We all make mistakes.
From leisure suits in the ‘70s, to “hyper color” clothing in the ‘80s, to rat tail haircuts anytime, we Americans are notorious for making choices that seemed like good ideas at the time. Yet, we tend to demand more of our finest institutions. In particular, we expect our most prestigious award-givers to choose the right winners. Is that too much to ask?
When Oscar Gets It Wrong
So how often does the Academy get it WRONG! Let’s take a look back at a few instances that left me shaking my head…
Take the Academy Awards (please!), and specifically, their prestigious award for Best Picture. In 2009, the Academy made the fateful decision to expand the nominee pool to ten, at a time when fewer great, Oscar-worthy films are actually being made. (Don’t get me started.) In my view, rather than broaden interest in the Awards, that dubious move diluted the impact of their top prize. Oh, well.
That was a big mistake, but hardly the first. To illustrate, let’s go back through history and point out the most obvious missteps in the history of the Oscars. Focusing on past recipients of the three major awards (Best Picture, Actor and Actress), we’ll identify the times when Oscar really fell down on the job.
To the list!
THE LIST
1936 – Amongst other poor decisions, “My Man Godfrey,” alpha dog of the screwball comedy wolfpack, wasn’t nominated for Best Picture though it did get nods in all acting categories.( “The Great Ziegfeld”, another William Powell picture, prevailed). For her work in “Godfrey,” Carole Lombard (who lost) deserved to have Luise Rainer (who won) kissing her feet as she walked up to give her acceptance speech. Worse, Chaplin’s “Modern Times” received no nominations.
1944 – No doubt about it: Billy Wilder’s gritty “Double Indemnity” should have triumphed over the sentimental “Going My Way” for Best Picture. Furthermore, “Double” starlet Barbara Stanwyck should’ve won the Oscar for Best Actress, and her co-stars, Fred MacMurray and Edward G. Robinson, should’ve at least had nominations, if not wins.
1952 – Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Greatest Show On Earth” was a lousy choice for Best Picture. Watch it today and see if you don’t want to strangle Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde. A better choice would’ve been the iconic “High Noon,” but it angered too many judges who wanted to bury “Noon” for drawing parallels to the rampant blacklisting of the time.
1956 – The bloated “Around The World In Eighty Days” shouldn’t have won Best Picture over “Giant.” We also think James Dean deserved to win a posthumous Oscar over Yul Brynner’s (albeit great) work in “The King and I.” Finally, John Ford’s “The Searchers” should have been nominated for Best Picture.
1960 – Best Picture winner “The Apartment” should have swept the three big categories; both Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine were wholly deserving of Oscars that year. Instead, statuettes went to Burt Lancaster who played it broad (even for him) in “Elmer Gantry,” and Elizabeth Taylor yawned her way to a win in the forgettable “Butterfield 8.”
1964 – Not that I dislike musicals, but “Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” should have nuked “My Fair Lady” for Best Picture. Also, for his brilliant work essaying three roles in that film, Peter Sellers should have received Best Actor over “Sexy Rexy” Harrison. Sweet revenge: Julie Andrews, who’d been passed over for “Lady” after starring in it on Broadway, won the Oscar that year for a different movie: “Mary Poppins.” Studio chief Jack Warner had egg on his face over that one.
1973 – We absolutely love “The Sting,” but as the more memorable and groundbreaking film, “The Exorcist” should’ve “possessed” the Best Picture statue. For her gut-wrenching work, Ellen Burstyn should have snagged Best Actress over Glenda Jackson, who slummed it, albeit appealingly, in “A Touch Of Class.”
1976 – In our world, “Taxi Driver” out-boxed “Rocky” for Best Picture, and DeNiro would get the Oscar over tthe late Peter Finch in “Network,” for Best Actor. Also, Beatrice Straight got Best Supporting Actress for a performance with only five minutes’ screen time; it’s clear Piper Laurie should have slashed her way to that Oscar playing Sissy Spacek’s demented mother in “Carrie”.
1989 – If we’d run things, “My Left Foot” would have wheeled its way to Best Picture over the pedestrian “Driving Miss Daisy,” or failing that, we’d even knock in “Field Of Dreams.” Not much more to complain about here, but that error was a doozy!
1994 – This is a year that deserves an article all to itself, or maybe even a book. Why? The idea that sappy sweet Forrest Gump, like its central character, should have stumbled aimlessly into Best Picture. That it won over the game-changing “Pulp Fiction” is a tragedy better left for a Shakespearean play. Likewise for Actor, Travolta should have trumped “Box Of Chocolates” Hanks.
1996 – “Fargo” should’ve thrown “The English Patient” in the proverbial wood chipper for Best Picture. Granted, two very different movies, but come on! At least Frances McDormand won her first of three Oscars for this.
1997 – Top of the world? More like bottom of the barrel. Either “As Good As It Gets” or “L.A Confidential” was a (sea-)worthy pick for Best Picture before the bloated “Titanic”, which wowed in culminating effects sequences, but prior to that, unfolded a pretty soggy (and awfully familiar) romance. I know many disagree.
1998 – Foreign films ruled this year. For Best Picture, “Life Is Beautiful” ought to have won over “Shakespeare In Love.” Also, if we’ve got the time machine working, let’s give Fernanda Montenegro from “Central Station” the Best Actress award.
2000 – Come on, savvy film folk: Steven Soderbergh’s “Traffic” was the best film of the year, not that sword-and-sandals retread,, “Gladiator.” Furthermore, Ed Harris warranted Best Actor for his incredible work in “Pollock,” and Actress should’ve gone to Joan Allen in “The Contender” over Julia Roberts’s somewhat cheesy “Erin Brockovich.”
2002 – We’d have picked “The Hours” over “Chicago” for Best Picture (but it wasn’t a stellar year anyhow). And Gere ain’t no Fred Astaire.
2004 – For Best Picture, we thought “Hotel Rwanda” packed more of a punch than “Million Dollar Baby“, and we were mighty sore that the superb “Vera Drake” wasn’t even nominated. Its star, Imelda Staunton, also deserved Best Actress.
2005 – “Crash” wins Best Picture? An intriguing, if somewhat muddled first feature from Paul Haggis, it hardly deserved it, though it was a down year. Of the nominees, “Capote” would have been the obvious choice. You was robbed, Truman!
2006 – I know devotees will differ, but with respect to Mr. Scorsese’s victorious “The Departed”, the original Chinese film on which it was based (2002’s “Infernal Affairs“) was leaner and meaner, with no hammy Jack Nicholson performance. Either “Letters From Iwo Jima” or “Little Miss Sunshine” should have prevailed.
2012 – No way “Argo” should have won out over “Lincoln.” Though the Academy made some amends by giving Daniel Day-Lewis another Oscar for his astonishing portrayal in the title role, which rivals Henny Fonda’s superb portrayal in “Young Mr. Lincoln” (1939).
2018 – Now I enjoyed Best Picture winner “The Green Book”, and as good, solid storytelling would leaf though it again. That said, Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” was an instant classic that should have taken Oscars heart that year.
2025 – As to the present, “Anora” was the big winner in 2025, taking home five major Oscars, including Best Picture, Director (for Sean Baker) and Actress (for Mikey Madison). Since this was my own pick for last year’s best movie, I’m delighted to note that sometimes, Oscar gets it right too.