Warner Best Picture History At The Oscars

23rd February 2013

We’re hours away from the Academy Awards 2013, and there is one big question on our minds… which title will take home the most sought after award of the night, Best Picture? Hotly tipped to win the coveted gong is Ben Affleck’s high-suspense thriller Argo, although despite this prestigious nomination, Affleck himself was controversially snubbed within the Best Director category, even though the two nominations often sit hand-in-hand.

Having sensationally scooped the Best Director gongs at most of this seasons awards, including The BAFTAs, Golden Globes and the Director’s Guide, many believe Affleck will still take to the stage on Sunday to collect the number one award for Best Picture. It will certainly be compelling viewing, and we will be on the edge of our seat waiting to see whether Argo and Affleck can turn heads on tradition and take home the Best Picture accolade.

Why not whet your Oscars appetite by taking a look through our gallery featuring a host of historic Warner Bros. Best Pictures, including classics which have stood the test of time, Gone with The Wind, Ben-Hur, Casablanca and Unforgiven.

If you fancy watching some of these classic Oscar winners in a brand new way, you can now enjoy some of these Best Picture Academy Award™ Winners via Blu-ray Steel Book editions. Casablanca, Ben-Hur and Gone with the Wind Steel Books contain original theatrical art work and never-before-seen extra content.

Best Picture Wins

1992 – “Unforgiven”

Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman and Richard Harris starred in this unsparing Western saga in Unforgiven, following a man who cannot escape his violent destiny. Eleven years have passed since Billy Munny (Eastwood) laid down his weapons, dedicating himself to his young children and struggling farm. However, when a huge bounty lures Munny back into action with his loyal partner, Ned Logan (Freeman), the tortured former gunslinger faces vicious sheriff Little Bill Daggett (Bill Hackman) and the lethally elegant mercenary English Bob (Harris). Even more terrifying, Munny finds himself regressing into the cold-blooded killer he once was.

1990 – “Dances With Wolves”

Kevin Costner directed and starred in this triumphant global blockbuster which was winner of seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Dances with Wolves. Lt. John Dunbar (Costner, Rumor Has It…, 3000 Miles to Graceland) becomes a hero of the United States Civil War after his choice for a quick death in battle, rather than slow agony on the operating table, leads to major Union victory. Surprised to survive both the conflict and his wounds, Dunbar asks for an assignment on the Frontier to see the West before it is tamed. Alone in an abandoned fort, Dunbar gradually learns to respect and befriend the members of the nearby tribe of Sioux and falls in love with Stands with Fist (Mary McDonnell, Mrs. Harris, Battlestar Galactica), an orphaned child of pioneers who has been raised by Indians.

1984 – “Amadeus”

1984’s Amadeus was not only a gripping human drama and sumptuous period epic that celebrated the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but it was also a box-office hit that managed to garner 8 Academy Awards. This film portrays the rivalry between the genius Mozart (Tom Hulce) and the jealous court composer (F.Murray Abraham) who may have ruined Mozart’s career and shortened his life.

1975 – “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”

Based on Ken Kesey’s acclaimed bestseller, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest swept up all five major Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay Adaptation.

On one side is Randle P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), a free-spirited con who fakes insanity and moves in with what he calls the “nuts.” Immediately, his contagious sense of disorder runs up against numbing routine. On the other is soft-spoken Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), among the most coldly monstrous villains in film history. At stake, is the fate of every patient on the ward.

1959 – “Ben-Hur”

The winner of 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor, Ben-Hur stands as one of the greatest Hollywood epics ever filmed. A member of the Jewish nobility living in Jerusalem, Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) lives a religious life and peacefully opposes the tyrannical occupation of Judea by Rome. When a boyhood friend, Messala (Stephen Boyd), returns to the region as a Roman official, he and Judah become estranged due to Messala’s fanatical loyalty to Rome and ruthless indifference to the fate of Judea. Casting friendship aside, Messala fabricates a charge of treason against Ben-Hur, his sister and mother, all of whom are arrested by Roman soldiers. While the fate of his family remains unknown to him, Judah is condemned to spend the rest of his life enslaved on a Roman warship. However, his fate takes a fortuitous turn when he saves the life of the fleet commander, Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins). Freed from slavery, Judah becomes Arrius’ adopted son and a horse trainer. Rather than forgetting his past to become the heir of the Roman aristocrat, Judah sets his sights on finding his family and exacting his revenge on the treacherous Messala, which Judah eventually does in the famous chariot race.

1943 – “Casablanca”

Behind the scenes shot of cinematographer Arthur Edeson preparing to film the parting moment between Humphrey Bogart as Richard ‘Rick’ Blaine and Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund Laszlo on the foggy airport set

Academy Award winners Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman light up the screen in one of the most enduring romances in movie history-Casablanca. Rick Blaine (Bogart, The African Queen, The Caine Mutiny) owns a nightclub in Vichy-controlled Casablanca, frequented by refugees desperate to escape German domination. Despite the ever-present human misery, Rick manages to remain uninvolved in World War II now raging across Europe and Northern Africa. But all that changes when Ilsa Lund (Bergman, Gaslight, Notorious) walks through the front door of Rick’s club, Rick must now choose between a life with the woman he loves and becoming the hero that both she and the world need.

1939 – “Gone with the Wind”

Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Olivia de Havilland and Hattie McDaniel star in this classic epic of the American South. On the eve of the United States Civil War, rich, beautiful and self-centered Scarlett O’Hara (Leigh) has everything she could want except Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard). But as the war devastates the South, Scarlett discovers the strength within herself to protect her family and rebuild her life. Through everything, she longs for Ashley, unaware that she is already married to the man she really loves (Gable)-and who truly loves her-until she finally drives him away. Only then does Scarlett realize what she has lost … and decide to win him back.

Considered one of the greatest classic American movies, Gone With The Wind won 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, Hattie McDaniel, the first Oscar awarded to an African-American actor.

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