Second Guessing Oscar Winners

With the Oscars coming up, I have assessed past winner, and whether they are deserving or not. Hindsight being 20/20, I’ve found that about half of all Academy Award choices were mistakes. Sometimes this distinction was based on the quality of the film, but in others merely on they held up over the year; i.e. the Best Years of our Lives may have been a better film, but It’s A Wonderful Life is the movie shown every year at Christmas and the one kids today still know about.

I started with 1940 (the year of the awards ceremony, for films released the previous year), because of my lack of familiarity with the previous years’ nominees. I have only compared (it most instances) winners to other nominees—I would like to say this is to evaluate just the academy voters, but primarily because it would entail much more research on my part to evaluate hundreds of films each year, rather than the five nominees.

I haven’t seen all of these movies, so often my analysis is often based on the lasting legacy. For instance, I’ve never seen How Green was My Valley, but I consider it less deserving that Citizen Kane, which many consider to be the greatest movie ever made (I don’t hear that argument for How Green was My Valley). I often defer to critical and popular opinion, for instance in the case of Dr. Strangelove, which many consider to be a great movie, but I do not. In other instances, I go against popular opinion, such as American Beauty, which remains very popular (though there others who are as perplexed by its success as I am). The Internet Movie Database (IMDB, www.imdb.com) was an invaluable resource in determining how the films rated, both in terms of rating score (quality and popularity of the film) and in how many votes it received (number of viewers and lasting effect)


1940 – Gone with the Wind beat out several other classics (Stagecoach, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and The Wizard of Oz). It’s hard to pick against Gone with the Wind, but for my money, the more memorable movie, almost 70 years later, is The Wizard of Oz.
1941 – Another great movie year; Rebecca earned the win over The Philadelphia Story and The Grapes of Wrath.
1942 – How Green was My Valley won; Citizen Kane is now clearly recognized as the better movie
1943 – I’m not familiar with Mrs. Miniver, but the alternatives aren’t great either. I would vote for Pride of the Yankees.
1944 – Casablanca wins in a slam dunk.
1945 – Going My Way wins over a weak field.
1946 – The Lost Weekend wins over another weak field.
1947 – The Best Years of Our Lives won, but It’s a Wonderful Life has had a few more fans over the years.
1948 – Gentleman’s Agreement earned the Oscar, but hasn’t held up well—Miracle on 34th Street has.
1949 – Hamlet won, no disrespect to the Laurence Olivier version, but Treasure of the Sierra Madre was a more deserving choice.

1950 – All the King’s Men won over a weak field
1951 – All about Eve beat out Sunset Boulevard, both are classics, but the latter has more critical acclaim today.
1952 – An American in Paris won, A Streetcar Named Desire has stood the test of time better.
1953 – The Greatest Show on Earth got the Oscar, but the greatest show of 1952 was High Noon.
1954 – From Here to Eternity won, I don’t begrudge it beating out the more popular Shane or Roman Holiday.
1955 – On the Waterfront won, no disagreement here.
1956 – Marty hasn’t held up well, but none of the other nominees stand out.
1957 – Around the World in 80 Days was a fun movie, but no way should it have beaten out The King and I, or The Ten Commandments.
1958 – Bridge on the River Kwai was a solid choice, though 12 Angry Men gives it a run for the money.
1959 – A really down year leaves Gigi with an Oscar.

1960 – Ben-Hur won, another easy choice.
1961 – The Apartment earned the win, no real competition from the other nominees.
1962 – West Side Story won, but I would have chosen Guns of the Navarone or The Hustler.
1963 – I’m going against the critics’ choice here, but I found Lawrence of Arabia to be overrated, while To Kill a Mockingbird is among my list of the best movies ever made.
1964 – Tom Jones won, none of the other nominees is any more deserving.
1965 – My Fair Lady won, I thought Mary Poppins was a better movie, but I’m going to go with the critical and popular choice (though I don’t care for the movie personally) of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Quit Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb.
1966 – Dr. Zhivago is a classic, but not enough to make me question the choice of The Sound of Music.
1967 – A Man for All Seasons won over a weak field.
1968 – I happen to like In the Heat of the Night and would still take it over the more popular The Graduate and Bonnie and Clyde.
1969 – The Lion in Winter should have won over a forgettable rendition of Oliver!

