They Died Without an Oscar?!?!

Foreword. One of my great movie obsessions is the Oscars – every year, I track the nominees and follow the winners through Awards Season, partially because I buy into the pageantry like a sucker, but also because the Oscars hold a unique place in film history. I say it all the time, but what they get wrong is as important as what they get right. While lists like the American Film Institute’s Top 100 and Sight and Sound’s Top 100 retroactively canonize great cinema, Academy Award history makes for a fascinating and frustrating history of (mostly American) movies.

Today, I’m looking at 10 all-time great filmmakers who died without ever getting a Best Director Oscar and trying to correct these flaws. Exercises like this prove just how poor a mechanism for capturing film history the Oscars can be. In figuring out why these legends lost each year, I’ve skipped the unfortunate fact that the Academy historically doesn’t hand out Best Director to foreign filmmakers, even when those filmmakers won Best Foreign Language film or were nominated in other categories such as writing. Recently, this trend has begun to fade, which is a good thing.

Robert Altman

• Notable Films: M*A*S*H, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The Long Goodbye, California Split, Nashville, The Player, Short Cuts, Gosford Park

• Nominations:

  • M*A*S*H (1971 Oscars)

  • Nashville (1976 Oscars)

  • The Player (1993 Oscars)

  • Short Cuts (1994 Oscars)

  • Gosford Park (2002 Oscars)

• Why Didn’t He Win? His Oscar luck is worse than most. In 1971, Patton and Franklin Schaffner weren’t accepting anything less than total victory, and in 1976 he was caught in the crosshairs of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in one of the best Oscars ever (fellow nominees all appear on this list). After a hiatus from Academy recognition, he lost to Clint Eastwood for Unforgiven in 1993 and then Spielberg for Schindler’s List in 1994. In 2002, he was among the collateral damage of Ron Howard’s win for A Beautiful Mind that also claimed David Lynch (Mulholland Drive), Peter Jackson (Fellowship of the Ring), and Ridley Scott (Black Hawk Down).

• Let’s Fix It. The most egregious loss is certainly to Ron Howard in 2002 – literally any other nominee would have been better – but that’s not my choice. I wish he was also nominated for McCabe & Mrs. Miller and The Long Goodbye, but he certainly wouldn’t have triumphed in those Oscar years (The French Connection, The Sting). My choice is for what I truly believe to be the best film at the 1975 Oscars, the one that spoke perfectly to the moment America found itself in at the time and has been unable to get itself out of since.

  The Oscar for Best Director, 1976, goes to Robert Altman, Nashville.

Ingmar Bergman

• Notable Films: Summer With Monika, Smiles of a Summer Night, Wild Strawberries, The Seventh Seal, Winter Light, Persona, Cries and Whispers, Scenes from a Marriage, Autumn Sonata, Fanny and Alexander

• Nominations:

  • Cries and Whispers (1973 Oscars)

  • Face to Face (1977 Oscars)

  • Fanny and Alexander (1984 Oscars)

• Why Didn’t He Win? In 1973, he was up against the already-awarded William Friedkin for The Exorcist, but they both lost to George Roy Hill and The Sting, a movie I really love. In 1977, he faced an absolute gauntlet featuring Alan Pakula (All the President’s Men) and Sidney Lumet (Network) as well as the first female directing nominee, Italian arthouse filmmaker Lina Wertmuller; they all lost to John Avildsen for Rocky – more on this later. His final nomination came for one of his final films, Fanny and Alexander, which is a three-hour cut of a 6-hour miniseries that is nevertheless stunning, but he lost to James L. Brooks for Terms of Endearment.

• Let’s Fix It. Also worth mentioning as potential missed Directing nominations are his nominated screenplays for Wild Strawberries and Autumn Sonata. A Wild Strawberries Directing win would mean that David Lean win for Bridge on the River Kwai, which I won’t touch, and Autmn Sonata would have been competing in 1979 against Kramer v Kramer. Not represented at all here are his two most famous films, Seventh Seal and Persona; Seal would again conflict with Kwai, and Persona would take away Fred Zinneman’s second Oscar for A Man for all Seasons, assuming it was nominated that same year. Of his nominations, the easy choice is Fanny and Alexander, but I’d rather take away someone else’s second Oscar.

The Oscar for Best Director, 1967, goes to Ingmar Bergman, Persona.

Charlie Chaplin

• Notable Films: The Kid, The Gold Rush, City Lights, Modern Times, The Great Dictator

• Nominations: Not a single nomination for Best Director! He was nominated for writing, acting, and composing – yes, composing the music – throughout his career, but wasn’t even nominated once.

• Let’s Fix It. You could easily pick either City Lights or Modern Times given their legacies such as, you know, inventing the way we make movies. However, I’m picking his masterpiece of political satire that was as timely then as it is timeless now and is the perfect capstone to a career that saw silent films become talkies.

