5. To Kill A Mockingbird
Won: Three Oscars, including Best Actor (Gregory Peck), 1963 One of the most enduring film's of the pre-New Hollywood era, Robert Mulligan's To Kill A Mockingbird, based on Harper Lee's classic novel of the same name, was nominated for eight Oscars at the 1963 Academy Awards, winning three. Most notable of these was Gregory Peck's Best Actor win, the actor finally triumphing for what was his fifth and final Oscar nomination (all five where for Lead Actor - he'd previously lost for The Keys Of Kingdom, The Yearling, Gentleman's Agreement, and Twelve O'Clock High). To Kill A Mockingbird lost out on Best Picture to Lawrence Of Arabia (no arguments there), but it remains a classic movie; a tad dated, yes, but still one of cinema's finest attempts at transferring an iconic novel to the screen (Horton Foote won the Adapted Screenplay Oscar for his work here). Bolstered immeasurably by Peck's impeccable (pun unintentional) performance as Atticus Finch, the conscious lawyer who defends Tom Robinson despite all the reasons he shouldn't (you've read the book, no real need to explain), To Kill A Mockingbird, a staple of classrooms everywhere where it often accompanies the book, remains an essential film.