1970 – Midnight Cowboy has never been among my favorites, whereas Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid has lasting popular and critical appeal (though I think it somewhat overrated).
1971 – I never thought Patton was that great, but nor did I think MASH was a great movie (maybe because I enjoyed the TV series better).
1972 – The French Connection is one of the examples I use as to overrated 1970s crime movies (along with other Roger Ebert favorites Chinatown and Taxi Driver)—so much so I would pick another movie I didn’t care for (but is much more popular on IMDB) in A Clockwork Orange.
1973 – The Godfather may be the greatest movie ever made (#1 on IMDB) and is on my top 5 list. The easiest choice since Casablanca.
1974 – The Sting was a fine movie, but I don’t think it had the impact of American Graffiti or The Exorcist.
1975 – I’ve often argued The Godfather Part II to be overrated, but only when people compare it to the original Godfather. It is more deserving than the aforementioned overrated Chinatown.
1976 – Jaws and Dog Day Afternoon were both memorable, but One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest holds up as a classic.
1977 – There are those who don’t care for Rocky (especially after five sequels), but I find Taxi Driver to the most overrated movie of all time, and Network and All the President’s Men are dated.
1978 – Awful choice. I know some critics like Annie Hall, but when a movie is the most popular of all time, changes the way movies are made, and is beloved by kids growing up 20 years later (while no one today watches Annie Hall), it maybe deserved to win best picture of the year. I am talking about Star Wars, of course, which is on my top 5 list.
1979 – The Deer Hunter beat out Coming Home for best post-Vietnam movie of the year.

1980 – Add Apocalypse Now to my list of most overrated 1970s movies. I’ll stick with Kramer v. Kramer as the best picture of 1979.
1981 – Raging Bull is overrated, but Ordinary People is just an ordinary movie. I was tempted to go with the Elephant Man here, but will stick with the popular choice.
1982 – I’m really surprised the Chariots of Fire beat out On Golden Pond, I though everyone loved that movie. Twenty-five years later, though, it is clear Raiders of the Lost Ark would have made a better choice.
1983 – Interesting year, Gandhi was very well done, while ET: The Extraterrestrial was more popular and Tootsie was fine too. I was surprised to learn that Gandhi not only earns the critical vote, but is better rated by IMDB voters as well (#140).
1984 –Ugh. Terms of Endearment just doesn’t cut it. I’d go with The Right Stuff, but not with much enthusiasm.
1985 – Ooh, rock me Amadeus. Weak field, but the Falco song going through my head tells me the Amadeus deserved the Oscar.
1986 – Out of Africa is utterly forgettable. Witness would be my choice.
1987 – Platoon wins over a relatively weak field.
1988 – The Last Emperor adds to a run of unimpressive Oscar winners, unfortunately, I can’t go with any of the other nominees.
1989 – Finally, a movie I would watch more than once wins an Oscar in the 80s—Rain Man.

