And the Winner Isn’t…

Being in the running for an Academy Award is not an easy thing. The uncomfortable fact is that every Oscar nod marks the nominee as a potential non-victor.

Being nominated is, of course, without question a win in itself. And any filmmaker chosen to engage in a competition at the level of achievement demanded by the Academy is by no measure a failure. Still, without a statue on the mantle at the climax of the Oscar ride, the thrill of being part of an elite field of competitors goes up in a puff of disappointment.

Here are some films that have suffered far more puffs than they deserved.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) — 6 Nominations

Tennessee Williams source material, Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor volleying off one another at the peak of their prowess, a plot full of cancer, twisted family dynamics and sexual dysfunction; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof had all the earmarks of Oscar night glory. David Niven (Separate Tables), Susan Hayward (I Want to Live!) and a little Parisian ingénue named Gigi spun all that Cat on a Hot Tin Roof glitter into not-quite gold.

Double Indemnity (1944) — 7 Nominations

Director Billy Wilder would win six Academy Awards in the course of his prolific and prestigious filmmaking career, but he lost a pair of Oscars on Double Indemnity—best director and, in collaboration with Raymond Chandler, best screenplay.

The Godfather Part III (1990) — 7 Nominations

One shocking aspect of The Godfather Part III failing to win Oscars in any of its seven nominated categories is the fact Francis Ford Coppola’s sequel to a sequel received Academy recognition at all. The shutout might have stung far worse if Part III’s two predecessors hadn’t landed nine statuettes between them.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994) — 7 Nominations

Morgan Freeman sounds like he’s in the running for an Oscar every time his voice pops up on a television commercial. Even in the moment of missing out on the best actor award for The Shawshank Redemption, Freeman’s eventual win must have seemed like an inevitability. Inevitable arrived ten years later, as a best supporting win in Million Dollar Baby (2004).

The Elephant Man (1980) — 8 Nominations

With The Elephant Man, director David Lynch expressed the essential truths of what it means to be human. Lynch focused his proclivity for weirdness into a grotesque mask that surfaced our deepest yearnings to be accepted and loved for our raw selves. The Academy expressed its acceptance of Lynch’s vision with eight nominations, including best picture, actor and director, but couldn’t quite pull through with the Oscar love.

Gangs of New York (2002) — 10 Nominations

Daniel Day-Lewis has a 60-percent Academy Award win rate. The former cobbler has only been denied the statue in two of the five Oscars he’s been nominated for. One of those loses was for best actor as Bill “The Butcher” Cuttings in Gangs of New York. Director Martin Scorsese, on the other hand, has an 8.33-percent Academy win rate, losing an inexplicable 11 out of 12, including his Gangs of New York bid.

True Grit (2010) — 10 Nominations

The Joel and Ethan Coen’s True Grit, a remake of the classic John Wayne Western, was shutout in the categories of best picture, director, actor, supporting actress, screenplay, cinematography, costume design, sound mixing, sound editing and art direction. The 1969 version earned a best actor trophy for John Wayne and fell short of winning only in the best original song category.

American Hustle (2013) — 10 Nominations

Director David O. Russell’s American Hustle is one of the three most-fun movies ever to be nominated for ten Academy Awards and end Oscar night with no gold-plated hardware. Aside from missing out in the best director category, American Hustler also holds the distinction of making a clean sweep of non-wins for its best actor, best actress, best supporting actor and best supporting actress nominees.

The Turning Point (1977) — 11 Nominations

If either Shirley MacLaine or Anne Bancroft had brought just slightly less heart and soul to this ballet-Mom drama, perhaps The Turning Point would have eked out one win among its 11 Academy Award nominations. MacLaine and Bancroft, both tapped for best actress, went up against one another on Oscar night. No one can say if the two actresses canceled out one another among the Academy’s voters, but The Turning Point’s barren Oscar shelf is known history.

The Color Purple (1985) — 11 Nominations

When The Color Purple came out in 1985, director Steven Spielberg’s string of Oscar nominations stretched back to 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Spielberg would accept the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award one year after the mathematically improbable The Color Purple shutout. It wouldn’t be until 1993’s Schindler’s List that one of film’s most skillful proponents would be acknowledge for a specific piece of work.