3 Days Until Oscar -- multiple wins without a Best Picture Nod
Thursday, February 23, 2017 at 12:00PM 
With the seismic shift of the expanded best picture field in 2009, certain forms of Oscar trivia seem dead or at least on life support. Foxcatcher proved you could still be a "lone director" nominee for a non Best Picture player, and Carol proved you could still get a big swath of nominations but miss out on placing in the top category. But nearly all the records involving films that weren't nominated for Best Picture will not be broken now; when Oscar notices you in a big way these days, you're also likely to achieve that highest distinction of being a Best Picture nominee.
But with 3 being the magic number today, let's take a look back at the rare cases of films that won 3 or more Oscars that were not nominated for Best Picture. The only film that could theoretically join this list this year is Jackie (the most nominated film that isn't up for Best Picture) but it would have to win all three of its bids!
The 18 Biggest Oscar Winners That Were NOT
Nominated for Best Picture
(current titles for categories used in this list though some have changed)
01 Five Oscar wins from six nominations
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Production Design, Costume Design. It lost only Best Actor but mysteriously wasn't nominated for Picture or Director despite obvious widespread love for it. But then, 1952 was among the very strangest of Oscar years for multiple reasons.
Curiously Kirk Douglas also leads one of the three films tied for runner up in this particular list...
02 [TIE] Four Oscar wins from six nominations
Spartacus (1960) Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Production Design, Costume Design. It lost only Original Score and Editing (to Exodus and The Apartment respectively)
Fanny & Alexander (1983) Cinematography, Production Design, Costume Design, Foreign Language Film. It only only Director and Screenplay (to Terms of Endearment and Tender Mercies respectively).
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup. It lost only Cinematography and Editing, both categories going to JFK. It's a real pity this wasn't nominated for Best Picture and Best Director. It has held up so very beautifully over the years as one of the greatest action films ever made.
05 Four Oscar wins from four nominations
The Matrix (1999) 4 Oscar wins from four nominations: Editing, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Visual Effects
06 [TIE] Three Oscar wins from seven nominations
Hud (1963) Actress, Supporting Actor, Cinematography. It lost the bulk of its nominations which were Director, Actor, Adapted Screenplay, and Production Design. And since it's one of the greatest movies of its entire very strong decade, it's a travesty that it didn't receive a Best Picture nomination.
Dick Tracy (1990) Production Design, Makeup, Original Song. It lost the bulk of its nods which were Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Costume Design, and Sound.
08 [TIE] Three Oscar wins from six nominations
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) Editing, Sound Editing, Visual Effects. It lost Cinematography, Production Design, and Sound Mixing
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume Design. It lost Sound, Sound Editing, and Original Score
Pan's Labyrinth (2006) 3 Oscar wins from six nominations: Cinematography, Art Direction, Makeup. It lost Original Screenplay, Score, and Foreign Language Film
11 [TIE] Three wins from five nominations
Camelot (1967) Production Design, Costume Design, Adapted Score. It lost only Cinematography and Sound.
Glory (1989) Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Sound Mixing. It lost Editing and Production Design.
13. [TIE] Three wins from four nominations
The Thief of Bagdad (1940) Cinematography, Production Design, Visual Effects. It lost only Original Score
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) Costume Design, Sound Editing, Makeup. It lost only Production Design
King Kong (2005) Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Visual Effects. It lost only Production Design
16. [TIE] Three wins from three nominations
Grand Prix (1966) Editing, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing
Jurassic Park (1993) Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Visual Effects. It's absolutely nutty that this dino-classic didn't receive more nominations, isn't it? Blame Schindler's List, the same year, which focused all the Spielberg love towards a more "important" picture. Both films are still beloved a quarter century later.
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) Editing, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing
Reader Comments (28)
You left out The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) which won 3 Oscars of 3 nominations but was not nominated for Picture.
Are there any winners in the expanded Best Picture field?
It means less to earn a Best Picture nomination.
It's more insulting to miss a Best Picture nomination.
What ConMan said, as well as: King Kong (2005) and Grand Prix (1966).
Supporting Actress 2008
Three out of five has a matching numerical record.
1/3: Viola Davis
1/3: Penelope Cruz
1/3: Marisa Tomei
I remember when GLORY wasn't nominated. I just don't think enough people saw it in time. If they had I really think it would have been nominated and maybe even could have knocked out DRIVING MISS DAISY.
I still don't think it computes that HUD wasn't nominated for Best Picture.
Hayden: If it were always 10 (or 6-10), I'd imagine most of these would be BP nominees. The only four of this seventeen I could still see missing? The Matrix, Dick Tracy, Memoirs of a Geisha and The Thief of Baghdad (which dropped in the middle of the 10 wide era).
Hud and The Bad and the Beautiful are the exceptions, but it would appear that you can win big without a Best Picture nomination, but maybe it's because you didn't get Best Leading Acting nominations either.
@Hayden: It means less to earn a Best Picture nomination.
But you still have a Best Picture nomination.
An interesting, related Oscar factoid:
- "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" (1969) holds the record for the most Oscar nominations without a Best Picture nomination, with 9 total nominations: Director, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Art Direction, Costume Design, Score.
