How important is the specific genre of the film for its chances to win the Best Picture Oscar This year, the five Best Picture nominees are: Babel, The Departed, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, and The Queen.
Which movie genres (biopicture, historical epic, drama, comedy, musical, Western, suspense-thriller) have dominated the Best Picture winners
Here is a list of all 80 Oscar-winning pictures classified by genre.
1920s
1927-28: Wings (war)
1928-29: Broadway Melody (musical)
1929-30: All Quiet on Western Front (war)
1930s
1930-31: Cimarron (western)
1931-32: Grand Hotel (drama)
1932-33: Cavalcade (drama)
1934: It Happened One Night (comedy)
1935: Mutiny on the Bounty (historical epic)
1936: Great Ziegfeld (musical)
1937: Life of Emile Zola (biopic)
1938: You Can’t Take It With You (comedy)
1939: Gone With the Wind (historical epic)
1940s
1940: Rebecca (suspense-thriller)
1941: How Green Was My Valley (drama)
1942: Mrs. Miniver (war drama)
1943: Casablanca (drama)
1944: Going My Way (comedy)
1945: The Lost Weekend (drama, social issue)
1946: Best Year of Our Lives (drama, social issue)
1947: Gentleman’s Agreement (drama, social issue)
1948: Hamlet (historical, literary)
1949: All the King’s Men (drama)
1950s
1950: All About Eve (drama)
1951: American in Paris (musical)
1952: Greatest Show on Earth (adventure)
1953: From Here to Eternity (drama, war)
1954: On the Waterfront (drama, social issue)
1955: Marty (drama)
1956: Around the World in 80 Days (adventure)
1957: Bridge on the River Kwai (war adventure)
1958: Gigi (musical)
1959: Ben-Hur (historical epic)
1960s
1960: The Apartment (drama/serio-comedy)
1961: West Side Story (musical)
1962: Lawrence of Arabia (historical epic/biopic)
1963: Tom Jones (historical epic/comedy)
1964: My Fair Lady (musical)
1965: The Sound of Music (musical)
1966: Man for All Season (historical epic/social issue)
1967: In the Heat of the Night (drama/social issue)
1968: Oliver! (musical)
1969: Midnight Cowboy (drama/social issue)
1970s
1970: Patton (biopic/war)
1971: The French Connection (action-adventure)
1972: The Godfather (drama/social issue)
1973: The Sting (comedy)
1974: The Godfather, Part II (drama/social issue)
1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (drama/social issue)
1976: Rocky (drama/social issue)
1977: Annie Hall (comedy)
1978: The Deer Hunter (war)
1979: Kramer Vs. Kramer (drama/social issue)
1980s
1980: Ordinary People (drama/social issue)
1981: Chariots of Fire (drama/social issue)
1982: Gandhi (biopic/historical epic)
1983: Terms of Endearment (drama/serio comedy)
1984: Amadeus (musical/biopic)
1985: Out of Africa (historical epic/biopic)
1986: Platoon (war)
1987: The Last Emperor (historical epic/biopic)
1988: Rain Man (drama/social issue)
1989: Driving Miss Daisy (drama/serio comedy)
1990s
1990: Dances With Wolves (western/social issue)
1991: Silence of the Lambs (suspense/horror)
1992: Unforgiven (Western)
1993: Schindler’s List (historical epic/social issue)
1994: Forrest Gum (historical epic/drama)
1995: Braveheart (historical epic/biopic)
1996: The English Patient (historical epic/literary)
1997: Titanic (historical epic/disaster)
1998: Shakespeare in Love (comedy/historical/literary)
1999: American Beauty (drama/serio comedy)
2000
2000: Gladiator (historical epic)
2001: Beautiful Mind (biopic/social issue)
2002: Chicago (musical)
2003: Lord of the Rings: Return of the Kings (historical epic/literary)
2004: Million Dollar Baby (drama/social issue)
2005: Crash (drama/social issue)
2006: The Deaprted (crime/gangster)
2007: No Country for Old Men (thriller/drama)