Every Movie to Win Best Drama at the Golden Globes Since 1944

“The Cardinal,” a film about a young priest who confronts bigotry on his way to becoming a cardinal, won its lone Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Drama. It was nominated for six Oscars but did not win any.

“Becket” featured all-star British acting talents led by Richard Burton, John Gielgud, and Peter O’Toole, the last of whom would win a Golden Globe for Best Actor – Drama for his role as England’s King Henry II.

“Dr. Zhivago” was another epic helmed by David Lean, about a love story set during and after the Russian Revolution. The movie won five Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director for Lean, and Best Actor – Drama for Omar Sharif, the third and final Golden Globe for each film figure. “Dr. Zhivago” would win five Oscars.

Four Golden Globes went to “A Man for All Seasons,” which tells the story of Sir Thomas More, who chose his conscience over his king, King Henry VIII — the king demanded a divorce over the objection of the Catholic Church. Fred Zinneman would win the second of his two Golden Globes for Best Director. Paul Scofield would triumph as Best Actor – Drama in the lead role. The film would win six Academy Awards.

Norman Jewison’s boiling racial drama about an African American detective investigating a murder in the American South won three Golden Globes, including for Rod Steiger for Best Actor – Drama. Steiger would win the same award at the Oscars, one of five Academy Awards the film won.

“The Lion in Winter,” a story about the intrigue surrounding the succession of England’s King Henry II, starring Katharine Hepburn and Peter O’Toole, captured Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture – Drama and a Best Actor award for O’Toole. The film would win three Oscars, including Best Actress for Hepburn.

The Golden Globes’ preference for period movies was apparent in its selection for “Anne of the Thousand Days,” about a doomed wife of King Henry VIII. Genevieve Bujold won her lone Golden Globe for Best Actress – Drama. The film won one Oscar.

The weepy love story directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw collected five Golden Globes, including one for Hiller and MacGraw (Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama). The film won one Academy Award.

This gritty drama about New York City detectives trying to thwart heroin traffickers, famous for its chase scene through the city streets, won Golden Globes for director William Friedkin and a Best Actor award for Gene Hackman. Each of them would duplicate that feat at the Academy Awards, where the movie would win five Oscars.

The mob epic against which all gangster films are measured won five Golden Globes, including Best Director – Motion Picture for Francis Ford Coppola and Best Actor – Drama for Marlon Brando. The Godfather would win three Oscars, one of them for Brando, who famously turned it down to protest the movie industry’s negative depiction of Native Americans.