Greatest years for best picture nominees

Greatest years for best picture nominees (February 2017)

Some years are better than others for films. Some films deserve to win the Oscar but don't. Some deserving films are not even nominated. Some years are particularly strong in the category. These are 20 of the greatest ever.

20. 1969- Midnight Cowboy, Anne of a Thousand Days, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Hello Dolly, Z

19. 1990- Dances with Wolves, Awakenings, Ghost, Godfather III, Goodfellas

18. 1972- Godfather, Cabaret, Deliverance, Sounder, Emigrants

17. 1962- Lawrence of Arabia, Longest Day, Music Man, Mutiny on the Bounty, To Kill a Mockingbird

16. 1956- Around the World in 80 Days, Friendly Persuasion, Giant, King and I, Ten Commandments

15. 1951- An American in Paris, Decision before dawn, A Place in the Sun, Quo Vadis, A Streetcar named Desire

14.1940- Rebecca, All this and heaven too, Foreign Correspondent, Grapes of Wrath, Great Dictator, Kitty Foyle, The Letter, Long Voyage Home, Our Town, Philadelphia Story

13. 1973- Sting, American Graffiti, Cries and Whispers, Exorcist, Touch of Class

12. 1994- Forrest Gump, 4 Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, Shawshank Redemption

11. 1941- How Green was my Valley, Blossoms in the Dust, Citizen Kane, Here comes Mr. Jordan, Hold back the dawn, Little Foxes, Maltese Falcon, One foot in heaven, Sergeant York, Suspicion

10. 1964- My Fair Lady, Becket, Dr. Strangelove, Mary Poppins, Zorba the Greek

9. 2012- Argo, Amour, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, The Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty

8. 1975- One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Barry Lyndon, Dog Day Afternoon, Jaws, Nashville

7. 1967- In the Heat of the Night, Bonnie and Clyde, Dr. Doolittle, Graduate, Guess who’s Coming to Dinner

6. 1953- From Here to Eternity, Julius Ceaser, Robe, Roman Holiday, Shane

5. 1950- All About Eve, Born Yesterday, Father of the Bride, King Solomon’s Mine, Sunset Boulevard

4. 1976- Rocky, All the President’s Men, Bound for Glory, Network, Taxi Driver

3. 1974- Godfather II, Chinatown, Conversation, Lenny, Towering Inferno

2. 1971- French Connection, Clockwork Orange, Fiddler on the Roof, Last Picture Show, Nicholas and Alexandra

1. 1939- Gone with the Wind, Dark Victory, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Love Affair, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka, of Mice and Men, Stagecoach, Wizard of Oz, Wuthering Heights