. Whatever its problems are—hugely troubling depictions of race and gender; it’s about an hour too long—one can’t ignore the glorious Technicolor sweep of the thing, or the soapy pleasures of the story.
18. “The Deer Hunter” (1978)
Michael Cimino’s elegy to the Vietnam War is incredibly ambitious, and makes good on most of its ambition, not least in a clutch of amazing performances from Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and John Cazale. And its scope was rivaled by its success, with the film winning nine Academy awards.
17. “The Lost Weekend” (1945)
Somewhat atypical even for the restless Billy Wilder, “The Lost Weekend” might be mistaken for an ‘issues’ movie as the film tackles the evergreen topic of alcoholism, in the shape of Ray Milland‘s boozy writer. But the director’s melding of psychological realism and heightened film noir style keeps it miles away from being a movie of the week, and it remains gritty and near-definitive on the subject to this day.
16. “Rebecca” (1940)
Winning out in a competitive year (“The Philadelphia Story,” “The Great Dictator,” “The Grapes of Wrath” and a second Hitchcock effort, “Foreign Correspondent” were also nominees), Alfred Hitchcock’s adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novel is worthy even against that field. Creepily gothic in atmosphere, and boasting an Olivier performance finely balanced between charm and cruelty, it’s a compulsive, sinuous, doom-laden treat.
15. “The Bridge On The River Kwai” (1957)
There’ve been plenty of WWII movies in Oscar contention, but few with the power or texture of David Lean‘s “The Bridge On The River Kwai.” A near-definitive look at Japanese POW camps, digging into questions of heroism and honor while being thoroughly entertaining throughout, it’s barely aged a day, in part thanks to the tremendous performances by Alec Guinness and William Holden, among others.
14. “The French Connection” (1971)
The small miracle of ’70s classic “The French Connection” is how ordinary it ought to be, and isn’t. It’s a fairly standard cop thriller plot, but played with such grit and realism by Gene Hackman and directed with such an eye for action and seedy violence by William Friedkin, that it simply transcends its story. Exactly the sort of movie we usually bemoan not winning, only this time, it did.
13. “All Quiet On The Western Front” (1930)
Only the third-ever Best Picture winner, Lewis Milestone‘s adaptation of the best-selling WWI novel remains one of the most powerful anti-war statements ever put on screen, and a film years ahead of its time. Told from the German side, it’s a bleak picture with combat scenes that still impress, and it’s shot through with memories of a conflict that still left scars. It says something about its power that it was banned in Germany under the Nazis, who understood the power of its pacificist sentiments.
12. “All About Eve” (1950)
Oscar voters love movies about performers and actors, and none have made the impact of “All About Eve,” which was nominated for 14 Oscars, more than any other movie (since matched only by “Titanic“). Joseph L. Mankiewicz‘s story about the rivalry between aging Broadway star Bette Davis and ambitious upstart Anne Baxter remains an acerbic and bitchy delight, one of the best-ever inside-baseball pictures, and the home of Davis’ most seminal work.
11. “It Happened One Night” (1934)
Frank Capra’s joyous screwball Big-5 winner (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Screenplay) is one of the ultimate Golden Age of Hollywood charmers in which a wry worldly journalist (Clark Gable) gets lumbered with a fleeing socialite (Claudette Colbert) on the promise of an exclusive… and guess what happens? The jokes come thick and fast, but it’s the chemistry that the lead pair rustle up effortlessly that makes even its creakiest corners sing.
