Added by epicgordan on 21 Apr 2012 11:13

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Alternate Best Picture Winners (1927-Today)

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1927/1928

Outstanding Picture, Production: Wings
Unique and Artistic Production: Sunrise
What should have won BP of 1927: Metropolis
If it could win for BP of 1928: The Passion of Joan of Arc

201

7.6

Wings (1927)

The first true Best Picture winner according to the Academy.

662

8.6

8.1

Sunrise (1927)

The winner of Best Artistic Production.

2013

8.3

Metropolis (1927)

The film I would have selected for Best Film of 1927.

766

8.7

8.1

The Passion of Joan of Arc (2002)

This is my pick of the best film of 1928, even over The Wind and The Circus.

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1929

What won: The Broadway Melody
What should have won: Pandora's Box

5.7

The Broadway Melody (1929)

Won, and really dated today. Probably borders on so-bad-it's-good today anyways.

epicgordan's rating:

391

7.8

Pandora's Box

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1930

What won: All Quiet on the Western Front
Distant Runner-up: Earth

668

8.1

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Won, and deservedly so.

epicgordan's rating:

190

7.9

7.2

Earth (1930)

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1931

What won: Cimarron
What should have won: City Lights

Runner-ups include: Dracula, Frankenstein, and Little Caesar.

5.7

5.9

Cimarron (1931)

Had promise, but never deserved Best Picture.

epicgordan's rating:

1334

8.6

8.5

City Lights (1931)

Should have won, and easily Charlie Chaplin's best movie.

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1932

What won: Grand Hotel
What should have won: Shanghai Express

263

7.5

7.3

Grand Hotel

epicgordan's rating:

230

7.3

Shanghai Express (1932)

epicgordan's rating:

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1933

What won: Cavalcade
What should have won: King Kong

5.7

5.8

Cavalcade (1933)

Terrible movie; never should have won.

epicgordan's rating:

1268

7.5

7.9

King Kong (1933)

Groundbreaking and epic; should have won Best Picture.

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1934

What won: It Happened One Night
What should have won: The Thin Man

906

8.1

It Happened One Night

This film won, and I regret giving this film a 9 star rating already.

epicgordan's rating:

348

7.9

The Thin Man

A highly iconic who-done-it film and the movie that should have won Best Picture of the year.

epicgordan's rating:

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1935

What won: Mutiny on the Bounty
What should have won: The 39 Steps

281

7.4

7.6

Mutiny on the Bounty

A fine Best Picture winner.

epicgordan's rating:

751

7.5

7.6

The 39 Steps

Very early Hitchcock that was better than Mutiny.

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1936

What won: The Great Ziegfeld
What should have won: My Man Godfrey

Runner-ups include: Dodsworth, Libeled Lady, and Modern Times

106

6.6

The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

One of the worst Best Picture winners ever made.

epicgordan's rating:

7.8

7.9

Libeled Lady (1936)

epicgordan's rating:

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1937

What Won: The Life of Emile Zola
What should have won: Grand Illusion

Runner-ups include: The Awful Truth, Lost Horizon, and Stage Door

Overrated: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

148

7.3

7.2

The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

Meh.

epicgordan's rating:

532

8.3

8.1

The Grand Illusion (1937)

epicgordan's rating:

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1938

What Won: You Can't Take It With You
What should have won: The Adventures of Robin Hood

Honorable Mentions: Angels with Dirty Faces, Bringing up Baby, A Christmas Carol, Jezebel, and Pygmalion

264

7.4

7.9

You Can't Take It with You (1938)

I am not a fan of Frank Capra. But it doesn't take a genius to tell that this is quite possibly the worst film he's ever done (personally, it's runner up to Arsenic and Old Lace).

epicgordan's rating:

614

7.8

7.9

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

The purest of all Robin Hood movies. Definitely should have been the winner over YCTIWY.

epicgordan's rating:

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1939

What won: Gone With the Wind
What should have won: The Women

Runner-ups include: Dark Victory, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Stagecoach, and Wuthering Heights

Overrated: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and The Wizard of Oz

2527

7.9

8.1

Gone with the Wind (1939)

I only saw this movie one time, and I can safely say that this is definitely a good movie that I highly recommend all of you to watch if you haven't already.

epicgordan's rating:

162

7.7

7.8

The Women (1939)

Regardless, Gone with the Wind is a touch overrated, with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington AND The Wizard of Oz extremely so. If anything, the best of the best of 1939 is the Citizen Kane of all chick flicks, 1939's The Women (NOT the remake).

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1940

What won: Rebecca
What should have won: Fantasia

Runner ups include: Foreign Correspondent, The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Dictator, The Letter, Pinocchio, The Philadelphia Story, and The Thief of Bagdad

1220

8.1

Rebecca (1940)

A common misconception is that either Grapes of Wrath or Philadelphia Story won Best Picture in 1940. Neither is true. Instead, the true Best Picture winner of 1940 was a little film by Alfred Hitchcock, and trust me when I say that, inspite of how good a year 1940 was, this was perhaps his weakest of all of his movies (not that that's saying much).

epicgordan's rating:

2245

7.5

7.8

Fantasia (1941)

Again, a ton of truly great movies in 1940; Grapes of Wrath, Philadelphia Story, Foreign Correspondent, The Great Dictator, and Pinocchio just to name a few. But if I were to choose which film won Best Picture in 1940, I would have to give it to the pure embodiment of art in film itself, Fantasia.

