When movies get a lot of Oscar nominations they tend to go home with quite a few of them. That’s something the makers of La La Land are no doubt counting on. Their film has earned a record 14 Academy Awards nominations, a feat only matched by two other films in history: All About Eve and Titanic, two movies that each went home with the Best Picture trophy and quite a few others.
Also: Hollywoodland Loves ‘La La Land’ | 14 Oscar Nominations!
But for every winner there must also be a loser, and sometimes a lot of Oscar nominations doesn’t necessary lead to a lot of wins. In fact, sometimes a lot of Oscar nominations lead of losing. Throughout the history of the Oscars there have been a significant number of films that earned an incredible number of nominations and didn’t win a single trophy. They get to stay in the Academy’s record books, but with a little asterisk next to their name.
Still, it’s an honor to be nominated, and many if not all of the Academy’s biggest losers are worth remembering, even if coming up short has kept them out of the conversation a bit. Let’s take a look at the films that earned the most Oscar nominations without winning a single prize, as we wonder if La La Land will end up joining them.
When Oscar Nominations Go Bad | The Academy’s Biggest Losers
Top Photo: Columbia Pictures
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon, and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved, Rapid Reviews and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
The Biggest Oscar Losers
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The Color Purple (1985)
Nominations: 11
Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel earned a staggering number of Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director (Steven Spielberg), Best Actress (Whoopi Goldberg) and Best Supporting Actress (twice, for Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey). Out of Africa wound up sweeping the Academy Awards instead, and Spielberg's film was shut out altogether. It's the most nominations any film has ever received before going home empty handed, a title it shares with...
Photo: Warner Bros.
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The Turning Point (1977)
Nominations: 11
Herbert Ross's ballet drama also earned eleven nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (twice, for Anne Bancroft andShirley MacLaine), and Best Supporting Actor (for Mikhail Baryshnikov, no less). It was the same year that Star Wars and Annie Hall dominated the ceremony, and there was apparently no room left for The Turning Point.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
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American Hustle (2013)
Nominations: 10
David O. Russell's acclaimed crime dramedy, about a con artist enlisted by the FBI to do their dirty work, earned a staggering number of Academy Award nominations, including one for each member of the principal cast (Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence). The big winners that year were 12 Years a Slave and Gravity, sending American Hustle home empty-handed.
Photo: Columbia Pictures
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Gangs of New York (2002)
Nominations: 10
Martin Scorsese had been developing Gangs of New York for 20 years before this historical crime epic finally made it to the screen, but although the film was considered a frontrunner, the Oscars favored the musical Chicago that year. Even Daniel Day-Lewis's celebrated performance lost out to Adrien Brody's quieter work in the Roman Polanski drama The Pianist.
Photo: Miramax
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True Grit (2010)
Nominations: 10
The Coen Bros. remade the celebrated western True Grit, which famously won John Wayne his only Academy Award, into a handsome production that earned ten Oscar nominations nominations including Best Picture, Best Director(s), Best Actor (Jeff Bridges) and Best Supporting Actress (then-newcomer Hailee Steinfeld). But that year the Oscars were mostly interested in The King's Speech and The Social Network, so True Grit didn't take home any statues.
Photo: Paramount Pictures
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The Little Foxes (1941)
Nominations: 9
William Wyler's celebrated drama about family backstabbing earned a staggering nine Oscar nominations but came up short. The big winner that year was How Green Was My Valley, which also beat out Citizen Kane and The Maltese Falcon for the Best Picture prize.
Photo: RKO Radio Pictures
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Peyton Place (1957)
Nominations: 9
The best-selling novel by Grace Metalious, about the seedy underbelly of a seemingly idyllic small town, was a box office hit that earned nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Lana Turner) and four for its supporting performances (Diane Varsi, Hope Lange, Arthur Kennedy, Russ Tamblyn). The Academy honored The Bridge on the River Kwai with the Best Picture award, and sent the makers of Peyton Place away without any statues.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
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The Elephant Man (1980)
Nominations: 8
David Lynch's celebrated drama about the infamously deformed Joseph Merrick (renamed John Merrick in the film, for some reason), earned eight Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (John Hurt). It lost to Ordinary People, and the lack of recognition for the film's astounding makeup effects led to the creation of the Best Makeup award the next year.
Photo: Paramount Pictures
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The Nun's Story (1959)
Nominations: 8
Fred Zinneman's drama about a nun struggling with her vows as her dreams of practicing medicine are stymied was celebrated with eight Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture and Best Actress (Audrey Hepburn), but that was the same year that Ben-Hur swept the Oscars, earning a record-setting eleven Academy Awards.
Photo: Warner Bros.
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Ragtime (1981)
Nominations: 8
Milos Forman's historical drama Ragtime is an unusual case: a film with eight Oscar nominations but none for Best Picture. Instead the film was heavily represented in the technical categories, as well as Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Howard E. Rollins Jr.). The Oscars gave the most honors to Chariots of Fire that year, as well as Raiders of the Lost Ark in the technical categories.
Photo: Paramount Pictures
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The Remains of the Day (1993)
Nominations: 8
James Ivory's celebrated drama about a butler who tries to remain impartial in turbulent times earned an impressive eight Oscar nominations - including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins) and Best Actress (Emma Thompson) - but lost many to Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List and Jane Campion's The Piano.
Photo: Columbia Pictures
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The Sand Pebbles (1966)
Nominations: 8
Robert Wise's hit war drama, about a rebellious Navy machinist, was an acclaimed box office hit that earned eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Steve McQueen) and Best Supporting Actor (Mako). The Academy instead honored Fred Zinneman's biopic A Man for All Seasons, leaving The Sand Pebbles high and dry.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
