1951 Oscars: Winners and Nominees

56 films were recognised at the 1951 Academy Awards, across 27 categories. 18 of them took home at least one award.

The biggest winner of the year was All About Eve, with 6 awards, ahead of Sunset Boulevard with 3. The categories below run from Actor, Actor in a Supporting Role and Actress to the smaller prizes, and in every one the winner is listed first, followed by the other nominees.

Each title links to the film's full award history at all four awards, and the links at the bottom step to the previous and next ceremony.

Last updated August 12, 2026

Actor

Cyrano de Bergerac(1950)
José Ferrer
Winner
Father of the Bride(1950)
Spencer Tracy
Harvey(1950)
James Stewart
Sunset Boulevard(1950)
William Holden
The Magnificent Yankee(1950)
Louis Calhern

Actor in a Supporting Role

All About Eve(1950)
George Sanders
Winner
Broken Arrow(1950)
Jeff Chandler
Mister 880(1950)
Edmund Gwenn
Sunset Boulevard(1950)
Erich von Stroheim
The Asphalt Jungle(1950)
Sam Jaffe

Actress

Born Yesterday(1950)
Judy Holliday
Winner
All About Eve(1950)
Anne Baxter
All About Eve(1950)
Bette Davis
Caged(1950)
Eleanor Parker
Sunset Boulevard(1950)
Gloria Swanson

Actress in a Supporting Role

Harvey(1950)
Josephine Hull
Winner
All About Eve(1950)
Celeste Holm
All About Eve(1950)
Thelma Ritter
Caged(1950)
Hope Emerson
Sunset Boulevard(1950)
Nancy Olson

Best Picture

All About Eve(1950)
20th Century-Fox
Winner
Born Yesterday(1950)
Columbia
Father of the Bride(1950)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
King Solomon's Mines(1950)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Sunset Boulevard(1950)
Paramount

Cinematography (Black-and-White)

The Third Man(1949)
Robert Krasker
Winner
All About Eve(1950)
Milton Krasner
Sunset Boulevard(1950)
John F. Seitz
The Asphalt Jungle(1950)
Harold Rosson
The Furies(1950)
Victor Milner

Cinematography (Color)

King Solomon's Mines(1950)
Robert Surtees
Winner
Annie Get Your Gun(1950)
Charles Rosher
Broken Arrow(1950)
Ernest Palmer
Samson and Delilah(1949)
George Barnes
The Flame and the Arrow(1950)
Ernest Haller

Directing

All About Eve(1950)
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Winner
Born Yesterday(1950)
George Cukor
Sunset Boulevard(1950)
Billy Wilder
The Asphalt Jungle(1950)
John Huston
The Third Man(1949)
Carol Reed

Film Editing

King Solomon's Mines(1950)
Ralph E. Winters, Conrad A. Nervig
Winner
All About Eve(1950)
Barbara McLean
Annie Get Your Gun(1950)
James E. Newcom
Sunset Boulevard(1950)
Arthur Schmidt, Doane Harrison
The Third Man(1949)
Oswald Hafenrichter

Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)

Sunset Boulevard(1950)
Franz Waxman
Winner
All About Eve(1950)
Alfred Newman
No Sad Songs for Me(1950)
George Duning
Samson and Delilah(1949)
Victor Young
The Flame and the Arrow(1950)
Max Steiner

Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture)

Annie Get Your Gun(1950)
Adolph Deutsch, Roger Edens
Winner
Cinderella(1950)
Oliver Wallace, Paul J. Smith
I'll Get By(1950)
Lionel Newman
The West Point Story(1950)
Ray Heindorf
Three Little Words(1950)
Andre Previn

Music (Song)

Captain Carey, U.S.A.(1950)
Mona Lisa in "Captain Carey, U.S.A." Music and Lyrics by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston
Winner
Cinderella(1950)
Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo in "Cinderella" Music and Lyrics by Mack David, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston
Singing Guns(1950)
Mule Train in "Singing Guns" Music and Lyrics by Fred Glickman, Hy Heath and Johnny Lange
The Toast of New Orleans(1950)
Be My Love in "The Toast of New Orleans" Music by Nicholas Brodszky; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Wabash Avenue(1950)
Wilhelmina in "Wabash Avenue" Music by Josef Myrow; Lyrics by Mack Gordon

Sound Recording

All About Eve(1950)
20th Century-Fox Studio Sound Department, Thomas T. Moulton, Sound Director
Winner
Cinderella(1950)
Walt Disney Studio Sound Department, C. O. Slyfield, Sound Director
Louisa(1950)
Universal-International Studio Sound Department, Leslie I. Carey, Sound Director
Our Very Own(1950)
Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon Sawyer, Sound Director
Trio(1950)
Pinewood Studio Sound Department, Cyril Crowhurst, Sound Director

Writing (Motion Picture Story)

Panic in the Streets(1950)
Edna Anhalt, Edward Anhalt
Winner
Bitter Rice(1949)
Giuseppe De Santis, Carlo Lizzani
Mystery Street(1950)
Leonard Spigelgass
The Gunfighter(1950)
William Bowers, Andre de Toth
When Willie Comes Marching Home(1950)
Sy Gomberg

Writing (Screenplay)

All About Eve(1950)
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Winner
Born Yesterday(1950)
Albert Mannheimer
Broken Arrow(1950)
Albert Maltz
Father of the Bride(1950)
Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett
The Asphalt Jungle(1950)
Ben Maddow, John Huston

Writing (Story and Screenplay)

Sunset Boulevard(1950)
Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, D. M. Marshman, Jr.
Winner
Adam's Rib(1949)
Ruth Gordon, Garson Kanin
Caged(1950)
Virginia Kellogg, Bernard C. Schoenfeld
No Way Out(1950)
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Lesser Samuels
The Men(1950)
Carl Foreman

Art Direction (Black-and-White)

Sunset Boulevard(1950)
Art Direction: Hans Dreier, John Meehan; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Ray Moyer
Winner
All About Eve(1950)
Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler, George W. Davis; Set Decoration: Thomas Little, Walter M. Scott
The Red Danube(1949)
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Hans Peters; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Hugh Hunt

Art Direction (Color)

Samson and Delilah(1949)
Art Direction: Hans Dreier, Walter Tyler; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Ray Moyer
Winner
Annie Get Your Gun(1950)
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Richard A. Pefferle
Destination Moon(1950)
Art Direction: Ernst Fegte; Set Decoration: George Sawley

Costume Design (Black-and-White)

All About Eve(1950)
Edith Head, Charles LeMaire
Winner
Born Yesterday(1950)
Jean Louis
The Magnificent Yankee(1950)
Walter Plunkett

Costume Design (Color)

Samson and Delilah(1949)
Edith Head, Dorothy Jeakins, Elois Jenssen, Gile Steele, Gwen Wakeling
Winner
That Forsyte Woman(1949)
Walter Plunkett, Valles
The Black Rose(1950)
Michael Whittaker