From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written Drama Awarded for Outstanding Writing for a Dramatic Film Country United States Presented by Writers Guild of America First awarded 1949 Last awarded 1984 Website http://www.wga.org
The Writers Guild Award for Best Written Drama was an award presented from 1949 to 1984 by the Writers Guild of America , after which it was discontinued.
The year indicates when the film was released. The awards were presented the following year.
Year
Film
Writer(s)
1950
(3rd) [ 4]
Sunset Boulevard
Charles Brackett , Billy Wilder , and D.M. Marshman Jr.
All About Eve
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Panic in the Streets
Richard Murphy
The Asphalt Jungle
Ben Maddow , and John Huston
The Men
Carl Foreman
1951
(4th) [ 5]
A Place in the Sun
Michael Wilson and Harry Brown
A Streetcar Named Desire
Tennessee Williams
Death of a Salesman
Stanley Roberts
Detective Story
Philip Yordan , and Robert Wyler
Fourteen Hours
John Paxton
1952
(5th) [ 6]
High Noon
Carl Foreman
5 Fingers
Michael Wilson
Come Back, Little Sheba
Ketti Frings
Moulin Rouge
Anthony Veiller , and John Huston
The Bad and the Beautiful
Charles Schnee
1953
(6th) [ 7]
From Here to Eternity
Daniel Taradash
Above and Beyond
Melvin Frank , Norman Panama , and Beirne Lay Jr.
Little Fugitive
Ray Ashley
Martin Luther
Allan Sloane, and Lothar Wolff
Shane
A. B. Guthrie Jr.
1954
(7th) [ 8]
On the Waterfront
Budd Schulberg
Executive Suite
Ernest Lehman
Rear Window
John Michael Hayes
The Barefoot Contessa
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
The Country Girl
George Seaton
1955
(8th) [ 9]
Marty
Paddy Chayefsky
Bad Day at Black Rock
Millard Kaufman
Blackboard Jungle
Richard Brooks
East of Eden
Paul Osborn
Picnic
Daniel Taradash
1956
(9th) [ 10]
Friendly Persuasion
Michael Wilson
Baby Doll
Tennessee Williams
Giant
Fred Guiol, and Ivan Moffat
Somebody Up There Likes Me
Ernest Lehman
The Rainmaker
N. Richard Nash
1957
(10th) [ 11]
12 Angry Men
Reginald Rose
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
John Lee Mahin , and John Huston
Paths of Glory
Stanley Kubrick , Calder Willingham , and Jim Thompson
Peyton Place
John Michael Hayes
Sayonara
Paul Osborn
1958
(11th) [ 12]
The Defiant Ones
Harold Jacob Smith , and Nedrick Young
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Richard Brooks , and James Poe
I Want to Live!
Nelson Gidding , and Don Mankiewicz
Separate Tables
Terence Rattigan , and John Gay
The Long, Hot Summer
Irving Ravetch , and Harriet Frank Jr.
1959
(12th) [ 13]
The Diary of Anne Frank
Frances Goodrich , and Albert Hackett
Anatomy of a Murder
Wendell Mayes
Ben-Hur
Karl Tunberg
Compulsion
Richard Murphy
The Nun's Story
Robert Anderson
Year
Film
Writer(s)
1960
(13th) [ 14]
Elmer Gantry
Richard Brooks
Sons and Lovers
Gavin Lambert , and T.E.B. Clarke
Psycho
Joseph Stefano
Spartacus
Dalton Trumbo
The Sundowners
Isobel Lennart
1961
(14th) [ 15]
The Hustler
Sidney Carroll , and Robert Rossen
A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry
Fanny
Julius J. Epstein
Judgment at Nuremberg
Abby Mann
The Innocents
William Archibald, and Truman Capote
1962
(15th) [ 16]
To Kill a Mockingbird
Horton Foote
Billy Budd
Peter Ustinov , and DeWitt Bodeen
Birdman of Alcatraz
Guy Trosper
Freud
Charles Kaufman , and Wolfgang Reinhardt
The Miracle Worker
William Gibson
1963
(16th) [ 17]
Hud
Harriet Frank Jr. , and Irving Ravetch
America America
Elia Kazan
Captain Newman, M.D.