Only one of those nominations translated into a win: Supporting Actor for Gig Young, which is why it didn't make this articles list.
The best picture nominees that year were Anne of the Thousand Days (10 nominations, 1 win), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (7 nominations, 4 wins), Hello Dolly (7 nominations, 3 wins), Z (5 nominations, 2 wins) and BP Winner Midnight Cowboy (7 nominations, 3 wins.)... So if you're playing the numbers game on Anne of the Thousand Days scored the most nods that year, but it actually holds up the worst of the Best Picture nominees from 69 in my opinion.
"They Shoot Horses" is somewhat hard to find (a 2004 DVD is long out of print), but is worth seeking out. It's one of the more under-appreciated films from its era and is in my personal top 5.
Three wins for four nominations: King Kong (2005): VDC, Sound editing, Sound mixing. Nom for production design.
*VDC = Vfx
Hayden-I disagree that there are no upsides. We live in a world where The Tree of LIfe, Amour, Her, and Brooklyn are all Best Picture nominees. That probably wouldn't have happened without this rule change.
Is Schindler's List that beloved? I honestly never hear anyone talk about it anymore. (Maybe it'll get a revival in the public's consciousness next year, i.e. its 25th anniversary.)
These stats are so intriguing. Methinks Hud was a little renegade for Oscars' taste in 1963. If it had come out in the latter part of the '60s, I definitely think it wouldn't have missed out on a BP nomination. (Keep in mind that AMPAS nominated Cleopatra for BP for God's sake.) The Bad and the Beautiful really is baffling. I can't explain that omission. (It should've been nominated in place of the actual *winner* that year.)
Yonatan & ConMan -- i added King Kong and Bourne Ultimatum. Grand Prix was already listed. (thanks for the catch)
Graham -- THEY SHOOT HORSES and HUD are among my favorite films of the 1960s so i would had big issues with Oscar voters had I been alive back then ;)
Sean & Hayden -- i've made peace with the expanded list (even though I prefer 5) but I do think the varying number is... what's the word.... gross. I mean just pic a number and stick to it. 5 through 10 is stupid. Just say 8 or something be done. I hate that you can't compare different years to each other anymore which was always so fun in Oscar conversations.
Mareko: The depressing and/or respectable movies, good or bad, generally aren't talked about as much as the fun movies, though.
The wrongful expansion of the BP field happened because of the snubbing of The Dark Knight. But the change never led to the nominating of any comic book film for the top prize. So what was all this crap for? Sigh.
I like the 10 nominations. It has the potential to expand the field in both directions, both arty and populist. The reason given for abandoning it is hilarious in a sick kind of way. Apparently, it was too tough for the Academy members to come up with 10 films to nominate! I don't like the present overly complicated and sloppy system at all. I'm with Nathaniel, pick a number (they even had 12 nominations in 1934 and 1935) and stick with it.
I have to add that i's a pity Terminator 2 wasn't nominated for Best Actress for Linda Hamilton.
brookesboy -- i know people have been saying this forever but i find it funny that everyone accepts it as fact. it's not like the cademy to say "we should have nominated _____ so we're sorry. let's try this instead" I dont remember any specific official statements about why but it's funny to me that that wfilm was the problem because i don't think it's that great. And certainly many many better action blockbusters were passed over in their day (like T2 Judgment Day and Aliens, both of which I think are two of hte best movies ever made) I was more angry about WALL*E getting left out. it's funny though because why the hell did they feel the need to have both Frost/Nixon AND The Reader. haha
And what about Hello, Dolly! Seven nominations and 3 wins!
That Dracula costume win is one of the most deserved Oscars of all time. Ishioka = genius. Her costumes were their own characters.
brookesboy: The problem is that there are only two specifically "comic book based" movies after The Dark Knight that would have justified Best Picture inclusion, both in 2014. Much easier to sell the majority of a 60+ year old membership on Batman by way of pseudo-Michael Mann than on "that movie with a talking raccoon" or a movie that's very specifically ABOUT rejecting security/fear if it costs freedoms. (The Dark Knight, whether you like it or not, is fairly clearly on the "old person" side of that debate.)
Jair - Sadly, Hello, Dolly! was nominated for Best Picture
Too bad "Who framed Roger Rabbit?" wasn't nominated for BP. I understand why, but still.... *sigh*
It's SO. MUCH. FUN!
@Cris - Just (re)watched T2, and you are so right about Linda Hamilton. That performance has aged *very* well.
1991 was a ridiculously stacked year for Best Actress, but I definitely would've nominated Linda alongside Geena, Jodie and Susan (bye, Bette) and ahead of Laura Dern. (In fact, Juliet Stevenson in Truly Madly Deeply might even deserve that fifth slot in retrospect.)
T2 and Jurassic Park still hold up strong. I only saw T2 for the first time in the last 5 years (due to an early anti-action bias where I thought action automatically equaled dumb, loud, and bad) and I was climbing on the furniture in suspense when I saw it, screaming "he's going to go through the bars!" when T2 was chasing them through the jail.