7 days until Oscar. 7-time Best Director nominees
Sunday, April 18, 2021 at 8:00AM It's seven sleeps until Oscar night so today's magic discussion number is SEVEN! Exactly seven directors in history have received seven (or more) nominations for Best Director in the Academy's 93 year history. For fun we've listed that magic seventh nomination below, though coincidentally none of these directors won their seventh time in the race (all had already won). They are, in alpha order:
- Woody Allen (7 noms / 1 win) MIDNIGHT IN PARIS in 2011
- David Lean (7 noms / 2 wins) A PASSAGE TO INDIA in 1984
- Martin Scorsese (9 noms / 1 win) HUGO in 2011
- Steven Spielberg (7 noms / 2 wins) LINCOLN in 2012
- Billy Wilder (8 noms / 2 wins) SOME LIKE IT HOT in 1959
- William Wyler (12 noms / 3 wins) THE HEIRESS in 1949
- Fred Zinneman (7 noms / 2 wins) JULIA in 1977
COMMENT PARTY QUESTIONS:
1. Which of these seven men is the all time best director?
2. And which of these "seventh nominations" is the best?
Your answer might well be different for each of those questions.
P.S. No currently living directors are anywhere close to joining this list. The closest are Francis Ford Coppola (81 years old), Clint Eastwood (90 years old), and Peter Weir (76 years old), all well behind with 4 Best Director nominations. Behind them with 3 nominations each are Coen, Daldry, Iñárritu, Ivory, Ang Lee, Lynch, Polanski, Russell, Scott, Stone, and Tarantino. No female director has been nominated more than once but we'll get there. This year women made up 40% of the Best Director category, an all time record...with a third woman totally in the conversation though not nominated, which suggests that the industry has rapidly become more inclusive in the past few years once the pressure was on.
Reader Comments (57)
Excellent questions. Of the seven movies, Some Like It Hot is far and away the best. Of those seven people, Scorcese, Wyler and Wilder are my picks and it is extremely difficult to choose between them.
An unpopular opinion, but Woody Allen is tops on my list.
I wholeheartedly agree with Pedro, Some Like It Hot MUST is undoubtedly the best of that bunch. It would be the best of almost any and all lists. It is practically a perfect movie.
Some Like It Hot is definitely the best seventh nom. Mainly because Wilder is only one on the list whose early works had been recognized enough that his seventh nom is still within his prime. The other 6 were all in their late period already by the seventh nom.
It's really difficult choice as to who is the best, personally Scorsese will be my pick.
Question #1: Wilder.
Question #2: Some Like it Hot
--Fincher also has three directing nominations and he's someone I can envision sneaking up the list.
Nathaniel, while I do agree that we'll get a woman joining the ranks of the multi-nominated, I suspect that the same reason we don't see modern directors accruing as many nominations means that we won't see it as quickly as we'd hope for.
An astonishing group, to say the least. My vote for best director goes to Billy Wilder, for best seventh nomination to Fred Zinneman for Julia
Some Like it Hot, of course. Wilder, of course.
Allen and Scorsese are my favourite of the bunch.
Scorsese needs to win AGAIN.
Lincoln. I haven't taken the Oscars seriously since its loss. Of those directors, David Lean is my overall favorite. He should have won for Passage to India. Scorsese should have won for Hugo, too.
David Lean or Martin Scorsese is probably my favorite of this bunch, but all of these men have made at least a couple of masterpieces between them, and you could make a sincere conversation that most of them should have 1-2 more nominations (the directing branch doesn't get enough credit for picking some of the classiest of the Big 6 nomination slates each year).
In terms of the future, I'd think Fincher is a good guess to move up the ranks, and PTA would be if he made more movies more regularly. Zhao or Fennell might be possibilities in the future as well (they're both under 40), but you can never tell. For every Spielberg getting in early & becoming a mainstay, there's a Michael Cimino who is never seen again at the Oscars despite his winning work being absolutely brilliant.
The Heiress is the best of these nominees. Scorsese is the best director, though Wyler is close. (At a minimum, Bigelow and Gerwig should be two-time Best Director nominees.)
Some Like It Hot for best 7th nomination (with Julia a close 2nd) and Scorsese for best director overall.
1. Wilder
2. Some Like It Hot
Easy picks.
