6 Best Oscar Best Picture Winners of the 1950s

By Vlad Zakh · June 16, 2026

The 1950s Best Picture winners were lavish musicals and sweeping epics. Ben-Hur sends a betrayed Jewish prince after revenge, Gigi has a Parisian girl groomed as a courtesan falling for love instead, and Marty has a lonely butcher finding love at a dance hall. From Here to Eternity, The Greatest Show on Earth and An American in Paris round out the six.

Ben-Hur (1959)

IMDb ★ 8.1 RT 87% Metacritic 90

A betrayed Jewish prince seeks revenge on his childhood friend, now a powerful Roman official.

Directed by William Wyler · 3h 32m · Rated G

Won 11 Oscars29 wins & 13 nominations

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Gigi (1958)

IMDb ★ 6.6 RT 90% Metacritic 82

A Parisian girl raised to become a courtesan is instead quietly fallen for by an old family friend.

Directed by Vincente Minnelli · 1h 55m · Rated G

Won 9 Oscars23 wins & 9 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: TCM · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Marty (1955)

TMDB ★ 7.6

A lonely, unassuming butcher unexpectedly finds love with a plain schoolteacher at a local dance.

Directed by Delbert Mann · 1h 30m · Rated NR

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

From Here to Eternity (1953)

TMDB ★ 7.6

Soldiers stationed in Hawaii deal with love and rivalry in the tense months before Pearl Harbor.

Directed by Fred Zinnemann · 1h 58m · Rated NR

Where to watch

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

TMDB ★ 6.5

Rival performers and management clash behind the scenes of a travelling American circus.

Directed by Cecil B. DeMille · 2h 32m · Rated NR

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

An American in Paris (1951)

IMDb ★ 7.1 RT 95% Metacritic 83

An American painter in postwar Paris falls for a woman who is already engaged.

Directed by Vincente Minnelli · 1h 53m · Rated G

Won 6 Oscars13 wins & 8 nominations

Where to watch

Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix. He started the site because most recommendation pages felt like noise. Here, lists are sorted by who's in the film, where it's from and what mood you're in tonight.

6 Best Oscar Best Picture Winners of the 1950s

Ben-Hur (1959)

Gigi (1958)

Marty (1955)

From Here to Eternity (1953)

The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

An American in Paris (1951)

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