9 Worst Snubs for Best Picture

Does anybody remember Smilin’ Through or State Fair from that same year? Neither do I. But even the most casual filmgoer knows the original King Kong, and at the very least has seen the iconic image of Kong waving off pesky biplanes atop the Empire State Building. So why did this groundbreaking adventure not become one of the 10 nominees in 1932/33? Nobody knows. Grand in every way imaginable, King Kong has thrilled and inspired generations of filmmakers and audiences, while some of the Best Picture nominees that year have been long forgotten.

Yes, the film that many consider to be the greatest musical ever made was never given a shot to win Best Picture in 1952. Instead, the Academy chose to nominate another musical, Moulin Rouge, directed by John Huston. Certainly a quality film, but why that was nominated over this Gene Kelly classic will forever remain shrouded in mystery. Maybe it had something to do with Singin’ in the Rain not being a box office hit at the time of its release. Still, the image of Kelly singing the titular song while twirling an umbrella has been etched in stone, while little if anything is remembered of Huston’s film.

All throughout his career, Alfred Hitchcock endured one snub after another from the Academy. He was nominated for Best Director five times, including once for this classic, but never took home a statue. Meanwhile, his greatest masterpieces were routinely overlooked for Best Picture. Yes, Rebecca won in 1940, while Suspicion and Spellbound each received nominations. But would it have been a crime for one of Hitch’s greatest achievements to have taken the place of The Country Girl or Three Coins in the Fountain? I don’t think so.

James Dean was nominated for Best Actor. Elia Kazan was given a nod for directing. Even writer Paul Osborn received proper due for his script. So why didn’t East of Eden get nominated for Best Picture? Given that The Rose Tattoo, Picnic and Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing did, your guess is as good as mine. Beautifully shot in the California farmlands, this cross-generational drama made Dean an international star and has aged far better than the other three nominated that year. This would get my vote for the biggest snub on the list.

Wait a minute, you’re asking. This classic Billy Wilder comedy – widely considered to be one of his greatest movies – was passed over for Best Picture by Oscar? Sadly, yes. But then again, the competition was steep in 1959 with Otto Preminger’s Anatomy of a Murder and George Stevens’ The Diary of Anne Frank on the list. But it was William Wyler’s Ben-Hur that ruled the day with 12 nominations and 11 wins, including the grand prize itself. A snub for sure, but at least this one is understandable. Maybe.

The familiar pattern of Hitchcock being snubbed by the Academy continued with another of his masterpieces, North By Northwest. But like Some Like It Hot, this classic espionage thriller was released during a very competitive Oscar year. So can its exclusion be forgiven? Well, The Nun's Story starring Audrey Hepburn did receive a nod and this one was ignored. Sure, Nun's Story was the most successful film of Hepburn's career, but is it really Best Picture material? If either North by Northwest or Some Like It Hot would have taken its place, I doubt many would have complained.

Yet a third Hitchcock masterpiece to be overlooked by Oscar. Billy Wilder’s classic dark comedy The Apartment won Best Picture that year, so I won’t dare say that Psycho could have taken its place. But what about Fred Zinnemann’s The Sundowners? Or Jack Cardiff's Sons and Lovers? Sure, The Sundowners earned several other Oscar nominations, including Best Director, but it was also a huge failure at the box office. Sons and Lovers, meanwhile, was a hit and caused a great deal of controversy for its then-explicit depiction of sexuality. But that film hasn’t aged well, while Hitchcock’s Psycho has lived on as a classic, gaining new fans every generation. One of the great all-time snubs.

So one of the most innovative science fiction movies of all time was completely ignored in favor of Funny Girl and Rachel, Rachel? Why, yes, that’s exactly what happened. Now that’s not a knock on either film, but would one honestly have been upset if 2001: A Space Odyssey took either’s place? I didn’t think so. Stanley Kubrick’s masterful space opus served as inspiration for countless future filmmakers, including Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Of course, polarizing critical reviews and the stigma of science fiction probably kept it out of the running that year. But then again, Kubrick was nominated for directing and Arthur C. Clarke got a nod for his script, so there really is no excuse for this snub.

Most reasonable people – myself included – feel that Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull should have won Best Picture over Ordinary People by a long shot. But that’s nothing compared to The Empire Strikes Back, which didn’t even get a nomination. Coal Miner’s Daughter did. So, too, did Roman Polanski’s Tess. While the original Star Wars received a nod in 1977, George Lucas’ best film of the six he eventually made was completely overlooked. Empire is no Phantom Menace and certainly deserved recognition from the Academy.