1990 – Driving Miss Daisy represents another colossal mistake by the Academy voters in a good movie year, among nominees, My Left Foot, Dead Poets Society, Born on the Fourth of July were all more deserving (along with un-nominated Do the Right Thing and Glory). If the Oscar vote was held today, I would go with Field of Dreams.
1991 – Roger Ebert loves Goodfellas. I thought it was just another long, violent, foul-language, mafia-related Scorcese movie (not that will stop The Departed from winning this year), and the second half of the movie was sub-par. I will stick with Dances with Wolves.
1992 – Silence of the Lambs holds up as a good selection.
1993 – Back to back good choices with Unforgiven winning in 1993.
1994 – I love The Fugitive, but I’m not going against Schindler’s List.
1995 – Forrest Gump remains a hotly contested choice. Both Shawshank Redemption (#2 on IMDB) and Pulp Fiction (#8) have strong popular and critical support (Forrest Gump is #84 on IMDB). However, I find Pulp Fiction to be overrated (it is better as a study in moviemaking than a film to enjoy) and I never really understood why Shawshank, though a fine movie, would be anyone’s favorite. The bottom line—if all three movies were on at the same time, I (having seen each a few times) would watch Forrest Gump.
1996 – Braveheart is one of my top five movies of all time (if not number 1) and is the class of this field (though Apollo 13 would have won against a lesser foe).
1997 – The Academy ends its streak of great choices with The English Patient. The English Patient was so bad that an episode of Seinfeld was based on Elaine’s disbelief that everyone loved that movie. Elaine, you are not alone. Fargo is popular among critics and has a cult following. I would still go with Jerry Maguire—it hasn’t held up well, but “show me the money,” “you complete me,” and “you had me at hello,” and Jerry O’Connell as Eli Manning before Eli Manning even entered the scene make this movie memorable.
1998 – The Titanic phenomenon continues to baffle me. Why is Titanic still by far the highest grossing move ever? Why did people go do see Titanic dozens of times because they liked the dishes they used? And why did Oscar voters name Titanic the best picture over a strong field of nominees? L.A. Confidential has a strong critical and popular following (#56 on IMDB) who insist it is one of the best movies ever (I disagree, though I rank it above Titanic). As Good as it Gets won both lead acting Oscars. But I feel that Good Will Hunting was the best movie of 1997.
1999 – As critical as I have been of many of the Academy’s choices, I have the benefit of hindsight. For instance, when Shakespeare in Love beat Saving Private Ryan, I thought it was a good choice (I felt Saving Private Ryan was overrated and Shakespeare in Love incredibly clever). I have since changed my mind, as cleverness has a way of wearing off with time, and Saving Private Ryan remains a memorable movie.

2000 – Why American Beauty is still so popular, I’ll never understand. The best movie of the 1999 was easily Fight Club (in my top 5 and #32 on IMDB, just ahead of American Beauty), but it wasn’t even nominated. Among nominees, I would pick The Sixth Sense; everyone talks about the plot twist, but it also had some great dramatic scenes and acting.
2001 – I always felt Gladiator could have been better (I felt it peaked after Maximus revealed himself in the Coliseum) but I also feel that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Traffic haven’t held up as well.
2002 – I liked A Beautiful Mind, but The Fellowship of the Ring is the best of the Lord of the Rings Movies, and is one of the best of all time (#14 on IMDB). Maybe voters felt that since there would be two more Lord of the Rings films, they’d hold off until the end to give an Oscar, but I think they should have picked the best movie of 2001.
2003 – Not only do I think Chicago was a bad Oscar winner, I thought it was a bad movie altogether. I am stunned that it won best picture; I would probably rate it this worst best picture winner ever, as I couldn’t even sit through it again. I would argue The Two Towers was the most deserving of the award, and audiences would agree (#22 on IMDB). If voters were sticking to there wait until the end of Lord of the Rings to hand out the awards, then they should have at least gone with The Pianist (#47 on IMDB).
2004 – I thought Return of the King was the worst of the three Lord of the Rings movies (though IMDB voters think it is the best, at #5 overall), but since I would have give Oscars to the first two LoTR films, that doesn’t disqualify it. I would have been ok had Mystic River won, though (assuming Fellowship and/or the Two Towers had won previously).
2005 – I didn’t care for Million Dollar Baby. I probably would have picked Passion of the Christ had it been nominated, but among nominees, I preferred Finding Neverland. Time will tell, but I think this will go down as a weak year.
2006 – Crash surprised people when it won, primarily because most people didn’t think it was that good. Munich was my favorite among the nominees, but I am going to chalk it up to another weak field.