| Name |
Year |
Film |
| Ben Hecht |
1927/28 |
UNDERWORLD |
| Hans Kraly |
1928/29 |
THE PATRIOT |
| Frances Marion |
1929/30 |
THE BIG HOUSE |
| John Monk Saunders |
1930/31 |
THE DAWN PATROL |
| Frances Marion |
1931/32 |
THE CHAMP |
| Robert Lord |
1932/33 |
ONE WAY PASSAGE |
| Arthur Caesar |
1934 |
MANHATTAN MELODRAMA |
| Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur |
1935 |
THE SCOUNDREL |
| Robert Carson, William A. Wellman |
1937 |
A STAR IS BORN |
| Eleanore Griffin, Dore Schary |
1938 |
BOYS TOWN |
| Lewis R. Foster |
1939 |
MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON |
| Preston Surges |
1940 |
THE GREAT MCGINTY |
| herman J. Mankiewicz, Orson Welles |
1941 |
CITIZEN KANE |
| Michael Kanin, Ring Lardner, Jr. |
1942 |
WOMAN OF THE YEAR |
| Norman Krasna |
1943 |
PRINCESS O'ROURKE |
| Lamar Trotti |
1944 |
WILSON |
| Richard Schweizer |
1945 |
MARIE-LOUISE |
| Muriel Box, Sydney Box |
1946 |
THE SEVENTH VEIL |
| Sidney Sheldon |
1947 |
THE BACHELOR AND THE BOBBY-SOXER |
| Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
1949 |
A LETTER TO THREE WIVES |
| Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
1950 |
ALL ABOUT EVE |
| Alan Jay Lerner |
1951 |
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS |
| T. E. B. Clarke |
1952 |
THE LAVENDER HILL MOB |
| Charles Brackett, Richard Breen, Walter Reisch |
1953 |
TITANIC |
| Budd Schulberg |
1954 |
ON THE WATERFRONT |
| Sonya Levien, William Ludwig |
1955 |
INTERRUPTED MELODY |
| Albert Lamorisse |
1956 |
THE RED BALLOON |
| George Wells |
1957 |
DESIGNING WOMAN |
| Harold Jacob Smith, Nedrick Young |
1958 |
THE DEFIANT ONES |
| Clarence Greene, Maurice Richlin, Russell Rouse, Stanley Shapiro |
1959 |
PILLOW TALK |
| I.A.L. Diamond, Billy Wilder |
1960 |
THE APARTMENT |
| William Inge |
1961 |
SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS |
| Ennio de Concini, Pietro Germi, Alfredo Giannetti |
1962 |
DIVORCE - ITALIAN STYLE |
| James R. Webb |
1963 |
HOW THE WEST WAS WON |
| S.H. Barnett, Peter Stone, Frank Tarloff |
1964 |
FATHER GOOSE |
| Frederic Raphael |
1965 |
DARLING |
| Cloude Lelouch, Pierre Uytterhoeven |
1966 |
A MAN AND A WOMAN |
| William Rose |
1967 |
GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER |
| Mel Brooks |
1968 |
THE PRODUCERS |
| William Goldman |
1969 |
BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID |
| Francis Ford Coppola, Edmund H. North |
1970 |
PATTON |
| Paddy Chayefsky |
1971 |
THE HOSPITAL |
| Jeremy Larner |
1972 |
THE CANDIDATE |
| David S. Ward |
1973 |
THE STING |
| Robert Towne |
1974 |
CHINATOWN |
| Frank Pierson |
1975 |
DOG DAY AFTERNOON |
| Paddy Chayefsky |
1976 |
NETWORK |
| Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman |
1977 |
ANNIE HALL |
| Nancy Dowd, Robert C. Jones, Waldo Salt |
1978 |
COMING HOME |
| Steve Tesich |
1979 |
BREAKING AWAY |
| Bo Goldman |
1980 |
MELVIN AND HOWARD |
| Colin Welland |
1981 |
CHARIOTS OF FIRE |
| John Briley |
1982 |
GANDHI |
| Horton Foote |
1983 |
TENDER MERCIES |
| Robert Benton |
1984 |
PLACES IN THE HEART |
| William Kelley, Earl W. Wallace, Pamela Wallace |
1985 |
WITNESS |
| Woody Allen |
1986 |
HANNAH AND HER SISTERS |
| John Patrick Shanley |
1987 |
MOONSTRUCK |
| Ronald Bass, Barry Morrow |
1988 |
RAIN MAN |
| Tom Schulman |
1989 |
DEAD POETS SOCIETY |
| Bruce Joel Rubin |
1990 |
GHOST |
| Callie Khouri |
1991 |
THELMA & LOUISE |
| Neil Jordan |
1992 |
THE CRYING GAME |
| Jane Campion |
1993 |
THE PIANO |
| Roger Avary, Quentin Tarantino |
1994 |
PULP FICTION |
| Christopher McQuarrie |
1995 |
THE USUAL SUSPECTS |
| Ethan Coen, Joel Coen |
1996 |
FARGO |
| Ben Affleck, Matt Damon |
1997 |
GOOD WILL HUNTING |
| Marc Norman, Tom Stoppard |
1998 |
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE |
| Alan Ball |
1999 |
AMERICAN BEAUTY |
| Cameron Crowe |
2000 |
ALMOST FAMOUS |
| Julian Fellowes |
2001 |
GOSFORD PARK |
| Pedro Almodovar |
2002 |
TALK TO HER |