Oscar Trivia: Which films received the most nominations yet missed Best Picture?
Thursday, November 14, 2019 at 9:58AM by Nathaniel R
We love to throw random Oscar trivia at you. We love you for not even trying to dodge it! So here's a top ten for you. Here's something we were pondering the other day quite randomly: pictures that Oscar voters obviously loved but somehow skipped in the Best Picture race. This trivia is now a different game entirely given that there are so many Best Picture nominees each year. Unless Oscar returns to the days of 5 nominees, we aren't likely to see this list change ever again. But do you think any film this year might see a lot of nominations without a Best Picture bit. Anyway here is the all-timers list of such things...
The "Most-Nominated" Films That Missed Best Picture
01. Nine nominations
THEY SHOOT HORSES DON'T THEY (1969)
Director Sydney Pollack would make multiple classics in his career, among which The Way We Were (1973) and Tootsie (1982) are arguably the best loved today, and win two Oscars for Out of Africa (1985). His fifth, which preceeded those "greatest hits" catapulted him into greatness. This bleak masterpiece about a Depression-era dance marathon is still an intense watch a full half century after its debut. The performances by Jane Fonda, Susannah York, and Gig Young are sensational and the film is never less than riveting. It was nominated for 9 Oscars, more than any of the Best Picture nominees that year save Anne of a Thousand Days, but won only supporting actor for Gig Young. Perhaps it was too bleak... or those Academy members with a taste for grit and edge were all already in Midnight Cowboy's pocket that year?
02. [TIE] Eight nominations plus a non-competitive special achievement Oscar
