1970s

The Warren Beatty comedy was a remake of 1939’s Here Comes Mr. Jordan, which won an Academy Award for best story and screenplay that year.

With Midnight Express, Oliver Stone made his name known to the world: he wrote the script of this prison drama directed by Alan Parker, winning his first Golden Globe Award. Midnight Express received eight nominations from the HFPA and won six Globes, including Best Film – Drama, Best Script (Stone), Best Supporting Actor, (John Hurt), and Best Original Score by Italian Pop Maestro Giorgio Moroder.

It was Herbert Ross’s night all the way: both Golden Globe winners, The Turning Point for best drama and The Goodbye Girl for best comedy or musical, were directed by Ross and, of course, he won Best Director Globe as well (for Turning Point. )1977 was also the year of Annie Hall, which was the critics’ choice and ended up winning multiple Oscars including Best Picture.

Never envy other people's life: it might lead to a melodramatic mess. This is what happens in The Turning Point, the story of two former dancers (Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft), who meet again after many years: one is now a star (Bancroft) and the other a mother and housewife (MacLaine).

1977 was not a good year for musicals - or comedies, for that matter. But Barbra Streisand’s remake of the Judy Garland classic (which in turn was a remake of the 1937 Janet Gaynor version, which itself was inspired by 1932’s What Price Hollywood) so impressed the Hollywood Foreign Press, they awarded it five Golden Globes including Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy (Kris Kristofferson), Best Actress, Best Song and of course Best Film.

Sylvester Stallone was, and in some measure will forever be, Rocky Balboa. The underdog boxer character he created would define his career, his professional and personal arch.

The cruel dictatorship of a nurse over the patients in a mental health institution is threatened by a newcomer. From this simple premise a masterpiece was born: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest became an instant classic, winning six Golden Globes out of six nominations, a glorious sweep.

By the time this Neil Simon comedy finally won a Golden Globe, Simon had already written ten movies that had been nominated, including his masterpiece The Odd Couple. What did the trick this time was George Burns.

Perhaps the ultimate upset in the history of the Golden Globes: Chinatown won the Golden Globe for Best Picture – Drama, over The Godfather: Part II.

In what might arguably be called one of the greatest years ever for American films, the Hollywood Foreign Press named The Longest Yard Best Comedy or Musical, neglecting to even nominate Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein. The Hollywood Foreign Press did, however, redeem themselves by naming Roman Polanski’s.