On Sunday, the creme de la creme of Hollywood will convene for the 90th Academy Awards, the main event of the awards season, when the Oscars will be handed out to those deemed rightful winners in the eyes of the Academy.
But do the Academy always get it right? Simply put: no. There were a lot of eyebrows raised that Shakespeare In Love won Best Picture over Saving Private Ryan, and there's still rumours persisting that Marisa Tomei's Best Supporting Actress win was down to presenter Jack Palance reading the wrong name.
So here are a selection of some of what I consider to be the biggest 'robberies' in Oscar history. The date refers to the year of the Oscar ceremony, not the year of the film's release. Also, this list just concerns itself with those nominated for the respective award not winning it; I could do a whole list of performances that should have been nominated and weren't (or performances that were and shouldn't have been).
1. Bette Davis not winning Best Actress for All About Eve (1951)
All About Eve is, simply put, Bette Davis' finest work on film. There's been a longstanding rumour that Anne Baxter, Davis' co-star and the eponymous Eve, was the reason that Davis didn't win; in a supremely Eve-like manoeuvre, Baxter allegedly insisted on being considered in the Best Actress category or not all all. Perhaps if she'd taken the step back to Best Supporting Actress, Davis could have swept the field, although she also faced strong competition from the superb performance of Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard. As it was, neither Davis, nor Baxter, not Swanson took the Oscar home: that honour went to Judy Holliday for her performance in Born Yesterday.
2. Judy Garland not winning Best Actress for A Star Is Born (1955)
Groucho Marx called this 'the biggest robbery since Brink's' and it's hard not to disagree. Garland is sublime as the young singer Vicki Lester, and it's the hardest heart that doesn't melt when she sings 'The Man That Got Away'. According to gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, there were only six votes between Garland and eventual winner Grace Kelly, who took home the Oscar for her role in The Country Girl.
3. Brokeback Mountain not winning Best Picture (2006)
Even Jack Nicholson looked pissed when he opened the envelope and saw Crash as the Best Picture winner of the 78th Academy Awards. Crash is a muddled mess of a film, but its message of racial harmony was somehow more palatable to the Academy rather than a tender love story between two men. Paul Haggis has since said that he doesn't think Crash was the best film of the year. Make of that what you will.
4. 'Travelin' Thru' not winning Best Original Song (2006)
No big production numbers. No sets, no backing dancers, just Dolly Parton, her amazing voice, and a fabulous song. Dolly absolutely owned the stage and her song is arguably the best of the three nominated that year. But it was not to be: Three Six Mafia's utterly forgettable 'It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp' (from Hustle & Flow) took home the prize, leaving host Jon Stewart momentarily speechless.
5. Mickey Rourke not winning Best Actor for The Wrestler (2009)
Now, I was a little torn about including this one, because the Best Actor Oscar went to Sean Penn for his admittedly powerful performance in biopic Milk (which is a film I enjoyed). But, for me, Rourke's performance as washed-up wrestler Randy 'The Ram' Robinson was the best of the five nominated, and it's a shame that the Academy didn't go the way of some of the other awards bodies and recognised the intense and emotional turn Rourke put in.
Are there any particularly egregious oversights that the Academy have made? Let me know your thoughts below.
Tez
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