Oscars: Every Best Picture Winner Ever Ranked From Worst To Best

19. On The Waterfront (1954)

On The Waterfront Marlon Brando
Columbia Pictures

Marlon Brando is at the height of his powers - and won a Best Actor Oscar for his trouble - in Elia Kazan's haunting and quietly devastating drama about missed opportunities, faded glory and, in more apparent terms, the courage to stand tall in the face of widespread corruption.

Brando's Terry Malloy remains an all-time classic movie hero filled with shading and ambiguity, and while some knowledge of the movie's political context can make it a little more difficult to enjoy - namely the parallels between Malloy's battle and Kazan testifying against several artists during the Hollywood Communist witch-hunts - it is nevertheless an unassailable classic drama.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.