Photoplay Medal of Honor

As a collector of movie lists, I recently came across Photoplay’s Medal of Honor winners for 1920 to 1968. These awards are considered the first significant annual movie award, predating both the Rudolph Valentino Medal and the Academy Awards. The medallion, which was produced by Tiffany & Co., was awarded by popular vote by readers of the magazine. From 1944 onward, the awards were based on a combination of polling and voting (Klaus Ming December 2015).
Medal Winners
1920: Humoresque
1921: Tol’able David
1922: Robin Hood
1923: The Covered Wagon
1924: The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln – lost film
1925: The Big Parade
1926: Beau Geste
1927: Seventh Heaven
1928: Four Sons
1929: Disraeli
1930: All Quiet on the Western Front
1931: Cimarron
1932: Smilin’ Through
1933: Little Women
1934: The Barretts of Wimpole Street
1935: Naughty Marietta
1936: San Francisco
1937: Captains Courageous
1938: Sweethearts
1939: Gone with the Wind
1940–1943: No awards given
1944: Going My Way
1945: The Valley of Decision
1946: The Bells of St. Mary’s
1947: The Jolson Story
1948: Sitting Pretty
1949: The Stratton Story
1950: Battleground
1951: Showboat
1952: With a Song in My Heart
1953: From Here to Eternity
1954: Magnificent Obsession
1955: Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
1956: Giant
1957: An Affair to Remember
1958: Gigi
1959: Pillow Talk
1960: No award
1961: Splendor in the Grass
1962: The Miracle Worker
1963: How the West Was Won
1964: The Unsinkable Molly Brown
1965: The Sound of Music
1966: The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
1967: The Dirty Dozen
1968: Rosemary’s Baby