It’s Oscar week! Every day this week, WTOP examines a different aspect of Oscar history and this year’s race.
On Monday, we asked whether “Oppenheimer” marks the Return of the Blockbuster Best Picture.
On Tuesday, we tallied the stats of the winningest movies to compile the Oscar Mount Rushmore.
Now, it’s time to look at some of the biggest mistakes and misses throughout Oscar history.
I’ve often felt that critics unfairly malign certain Oscar champs like “How Green Was My Valley” beating “Citizen Kane” (1941), “Rocky” beating “Network” (1976), “Kramer vs. Kramer” beating “Apocalypse Now” (1979), “Ordinary People” beating “Raging Bull” (1980), and “Forrest Gump” beating “Pulp Fiction” (1994). Sure, those other films were academically deserving, but in those cases, the movies that won are still darn good movies.
However, there are some picks that are truly unforgivable in hindsight. There’s no way to rank them all — the Academy rarely gets it right — but here are 10 mistakes that immediately come to mind (listed chronologically):
1: The Not So Greatest Show on Earth
One of the worst Best Pictures was Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Greatest Show on Earth” over “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952). The Academy likely didn’t want to award a Gene Kelly musical two years in a row after “An American in Paris.” Still, Kelly splashing in puddles has become an icon of Hollywood’s Golden Age, voted the best musical ever by the American Film Institute. Alas, at least the “Greatest Show” train crash inspired a young Steven Spielberg.
2: Searching for Giant Mistakes
The 1956 British adaptation of Jules Verne’s “Around the World in 80 Days” features a charming, globe-trotting performance by David Niven, but it’s outdated in its casting of Shirley MacLaine as an Indian princess. It pales in comparison to a pair of American masterpieces dissecting frontier racism: John Ford’s “The Searchers” and George Stevens’ “Giant,” featuring images of John Wayne in a cabin doorway and James Dean climbing an oil rig.
3: Hitch in the Proceedings
The master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock is my favorite filmmaker for delivering roller-coaster entertainment on the surface with layers of symbolism upon repeat viewings. It’s ridiculous that he never won Best Director despite five nods for “Rebecca,” “Lifeboat,” “Spellbound,” “Rear Window” and “Psycho.” He should have won for “Vertigo,” not to mention “Notorious,” “North By Northwest” and “The Birds.” Oh well, at least “Rebecca” won Best Picture.
4: Scorsese’s Dream Deferred
During the 1970s Hollywood Renaissance, few filmmakers changed the medium like Martin Scorsese, but he sadly didn’t earn Best Director nominations for “Mean Streets” or “Taxi Driver,” then ridiculously lost for “Raging Bull” and “Goodfellas.” It’s a shame that our patron saint of cinema had to wait 30 years until “The Departed” (2006) to win his first Oscar as Jon Stewart joked: “For those keeping score at home, Martin Scorsese: 0, Three 6 Mafia: 1.”
6: Do the Wrong Thing
In 1989 (“the number, another summer, sound of the funky drummer”), Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” lost to “Driving Miss Daisy.” It was proof that voters too often pick safe movies over in-your-face social statements, but Radio Raheem’s legacy only continues to grow after Rodney King and George Floyd. Ironically, Spike finally won a screenplay Oscar for “BlacKkKlansman” (2018), which lost to “Green Book,” a similar film to “Driving Miss Daisy.”
6: Denzel Crooked Before He Took It
After winning Best Supporting Actor for “Glory,” Denzel Washington should have won Best Actor for embodying the civil rights icon in “Malcolm X,” but he lost to Al Pacino’s makeup Oscar in “Scent of a Woman.” Denzel later won Best Actor for “Training Day” (2001), prompting Jadakiss to rap, “Why Denzel have to be crooked before he took it?” I also wish he won for “The Hurricane” (1999) and “Fences” (2016) over Kevin Spacey and Casey Affleck.
7: Harvey Weinstein Dishonors D-Day
Decades before the #MeToo movement exposed Harvey Weinstein, the Miramax founder was able to strong-arm his way to countless Oscars, most notoriously “Shakespeare in Love” beating “Saving Private Ryan.” While the “Shakespeare in Love” script is creative, Steven Spielberg’s World War II epic should have won Best Picture for its harrowing D-Day invasion of Normandy. To quote Tom Hanks, Best Picture winners should have to “earn this.”
8: Brokeback Crashes
I loved “Crash” when I was in college before I understood the concept of on-the-nose dialogue. I still like it today as a post-9/11 time capsule told in a mosaic of prejudice. Still, the winner that year should have been “Brokeback Mountain” (2005), beautifully directed by Ang Lee with heartbreaking performances by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal with Anne Hathaway and Michelle Williams as their wives leaving unread notes in tackle boxes.
9: Waiting on a Woman
I was thrilled when Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”) upset James Cameron (“Avatar”) for Best Director in 2010, but it was a disgrace that only three women were nominated prior: Lina Wertmüller (“Seven Beauties”), Jane Campion (“The Piano”) and Sofia Coppola (“Lost in Translation”). Others like Agnes Varda (“Cleo from 5 to 7”) deserved it. We’ve since seen nominations for Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” and Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman” and wins for Chloe Zhao (“Nomadland”) and Campion (“Power of the Dog”), but it’s been an uphill battle.
10: Grinding Nemo in the Sunken Place
“Get Out” (2017) opened in theaters just two days before the “Moonlight” vs. “La La Land” envelope gaffe, so Hollywood was distracted. The horror masterpiece later lost to “The Shape of Water” (a.k.a. Grinding Nemo, as we said on the “Tony Kornheiser Show”) in a makeup Oscar for Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth.” Thankfully, Jordan Peele still won for screenplay, but history will look back ashamed of putting “Get Out” in the sunken place.
Which times do you think the Academy got it wrong? Hit me on X at @JFrayWTOP.
Tune in every day this week as WTOP’s Jason Fraley examines a different aspect of Oscar history and this year’s race.
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