Current:Home > InvestThat's just 'Psycho,' Oscars: These 10 classic movies didn't win a single Academy Award -Secure Horizon Growth
That's just 'Psycho,' Oscars: These 10 classic movies didn't win a single Academy Award
SignalHub Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-07 11:18:12
"Citizen Kane," considered the greatest movie ever in many circles, only won one Academy Award – the same number as critically reviled "Suicide Squad."
Those two films demonstrate how interestingly idiosyncratic the Oscars can be in feting the best films annually. Over the years, while movies like "Titanic," "Ben-Hur" and the original "West Side Story" went home with rafts of prizes, the Academy has whiffed on some heavy hitters. Maybe it was the competition or perhaps it was that year's voting bloc, but there are stone-cold classics that missed out on trophies entirely.
Here are the 10 best movies of that bunch, the Oscar losers if you will, that got nominated and deserved far better:
1. 'The Great Dictator' (1940)
Silent-movie star and director Charlie Chaplin's first sound film was this superb political satire where Chaplin pulls double duty onscreen, as an antisemitic fascist leader and his Jewish barber lookalike. Timing might have been everything with his Hitler parody: Chaplin was beat by Alfred Hitchcock's "Rebecca" for best picture and Jimmy Stewart ("The Philadelphia Story") for best actor, in a ceremony held less than 10 months before Pearl Harbor.
2. 'It’s a Wonderful Life' (1946)
Frank Capra's Christmas movie classic is many people's favorite movie, with Jimmy Stewart as a man ready to end it all until he learns the world would be much worse if he'd never existed. But the Academy's fave? Not so much. "Life" lost four out of its five Oscar categories (including best picture, actor and director) to "The Best Years of Our Lives" – not a holiday staple, in case you're wondering.
3. 'Seven Samurai' (1954)
Arguably the most influential movie on this list, Akira Kurosawa's action-packed Japanese epic gave way to "The Magnificent Seven," "Star Wars" and many others in terms of themes, visuals and narrative. "Samurai" lost its two chances at the 1957 Oscars – for black-and-white art direction and costume design – and was left out of best foreign-language film the first year it became a competitive category. (Previously, one movie was chosen each year for an honorary award.)
4. '12 Angry Men' (1957)
Like with "A Few Good Men," we find the Oscars guilty of dropping the ball on this essential courtroom drama, which featured Henry Fonda, Martin Balsam, Jack Klugman and E.G. Marshall as jurors deciding the fate of a teen charged with murder. "Angry Men" lost all three of its categories – best picture, director and adapted screenplay – to war picture "The Bridge on the River Kwai," which to be fair was pretty darn good, too.
5. 'Psycho' (1960)
Maybe Academy voters were weirded out by the infamous shower scene, or simply sentimental about moms. Alfred Hitchcock's exquisitely crafted psychological chiller racked up a mere four nominations, including best director and supporting actress for Janet Leigh's hair-raising performance. It wouldn't be until three decades later that a horror movie would nab best picture ("The Silence of the Lambs").
6. 'A Clockwork Orange' (1971)
In the annals of Oscar-less greats, Stanley Kubrick could have his own wing: "Dr. Strangelove" was also shut out and "The Shining" didn't even garner a nod. But considering that "Orange" initially received an X rating for its depiction of graphic violence and sexually explicit imagery, that it garnered a best picture nod at all is kind of a miracle and shows how much the film tapped into the times.
7. 'Taxi Driver' (1976)
"You talking to me?" Yep, we're talking about Martin Scorsese's gritty noir – and one of the most iconic movies of the '70s – with Robert De Niro as the unstable New York cabbie who's probably best to avoid at night. Unfortunately, it got knocked out in best picture by "Rocky" while De Niro and supporting actress Jodie Foster lost to "Network" stars Peter Finch and Beatrice Straight.
8. 'Blade Runner' (1982)
Granted, sci-fi movies have never exactly taken the Oscars by fire. But Steven Spielberg's "E.T." won four Academy Awards the very same year as Ridley Scott's futuristic tale, which was up for best visual effects and art direction. While the adorable candy-loving alien bested Harrison Ford that time, "Blade Runner" ultimately became a cult classic and a beloved entry in the canon.
9. 'Field of Dreams' (1989)
A personal choice, but a favorite nonetheless for this discerning critic. A fantastical ode to baseball, fathers and sons, dreams (naturally) and famous ghosts in a cornfield, the Kevin Costner masterpiece lost out on three Oscars, including best picture – which somehow went to "Driving Miss Daisy" in a head-scratching year where "Do the Right Thing" and "Glory" didn't even make the cut.
10. 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994)
Based on a Stephen King novella, the acclaimed prison drama starring Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins went 0-for-7 at the Oscars, with "Forrest Gump" reigning as best picture and Forrest himself, Tom Hanks, taking best actor over Freeman. That's OK, though, because "Shawshank Redemption" has captured many hearts and minds ever since as a cable-TV movie staple.
veryGood! (798)
Related
- Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
- Prosecutors argue Trump willfully and flagrantly violated gag order, seek penalty
- Earth Day 2024: Some scientists are calling for urgent optimism for change | The Excerpt
- Billie Eilish headlines Fortnite Festival with unlockable neon green skin, instruments
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- Call Her Daddy Host Alex Cooper Marries Matt Kaplan in Intimate Beachside Wedding
- Cristian Măcelaru to become music director of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 2025-26
- Untangling the Ongoing Feud Between Chris Brown and Quavo
- 'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
- IndyCar disqualifies Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin from St. Pete podium finishes
Ranking
- Questlove charts 50 years of SNL musical hits (and misses)
- A 10-year-old boy woke up to find his family dead: What we know about the OKC killings
- More Than a Third of All Americans Live in Communities with ‘Hazardous’ Air, Lung Association Finds
- Amazon debuts grocery delivery program for Prime members, SNAP recipients
- Man can't find second winning lottery ticket, sues over $394 million jackpot, lawsuit says
- New laptop designs cram bigger displays into smaller packages
- Mega Millions winning numbers for April 23 drawing: Did anyone win $202 million jackpot?
- Former Wisconsin college chancellor fired over porn career is fighting to keep his faculty post
Recommendation
Travis Hunter, the 2
The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act Is Still a Bipartisan Unicorn
Tesla layoffs: Company plans to cut nearly 2,700 workers at Austin, Texas factory
Hazmat crews detonate 'ancient dynamite' found in Utah home after neighbors evacuated
Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
American tourist facing possible 12-year prison sentence after ammo found in luggage in Turks and Caicos
I’m watching the Knicks’ playoff run from prison
Kim Kardashian Shares Photo With Karlie Kloss After Taylor Swift’s Tortured Poets Album Release