There are many components into making a film that eventually takes home an Oscar: solid writing, good directing, and talented actors. The truth is, though, is that we wouldn’t want to watch most of these movies if they didn’t look good. The Academy Award for Best Cinematographer is one of the most important honors there is. Where would these flicks be if they weren’t easy (or absolutely stunning) on the eyes? Whether they used their artistic talents for a color film or black-and-white, we’ve got a list of where you can stream almost every Best Cinematography winner ever.
- Charles Rosher & Karl Struss, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927/1928) [Currently unavailable to stream]
- Clyde De Vinna, White Shadows in the South Seas (1928/1929)
- Joseph T. Rucker & Willard Van der Veer, With Byrd at the South Pole (1929/1930) [Currently unavailable to stream]
- Floyd Crosby, Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1930/1931) [Currently unavailable to stream]
- Lee Garmes, Shanghai Express (1931/1932) [Currently unavailable to stream]
- Charles Lang, A Farewell to Arms (1932/1933)
- Victor Milner, Cleopatra (1934)
- Hal Mohr, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935)
From 1936 to 1966, dual honors were awarded: one for Special Achievement in Color, and one for black-and-white.
- Tony Gaudio, Anthony Adverse (1936) (black-and-white) [Currently unavailable to stream]
- W. Howard Greene & Harold Rosson, The Garden of Allah (1936) (color)
- Karl Freund, The Good Earth (1937) (black-and-white)
- W. Howard Greene, A Star is Born (1937) (color) [Currently unavailable to stream]
- Joseph Ruttenberg, The Great Waltz (1938) (black-and-white)
- Oliver T. Marsh & Allen Davey, Sweethearts (1938) (color)
- Gregg Toland, Wuthering Heights (1939) (black-and-white)
- Ernest Haller & Ray Rennahan, Gone with the Wind (1939) (color)
- George Barnes, Rebecca (1940) (black-and-white) [Currently unavailable to stream]
- Georges Périnal, The Thief of Baghdad (1940) (color)
- Arthur C. Miller, How Green Was My Valley (1941) (black-and-white)
- Ernest Palmer & Ray Rennahan, Blood and Sand (1941) (color)
- Joseph Ruttenberg, Mrs. Miniver (1942) (black-and-white)
- Leon Shamroy, The Black Swan (1942) (color)
- Arthur C. Miller, The Song of Bernadette (1943) (black-and-white)
- Hal Mohr & W. Howard Greene, Phantom of the Opera (1943) (color)
- Joseph LaShelle, Laura (1944) (black-and-white)
- Leon Shamroy, Wilson (1944) (color)
- Harry Stradling, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) (black-and-white)
- Leon Shamroy, Leave Her to Heaven (1945) (color) [Currently unavailable to stream]
- Arthur C. Miller, Anna and the King of Siam (1946) (black-and-white)
- Charles Rosher, Leonard Smith & Arthur E. Arling, The Yearling (1946) (color)
- Guy Green, Great Expectations (1946) (black-and-white)
- Jack Cardiff, Black Narcissus (1947) (color)
- William H. Daniels, The Naked City (1948) (black-and-white)
- Joseph A. Valentine, William V. Skall & Winton Hoch, Joan of Arc (1948) (color)
- Paul C. Vogel, Battleground (1949) (black-and-white)
- Winton Hoch, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) (color)
- Robert Krasker, The Third Man (1950) (black-and-white)
- Robert Surtees, King Solomon’s Mines (1950) (color)
- William C. Mellor, A Place in the Sun (1951) (black-and-white)
- Alfred Gilks & John Alton, An American in Paris (1951) (color)
- Robert Surtees, The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) (black-and-white)
- Winton Hoch & Archie Stout, The Quiet Man (1952) (color)
- Burnett Guffey, From Here to Eternity (1953) (black-and-white)
- Loyal Griggs, Shane (1953) (color)
- Boris Kaufman, On the Waterfront (1954) (black-and-white)
