Films that won Oscars for Cinematography and Screenplay in the same year. This includes both black-and-white and color cinematography, and both adapted and original screenplay. I thought this would be an interesting reflection of films that are outstanding both visually and narratively. These are also personally my favorite 2 categories at the Oscars.
There are 25 films. 17 of them also won Best Picture, and 7 of the remaining 8 were nominated. There is just one film to have ever won these two awards but not even get nominated for Best Picture, and that is The Bad and the Beautiful (1952).
A few interesting trends I noticed:
It only happened 3 times in the 21 years between 1927 and 1948,…
Films that won Oscars for Cinematography and Screenplay in the same year. This includes both black-and-white and color cinematography, and both adapted and original screenplay. I thought this would be an interesting reflection of films that are outstanding both visually and narratively. These are also personally my favorite 2 categories at the Oscars.
There are 25 films. 17 of them also won Best Picture, and 7 of the remaining 8 were nominated. There is just one film to have ever won these two awards but not even get nominated for Best Picture, and that is The Bad and the Beautiful (1952).
A few interesting trends I noticed:
It only happened 3 times in the 21 years between 1927 and 1948, then it happened 10 times in the 9 years between 1949 and 1958. Then it happened 3 times in the 1960s, 0 times in the 1970s, 3 times in the 1980s and 1990s, 1 time in the 2000s, 1 time in the 2010s, and 1 time in the 2020s. If you do the math, that means it happened 10 times in the 9 years between 1949 and 1958, then only 12 times in the other 88 years.
In the first 16 times it happened, there were 9 films that also won Best Picture and 7 that didn't, so nearly 50/50. Then the next 8 times it happened, the films all also won Best Picture. This streak ended with 2025's Sinners.
15 of the films won Best Adapted Screenplay while just 10 won Best Original Screenplay.
There are two years where two films won both awards. In 1951, A Place in the Sun won black-and-white cinematography and adapted screenplay while An American In Paris won color cinematography and original screenplay, along with Best Picture. In 1958, The Defiant Ones won black-and-white cinematography and original screenplay while Gigi won color cinematography and adapted screenplay, along with Best Picture.
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Status: Updated through the 2026 Oscars
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My "Oscars Combined" series:
Best Made: Films That Won Oscars For Cinematography, Production, and Editing
Critically Popular Films - Money, Awards, and Critical Acclaim
Films That Won Best Cinematography and Best Screenplay In the Same Year
Films That Won Both the Best Actress and Best Actor Oscars
Films That Won Both the Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor Oscars
Films That Won Oscars For Score, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing In the Same Year
Years Where a Different Film Won Each Of the "Big 4" Oscars
