We’re less than 48 hours away from the 89th Academy Awards! This year it’s very likely that the musical La La Land will take home the night’s top prize, along with numerous others. So in honor of the Oscars this weekend, and the direction it’s expected to take, I put together a list (and made gifs!) of some of my favorite musicals nominated for Best Picture (including a few that won the industry’s highest honor). And since this year’s ceremony honors the best in film for 2016, I narrowed down the number of favorite musicals to 16, which wasn’t too easy as the Academy has nominated a great number of my favorite musicals for Best Picture. So without further ado, my 16 favorite musicals Oscar-nominated for Best Picture in chronological order…
42nd Street (1933), directed Lloyd Bacon
Nominated for Best Picture at the 6th Academy Awards – 42nd Street
Nominated for 1 other Oscar
Competition for Best Picture:
Cavalcade (winner)
A Farewell to Arms
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
Lady for a Day
Little Women
The Private Life of Henry VIII.
She Done Him Wrong
Smilin’ Through
State Fair
Top Hat (1935), directed by Mark Sandrich
Nominated for Best Picture at the 8th Academy Awards – Top Hat
Nominated for 3 other Oscars, including Best Original Song for “Cheek to Cheek”
Competition for Best Picture:
Mutiny on the Bounty (winner)
Alice Adams
Broadway Melody of 1936
Captain Blood
David Copperfield
The Informer
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Les Misérables
Naughty Marietta
Ruggles of Red Gap
The Wizard of Oz (1939), directed by Victor Fleming
Nominated for Best Picture at the 12th Academy Awards – The Wizard of Oz
Won 2 Oscars, including Best Original Song for “Over the Rainbow”
Nominated for 3 other Oscars
Competition for Best Picture:
Gone with the Wind (winner)
Dark Victory
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Love Affair
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Ninotchka
Of Mice and Men
Stagecoach
Wuthering Heights
An American in Paris (1951), directed by Vincente Minnelli
Won Best Picture at the 24th Academy Awards – An American in Paris
Won 5 other Oscars, including Best Original Screenplay
Nominated for 2 other Oscars, including Best Director
Competition for Best Picture:
Decision Before Dawn
A Place in the Sun
Quo Vadis
A Streetcar Named Desire
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), directed by Stanley Donen
Nominated for Best Picture at the 27th Academy Awards – Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Won 1 Oscar
Nominated for 3 other Oscars, including Best Adapted Screenplay
Competition for Best Picture:
On the Waterfront (winner)
The Caine Mutiny
The Country Girl
Three Coins in the Fountain
The King and I (1956), directed by Walter Lang
Nominated for Best Picture at the 29th Academy Awards – The King and I
Won 5 Oscars, including Best Actor for Yul Brynner
Nominated for 3 other Oscars, including Best Actress for Deborah Kerr and Best Director
Competition for Best Picture:
Around the World in Eighty Days (winner)
Friendly Persuasion
Giant
The Ten Commandments
West Side Story (1961), directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise
Won Best Picture at the 34th Academy Awards – West Side Story
Won 9 other Oscars, including Best Supporting Actor for George Chakiris, Best Supporting Actress for Rita Moreno, and Best Director
Nominated for 1 other Oscar for Adapted Screenplay
Competition for Best Picture:
Fanny
The Guns of Navarone
The Hustler
Judgment at Nuremberg
The Music Man (1962), directed by Morton DaCosta
Nominated for Best Picture at the 35th Academy Awards – The Music Man
Won 1 Oscar
Nominated for 4 other Oscars
Competition for Best Picture:
Lawrence of Arabia (winner)
The Longest Day
Mutiny on the Bounty
To Kill a Mockingbird
Mary Poppins (1964), directed by Robert Stevenson
Nominated for Best Picture at the 37th Academy Awards – Mary Poppins
Won 5 Oscars, including Best Actress for Julie Andrews and Best Original Song for “Chim Chim Cher-ee”
Nominated for 7 other Oscars, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay
Competition for Best Picture:
My Fair Lady (winner)
Becket
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Zorba the Greek
The Sound of Music (1965), directed by Robert Wise
Won Best Picture at the 38th Academy Awards – The Sound of Music
Won 3 other Oscars, including Best Director
Nominated for 5 other Oscars, including Best Actress for Julie Andrews and Best Supporting Actress for Peggy Wood
Competition for Best Picture:
Darling
Doctor Zhivago
Ship of Fools
A Thousand Clowns
Funny Girl (1968), directed by William Wyler
Nominated for Best Picture at the 41st Academy Awards – Funny Girl
Won 1 Oscar for Best Actress for Barbra Streisand
Nominated for 6 other Oscars, including Best Supporting Actress for Kay Medford and Best Original Song for “Funny Girl”
Competition for Best Picture:
Oliver! (winner)
The Lion in Winter
Rachel, Rachel
Romeo and Juliet
Cabaret (1972), directed by Bob Fosse
Nominated for Best Picture at the 45th Academy Awards – Cabaret
Won 8 Oscars, including for Best Actress for Liza Minnelli, Best Supporting Actor for Joel Grey, and Best Director
Nominated for 1 other Oscar, including Best Adapted Screenplay
Competition for Best Picture:
The Godfather (winner)
Deliverance
The Emigrants
Sounder
All That Jazz (1979), directed by Bob Fosse
Nominated for Best Picture at the 52nd Academy Awards – All That Jazz
Won 4 Oscars
Nominated for 4 other Oscars, including Best Actor for Roy Scheider, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay
Competition for Best Picture:
Kramer vs. Kramer (winner)
Apocalypse Now
Breaking Away
Norma Rae
Beauty and the Beast (1991), directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise
Nominated for Best Picture at the 64th Academy Awards – Beauty and the Beast
Won 2 Oscars, including Best Original Song for “Beauty and the Beast”
Nominated for 3 other Oscars, including Best Orignal Song for “Belle” and “Be Our Guest”
Competition for Best Picture:
The Silence of the Lambs (winner)
Bugsy
JFK
The Prince of Tides
Moulin Rouge! (2001), directed by Baz Luhrmann
Nominated for Best Picture at the 74th Academy Awards – Moulin Rouge!
Won 2 Oscars
Nominated for 5 other Oscars, including Best Actress for Nicole Kidman
Competition for Best Picture:
A Beautiful Mind (winner)
Gosford Park
In the Bedroom
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Chicago (2002), directed by Rob Marshall
Won Best Picture at the 75th Academy Awards – Chicago
Won 5 other Oscars, including Best Supporting Actress for Catherine Zeta-Jones
Nominated for 7 other Oscars, including Best Actress for Renée Zellweger, Best Supporting Actor for John C. Reilly, Best Supporting Actress for Queen Latifah, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Song for “I Move On”
Competition for Best Picture:
Gangs of New York
The Hours
The Lord of the Rings
The Pianist
Feel free to share your favorite musicals nominated for Best Picture in the comments! Or the ones that Oscar somehow ignored (like Singin’ in the Rain, aka the greatest musical of all time).
