Oscar Nominated Movies for Best Motion Picture Story
These are all the movies that were nominated for the Oscar for Best Motion Picture Story (also went by Best Writing, Original Story). The writers nominated for the Oscar are listed in the description. The phrase "Won by" is listed in the description for the movies that won the Oscar. This category was given out from the first Oscars ceremony until 1956's ceremony (except for 1929 and 1930).
Here is a list for all of the movies that won Best Motion Picture Story: [link]https://www.imdb.com/list/ls026182701[/link]
Here is a list for all of the movies that won Best Motion Picture Story: [link]https://www.imdb.com/list/ls026182701[/link]
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- DirectorIrving RapperStarsMichel RayRodolfo Hoyos Jr.Elsa CárdenasA young boy named Leonardo adopts a bull after saving it during a storm, but their friendship is soon threatened by the legal owners of the animal who claim ownership of it and ship it off to the bullring to face a legendary bullfighter.For 1956
Won by Dalton Trumbo - DirectorGeorge SidneyStarsTyrone PowerKim NovakVictoria ShawThe life story of the famous pianist and band leader of the 1930s and 1940s.For 1956
Nominee: Leo Katcher - DirectorCharles WaltersStarsBing CrosbyGrace KellyFrank SinatraWith socialite Tracy Lord about to remarry, her ex-husband - with the help of a sympathetic reporter - has 48 hours to convince her that she really still loves him.
- DirectorYves AllégretRafael E. PortasStarsMichèle MorganGérard PhilipeVíctor Manuel MendozaLife in a small Mexican village where joy and misery, hope and pain, passion and guilt, love and decay, life and death are mixed in the peasants life and two French citizens who end up stranded in there, during a typhoid epidemic.For 1956
Nominee: Jean-Paul Sartre - DirectorVittorio De SicaStarsCarlo BattistiMaria Pia CasilioLina GennariAn elderly man and his dog struggle to survive on his government pension in Rome.For 1956
Nominee: Cesare Zavattini - DirectorCharles VidorStarsDoris DayJames CagneyCameron MitchellA fictionalized account of the career of jazz singer Ruth Etting and her tempestuous marriage to gangster Marty Snyder, who helped propel her to stardom.For 1955
Won by Daniel Fuchs - DirectorJerry HopperStarsCharlton HestonJulie AdamsWilliam DemarestAs a disciplinary measure, the Army transfers a heavy-handed Major to a ROTC academy where he must shape-up cadets and improve the school's overall ratings.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsJames DeanNatalie WoodSal MineoA rebellious young man with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies.For 1955
Nominee: Nicholas Ray - DirectorHenri VerneuilStarsFernandelFrançoise ArnoulAndrexA small town seeking publicity tries to bring together the quintuplet grandsons of the town's oldest inhabitant.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsJames StewartJune AllysonFrank LovejoyAn ex-pilot and current baseballer is recalled into the U.S. Air Force and assumes an increasingly important role in Cold War deterrence.For 1955
Nominee: Beirne Lay Jr. - DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsSpencer TracyRobert WagnerJean PetersThe saga of the Devereaux rancher family, set in 1880's Arizona.For 1954
Won by Philip Yordan - DirectorLuigi ComenciniStarsVittorio De SicaGina LollobrigidaMarisa MerliniWhen a veteran marshal is sent to a small town, he quickly falls for two women: a midwife and an earthy young woman nicknamed "Frisky".For 1954
Nominee: Ettore Maria Margadonna - DirectorRené ClémentStarsGeorges PoujoulyBrigitte FosseyAmédéeA young French girl orphaned in a German air attack is befriended by the son of a poor farmer, and together they try to come to terms with the realities of death.For 1954
Nominee: François Boyer - DirectorNunnally JohnsonStarsGregory PeckBroderick CrawfordAnita BjörkDuring the Cold War, an American soldier is abducted in West Berlin, sparking a recovery effort led by Colonel Steve Van Dyke.