Echoing the love for Wilder (the greatest ever) and Some Like it Hot (not even a Top 3 Wilder film yet still a perfect movie). Scorsese and Spielberg have both had astounding high points and their influence on other filmmakers is everywhere, but both have also had real stinkers lately that were unbearable slogs (I’m looking at you, Hugo, Lincoln, Bridge of Spies, and especially The Irishman). Allen’s filmography includes some of my all-time favorite movies, but he’s, you know, Woody Allen. I need to spend more time with the films of Lean, Wyler, and Zinneman, but I don’t see them topping Wilder for me.
These will not be popular opinions but Woody is the greatest and JULIA the best of those films.
Correction to my above post. The Heiress is right behind Some Like It Hot as best 7th film then Julia.
Scorsese and Spielberg would have had more if they hadn't been notably snubbed in 1975, 1976, and 1985. Hitchcock could have had two more (1935, 1958) easily and made the list.
2. Some Like It Hot is the most classic of all these films
Andrew stole my words! Hahaha I was going to soy exactly the same! I love how claustrofobic Julia is in the train scenes and I have I huge crush on Woody Allen since I saw the first movie of his filmography, Anything else.
1. Too hard to answer - they're all heavyweights for good reason - but definitely *not* Allen (and no, not because of you know what)
2. SOME LIKE IT HOT, of course, although I haven't seen all seven of the movies.
J - I generally agree, but not sure I'd consider THE HEIRESS to be past Wyler's "peak," considering he continued to have a strong run into the 1950s and even his work in the '60s is nothing to sneeze at. Perhaps I'm biased because these are the movies my parents loved and I grew up with - ROMAN HOLIDAY, FRIENDLY PERSUASION, THE BIG COUNTRY, BEN-HUR, HOW TO STEAL A MILLION...
It's Some Like it Hot and Woody Allen.
The Heiress and Some Like It Hot are by far the best 7ths.
Woody's Oscar run is incredible, given the fairly narrow prism he was working in. Don't forget those 7 nominations are paired with SIXTEEN screenplay nominations.
I think that Woody Allen is the most frequently great director.
The Heiress and Hugo are, I think, the strongest seventh nominations.
I think the problem with naming Woody as the best out of the bunch is that his divinity as a screenwriter overshadows his directorial achievement almost entirely.
In 1945 (The Ceremony year) AMPAS should have given Double Indemnity the Oscar. To make up for the mistake, they rewarded The Lost Weekend the following year. Again they didn't even nominate Some Like It Hot in 1960 - it should have been Best Picture - and the following year threw several statuettes at Wilder's feet for The Apartament. Without All About Eve in his way, Billy would be a three-time winner in the category like Capra, Wyler and Ford. Sunset Boulevard, think about it!
1. Wich of these seven men is the all time best director?
A: Billy Wilder. Runner-up: David Lean.
2. And which of these "seventh nominations" is the best?
A: Some Like It Hot. One of the masterpieces of the genre and in general. Runner-up: The Heiress.
When I was a teenager I use to watch TV specials where open channels transmitted Author Cinema and that's how I started my cinephile journey.
With the past of the years I've been more interested to watch films that catches my atention just for the plot or the title and don't pay so much atention to the director or actors involved so, I haven't watch films from all the directors named.
Also in the last years the number of films I've been watched from United States have been decreased significantly for my interest to know more about films from México and Latinoamerica.
Considering what I mentioned before and analyzing the films I've been watched, Woody Allen is the director I've been watch more with 13 titles and is easily the one which style and screenplays I like most so he is my choice for the best director.
Lincoln and The Heiress are the best seventh nominations, but it's a pretty good group overall. It's more of a solid list than an amazing list.
Q1: Woody Allen
Q2: Some like it hot
1) Wyler
2) The Heiress
I also love Billy Wilder, but William Wyler absolutely comes out on top for me. I’ve never been too enamored of any of the other directors, except maybe David Lean’s earlier non-epic films.
Scorsese's last nom was Wolf of Wall Street, not Hugo.
Tony -- the discussion is not their "last" nom but their 7th nom. In Scorsese's case that was HUGO. His directing nominations
1. RAGING BULL
2. LAST TEMPTATION
3. GOODFELLAS
4. GANGS
5. AVIATOR
6. DEPARTED
7. HUGO
8. WOLF OF WALL STREET
9. THE IRISHMAN
I'm Team Woody when it comes to his artistry.