  The Oscar for Best Director, 1941, goes to Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator.

Federico Fellini

• Notable Films: I Vitteloni, La Strada, Nights of Cabiria, La Dolce Vita, 8 ½, Juliet of the Spirits, Satyricon, Roma, Amarcord, Casanova

• Nominations:

  • La Dolce Vita (1961 Oscars)

  • 8 ½ (1964 Oscars)

  • Satyricon (1971 Oscars)

  • Amarcord (1976 Oscars)

• Why Didn’t He Win? Four of his movies won Best International Feature, but in only two of those instances he was also nominated for Best Director. The first, 8 ½, saw him lose to Tony Richardson for Tom Jones in a race that REALLY should have included Visconti for The Leopard. The second (Amarcord) saw him and several members of this list lose to Milos Forman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest). La Dolce Vita ran afoul of the behemoth that was West Side Story, and Satyricon the behemoth that was Patton.

• Let’s Fix It. Having already re-awarded Altman for Nashville, Amarcord in the same great year is off the list. I really like Patton (1972 Oscars), and West Side Story 1962 Oscars) is a classic, so that leaves one choice among his nominations that also happens to be one of his best-regarded films:

  The Oscar for Best Director, 1964, goes to Federico Fellini, 8 1/2.

  
  

Howard Hawks

• Notable Films: Scarface (1932), Bringing Up Baby, Only Angels Have Wings, His Girl Friday, Sergeant York, To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Red River, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Rio Brave, El Dorado

• Nominations:

  • Sergeant York (1942 Oscars)

• Why Didn’t He Win? It’s hard to win when you only get one bite at the apple despite being one of the most influential genre filmmakers American movies ever had. He didn’t just touch crime, comedy, noir, Westerns, musicals, and war movies, he made masterpieces of them. His only nomination was in the legendary How Green Was My Valley vs. Citizen Kane year, where John Ford triumphed over Orson Welles.

• Let’s Fix It. I can’t give him the win for Sergeant York, as that Oscar should have gone to Welles. Scarface (1932) was nearly as scandalizing in its day as its descendant, Scarface (1983) was in its, but it clearly casts a very long shadow. I really love The Big Sleep but wouldn’t want to put Hawks in the way of The Best Years of our Lives or It’s a Wonderful Life. I love Red River but wouldn’t want to rob John Houston of a win for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. With opportunities dwindling, I’m going to get him in the mix for one of my absolute favorites, Rio Bravo, facing off against Vincent Minelli for Gigi. There is artistry in “genre” work!!!

  The Oscar for Best Directing, 1959, goes to Howard Hawks, Rio Bravo

Alfred Hitchcock

• Notable Films: The 39 Steps, Rebecca, Lifeboat, Shadow of a Doubt, Foreign Correspondent, Notorious, Rope, Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, Dial M for Murder, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie, Frenzy

• Nominations:

  • Rebecca (1941 Oscars)

  • Lifeboat (1945 Oscars)

  • Spellbound (1946 Oscars)

  • Rear Window (1955 Oscars)

  • Psycho (1961 Oscars)

• Why Didn’t He Win? Weirdly, Rebecca won Best Picture, but Hitch lost Best Director to John Ford for The Grapes of Wrath. In 1944, Going My Way was an awards behemoth. The following year, Billy Wilder absolutely cleaned up with The Lost Weekend. In 1955, one of Hitchcock’s stone-cold masterpieces Rear Window had the misfortune of competing against On the Waterfront. His final nomination, for yet another masterpiece, lost to Billy Wilder AGAIN for The Apartment.

• Let’s Fix It. Of his nominations, the strongest three are Rebecca, Rear Window, and Psycho. Each time, he lost to someone who would end up with multiple Oscars AND who already had one when they went head-to-head. A win for Psycho would have been astounding given the Academy’s relationship with horror, but even though Wilder would end up with multiple awards I don’t want to take anything away from The Apartment. Reworking 1941 for Charlie Chaplin means that year is off-limits. One other movie to note: Vertigo recently topped Sight and Sound’s Top 100 List; Hitch wasn’t even nominated.

  The Oscar for Best Director, 1955, goes to Alfred Hitchcock, Rear Window.

  
  

Stanley Kubrick

• Notable Films: The Killing, Paths of Glory, Spartacus, Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut

• Nominations:

  • Dr. Strangelove (1965 Oscars)

  • 2001: A Space Odyssey (1969 Oscars)

  • A Clockwork Orange (1972 Oscars)

  • Barry Lyndon (1976 Oscars)

• Why Didn’t He Win?  In 1965, George Cukor claimed his only win for My Fair Lady, thankfully keeping him off this list. In 1969, Carol Reed claimed his only win for Oliver, thankfully keeping him off this list. In 1972, William Friedkin and The French Connection rightfully blitzed through the season, and in 1976 Kubrick competed in one of the greatest Oscar lineups ever assembled and didn’t come home with the prize despite having won the BAFTA. It’s just how the cookie crumbled.