- DirectorWalter LangStarsEthel MermanMarilyn MonroeDonald O'ConnorMolly and Terry Donahue, plus their three children, are The Five Donahues. Son Tim meets hat-check girl Vicky and the family act begins to fall apart.For 1954
Nominee: Lamar Trotti - DirectorWilliam WylerStarsGregory PeckAudrey HepburnEddie AlbertA bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.For 1953
Won by Dalton Trumbo - DirectorMelvin FrankNorman PanamaStarsRobert TaylorEleanor ParkerJames WhitmoreCol. Paul Tibbets piloted the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in World War II.For 1953
Nominee: Beirne Lay Jr. - DirectorAnthony KimminsStarsAlec GuinnessPeter BullCharles GoldnerThe captain of a ferry boat between the restricted British colony in Gibraltar and Spanish Morocco has a woman of differing appeal and temperament in each port.For 1953
Nominee: Alec Coppel - DirectorJohn FarrowStarsJohn WayneGeraldine PageWard BondArmy dispatch rider Hondo Lane discovers a woman and young son living in the midst of warring Apaches and becomes their protector.For 1953
Nominee: Louis L'Amour - DirectorRay AshleyMorris EngelRuth OrkinStarsRichard BrewsterWinifred CushingJay WilliamsA young boy fears that he shot his older brother, who is only faking. He then runs away to Coney Island, a crowded beach area, and gets money by returning soda bottles for their deposits.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsJames StewartCharlton HestonBetty HuttonThe dramatic lives of trapeze artists, a clown, and an elephant trainer are told against a background of circus spectacle.
- DirectorRichard FleischerWilliam Cameron MenziesStarsCharles McGrawMarie WindsorJacqueline WhiteA woman planning to testify against the mob must be protected against potential assassins on the train trip from Chicago to Los Angeles.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsRobert WalkerHelen HayesVan HeflinThe Jeffersons are the ideal picture-perfect all-American family in a small town, but their eldest son John returns home after a long absence spouting views that cause them to worry he may be a Communist.For 1952
Nominee: Leo McCarey - DirectorHarmon JonesStarsDan DaileyJoanne DruRichard HyltonThe story of Jerome "Dizzy" Dean, a major-league baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs in the 1930s and 1940s.For 1952
Nominee: Guy Trosper - DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsArthur FranzAdolphe MenjouGerald MohrA sniper kills young brunettes as the police attempt to grapple with the psychology of the unknown assailant.
- DirectorJohn BoultingRoy BoultingStarsBarry JonesAndré MorellOlive SloaneWhen a scientist threatens to detonate a powerful bomb in the heart of London, Scotland Yard has just seven days to find him before it is too late.
- DirectorBudd BoetticherStarsRobert StackJoy PageGilbert RolandHoping to impress a beautiful senorita, an American visiting Mexico trains with a famous Mexican bullfighter and becomes a competing bullfighter himself.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsRichard WidmarkDana AndrewsGary MerrillThe new commander of a Navy Underwater Demolition Team--nicknamed "Frogmen"--must earn the respect of the men in his unit, who are still grieving over the death of their former commander and resentful of the new one.For 1951
Nominee: Oscar Millard - DirectorFrank CapraStarsBing CrosbyJane WymanAlexis SmithForeign correspondent Pete Garvey has 5 days to win back his former fiancée, or he'll lose the orphans he adopted.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsPier AngeliJohn EricsonPatricia CollingeA reluctant soldier, Peter, serves in Italy during WWII. He marries a local girl named Teresa and brings her to the US.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsRichard WidmarkPaul DouglasBarbara Bel GeddesA doctor and a policeman in New Orleans have only 48 hours to locate a killer infected with pneumonic plague.
- DirectorGiuseppe De SantisStarsVittorio GassmanDoris DowlingSilvana ManganoTwo criminals on the run end up working in a rice field and decide to recruit other workers for their next robbery.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsGregory PeckHelen WestcottMillard MitchellNotorious gunfighter Jimmy Ringo rides into town to find his true love, who doesn't want to see him. He hasn't come looking for trouble, but trouble finds him around every corner.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsRicardo MontalbanSally ForrestBruce BennettA small-town policeman is assisted by a Harvard professor after the discovery of a human skeleton on a Massachusetts beach.For 1950
Nominee: Leonard Spigelgass - DirectorJohn FordStarsDan DaileyCorinne CalvetColleen TownsendWillie Kluggs enters the service with hopes of going overseas, but his uncanny marksmanship keeps him at home as a shooting instructor... much to his embarrassment.For 1950
Nominee: Sy Gomberg - DirectorSam WoodStarsJames StewartJune AllysonFrank MorganStar major league pitcher Monty Stratton loses a leg in a hunting accident, but becomes determined to leave the game on his own terms.For 1949
Won by Douglas Morrow - DirectorHenry KosterStarsLoretta YoungCeleste HolmHugh MarloweTwo nuns arrive unannounced in the small New England town of Bethlehem, where they recruit various townspeople to help them build a children's hospital.For 1949
Nominee: Clare Boothe Luce - DirectorLloyd BaconStarsRay MillandJean PetersPaul DouglasA scientist discovers a formula that makes a baseball which is repelled by wood. He promptly sets out to exploit his discovery.