Scorsese's Last Temptation of Christ picture is the best of his cited directorial efforts.
Although some of the more recent directors have some favorite movies, Billy Wilder would have to be my pick. He directed: The Fortune Cookie, Irma la Douce, The Apartment, Some Like It Hot, Witness for the Prosecution, The Seven Year Itch, Sabrina, Stalag 17, Sunset Boulevard, The Lost Weekend, and Double Indemnity!
Prajhan said:
In 1945 (The Ceremony year) AMPAS should have given Double Indemnity the Oscar. To make up for the mistake, they rewarded The Lost Weekend the following year.
Wilder was winning for The Lost Weekend even if he had won the year before. The directors branch of the time did it in 40/41 (Ford) and 49/50 (Mankiewicz) and would not have hesitated with Wilder had he won for Double Indemnity the year before.
1. William Wyler. And he was also good at directing actors. And he was loved by them.
2. Some Like It Hot. That kind of movie that everyone read about before watching.
1. My mind says Billy Wilder, but my heart says Woody Allen. Can't decide. Sorry. I'm a Libra.
2. Lincoln and The Heiress tied.
John Fprd won three out of his five Best Director nominations. That's a pretty good batting average.
1. Wilder or Spielberg
2. Some Like It Hot
Dan Humphrey: John Ford Won 4 out of 5 times
Some Like It Hot is an all time great film.
All seven directors made multiple classic films. Woody Allen was nominated for the original screenplay and the direction of all seven of his films. That seems to settle the matter, though I must admit the artistic integrity of William Wyler who declined the opportunity to direct that cash cow, The Sound of Music, and opted for the edgy two hander, The Collector, is a head turner.
Again, unpopular opinion, but when it comes to their movies, my favorites are Allen's, maybe tied with the marvelous David Lean.
And even a more unpopular opinion, to me the best seventh nomination, without a doubt, is A Passage to India. It's also my favorite Lean and one of my all time favorites. Judy Davis in that movie... Too much for me.
And no one asked, but I want to rank them!
A Passage to India
The Heiress
Midnight in Paris
Some Like It Hot
Lincoln
Julia
Hugo
Deivith -- well i asked sort of. Thanks for playing along. I'd go like so with these movies
masterpieces
1. Some Like It Hot
2. The Heiress
great stuff
3. Lincoln
4. Midnight in Paris
good films
5. A Passage to India
6. Julia
dont care for
7. Hugo
Of the Seven. Some Like it Hot
Career wise. David Lean because of his diversity.
Top three directors in order:
Wilder
Wyler
Zinnemann
Top 3 7th noms in order:
Some Like It Hot
The Heiress
Lincoln-If Spielberg hadn't felt the need to tack on the superfluous addendum this would be a tie with The Heiress.
I was going to come here and say Woody Allen and Some Like it Hot as an original hot take and am happy to see several people already agree!
Best director, Scorsese.
Best movie mentioned, Some Like It Hot.
The Coen Bros. would get up that list if they were working more frequently.
They have been close to more nominations already with A Serious Man, Inside Llewyn Davis at a certain point also had some buzz.
With a bigger push, even O Brother Where Art Thou.
For me right now based on the number of films I've seen from them so far:
1. Martin Scorsese
2. David Lean
3. Billy Wilder
4. Woody Allen
5. Steven Spielberg
6. William Wyler
7. Fred Zinneman
David Fincher also has three nominations: Benjamin Burton, Social Network and Mank.
Wow, I had no idea Woody had that many Best Director nods. Only three of those films were nominated for Best Picture -- he's got to have the record for "lone director" nods, right?
Nonetheless -- and as much as I love Woody -- my vote is for Marty and Some Like It Hot.
Quoting Fernando Trueba's Oscar acceptance speech for Foreign Film 1993 (Belle Epoque)
"I would like to believe in God, in order to thank him, but I just believe in Billy Wilder... so, thank you, Mr. Wilder".
Clear?
I believe Woody has that line director record. Still can’t believe Bullets Over Broadway didn’t make it.. especially with so many other nods, including the totally unexpected but totally awesome Jennifer Tully nomination.