• Let’s Fix It. His Best Director nominations are rife with injustices, save the last one. My Fair Lady isn’t as important as Dr. Strangelove, and Oliver winning Best Picture over 2001 is often cited among the worst Oscar outcomes. If the Academy had given Carol Reed and George Cukor their Oscars earlier in their careers, we wouldn’t be here. His best chance to win came for Barry Lyndon, given his BAFTA win. While I prefer Lyndon to Cuckoo’s Nest, I gave that year’s Oscar to Altman for Nashville, which I think is even stronger. So, I’ve got an opportunity here to double-swap and correct two errors with one list.

  The Oscar for Best Director, 1950, goes to Carol Reed, The Third Man.

  The Oscar for Best Director, 1969, goes to Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Akira Kurosawa

• Notable Films: Stray Dog, Rashomon, Ikiru, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, The Bad Sleep Well, High and Low, Kagemusha, Ran

• Nominations:

  • Ran (1986 Oscars)

• Why Didn’t He Win? Sigh. He really, really should have – he’s on the shortest of short lists for most influential filmmakers of all time according to the other most influential filmmakers of all time. One lone nomination is enough of an injustice, but when you realize he lost his only chance to Sydney Pollack for Out of Africa, it’s a real bummer. Rashomon won an Honorary Foreign Language film award due to bizarre timelines that affected its eligibility, Dersu Uzala won competitively in this category, and Kagemusha was nominated – none of those three came with a nomination for Kurosawa in Directing.

• Let’s Fix It. This is a very easy fix, but before I get there it’s worth noting that if Kurosawa had been nominated and won for any of Rashomon, Ikiru, Seven Samurai, or High and Low that would have been worthy over the legendary films he’d have competed against – these films are simply as good as anything else ever made. Where I’m landing isn’t any of those, but it is both a masterpiece and a career capstone reflecting decades of work in the genre in the same vein as Clint Eastwood’s win for Unforgiven.

  The Oscar for Best Directing, 1986, goes to Akira Kurosawa, Ran.

  
  

Sidney Lumet

• Notable Films: 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, Prince of the City, The Verdict, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead

• Nominations:

  • 12 Angry Men (1958 Oscars)

  • Dog Day Afternoon (1976 Oscars)

  • Network (1977 Oscars)

  • The Verdict (1983 Oscars)

• Why Didn’t He Win? If you’ve been paying close attention, you’ll know most of these. In 1958, he was among those losing to Bridge on the River Kwai. In 1976, he was among those losing to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. In 1977, he was among those losing to Rocky. In 1983, a year we haven’t talked about yet, he along with Spielberg (E.T.), Wolfgang Peterson (Das Boot), and Sydney Pollack (Tootsie) all lost to Richard Attenborough for Gandhi, which is quite an epic undertaking.

• Let’s Fix It. If you’ve been paying close attention, you’ll know my options are limited. You’ll know I’m not touching Bridge on the River Kwai, though Lean winning again 5 years later for Lawrence of Arabia makes it tempting. I’ve already designated 1976 as the year for Altman, leaving 1977 and 1983. In terms of both the strength of Lumet’s entry and the weakness of the competition, his direction of Network losing to Avildsen’s for Rocky really stands out. I love The Verdict a lot, but Network is a masterpiece that also won several Oscars in other categories.

  The Oscar for Best Directing, 1977, goes to Sidney Lumet, Network.

David Lynch

• ·Notable Films: Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Dune, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, Lost Highway, The Straight Story, Mulholland Drive, Inland Empire

• Nominations:

  • The Elephant Man (1981 Oscars)

  • Blue Velvet (1987 Oscars)

  • Mulholland Drive (2002 Oscars)

• Why Didn’t He Win? The easy answer is that he’s best known for dread-inducing, bizarre, off-putting films but he was nominated three times! In 1981, he and Martin Scorsese (Raging Bull) lost to Robert Redford’s for Ordinary People. In 1987, he, James Ivory (A Room with a View) and Woody Allen (Hannah and Her Sisters) were all casualties of Oliver Stone’s triumph for Platoon. I’ve mentioned 2002 already, but I just want to list the names of everyone who lost to Ron Howard: David Lynch, Robert Altman, Ridley Scott, and Peter Jackson.

• Let’s Fix It. The fix is very, very simple and very, very worthy. Mulholland Drive routinely places very high on critics’ lists of the best films of the 21st century and often lists of the best films ever. I don’t think very highly of A Beautiful Mind, but if we want to leave its Best Picture win then so be it.

  The Oscar for Best Directing, 2002, goes to David Lynch, Mulholland Drive.