- DirectorAllan DwanStarsJohn WayneJohn AgarAdele MaraHaunted by personal demons, Marine Sgt. John Stryker is hated and feared by his men, who see him as a cold-hearted sadist. But when their boots hit the beaches, they begin to understand the reason for Stryker's rigid form of discipline.For 1949
Nominee: Harry Brown - DirectorRaoul WalshStarsJames CagneyVirginia MayoEdmond O'BrienA psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist.For 1949
Nominee: Virginia Kellogg - DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsMontgomery CliftIvan JandlAline MacMahonIn post-war Berlin, an American private helps a lost Czech boy find his mother.
- DirectorRobert J. FlahertyStarsJoseph BoudreauxLionel Le BlancE. BienvenuThe idyllic life of a young Cajun boy and his pet raccoon is disrupted when the tranquility of the bayou is broken by an oil well drilling near his home.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsBarry FitzgeraldHoward DuffDorothy HartA step-by-step look at a murder investigation on the streets of New York.For 1948
Nominee: Malvin Wald - DirectorHoward HawksArthur RossonStarsJohn WayneMontgomery CliftJoanne DruDunson leads a cattle drive, the culmination of over 14 years of work, to its destination in Missouri. But his tyrannical behavior along the way causes a mutiny, led by his adopted son.For 1948
Nominee: Borden Chase - DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsAnton WalbrookMarius GoringMoira ShearerA young ballet dancer is torn between the man she loves and her pursuit to become a prima ballerina.For 1948
Nominee: Emeric Pressburger - DirectorGeorge SeatonStarsEdmund GwennMaureen O'HaraJohn PayneAfter a divorced New York mother hires a nice old man to play Santa Claus at Macy's, she is startled by his claim to be the genuine article. When his sanity is questioned, a lawyer defends him in court by arguing that he's not mistaken.For 1947
Won by Valentine Davies - DirectorJean DrévilleStarsNoël-NoëlMicheline FranceyRené GéninIn France, in 1930, the supervisor of a reformatory for young offenders seeks to awaken in them the love of music by forming a choir, despite the skepticism of the institution's director.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsDon DeForeAnn HardingCharles RugglesTwo homeless men move into a mansion while its owners are wintering in the South.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsVictor MatureBrian DonlevyColeen GrayA crook arrested for a jewelry heist initially refuses to give up his accomplices, but he changes his mind once his wife dies under worrying circumstances.For 1947
Nominee: Eleazar Lipsky - DirectorStuart HeislerStarsSusan HaywardLee BowmanMarsha HuntA successful nightclub singer weds a struggling songwriter, but when his fame eclipses hers, she delves into alcoholism.
- DirectorAlexander KordaStarsRobert DonatDeborah KerrGlynis JohnsA dull married couple, separated by their enlistment during World War II, reunite after three years to find that they have become very different people.For 1946
Won by Clemence Dane - DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsOlivia de HavillandLew AyresThomas MitchellA man is found murdered, and witnesses are sure about the woman they saw leaving his apartment. However, it becomes apparent that the woman has a twin, and finding out which one is the killer seems impossible.For 1946
Nominee: Vladimir Pozner - DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsBarbara StanwyckVan HeflinLizabeth ScottA man is reunited with his childhood friend and her husband who believes he knows the truth about the death of her rich aunt years earlier.For 1946
Nominee: John Patrick - DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesEdward G. RobinsonLoretta YoungAn investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi.For 1946
Nominee: Victor Trivas - DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsOlivia de HavillandJohn LundMary AndersonAn unwed mother, forced to give up her child to avoid scandal, follows her son's life from afar even as she prospers in business.For 1946
Nominee: Charles Brackett - DirectorHenry HathawayStarsWilliam EytheLloyd NolanSigne HassoBill Dietrich becomes a double agent for the F.B.I. in a German spy ring.For 1945
Won by Charles G. Booth - DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsJoan FontaineGeorge BrentDennis O'KeefeSusan is about to be married, but the wedding may get called off after her fiancé summons three former beaus. Each reveals a different portrait of Susan: one describes her as a naive country girl who reluctantly becomes an actress, another paints a picture of a gay party girl, and the third describes a serious intellectual. Which one is the real Susan?
