| 1 | 1927/1928 | Drama - Frank Borzage, Seventh Heaven | Herbert Brenon - Sorrell and Son, King Vidor - The Crowd |
| 2 | 1927/1928 | Komedi -Lewis Milestone, Two Arabian Knights | Charles Chaplin - The Circus, Ted Wilde - Speedy |
| 3 | 1928/1929 | Frank Lloyd, The Divine Lady | Lionel Barrymore - Madame X, Harry Beaumont - The Broadway Melody, Irving Cummings - In Old Arizona, Frank Lloyd - Weary River and Drag, Ernst Lubitsch - The Patriot |
| 4 | 1929/1930 | Lewis Milestone, All Quiet on the Western Front | Clarence Brown - Anna Christie, Clarence Brown - Romance, Robert Z. Leonard - The Divorcée, Ernst Lubitsch - The Love Parade, King Vidor - Hallelujah |
| 5 | 1930/1931 | Norman Taurog, Skippy | Clarence Brown - A Free Soul, Lewis Milestone - The Front Page, Wesley Ruggles - Cimarron, Josef von Sternberg - Morocco |
| 6 | 1931/1932 | Frank Borzage, Bad Girl | King Vidor - The Champ, Josef von Sternberg - Shanghai Express |
| 7 | 1932/1933 | Frank Lloyd, Cavalcade | Frank Capra - Lady for a Day, George Cukor - Little Women |
| 8 | 1934 | Frank Capra, It Happened One Night | Victor Schertzinger - One Night of Love, W. S. Van Dyke - The Thin Man |
| 9 | 1935 | John Ford, The Informer | Henry Hathaway - The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, Frank Lloyd - Mutiny on the Bounty |
| 10 | 1936 | Frank Capra, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town | Gregory La Cava - My Man Godfrey, Robert Z. Leonard - The Great Ziegfeld, W. S. Van Dyke - San Francisco, William Wyler - Dodsworth |
| 11 | 1937 | Leo McCarey, The Awful Truth | William Dieterle - The Life of Emile Zola, Sidney Franklin - The Good Earth, Gregory La Cava - Stage Door, William A. Wellman - Bir Yıldız Doğuyor |
| 12 | 1938 | Frank Capra, You Can't Take It with You | Michael Curtiz - Angels with Dirty Faces, Michael Curtiz - Four Daughters, Norman Taurog - Boys Town, King Vidor - The Citadel |
| 13 | 1939 | Victor Fleming, Gone with the Wind | Frank Capra - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, John Ford - Stagecoach, Sam Wood - Goodbye, Mr. Chips, William Wyler - Wuthering Heights |
| 14 | 1940 | John Ford, The Grapes of Wrath | George Cukor - The Philadelphia Story, Alfred Hitchcock - Rebecca, Sam Wood - Kitty Foyle, William Wyler - The Letter |
| 15 | 1941 | John Ford, How Green Was My Valley | Alexander Hall - Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Howard Hawks - Sergeant York, Orson Welles - Citizen Kane, William Wyler - The Little Foxes |
| 16 | 1942 | William Wyler, Mrs. Miniver | Michael Curtiz - Yankee Doodle Dandy, John Farrow - Wake Island, Mervyn LeRoy - Random Harvest, Sam Wood - Kings Row |
| 17 | 1943 | Michael Curtiz, Casablanca | Clarence Brown - The Human Comedy, Henry King - The Song of Bernadette, Ernst Lubitsch - Heaven Can Wait, George Stevens - The More the Merrier |
| 18 | 1944 | Leo McCarey, Yolumda Giderken | Alfred Hitchcock - Lifeboat, Henry King - Wilson, Otto Preminger - Laura, Billy Wilder - Double Indemnity |
| 19 | 1945 | Billy Wilder, The Lost Weekend | Clarence Brown - National Velvet, Alfred Hitchcock - Spellbound, Leo McCarey - The Bells of St. Mary's, Jean Renoir - The Southerner |
| 20 | 1946 | William Wyler, The Best Years of Our Lives | Clarence Brown - The Yearling, Frank Capra - It's a Wonderful Life, David Lean - Brief Encounter, Robert Siodmak - The Killers |
| 21 | 1947 | Elia Kazan, Centilmenlik Anlaşması | George Cukor - A Double Life, Edward Dmytryk - Crossfire, Henry Koster - The Bishop's Wife, David Lean - Great Expectations |
| 22 | 1948 | John Huston, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre | Anatole Litvak - The Snake Pit, Jean Negulesco - Johnny Belinda, Laurence Olivier - Hamlet, Fred Zinnemann - The Search |
| 23 | 1949 | Joseph L. Mankiewicz, A Letter to Three Wives | Carol Reed - The Fallen Idol, Robert Rossen - All the King's Men, William A. Wellman - Battleground, William Wyler - The Heiress |
| 24 | 1950 | Joseph L. Mankiewicz, All About Eve | George Cukor - Born Yesterday, John Huston - The Asphalt Jungle, Carol Reed - The Third Man, Billy Wilder - Sunset Boulevard |
| 25 | 1951 | George Stevens, A Place in the Sun | John Huston - The African Queen, Elia Kazan - A Streetcar Named Desire, Vincente Minnelli - An American in Paris, William Wyler - Detective Story |
| 26 | 1952 | John Ford, The Quiet Man | Cecil B. DeMille - The Greatest Show on Earth, John Huston - Moulin Rouge, Joseph L. Mankiewicz - 5 Fingers, Fred Zinnemann - High Noon |
| 27 | 1953 | Fred Zinnemann, From Here to Eternity | George Stevens - Shane, Charles Walters - Lili, Billy Wilder - Stalag 17, William Wyler - Roman Holiday |
| 28 | 1954 | Elia Kazan, On the Waterfront | Alfred Hitchcock - Rear Window, George Seaton - Taşralı Kız, William A. Wellman - The High and the Mighty, Billy Wilder - Sabrina |
| 29 | 1955 | Delbert Mann, Marty | Elia Kazan - East of Eden, David Lean - Summertime, Joshua Logan - Picnic, John Sturges - Bad Day at Black Rock |
| 30 | 1956 | George Stevens, Giant | Michael Anderson - Around the World in Eighty Days, Walter Lang - The King and I, King Vidor - War and Peace, William Wyler - Friendly Persuasion |