Some films receive all the Oscar hype and anticipation, but can’t seem to turn speculation into a win. Others receive abundant nominations and take home nearly every available trophy.
The most celebrated Academy Award recipients are the pictures that have swept the awards, having been nominated for several and winning most. With the 88th Academy Awards fast approaching, the team at PrettyFamous took a look at the films that have won the most Oscars over the years. To do this, we first looked at the films that won the most Oscars and broke ties based on number of nominations. We sorted this list from fewest to most wins.
#35. A Man for All Seasons
Oscar Wins: 6
Oscar Nominations: 8
Release Year: 1966
Winning six out of the eight Oscars it was nominated for, “A Man for All Seasons” came about in the era of religious historical films (think “The Ten Commandments” and “The Greatest Story Ever Told”), telling the story of Sir Thomas More and his support of King Henry VIII in the face of the Pope. Best picture, actor and director were a few of the awards won by this epic film for all seasons.
#35. An American in Paris
Oscar Wins: 6
Oscar Nominations: 8
Release Year: 1951
Gene Kelly is perhaps best known for “Singin’ in the Rain, ” but “An American in Paris” remains one of the actor-dancer’s Oscar winning best. In the film, he plays ex-soldier-turned artist Jerry Mulligan who, while staying in Paris, falls in love with two women: A free-spirited French woman and a rich art collecting heiress.
Dance numbers were choreographed by Kelly, and the score, by the Gershwins, helped win the picture six Oscars.
#33. A Place in the Sun
Oscar Wins: 6
Oscar Nominations: 9
Release Year: 1951
George Eastman is in quite the predicament; working for his rich uncle, he begins affairs with two women, leading to a complicated and twisted love triangle in George Stevens’ 1951 “A Place in the Sun.” Based on the stage play and novel “An American Tragedy, ” the film’s Oscar status was anything but, winning six awards that year.
#33. The Hurt Locker
Oscar Wins: 6
Oscar Nominations: 9
Release Year: 2008
Director Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win an Oscar helming a film.
#32. Star Wars
Oscar Wins: 6
Oscar Nominations: 10
Release Year: 1977
A space epic that became a cultural icon for more than four decades, we don’t normally associate “Star Wars” with Oscar winning performances or direction, but in fact, the original 1977 installment took home six Oscars, emphasizing its visual depiction of outer space beauty, like best costume design, best film editing and best art direction.
#31. The Godfather, Part II
Oscar Wins: 6
Oscar Nominations: 11
Release Year: 1974
Few pictures come close to surpassing the original on which they followed, but “The Godfather Part II” — the first sequel to the magnificent mobster drama — might very well be the superior film, following the rise of Michael (Al Pacino) as he commands the Corleone family with flashbacks to his late father’s rise in the Sicilian mafia.
Francis Ford Coppola’s Part II won best picture in 1975 along with five other Oscars.
#30. Mrs. Miniver
Oscar Wins: 6
Oscar Nominations: 12
Release Year: 1942
Most World War II films tell the story of the battle’s aftermath, of people, veterans and families picking up the pieces. Oscar-winning “Mrs. Miniver” deals with a British family whose troubles are only beginning at the start of the war, in this compelling, vignette-driven William Wyler film that was the recipient of six Oscars in 1943.
#28. Forrest Gump
Oscar Wins: 6
Oscar Nominations: 13
Release Year: 1994
If life is like a box of chocolates, Forrest Gump gets to taste them all, as captain of a shrimp boat, marathon star and war hero — but what’s really important is winning the heart of childhood friend Jenny.
#28. Chicago
Oscar Wins: 6
Oscar Nominations: 13
Release Year: 2002
Jazz-Age hedonism, scandal and murder clash in 2002’s “Chicago.” Intrepid attorney Billy Flynn must defend two women sent to prison, and then death row, in this musical-drama that won best picture and five other Academy Awards.
#27. All About Eve
Oscar Wins: 6
Oscar Nominations: 14
Release Year: 1950
Is Eve all that she seems? Bette Davis’ portrayal of a down-and-out fan of an aging actress, with some secretively manipulative ways, got the legendary actress and three other female cast members nominated for Oscars in this 1950 drama.
#25. The Best Years of Our Lives
Oscar Wins: 7
Oscar Nominations: 8
Release Year: 1946
The 1946 film was critically and commercially acclaimed, and won seven Oscars at the Academy Awards.
#25. The Bridge on the River Kwai
Oscar Wins: 7
Oscar Nominations: 8
Release Year: 1957
David Lean’s penchant for historically accurate films continues with his Oscar-winning “The Bridge on the River Kwai, ” following the story of World War II POWs forced to build a bridge while prisoner of the Japanese in Burma — but a plot to blow up the bridge may complicate their freedom.
One of the greatest war films, it won seven out of 10 Oscars it as nominated for in 1958, at the height of the post-war era.
#20. Lawrence of Arabia
Oscar Wins: 7
Oscar Nominations: 10
Release Year: 1962
David Lean’s historical biopic became the late Peter O’Toole’s career-defining lead role. As British lieutenant T.E. Lawrence, he’s anointed Lawrence of Arabia as a go-between for the English and Arabs in the search for Prince Faisal.
#20. Going My Way
Oscar Wins: 7
Oscar Nominations: 10
Release Year: 1944
“Going My Way” was 1944’s highest-grossing film (earning $6.5 million in 1940s dollars). It told the story of a young priest (Bing Crosby) who takes over a parish in a tough New York neighborhood, where things become complicated when the clergyman’s old flame comes back into his life. This Golden-Age musical won seven Oscars and catapulted Crosby to stardom.
#20. Patton
Oscar Wins: 7
Oscar Nominations: 10
Release Year: 1970
George C. Scott doesn’t just play General George S. Patton in 1971’s best picture winner, he virtually is General Patton. In his most recognizable and respected role, the biopic of the famed World War II hero tells the story of Patton’s wartime campaigns and ultimate fall from military grace. Scott’s opening monologue is example enough why “Patton” was selected as a Library of Congress National Film Registrant.
#20. The Sting
Oscar Wins: 7
Oscar Nominations: 10
Release Year: 1973
Paul Newman and Robert Redford’s second turn together (after Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), “The Sting” made caper flicks popular again. The 1973 comedy heist follows the lives of two con men who seek revenge on a ruthless crime boss. Who can forget Marvin Hamlisch’s tinkling, ragtime piano theme?
#20. Gravity
Oscar Wins: 7
Oscar Nominations: 10
Release Year: 2013
Many films deal with the possibility of being lost in space, but none done so artfully as Alfonso Cuaron’s “Gravity.” When two astronauts — a rookie on her first shuttle mission and a veteran set to retire — are stranded out in the galaxy, their only alternative might be to venture further into the atmosphere. Though it didn’t win its best picture nomination, “Gravity” won seven out of 10 that year, including best director.
#19. Out of Africa
Oscar Wins: 7
Oscar Nominations: 11
Release Year: 1985
Based on the true story of Baroness Karen Blixen (in an Oscar-nominated performance by Meryl Streep), the wealthy heiress must choose between her philandering husband and an enigmatic hunter in the plains of 1930s Africa. Together with Gandhi, one of the 1980s’ most screen accurate, sweeping period pieces, “Out of Africa” won best picture and best director for Sydney Pollack.