- DirectorIrving PichelStarsDorothy LamourArturo de CórdovaJ. Carrol NaishOutcast Benny Martin joined the army to escape public scorn. But when the townspeople learn that he is to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, they pretend that he and his family are cherished, eminent citizens.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsErrol FlynnJames BrownWilliam PrinceA platoon of special ops are tasked to parachute into the remote Burmese jungle and destroy a strategic Japanese radar station, but getting out isn't as easy.For 1945
Nominee: Alvah Bessie - DirectorCharles VidorStarsPaul MuniMerle OberonCornel WildeBiography of Frederic Chopin.For 1945
Nominee: Ernst Marischka - DirectorLeo McCareyStarsBing CrosbyBarry FitzgeraldFrank McHughWhen young Father O'Malley arrives at St. Dominic's, old Father Fitzgibbon doesn't think much of the church's newest member.For 1944
Won by Leo McCarey - DirectorVictor FlemingStarsSpencer TracyIrene DunneVan JohnsonA dead World War II bomber pilot, Pete Sandidge becomes the guardian angel of another pilot, Ted Randall. He guides Ted through battle and helping him to romance his old girlfriend, despite her excessive devotion to Sandidge's memory.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsTallulah BankheadJohn HodiakWalter SlezakSeveral survivors of a torpedoed merchant ship in World War II find themselves in the same lifeboat with one of the crew members of the U-boat that sank their ship.For 1944
Nominee: John Steinbeck - DirectorAndré De TothStarsMarsha HuntAlexander KnoxHenry TraversThe career of a German officer shown as flashbacks from his trial as a war criminal.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsAnne BaxterThomas MitchellSelena RoyleThe lives of a close-knit group of brothers growing up in Iowa during the days of the Great Depression.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsMickey RooneyFrank MorganJames CraigTeenager Homer Macauley stays at home in small-town Ithaca to support his family while his older brother Marcus prepares to go to war.For 1943
Won by William Saroyan - DirectorLloyd BaconByron HaskinRaoul WalshStarsHumphrey BogartRaymond MasseyAlan HaleAn American tanker is sunk by a German U-boat, and the survivors spend 11 days at sea on a raft. Their next assignment - bound for Murmansk through the sub-stalked N. Atlantic.For 1943
Nominee: Guy Gilpatric - DirectorDelmer DavesStarsCary GrantJohn GarfieldAlan HaleIn order to provide information for the first air raid over Tokyo, a U.S. submarine sneaks into Tokyo Bay and places a spy team ashore.For 1943
Nominee: Steve Fisher - DirectorGeorge StevensStarsJean ArthurJoel McCreaCharles CoburnDuring the World War II housing shortage in Washington, two men and a woman share a single apartment and the older man plays Cupid to the other two.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsTeresa WrightJoseph CottenMacdonald CareyA teenage girl, overjoyed when her favorite uncle comes to visit the family in their quiet California town, slowly begins to suspect that he is in fact the "Merry Widow" killer sought by the authorities.For 1943
Nominee: Gordon McDonell - DirectorMichael PowellStarsLeslie HowardLaurence OlivierRichard GeorgeA World War II U-boat crew are stranded in northern Canada. To avoid internment, they must make their way to the border and get into the still-neutral U.S.For 1942
Won by Emeric Pressburger - DirectorMark SandrichRobert AllenStarsBing CrosbyFred AstaireMarjorie ReynoldsAt an inn which is open only on holidays, a crooner and a hoofer vie for the affections of a beautiful up-and-coming performer.For 1942
Nominee: Irving Berlin - DirectorSam WoodStarsGary CooperTeresa WrightBabe RuthThe story of the life and career of famed baseball player Lou Gehrig.For 1942
Nominee: Paul Gallico - DirectorGeorge StevensStarsCary GrantJean ArthurRonald ColmanAn escaped prisoner has to prove his innocence to a stuffy law professor with the help of a spirited school teacher.For 1942
Nominee: Sidney Harmon - DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJames CagneyJoan LeslieWalter HustonThe life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer, and singer George M. Cohan.For 1942
Nominee: Robert Buckner - DirectorAlexander HallStarsRobert MontgomeryClaude RainsEvelyn KeyesBoxer Joe Pendleton dies 50 years too soon due to a heavenly mistake, and is given a new life as a millionaire playboy.For 1941
Won by Harry Segall - DirectorHoward HawksStarsGary CooperBarbara StanwyckOscar HomolkaA group of professors working on a new encyclopedia while living in a Manhattan mansion take in a mouthy nightclub singer who is wanted by the police to help bring down her mob boss lover.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsBarbara StanwyckHenry FondaCharles CoburnA trio of classy card sharks targets a socially awkward brewery heir, until one of them falls in love with him.For 1941
Nominee: Monckton Hoffe - DirectorFrank CapraStarsGary CooperBarbara StanwyckEdward ArnoldA penniless drifter is recruited by an ambitious columnist to impersonate a non-existent person who said he'd be committing suicide as a protest, and a social movement begins.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsMargaret LockwoodRex HarrisonPaul HenreidAfter Germany invades Czechoslovakia, the German and the British intelligence services try to capture Czech scientist Dr. Axel Bomasch (James Harcourt), inventor of a new type of armor-plating.For 1941
Nominee: Gordon Wellesley - DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsClaudette ColbertRay MillandDennis O'KeefeA dashing pilot and a vivacious reporter have romantic and dramatic adventures in Europe as World War II begins.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsClark GableHedy LamarrOscar HomolkaAn American reporter smuggling news out of Soviet Moscow is blackmailed into helping a beautiful Communist leave the country.For 1940
Nominee: Walter Reisch - DirectorClarence BrownStarsSpencer TracyRita JohnsonLynne Overman82-year-old inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Alva Edison is honored in 1929 and he reflects back on his sixty-year career of scientific achievement.
