12 Movies With Multiple Oscar Nominations but No Wins

Many filmmakers’ life-long dream is to be nominated by the Academy. Not only does it permanently etch a movie’s place in cinematic history, but it also forever maintains its legacy and reputation. At the end of the day, while many filmmakers can claim credit for having been nominated before, the task of actually clinching that win is a much taller order. The title of “Best” anything is something everyone wants — especially in the competitive environment of the entertainment industry.

Sadly, this win never came true for many movies, even with several contending nominations. Numerous iconic movies that are seen as staples of any great film list were snubbed from receiving a single prestigious award despite their many nominations, as it’s simply impossible to give every groundbreaking film an Academy Award. Even so, some of the cases here can be especially confusing, considering the massively high reputation that they have garnered over the years. So here’s your warning as you may be left befuddled.

12 ‘Psycho’ (1960)

4 Nominations

One of the most legendary and influential horror movies of all time, Alfred Hitchcock‘s Psycho follows the story of real estate clerk Marion Crane, who leaves with a wad of cash in search of a new life. She finds herself making a grave mistake as she stays at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his mother. It’s already a rarity for horror movies to be nominated for Academy Awards, yet the prestige and mastery of Hitchcock’s opus proved to be too much even for the Academy, who provided the film nominations for Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Cinematography.

While the Academy was willing to give the film a break when it came to nominations, they were simply too rooted in their old-fashioned ways to be willing to give such a terrifying horror film an award. It didn’t help that the film was going up against Billy Wilder‘s The Apartment, a film that is still widely beloved and considered one of the best of all time to this day. However, this is still one of the clearest examples of the Academy snubbing a genre-defining horror film.

11 ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1971)

4 Nominations

After committing a horrific crime spree with his gang, Alex (Malcolm McDowell), their leader, is caught and imprisoned. As a means to reduce his sentence, he chooses to participate in an experimental rehabilitation technique run by the government. Given that it utilizes psychological conditioning, unexpected twists happen along the way. The film was able to effectively balance its deeply disturbing premise with enough masterful filmmaking craft to make it a shoo-in for numerous Academy Award nominations.

As one of Stanley Kubrick‘s most polarizing and controversial films, some fans would argue that it isn’t surprising that A Clockwork Orange lost in all its nominated categories. Even considering the high quality that is to be expected from Kubrick’s work, the film faced steep competition, losing all four of its nominations to William Friedkin‘s The French Connection, one of the most influential action thrillers of all time. Up for awards like Best Picture and Best Director, it wasn’t a huge downer for Kubrick since he had already received his Oscar in 1968 for 2001: A Space Odyssey.

10 ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976)

4 Nominations

Travis Bickie (Robert De Niro), an insomniac ex-marine, takes on work as a cabbie on the streets of New York. With a deteriorating mental state and violent and obsessive tendencies, Travis develops a misguided idea that he’s the savior of the city’s streets. One of his missions is to save Iris (Jodie Foster), an underaged prostitute, from her pimp. Even despite its shocking and controversial premise, Taxi Driver made massive waves upon its release, garnering it several Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture.

As one of Martin Scorsese’s most iconic films, some may wonder how Taxi Driver didn’t score an Oscar win. The answer comes less from the lack of perceived quality from Taxi Driver, but the great deal of tough competition around every corner from the likes of Rocky, Network, and All the President’s Men. Where the high praises for De Niro were expected, Foster was seen as a breakthrough star as she earned her first nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the age of 14. Neither of them would be complaining now, given that they have two Oscars each.

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9 ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ (1946)

5 Nominations

Clarence (Henry Travers), a guardian angel from heaven, is sent down to help George Bailey (James Stewart), a severely frustrated businessman who’s suicidal after a series of financial mishaps. To convince him not to carry out any final acts, Clarence shows George what life would have looked like if he had never existed. While the film garnered several nominations, including ones for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Editing, it would find itself consistently losing out to a massive sweep by Samuel Goldwyn‘s The Best Years of Our Lives.

Despite being one of the most beloved romantic Christmas movies of all time, It’s a Wonderful Life sadly didn’t do so wonderfully during its Oscar season. While the film is widely recognized nowadays for being one of the greatest classics of Hollywood’s golden era, it would take many years and constant reruns for It’s a Wonderful Life to become the American institution that it is today. Still, its lack of an Academy Awards victory hasn’t stopped the film from continuously being loved and rewatched every holiday season.

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8 ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ (2013)

5 Nominations

Based on the true story of wealthy stockbroker Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio), this movie follows the highs of his extravagant life of money, sex, and drugs, as well as its quick fall as he’s caught committing crimes and corruption. The film as a whole featured an electric and high-octane energy that would find itself influencing several awards budding dramas going forward, yet this style sadly couldn’t translate into an Academy Award win.

The Wolf of Wall Street couldn’t bring any more accolades to Scorsese despite being a highly beloved picture with stellar performances from stars like Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie. The film was simply looked over in favor of other big hitters like 12 Years a Slave and Dallas Buyers Club in all of its nominated categories. Not only that, but it continued the unfortunate Oscar dry spell of DiCaprio, who was up for Best Lead Actor for the third time (making this his fourth acting nomination).

7 ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ (1994)

7 Nominations

Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a young successful banker, is wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife and her lover; sadly, only he knows of his innocence. Now, charged with two consecutive life sentences, he navigates through the brutalities of prison life while making a few allies along the way — one of them being Red (Morgan Freeman). Frank Darabont‘s tragic portrayal of hardship and the prison system made it a big hit among the Academy when it came to nominations, being tied for the 2nd most nominations for the year.

