It’s that time of year again where Hollywood’s finest come to celebrate the best films created in the past year and the winners take home the much-loved famed gold statue. 2021 marks a strange year for award season. Gone is the red carpet in favour of social distanced selfies from home. The tradition may have changed but it’s the perfect time to get swept up in Oscar fever by watching some of the best films winning Best Picture. Dating back to 1927, we’ve hand-picked the top movies for you to watch before the 2021 ceremony.
1920s
1927: Wings
The very first film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, Wings tells the story of Jack Powell (Charles Rogers) & David Armstrong (Richard Arlen), two World War I fighter pilots who are both in love with Sylvia Lewis (Jobyna Ralston). Clara Bow co-stars as Mary Preston, the loveable girl next door.
1930s
1932: Grand Hotel
At a luxurious Berlin hotel in between the wars, the once-wealthy Baron Felix von Gaigern (John Barrymore) supports himself as a thief and gambler. Adapted from the successful Broadway play, Barrymore romances Grusinskaya (Greta Garbo), an ageing ballerina and teams with Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore), a dying accountant against his former boss, Preysing, a crooked industrialist (Wallace Beery), and his ambitious stenographer, Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford).
1940s
1942: Casablanca
Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), who owns a nightclub in Casablanca, discovers his old flame Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) is in town with her husband, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid). Lazlo is a famed rebel, and Ilsa needs Rick’s help to get her husband out of the country.
1950s
1952: An American in Paris
Jerry Mulligan (Gene Kelly) is an American ex-GI who stays in post-war Paris to become a painter and falls for the charms of Lise Bouvier (Leslie Caron). However, his paintings come to the attention of Milo Roberts, a rich American heiress, who is interested in more than just art.
1960s
1962: West Side Story
Two teenage gangs, The Jets led by Riff, and the Sharks led by Bernardo, struggle for control on the Upper West Side in 1950s New York City. At a dance, The Jet’s Tony falls in love with Bernardo’s sister, Maria. They know they can’t be together because of the gangs but that doesn’t stop them.
1970s
1973: The Godfather
In the first instalment in The Godfather trilogy, the story chronicles the Corleone family under patriarch Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), focusing on the transformation of his youngest son, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), from reluctant family outsider to ruthless mafia boss.
1980s
1989: Rain Man
When car dealer Charles Babbitt (Tom Cruise) learns his estranged father has died, he returns home to Cincinnati where he discovers Raymond, his autistic older brother (Dustin Hoffman). His father’s $3 million fortune is being left to the mental institution in which Raymond lives. Motivated by his father’s money, Charlie checks Raymond out of the facility to return with him to Los Angeles. The brothers’ cross country trip ends up changing both their lives.
1990s
1995: Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), a man with a low IQ, recounts the early years of his life when he found himself in the middle of key historical events and his relationship with childhood friend, Jenny (Robin Wright). Sally Field stars as Forrest Gump’s dedicated mother.
2000s
2009: Slumdog Millionaire
Surviving on the streets of Mumbai with his brother as a stable of thieves 18-year-old Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) becomes a contestant in the show “Kaun Banega Croorepati?”, an Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”. When interrogated under suspicion of cheating, Jamal flashbacks to how he got there.
2010s
2018: The Shape of Water
The Shape of Water is an otherworldly tale during America’s Cold war era circa 1962. In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is trapped in a life of isolation. Elisa’s life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) discover a secret classified experiment.
Getting caught up in Oscar fever?
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Let us know your favourite Oscar-winning movie below or tag us using your favourite Majority device on social media. @majorityaudio #majorityaudio #carbonneutralaudio #lovequalitysound #oscarmovies #bestpicture #oscars2021