- DirectorGarson KaninStarsIrene DunneCary GrantRandolph ScottMissing for seven years and presumed dead, a woman returns home on the day of her husband's second marriage.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsGary CooperWalter BrennanDoris DavenportJudge Roy Bean, a self-appointed hanging judge in Vinegarroon, Texas, befriends saddle tramp Cole Harden, who opposes Bean's policy against homesteaders.For 1940
Nominee: Stuart N. Lake - DirectorFrank CapraStarsJames StewartJean ArthurClaude RainsA naive youth leader is appointed to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. His idealistic plans promptly collide with corruption at home and subterfuge from his hero in Washington, but he tries to forge ahead despite attacks on his character.For 1939
Won by Lewis R. Foster - DirectorGarson KaninStarsGinger RogersDavid NivenCharles CoburnAn unemployed woman discovers an abandoned baby on the steps of an orphanage, and accepts an offer to take responsibility for the child in return for a job.For 1939
Nominee: Felix Jackson - DirectorLeo McCareyStarsIrene DunneCharles BoyerMaria OuspenskayaA French playboy and an American former nightclub singer fall in love aboard a ship.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsGreta GarboMelvyn DouglasIna ClaireA stern Soviet woman sent to Paris to supervise the sale of jewels seized from Russian nobles finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.For 1939
Nominee: Melchior Lengyel - DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaAlice BradyMarjorie WeaverA fictionalized account of the early life of the American president as a young lawyer facing his greatest court case.For 1939
Nominee: Lamar Trotti - DirectorNorman TaurogStarsSpencer TracyMickey RooneyHenry HullWhen a death row prisoner tells him he wouldn't have led a life of crime if only he had had one friend as a child, Father Edward Flanagan decides to start a home for young boys.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsTyrone PowerAlice FayeDon AmecheThis send-up of ragtime song and dance begins in 1915 San Francisco when society boy Roger Grant decides to pursue popular rather than serious music.For 1938
Nominee: Irving Berlin - DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJames CagneyPat O'BrienHumphrey BogartA priest tries to stop a gangster from corrupting a group of street kids.For 1938
Nominee: Rowland Brown - DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsMadeleine CarrollHenry FondaLeo CarrilloA simple peasant is forced to take up arms to defend his farm during the Spanish Civil War. Along the way he falls in love with Russian whose father is involved in espionage.For 1938
Nominee: John Howard Lawson - DirectorNorman TaurogStarsDeanna DurbinHerbert MarshallGail PatrickA young woman at a girl's school in Switzerland makes up stories about, and writes herself letters, from an imaginary explorer-adventurer father, and is eventually put in a position where she has to produce him. Interesting things happen after she talks a visiting Englishman into helping her out.
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsClark GableMyrna LoySpencer TracyJim is a test pilot. His wife Ann and best friend Gunner try their best to keep him sober. But the life of a test pilot is anything but safe.For 1938
Nominee: Frank Wead - DirectorWilliam A. WellmanJack ConwayVictor FlemingStarsJanet GaynorFredric MarchAdolphe MenjouA young woman comes to Hollywood with dreams of stardom, and achieves them only with the help of an alcoholic leading man whose best days are behind him.
- DirectorArchie MayoMichael CurtizStarsHumphrey BogartAnn SheridanDick ForanA hard-working machinist loses a promotion to a Polish-born worker, he's seduced into joining the secretive Black Legion, which intimidates foreigners through violence.For 1937
Nominee: Robert Lord - DirectorHenry KingStarsTyrone PowerAlice FayeDon AmecheThe O'Leary brothers--honest Jack and roguish Dion--become powerful figures, and eventually rivals, in Chicago on the eve of its Great Fire.For 1937
Nominee: Niven Busch - DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsPaul MuniGale SondergaardJoseph SchildkrautThe biopic of the famous French muckraking writer and his involvement in fighting the injustice of the Dreyfus Affair.