Oscar Trivia: The Beloved Losers Camp gets a new member!
Wednesday, March 13, 2024 at 3:00PM by Nathaniel R
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON marks a third time for Scorsese to reach a particular Oscar stat
Most die-hard movie fans can tell you who the "all time biggest losers" are in Oscar history though they'll usually cite actors (Peter O'Toole, Glenn Close, etcetera) rather than films. The film list is interesting because usually when Oscar really loves a movie they'll find a way to give it at least one Oscar. Yet sometimes they really love you only on the first ballot but are over you when it comes time to pick winners. In the past ten years this list of "losers" had grown. Please take the term "loser" in good fun as being nominated for tons of Oscars is still a rarity in the grand scheme of Hollywood releases.
After the jump all of the films with 8 nominations or more that won nothing on Oscar night...
Tied with 8 nominations / 8 losses
ELVIS
• Quo Vadis (1951)
• The Nun's Story (1959)
• The Sand Pebbles (1966)
• The Elephant Man (1980)
• Ragtime (1981)
• Remains of the Day (1993)
• Elvis (2022)
Usually once you land this many nominations, you're bound to be a favourite in at least one category. But none of these films managed a single one. Elvis is still fresh in the memory and it was surely running in second place in at least a couple of categories (Actor & Costumes). We wonder if any of the other films here were.
Tied with 9 nominations / 9 losses
• The Little Foxes (1941)
• Peyton Place (1957)
• The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
Peyton Place is understandable (why did it have so many nominations in the first place?) but The Little Foxes is a stone cold masterpiece if you ask us. So riveting and tight that it's impossible to look away. It packs twice as much drama and performative chills into two hours than many of today's two and a half to four hour films manage. How did it lose all 9 of its nominations? And early in the season last year it looked like Banshees would be competitive somewhere. But it was not meant to be.
Tied with 10 nominations / 10 losses
• Gangs of New York (2002)
• True Grit (2010)
• American Hustle (2013)
• The Irishman (2019)
• Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
Apologies to fans of Killers of the Flower Moon (a big hit here with the TFE staff) but this group of films makes a general suspicion into something like a hard truth. The industry admires Martin Scorsese's filmography - so much so that his films are automatic contenders each year and the question is 'how many?' with nominations, not the 'will they get around to screening it?' problem so many other films have. But here we see the Great Auteur holds three of the five 'runner up' positions for biggest Oscar night loser. Respect and admiration don't always mean "love". When it comes time to pass out wins, they're far less generous. This is surely why it also took this legendary auteur so very long to win Best Director though he is the second most nominated Director of all time (after William Wyler).
With the exception of The Irishman and (maybe) True Grit, all of these films were considered strong contenders in at least one race only to lose everything on Oscar night.
and Oscar's biggest losers remain...
Tied with 11 nominations / 11 losses
THE COLOR PURPLE
• The Turning Point (1977)
• The Color Purple (1985)
Aging dancers melodrama The Turning Point (1977) and the beloved blockbuster The Color Purple (1985) remain the films with the most nominations to lose all of their categories. It's worth noting that both films are inarguably about women and Oscar still -- even in the 21st century -- prefers films to be about men. That these two films came out within 8 years of each other is interesting though it seems random in terms of Oscar stats.
Still with Oscar nominating less features than they once did (the expanded era has strangely narrowed their focus to Best Picture contenders only) and more films scoring an absurd amount of nominations we know that these two will soon have to share this dubious honor with a third film. Why am I so certain? Please note again the five runners up to this "all time loser" title and note that they were ALL released in the past 25 years.
Do you have any other observations from this list?
Reader Comments (14)
You've forgotten about "The Banshees of Inisherin": 9 nominations, 0 wins
Haven't seen Peyton Place, so cannot comment on the quality, but wasn't it something of a zeitgeist hit? I know it has been referenced all over the place pretty much from its release, so I assume it made it in so many categories because it was all over the place.
The Little Foxes is an odd one. Two of its nominations were in categories with over 15 nominations. I suspect it lost because "women's pictures" didn't do very well outside of the actress categories with the early academy. Bette was up against an overdue Fontaine (given her work in Rebecca) and Mary Astor always seemed, to me, a lead talent in supporting roles.
I'm surprised to see Petyon Place here. It's a solid film, but I suspect felt more daring for its time. It also was a huge hit, coming in second at the box-office only to the Best Picture winner. It got a ton of acting nominations, but I suspect it wasn't very well-respected then.
