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Collection Spotlight: Oscar Winners by Hayden Claborn '24

The Apartment (1960) – Won 5 Oscars, Including Best Picture and Director

Billy Wilder’s The Apartment is my favorite Best Picture winner. The now iconic romantic comedy was considered risque in 1960 for its frank discussion of sex and adultery. It even ended up being a clear inspiration for Mad Men. What makes the film such a masterpiece is how every scene feels a stressed test for maximum impact. Not a single moment feels wasted. And while consistently funny and clever, it doesn’t lack dramatic substance. Shirley MacLaine (who’d go on to win Best Actress for 1983’s Terms of Endearment) gives a richly textured performance as Fran Kubliek, the girl every man in the office obsesses over, including our main character CC Baxter played by Jack Lemmon. You really couldn’t ask for a better Oscar winner.

A Star is Born (1954) – Nominated for 6 Oscars, Should’ve Won Best Actress

This entry is breaking the rules in that the film didn’t win any Oscars but that is almost as much as part of the film’s legacy than not. Judy Garland losing to Grace Kelly at the 27th Academy Awards is as Groucho Marx put it “the biggest robbery since Brunx.” Garland gives a performance that is at times uncomfortable in its naked, emotional honesty. Rarely do you see a bonafide Hollywood star lay it all on the table. A Star is Born is the greatest film about Hollywood and perhaps the darkest. It’s the closest the industry has to its own Greek Tragedy. And yet, the film does contain moments of pure joy.

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) – Won 3 Oscars, Including Best Cinematography

Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has become a bit of an Oscar darling. In 2018 he won Best Picture and Director for The Shape of Water and most recently won Best Animated Feature for Netflix’s Pinocchio. His breakout, in terms of Oscar, was 2006’s Pan’s Labyrinth. Often described as a fairy tale for adults, it was nominated for 6 Academy Awards and famously lost Best Foreign Language Film (now called Best International Feature) to The Lives of Others from Germany. Pan’s Labyrinth is the kind of film that has the rare ability to really open someone’s eyes to the possibilities of cinema. Elegant and grotesque, del Toro is at the heights of his powers; delivering a story with themes of imagination, disobedience, and fascism. A modern classic in every sense of the word.

Rebecca (1940) – Won 2 Oscars, Including Best Picture

An argument could be made that Alfred Hitchcock is the most famous filmmaker in history; the only real rival being Steven Spielberg. His movies have defined cinema in such a way we’re still experiencing the ripple effects. But he never won an Oscar and his films only won six Oscars total. And my favorite Hitchcock film, Rebecca, snatched two of those Awards. Oozing with gothic atmosphere and mystery, the adaptation of the classic Daphne du Maurier novel is endlessly rewatchable for a variety of reasons. It contains iconic performances from Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine (who the next year would win her Oscar for another Hitchock film, Suspicion), and Judith Anderson (whose performance is delightfully Queer coded). And even over eighty years later, the plot is absolutely irresistible.

Get Out (2017) – Won Best Original Screenplay

It’s fair to say that Jordan Peele’s groundbreaking 2017 film Get Out is one of the best debut films ever. Rarely does a filmmaker come onto the scene with a distinct, and more impressive, fully formed voice. Even if you prefer his later two films, you look back at Get Out and it’s all there on display. Not only was the win for screenplay deserving, but it’s a rare win for the horror genre as they’re rarely recognized by the Academy Awards.

Further Reading & Relevant Links

About the Academy Awards (Britannica Academic)

Where to Stream 2024's Best Picture Oscar Nominees (Wired)