Often described as one of the greatest movies of all time, it was a great shock when The Shawshank Redemption exited the Academy Awards empty-handed. Nominated for big categories like Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Best Cinematography, they were unfortunately up against powerhouse films like Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction. The film is certainly one of the most notable cases of hindsight giving the film justice, as The Shawshank Redemption only continues to cement a powerful legacy as the years go by as Forrest Gump continues to subsequently age worse.

6 ‘The Elephant Man’ (1980)

8 Nominations

Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick, this movie follows John Merrick (Sir John Hurt) – a man from the late 19th century who’s severely disfigured due to a congenital disease. Making ends meet by being a side-show attraction, he’s discovered by Dr. Fredrick Teeves (Sir Anthony Hopkins), who takes him under his care. Together, both men learn important lessons from each other that last a lifetime. The film diverged from what was expected of director David Lynch‘s usual work, and in the process enchanted the academy, tying with Raging Bull for the most nominations of the year.

An iconic and influential piece when it comes to Academy Awards history as a whole, The Elephant Man is special as, despite not winning in any of its nominated categories, it caused the creation of a new one. The Academy Award for Best Makeup was created in 1981 (and handed out in 1982) as a result of The Academy being flooded by letters of protest when Christopher Tucker‘s makeup for The Elephant Man wasn’t at least honored with a nomination.

5 ‘Gangs of New York’ (2002)

10 Nominations

Another one of many Scorsese classics that would end up getting snubbed despite a massive amount of nominations, Gangs of New York was thought to be the film that could finally break his losing streak. In the aftermath of his father’s brutal death, Amsterdam Vallen (Leonardo DiCaprio) seeks revenge against Bill “The Butcher” (Daniel Day-Lewis), the crime lord who instigated the fatal gang fight that killed his father. All the while, the American Civil War continues to approach.

With iconic pictures like Chicago and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers also being nominated that year, it was always going to be a squabble for Gangs of New York to win the big awards, even despite them having the second-most nominations. Even in categories where Chicago and Two Towers weren’t nominated, the film always found itself just short, losing Best Original Screenplay to Pedro Almodovar‘s Talk to Her and Best Cinematography to Road to Perdition. Unfortunately, the film had a terrible outcome at the award ceremony and became the first to lose all 10 nominations.

4 ‘True Grit’ (2010)

10 nominations

Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), a fiery 14-year-old farm girl, hires the aging yet tough US Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to help track down the outlaw, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) for murdering her father. Along the way, the squabbling duo is joined by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), who’s also been searching for Chaney. There’s nothing the Academy seems to love more than a well-executed modern remake of a golden age classic, with the love and enthusiasm for True Grit being blatantly apparent with its 10 nominations, the second most of the year.

Sadly for this beloved Western remake, True Grit lost in all its categories, even with Steinfeld’s brilliant feature film debut that earned her a Supporting Actress nomination. Its poor outcome made it the second film in history to be nominated for 10 awards and win nothing. However, it was in the running with The King’s Speech, Inception, and The Social Network, which paints a clearer picture of its chances.

3 ‘American Hustle’ (2013)

10 Nominations

Having been caught by the FBI, con artists Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) and his lover Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) must now work with FBI agent Richie DiMazzio (Bradley Cooper) in an undercover sting operation to take down New Jersey’s mayor, Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner). One threat to the operation is Irving’s jealous wife, Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence). Considering David O. Russell‘s previous Oscars success with Silver Linings Playbook and The Fighter, American Hustle all but assuredly seemed to be another resounding victory for the filmmaker.

As one of the films that received the most nominations that year (American Hustle tied with Gravity), this O. Russell flick was expected to clinch at least one award. Sadly, American Hustle severely underperformed and became the third film to lose all 10 categories. This year, however, was particularly competitive for the Oscars race given that its contenders were films like 12 Years a Slave and Dallas Buyers Club, achieving a fate similarly shared with The Wolf of Wall Street.

2 ‘The Irishman’ (2019)

10 Nominations

Considered to be a swan song for Scorsese’s legacy and filmography of gangster films as a whole, The Irishman tells the story of war veteran Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) and his involvement with mobsters. After forming a friendship with head honcho Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci), he is tasked with going to Chicago in order to help Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino), the powerful union leader who has connections to organized crime. The trio would find themselves working and connected for nearly twenty years before the cards slowly begin to fold in upon themselves.

The Irishman is another premiere example of a great film that was simply facing too much outstanding competition across the entire board, resulting in it not taking home a single award despite being tied for second most nominations. The massive competition of the year came from films like Parasite, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and 1917, alongside numerous other films that made up one of the most stacked years in Academy Awards history.

1 ‘The Color Purple’ (1985)

11 Nominations

Celie (Desreta Jackson as a child and Whoopie Goldberg as an adult), a young Black woman from the early 20th century, spends years suffering in abusive households as a result of her father and her husband. This tragic yet epic tale follows Celie’s life across 40 years as she grapples with her identity. The Color Purple was easily one of the most important films of its era, as a landmark and career-defining film for the majority of people involved with the project.

Despite its huge box-office success and high critical praise, The Color Purple failed to win a single one of its whopping 11 nominations. As a result, it tied with 1977’s The Turning Point to become the film with the most nominations in Oscar history without any wins. Luckily for Goldberg, her talent was finally rewarded five years later in Ghost as she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. However, the film ironically has a second chance at life with the 2023 remake’s singular nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the upcoming Academy Awards.

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