Richard L. Breen , Phoebe Ephron , and Henry Ephron
The Balcony
Ben Maddow
The Great Escape
James Clavell , and W.R. Burnett
The Ugly American
Stewart Stern
1964
(17th) [ 18]
Becket
Edward Anhalt
One Potato, Two Potato
Raphael Hayes, and Orville H. Hampton
Seven Days in May
Rod Serling
The Best Man
Gore Vidal
The Night of the Iguana
Anthony Veiller , and John Huston
1965
(18th) [ 19]
The Pawnbroker
Morton S. Fine
A Patch of Blue
Guy Green
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Paul Dehn , and Guy Trosper
The Collector
Stanley Mann , and John Kohn
Ship of Fools
Abby Mann
1966
(19th) [ 20]
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Ernest Lehman
Harper
William Goldman
The Professionals
Richard Brooks
The Sand Pebbles
Robert Anderson
1967
(20th) [ 21]
Bonnie and Clyde
Robert Benton , and David Newman
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
William Rose
In Cold Blood
Richard Brooks
In the Heat of the Night
Stirling Silliphant
Up the Down Staircase
Tad Mosel
1968
(21st) [ 22]
The Lion in Winter
James Goldman
Petulia
Lawrence B. Marcus
Rachel, Rachel
Stewart Stern
Rosemary's Baby
Roman Polanski
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
Thomas C. Ryan
1969 (22nd) [ 23]
Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium
Midnight Cowboy †
Waldo Salt
Anne of the Thousand Days ‡
John Hale, and Bridget Boland
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Jay Presson Allen
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? ‡
James Poe , and Robert E. Thompson
True Grit
Marguerite Roberts
Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid †
William Goldman
Alice's Restaurant
Venable Herndon, and Arthur Penn
Downhill Racer
James Salter
Easy Rider
Peter Fonda , Dennis Hopper , and Terry Southern
Me, Natalie
A. Martin Zwelback
Year
Film
Writer(s)
1970 (23rd) [ 24]
Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium
I Never Sang for My Father
Robert Anderson
Airport ‡
George Seaton
Catch-22
Buck Henry
Little Big Man
Calder Willingham
The Great White Hope
Howard Sackler
Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
Patton †
Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North
Five Easy pieces ‡
Carole Eastman (As Adrien Joyce)
Love Story ‡
Erich segal
1971 (24th) [ 25]
Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium
The French Connection †
Ernest Tidyman
A Clockwork Orange ‡
Stanley Kubrick
Johnny Got His Gun
Dalton Trumbo
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Robert Altman , and Brian McKay
The Last Picture Show ‡
Larry McMurtry , and Peter Bodganovich
Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
Sunday Bloody Sunday ‡
Penelope Gilliatt
Klute ‡
Andy Lewis, and David E. Lewis
Summer of '42 ‡
Hernan Raucher
The Hellstrom Chronicle
David Seltzer
1972 (25th) [ 26]
Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium
The Godfather †
Mario Puzo , and Francis Ford Coppola
Deliverance
James Dickley
Pete 'n' Tillie ‡
Julius J. Epstein
Slaughterhouse-Five
Stephen Geller
Sounder ‡
Lonne Elder III
Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
The Candidate †
Jeremy Larner
Bad Company
David Newman, and Robert Benton
Images
Robert Altman
The Culpepper Cattle Co.
Eric Bercovici , and Gregory Prentiss
The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid
Philip Kaufman
1973 (26th) [ 27]
Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium
Serpico ‡
Waldo Salt , and Norman Wexler
Cinderella Liberty
Darryl Ponicsan
The Exorcist †
William Peter Blatty
The Last Detail ‡
Robert Towne
The Paper Chase ‡
James Bridges
Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
Save the Tiger
Steve Shagan
Mean Streets
Martin Scorsese , and Mardik Martin
Payday
Don Carpenter
The Sting †
David S. Ward
The Way We Were
Arthur Laurents
1974 (27th) [ 28]
Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium
The Godfather Part II †
Francis Ford Coppola , and Mario Puzo
Conrack
Irving Ravetch , and Harriet Frank Jr.
Lenny ‡
Julian Barry
The Parallax View
David Giler , and Lorenzo Sempler Jr.