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1941

What won: How Green Was My Valley
What should have won: Citizen Kane (of course)
My personal favorite: The Maltese Falcon

345

7.5

7.7

How Green Was My Valley (1942)

Seriously, who remembers this movie in any way other than that film that beat Citizen Kane for Best Picture?

epicgordan's rating:

2860

8.2

8.3

Citizen Kane

Personally, prefer The Maltese Falcon, but there's no denying its status as arguably the greatest movie ever made.

epicgordan's rating:

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1942

What won: Mrs. Miniver
What should have won (for this year): Casablanca

Runner-up: The Magnificient Ambersons

192

7.5

7.6

Mrs. Miniver (1942)

A cloyingly sentimental propaganda film won Best Picture. Why? Because by that time, we already declared World War II.

epicgordan's rating:

3365

8.2

8.5

Casablanca

An interesting story here. Even though this is one of the greatest films ever made and deserved to win Best Picture, there's only one problem: It won for 1943 when it was a 1942 movie. Therefore, it should have won for 1942 rather than 1943.

epicgordan's rating:

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1943

What won (instead of the year before): Casablanca
What should have won: Shadow of a Doubt

8.7

6.1

Casablanca, Casablanca (1985)

See above for Casablanca.

NOTE: I know this is the wrong movie, but I can't use the same poster twice.

808

7.9

7.8

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

If we are to play by the literal calender date, this would have been my choice for Best Picture of 1943.

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1944

What won: Going My Way
What should have won: Double Indemnity

108

7.3

Going My Way

Good movie, though not my personal choice for Best Picture.

epicgordan's rating:

1040

8.3

Double Indemnity (1944) (1952)

The film that should have won, and is easily Billy Wilder's best movie by far.

epicgordan's rating:

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1945

What won: The Lost Weekend
What should have won: Spellbound

512

7.9

The Lost Weekend (1945)

epicgordan's rating:

687

7.4

7.5

Spellbound (1945)

epicgordan's rating:

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1946

What won: The Best Years of Our Lives
What should have won: Beauty and the Beast

Runner-ups include: Great Expectations, Notorious, The Razor's Edge, and The Yearling

Good, but overrated: It's a Wonderful Life

470

8.1

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Personally, I really enjoyed this movie, even moreso than It's a Wonderful Life.

epicgordan's rating:

462

7.9

Beauty and the Beast (1946)

Even compared to the Disney version of 1991 (which I like a great deal), this is one of the truly great fantasy films of all time. So many fantasy that was snubbed in the past, but at the bare minimum, this should have been the first pure fantasy film to have taken home top honors.

Oh, and did I mention I find It's a Wonderful Life to be overrated? Good, but overrated.

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1947

What won: Gentleman's Agreement
What should have won: The Bishop's Wife

198

7.4

7.3

Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

All I know about this film is that it won. Frankly, I never saw this movie.

epicgordan's rating:

181

7.4

7.6

The Bishop's Wife (1947) (1947)

Of the films I saw (and truly eligible for Best Picture of 1947), this is the one that I'd highly recommend the most.

epicgordan's rating:

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1948

What won: Hamlet
Tied for win: The Red Shoes

Runner-ups include: Macbeth, Oliver Twist, The Three Musketeers, and The Treasure of Sierra Madre

Overrated: Bicycle Thieves

255

7.6

Hamlet

The only Shakespeare film to have won Best Picture (not counting West Side Story as a remake).

epicgordan's rating:

520

8.2

8.1

The Red Shoes (1948)

This movie is an equal in quality to Hamlet.

epicgordan's rating:

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1949

Winner: All the King's Men
Should have won: The Third Man

Honorable Mentions: Colorado Territory, The Fountainhead, The Heiress, Little Women, and White Heat

128

7.5

All the King's Men (1949)

One of the few political films I greatly admire. But whatever you do, do not watch the Sean Penn remake.

epicgordan's rating:

1141

8.3

8.1

The Third Man (1949)

This iconic noir film should have won over All the King's Men regardless.

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1950

Winner: All About Eve
Runner-up: Sunset Boulevard

Honorable Mentions: The Asphalt Jungle, Harvey, King Solomon's Mines, Rashomon, and Winchester '73

1129

8.3

8.2

All About Eve (1950)

Even though this film beat out Sunset Boulevard for Best Picture, I actually prefer this movie to Sunset.

epicgordan's rating:

1580

8.5

8.4

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

A dangerously close second. This was definitely a prime example of a film in which the top 2 best films of the year competed for Best Picture, and both are among the greatest films ever made.

epicgordan's rating:

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1951

Winner: An American in Paris
Should have won: The Day the Earth Stood Still

Honorable Mentions: The Racket, Strangers on a Train, and The Thing from Another World

Overrated: A Streetcar Named Desire

492

7.2

An American in Paris (1951)

All style, and literally no substance. Heck, there isn't even a story to this movie, or any real characters. It's just stylish--albeit dated--musical numbers over cheesy sets in technicolor. And it won Best Picture over A Streetcar Named Desire!? Feh!

epicgordan's rating:

874

7.4

7.7

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

Yes, I am selecting this film as being superior to A Streetcar Named Desire because let's face it; that film is dated and overacted too. And this is one of the greatest Science Fiction films ever made.

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Voters of this movie list - View all

Consider this to be a work in progress, but the general idea is that I will be covering each and every year from 1927 to the present year what I consider to be the right choices on what truly was the Best Picture of a given year. It doesn't matter if the film was nominated; all that matters is that it was the better film (it just has to be given a base release of a given year).

So, with that said, here is my list of my Alterate Best Picture Winners!