- Milton R. Krasner, Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) (color)
- James Wong Howe, The Rose Tattoo (1955) (black-and-white)
- Robert Burks, To Catch a Thief (1955) (color)
- Joseph Ruttenberg, Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) (black-and-white)
- Lionel Lindon, Around the World in 80 Days (1956) (color)
- Jack Hildayrd, The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
- Sam Leavitt, The Defiant Ones (1958) (black-and-white)
- Joseph Ruttenberg, Gigi (1958) (color)
- William C. Mellor, The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) (black-and-white)
- Robert Surtees, Ben-Hur (1959) (color)
- Freddie Francis, Sons and Lovers (1960) (black-and-white)
- Russell Metty, Spartacus (1960) (color)
- Eugen Schüfftan, The Hustler (1961) (black-and-white)
- Daniel L. Fapp, West Side Story (1961) (color)
- Jean Borgoin & Walter Wottitz, The Longest Day (1962) (black-and-white)
- Freddie Young, Lawrence of Arabia (1962) (color)
- James Wong Howe, Hud (1963) (black-and-white)
- Leon Shamroy, Cleopatra (1963) (color)
- Walter Lassally, Zorba the Greek (1964) (black-and-white)
- Harry Stradling, My Fair Lady (1964) (color) [Currently unavailable to stream]
- Ernest Laszlo, Ship of Fools (1965) (black-and-white)
- Freddie Young, Dr. Zhivago (1965) (color)
- Haskell Wexler, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) (black-and-white)
- Ted Moore, A Man for All Seasons (1966) (color)
- Burnett Guffey, Bonnie & Clyde (1967)
- Pasqualino De Santis, Romeo and Juliet (1968)
- Conrad L. Hall, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
- Freddie Young, Ryan’s Daughter (1970)
- Oswald Morris, Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
- Geoffrey Unsworth, Cabaret (1972)
- Sven Nykvist, Cries and Whispers (1973)
- Fred J. Koenekamp & Joseph F. Biroc, The Towering Inferno (1974)
- John Alcott, Barry Lyndon (1975)
- Haskell Wexler, Bound for Glory (1976) [Currently unavailable to stream]
- Vilmos Zsigmond, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
- Néstor Almendros, Days of Heaven (1978)
- Vittorio Storaro, Apocalypse Now (1979)
- Geoffrey Unsworth & Ghislain Cloquet, Tess (1980)
- Vittorio Storaro, Reds (1981)
- Billy Williams & Ronnie Taylor, Gandhi (1982)
- Sven Nykvist, Fanny and Alexander (1983)
- Chris Menges, The Killing Fields (1984)
- David Watkin, Out of Africa (1985)
- Chris Menges, The Mission (1986)
- Vittorio Storaro, The Last Emperor (1987)
- Peter Biziou, Mississippi Burning (1988)
- Freddie Frances, Glory (1989)
- Dean Semler, Dances with Wolves (1990)
- Robert Richardson, JFK (1991)
- Philippe Rousselot, A River Runs Through It (1992)
- Janusz Kamiński, Schindler’s List (1993)
- John Toll, Legends of the Fall (1994)
- John Toll, Braveheart (1995)
- John Seale, The English Patient (1996)
- Russell Carpenter, Titanic (1997)
- Janusz Kamiński, Saving Private Ryan (1998)
- Conrad L. Hall, American Beauty (1999)
- Peter Pau, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
- Andrew Lesnie, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
- Conrad L. Hall, Road to Perdition (2002)
- Russell Boyd, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
- Robert Richardson, The Aviator (2004)
- Dion Beebe, Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
- Guillermo Navarro, Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
- Robert Elswit, There Will Be Blood (2007)
- Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
- Mauro Fiore, Avatar (2009)
- Wally Pfister, Inception (2010)
- Robert Richardson, Hugo (2011)
- Claudio Miranda, Life of Pi (2012)
- Emmanuel Lubezki, Gravity (2013)
- Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
- Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant (2015)