Director

1927-28
Who won: Lewis Milestone, Two Arabian Knights (Comedy Picture); Frank Borzage, 7th Heaven (Dramatic Picture)
Who should have won: F.W. Murnau, Sunrise

1928-29
Who won: Frank Lloyd, The Divine Lady 

1929-30
Who won: Lewis Milestone, All Quiet on the Western Front

1930-31
Who won: Norman Taurog, Skippy 
Who should have won: Charles Chaplin, City Lights 

1931-32
Who won: Frank Borzage, Bad Girl 
Who should have won: Howard Hawks, Scarface 

1932-33
Who won: Frank Lloyd, Cavalcade 
Who should have won: Rouben Mamoulian, Love Me Tonight 

1934 
Who won: Frank Capra, It Happened One Night 

1935 
Who won: John Ford, The Informer 
Who should have won: Alfred Hitchcock, The 39 Steps 

1936 
Who won: Frank Capra, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town 
Who should have won: William Wyler, Dodsworth 

1937 
Who won: Leo McCarey, The Awful Truth 
Who should have won: George Cukor, Camille 

1938 
Who won: Frank Capra, You Can't Take It With You 
Who should have won: Jean Renoir, Grand Illusion 

1939 
Who won: Victor Fleming, Gone With the Wind 
Who should have won: Ernst Lubitsch, Ninotchka  

1940 
Who won: John Ford, The Grapes of Wrath 
Who should have won: Howard Hawks, His Girl Friday 

1941 
Who won: John Ford, How Green Was My Valley 
Who should have won: Orson Welles, Citizen Kane 

1942 
Who won: William Wyler, Mrs. Miniver
Who should have won: Preston Sturges, Sullivan's Travels

1943 
Who won: Michael Curtiz, Casablanca

1944 
Who won: Leo McCarey, Going My Way
Who should have won: Billy Wilder, Double Indemnity

1945 
Who won: Billy Wilder, The Lost Weekend

1946 
Who won: William Wyler, The Best Years of Our Lives

1947 
Who won: Elia Kazan, Gentleman's Agreement
Who should have won: David Lean, Great Expectations

1948 
Who won: John Huston, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Who should have won: Howard Hawks, Red River