GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)Īt nearly four hours long, Victor Fleming’s adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book-about the tumultuous love life of Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh), the ultimate Southern Belle-is the longest film to be named Best Picture. William Wellman’s romantic war drama, about a love triangle involving two WWI fighter pilots and one Clara Bow, holds the distinction of being named the Academy’s very first Best Picture winner.
Where to watch it: Amazon, iTunes, YouTube Here are 30 Best Picture winners you can stream right now. This weekend, the 91st annual Oscars are sure to add yet another distinctive film to that list-but there’s still time for you to bone up on Best Pictures past. Just since 2005, we’ve seen a quirky Coen brothers crime drama ( No Country for Old Men), a gritty war flick ( The Hurt Locker), a black-and-white silent film ( The Artist), an inspiring slavery epic ( 12 Years a Slave), an experimental meditation on the life of an actor ( Birdman), a moving chronicle of a young man growing up in Miami at three stages of his life ( Moonlight), and a love story between a mute woman and a fish-man ( The Shape of Water) all claim the Academy’s top prize.
Of the 90 movies that have been named Best Picture since the very first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929, there’s no clear-cut recipe for what makes a successful film.
Picking any given year’s Oscar winners is far from an exact science.