I don't think I'll ever get why the Turning Point got so many nominations. The two leads are solid, but it's not much of a film. Maybe the academy was just impressed with a dive into another industry?
The 3 Scorsese pictures for my taste aren't his best much to admire but not passionate about them.
I do think Pesci should have won for The Irishman easily the best of the 5.
I'll go against the grain and say I love The Turning Point
2 of my favourite actresses having a blast and a lovely supporting turn from the often unheralded Tom Skerritt.
The phone call with his daughter should have got him a nomination over Barishinikov who has nothing to do but look good in a very tight vest,i'm not complaining about that though as he fills it well.
TCP shut out is the most egregious Whoopi definitely should have won and maybe one of the supporting ladies esp Avery ad maybe Best Song for Miss Celie's Blues.
The Little Foxes is Bette at her battling best,Fontaine is not good in Suspicion.
Banshees should have had Best Actor and Original Screenplay.
Not a fan of Elvis. maybe it's costumes should won but not unjustly snubbed.
I always wrongly think The Nun's Story won Best Pic,my 50's knowledge is limited outside of Joan Crawford.
Davus ---whoops. how weird of me! fixed.
joe g -- the peyton place thing makes me wonder what current films will perplex future generations like "why were people so obsessed with that?"
NATHANIEL @ joe g: Barbie.
Funny how all the movies in Group 10 got more noms than they deserved.
I remember looking at the noms over and over again in '93 trying to find a way for The Remains of the Day to win something! It was so clear that it was going home emptyhanded (breaking my heart in the process).
Peggy Sue -- it's so true. 10 noms must be a curse. none of those films deserved that many nominations!
I don’t think the celebration of Peyton Place is that difficult to understand. The late 1950s was amidst an era when studios saw television as a threat to their existence. To hold onto their audience, studio executive made movies you couldn’t see on TV. They made spectacles or adult dramas.
Spectacles were typically filmed in vibrant CinemaScope with stunning visuals. If you see William Mellor’s magnificent cinematography in Peyton Place as filmed (not the pan and scan used in most televised versions), the beauty is breathtaking.
Adult dramas addressed topics television couldn’t. The rape of Selena Cross by her step father and Selena’s subsequent pregnancy was shocking in its day.
Peyton Place fit both criteria and was a huge hit. The Academy nominated these films for multiple prizes to reinforce the aura of a big screen motion picture over a small box in one’s living room.
Audrey shld've won for The Nun's Story. After years of playing sweet and innocent ingenue, she finally proves her mettle when she takes on the dramatic and difficult role of Sister Luke, san make-up & pretty Givenchy frocks.
She nabs both NYFCC & BAFTA (her 2nd win for both) for her effort, but alas, the 1959 Best Actress is a tight 3-way race btw Audrey, Liz Taylor & Simone SIgnoret, w the French veteran actress finally prevails in an essentially supp role.
Maybe the voters was thinking tt she is too young (at 30 then) to win Best Actress again, so soon after her win 6 yrs prior for Roman Holiday.
-The Elephant Man-The Academy made room for The Empire Strikes Back to receive a ‘Special Achievement Award’ for Visual Effects for 1980. You’d think they’d give a ‘Special Achievement Award’ for Best Make-up for The Elephant Man since that category didn’t exist at the time.
-He probably had no interest, but perhaps Steven Spielberg should’ve made The Color Purple (2023). Oscar guilt might’ve helped.
-The Irishman & KOTFM were both so looooooong that Voters probably fell asleep 1/2 way through and never wanted to return.
I recall Emma Thompson making a scathing comment about Audrey Hepburn's acting ability some years back. Apparently Emma never saw The Nun's Story. If she did, she would probably retract her very public statement.
A. While your larger point is true about Oscar preferring women, in 1977 and 1985, arguably, that wasn't the case. I remember listening to the SAS podcasts for both (the 1977 I listen to fairly regularly, actually) and that point being made. That said, I'd probably say both films deserved maybe half as many nominations as they got.
B. re: Scorsese - definitely. There are filmmakers that just fall into that category - Robert Altman, Stanley Kubrick, - where they're clearly respected and AMPAS will always watch their films. But they don't rise to the level of absolute love. But then again, you get filmmakers like Todd Haynes who can't even get a looksee, so you take what you can get as a fan, I suppose.
I do remember there being a general sense that Hailee Steinfeld could upset Melissa Leo in supporting actress, but it seems silly in retrospect. I don't recall Steinfeld winning any major prizes that year?