In this article, we list the celebrated directors who were nominated for (and won) an Academy Award for movies made between 1927 and 1949.
Did your favourite director miss out on an Oscar? Let us know in the comments below.
1st Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1927 and 1928
Nominated Directors
Charles Chaplin – The Circus
Frank Borzage – 7th Heaven
Herbert Brennon – Sorrell and Son
King Vidor – The Crowd
Lewis Milestone – Two Arabian Knights
Ted Wilde – Speedy
Best Director Winner
Lewis Milestone – Two Arabian Knights (Comedy)
Frank Borzage – 7th Heaven (Dramatic)
2nd Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1928 and 1929
Nominated Directors
Ernst Lubitsch – The Patriot
Frank Lloyd – Drag / The Divine Lady / Weary River
Harry Beaumont – The Broadway Melody
Irving Cummings – In Old Arizona
Lionel Barrymore – Madame X
Best Director Winner
Frank Lloyd – The Divine Lady
3rd Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1929 and 1930
Nominated Directors
Clarence Brown – Anna Christie / Romance
Ernst Lubitsch – The Love Parade
King Vidor – Hallelujah
Lewis Milestone – All Quiet on the Western Front
Robert Leonard – The Divorcee
Best Director Winner
Lewis Milestone – All Quiet on the Western Front
4th Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1930 and 1931
Nominated Directors
Clarence Brown – A Free Soul
Josef von Sternberg – Morocco
Lewis Milestone – The Front Page
Norman Taurog – Skippy
Wesley Ruggles – Cimarron
Best Director Winner
Norman Taurog – Skippy
5th Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1931 and 1932
Nominated Directors
Frank Borzage – Bad Girl
Josef von Sternberg – Shanghai Express
King Vidor – The Champ
Best Director Winner
Frank Borzage – Bad Girl
6th Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1932 and 1933
Nominated Directors
Frank Capra – Lady for a Day
Frank Lloyd – Cavalcade
George Cukor – Little Women
Best Director Winner
Frank Lloyd – Cavalcade
7th Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1934
Nominated Directors
Frank Capra – It Happened One Night
Victor Schertzinger – One Night of Love
W. S. Van Dyke – The Thin Man
Best Director Winner
Frank Capra – It Happened One Night
8th Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1935
Nominated Directors
Frank Lloyd – Mutiny on the Bounty
Henry Hathaway – The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
John Ford – The Informer
Michael Curtiz – Captain Blood
Best Director Winner
John Ford – The Informer
9th Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1936
Nominated Directors
Frank Capra – Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Gregory La Cava – My Man Godfrey
Robert Z. Leonard – The Great Ziegfield
William Wyler – Dodsworth
W.S. Van Dyke – San Francisco
Best Director Winner
Frank Capra – Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
10th Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1937
Nominated Directors
Gregory La Cava – Stage Door
Leo McCarey – The Awful Truth
Sidney Franklin – The Good Earth
William Dieterle – The Life of Emile Zola
William Wellman – A Star Is Born
Best Director Winner
Leo McCarey – The Awful Truth
11th Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1938
Nominated Directors
Frank Capra – You Can’t Take It With You
King Vidor – The Citadel
Michael Curtiz – Four Daughters / Angels with Dirty Faces
Norman Taurog – Boys Town
Best Director Winner
Frank Capra – You Can’t Take It With You
12th Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1939
Nominated Directors
Frank Capra – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
John Ford – Stagecoach
Sam Wood – Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Victor Fleming – Gone with the Wind
William Wyler – Wuthering Heights
Best Director Winner
Victor Fleming – Gone with the Wind
13th Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1940
Nominated Directors
Alfred Hitchcock – Rebecca
George Cukor – The Philadelphia Story
John Ford – The Grapes of Wrath
Sam Wood – Kitty Foyle
William Wyler – The Letter
Best Director Winner
John Ford – The Grapes of Wrath
14th Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1941
Nominated Directors
Alexander Hall – Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Howard Hawks – Sergeant York
John Ford – How Green Was My Valley
Orson Welles – Citizen Kane
William Wyler – The Little Foxes
Best Director Winner
John Ford – How Green Was My Valley
15th Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1942
Nominated Directors
John Farrow – Wake Island
Mervyn LeRoy – Random Harvest
Michael Curtiz – Yankee Doodle Dandy
Sam Wood – Kings Row
William Wyler – Mrs. Miniver
Best Director Winner
William Wyler – Mrs. Miniver
16th Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1943
Nominated Directors
Clarence Brown – The Human Comedy
Ernst Lubitsch – Heaven Can Wait
George Stevens – The More the Merrier
Henry King – The Song of Bernadette
Michael Curtiz – Casablanca
Best Director Winner
Michael Curtiz – Casablanca
17th Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1944
Nominated Directors
Alfred Hitchcock – Lifeboat
Billy Wilder – Double Indemnity
Henry King – Wilson
Leo McCarey – Going My Way
Otto Preminger – Laura
Best Director Winner
Leo McCarey – Going My Way
18th Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1945
Nominated Directors
Alfred Hitchcock – Spellbound
Billy Wilder – The Lost Weekend
Clarence Brown – National Velvet
Jean Renoir – The Southerner
Leo McCarey – The Bells of St. Mary’s
Best Director Winner
Billy Wilder – The Lost Weekend
19th Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1946
Nominated Directors
Clarence Brown – The Yearling
David Lean – Brief Encounter
Frank Capra – It’s a Wonderful Life
Robert Siodmak – The Killers
William Wyler – The Best Years of Our Lives
Best Director Winner
William Wyler – The Best Years of Our Lives
20th Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1947
Nominated Directors
David Lean – Great Expectations
Edward Dmytryk – Crossfire
Elia Kazan – A Gentleman’s Agreement
George Cukor – A Double Life
Henry Koster – The Bishop’s Wife
Best Director Winner
Elia Kazan – A Gentleman’s Agreement
21st Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1948
Nominated Directors
Anatole Litvak – The Snake Pit
Fred Zinnemann – The Search
Jean Negulesco – Johnny Belinda
John Huston – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Laurence Olivier – Hamlet
Best Director Winner
John Huston – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
22nd Academy Awards
Best Director: Films of 1949
Nominated Directors
Carol Reed – The Fallen Idol
Joseph L. Mankiewicz – A Letter to Three Wives
Robert Rossen – All the King’s Men
William A. Wellman – Battleground
William Wyler – The Heiress
Best Director Winner
Joseph L. Mankiewicz – A Letter to Three Wives
How many of these movies have you seen? Let us know in the comments below.