The Talking of Pelham One Two Three
Peter Stone
Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
Chinatown †
Robert Towne
A Woman Under the Influence
John Cassavetes
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore ‡
Robert Getchell
Harry and Tonto ‡
Paul Mazursky , and Josh Greenfeld
The Conversation ‡
Francis Ford Coppola
1975 (28th) [ 29]
Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest †
Lawrence Hauben , and Bo Goldman
Barry Lyndon ‡
Stanley Kubrick
The Man Whou Would Be King ‡
John Huston , and Gladys Hill
Jaws
Peter Benchley , and Carl Gottlieb
The Man in the Glass Booth
Edward Anhalt
Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
Dog Day Afternoon †
Frank Pierson
French Connection II
Alexander Jacobs , Robert Dillon, and Laurie Dillon
Nashville
Joan Twekesbury
The Wind and the Lion
John Milius
1976 (29th) [ 30]
Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium
All the President's Men †
William Goldman
Bound for Glory ‡
Robert Getchell
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution ‡
Nicholas Meyer
Marathon Man
William Goldman
The Shootist
Miles Hood Swarthout, and Scott Hale
Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
Network †
Paddy Chayefsky
The Omen
David Seltzer
Rocky ‡
Sylvester Stallone
Taxi Driver
Paul Schrader
The Front ‡
Walter Bernstein
1977 (30th) [ 31]
Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium
Julia †
Alvin Sargent
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden ‡
Gavin Lambert , and Lewis John Carlino
Islands in the Stream
Denne Bart Petitclerc
Looking for Mr. Goodbar
Richard Brooks
Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
The Turning Point ‡
Arthur Laurents
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Steven Spielberg
Saturday Night Fever
Norman Wexler
The Late Show ‡
Robert Benton
1978 (31st) [ 32]
Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium
Midnight Express †
Oliver Stone
Bloodbrothers ‡
Walter Newman
Go Tell the Spartans
Wendell Mayes
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
W.D. Richter
Who'll Stop the Rain
Judith Rascoe , and Robert Stone
Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
Coming Home †
Nancy Dowd , Robert C. Jones , and Waldo Salt
An Unmarried Woman
Paul Mazursky
Days of Heaven
Terrence Malick
Interiors ‡
Woody Allen
The Deer Hunter ‡
Deric Washburn , Michael Cimino , Louis Garfinkle, and Quinn K. Redeker
1979 (32nd) [ 33]
Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium
Kramer vs. Kramer †
Robert Benton
Norma Rae ‡
Irving Ravetch , and Harriet Frank Jr.
Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
The China Syndrome ‡
Mike Gray , T. S. Cook , and James Bridges
Apocalypse Now
John Milius , and Francis Ford Coppola
Year
Nominees
Writer(s)
1980 (33rd) [ 34]
Best Drama Adapted from Other Medium
Ordinary People †
Alvin Sargent
Coal Miner's Daughter ‡
Thomas Rickman
The Elephant Man ‡
Christopher De Vore, Eric Bergren , and David Lynch
The Great Santini
Lewis John Carlino
The Stunt Man ‡
Lawrence B. Marcus, Richard Rush
Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
Melvin and Howard †
Bo Goldman
Fame
Christopher Gore
My Bodyguard
Alan Ornsby
1981 (34th) [ 35]
Best Drama Adapted from Other Medium
On Golden Pond †
Ernest Thompson , and Donald E. Stewart
Cutler's Way
Jeffrey Alan Fiskin
Prince of the City ‡
Jay Presson Allen , and Sidney Lumet
Ragtime ‡
Michael Weller
Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
Reds ‡
Warren Beatty and Trevor Griffiths
Absence of Malice
Kurt Luedtke
Atlantic City
John Guare
Body Heat
Lawrence Kasdan
1982 (35th) [ 36]
Best Drama Adapted from Other Medium
Missing †
Costa-Gavras , and Donald E. Stewart
Sophie's Choice ‡
Alan J. Pakula
The Verdict ‡
David Mamet
The World According to Garp
Steve Tesich
Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ‡
Melissa Mathison
An Officer and a Gentleman
Douglas Day Stewart
Shoot the Moon
Bo Goldman
1983 (36th) [ 37]
Best Drama Adapted from Other Medium
Reuben, Reuben ‡
Julius J. Epstein
The Year of Living Dangerously
David Williamson , Peter Weir , and C.J. Koch
The Right Stuff
Philip Kaufman
Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
Tender Mercies †
Horton Foote
Silkwood
Nora Ephron , and Alice Arlen
WarGames
Lawrence Lasker , and Walter F. Parkes
^ "Writers Guild Awards Winners 1995-1949" . awards.wga.org . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1949)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1950)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1951)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1952)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1953)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1954)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1955)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1956)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1957)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1958)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1959)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1960)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1961)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1962)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1963)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1964)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1965)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1966)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1967)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1968)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1969)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-17 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1970)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-18 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1971)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-18 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1972)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-18 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1973)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-18 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1974)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-18 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1975)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-18 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1976)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-18 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1977)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-18 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1978)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-18 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1979)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-18 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1980)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-18 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1981)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-18 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1982)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-18 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1983)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-18 .
^ "Writers Guild of America, USA (1983)" . IMDb . Retrieved 2019-05-18 .
Film Awards Television/ New Media Awards Special Awards Former Awards Ceremonies
Years are of film release; ceremonies are held the following year