Academy Awards Neglected Directors

Five Film Legends Who Never Won an Oscar for Directing

Jul 21, 2008

Several fine directors in Academy Award history never received directing Oscars for their works. Here are a few of them. Some did receive other honors.

This list covers the period from the silent days to the near-present. It is by no means definitive and does not include any who are presently active in the film industry. The first four were the directors nominated the most times without a win.

Clarence Brown (1890-1987)

Although Clarence Brown was nominated five times for an Oscar for his direction of six films: (Romance and Anna Christie (1929/30); A Free Soul (1930/31); The Human Comedy (1943); National Velvet (1945); and The Yearling 1946)), he is largely unknown today. This is unusual in that many of his films still wear well and appear often on TCM.

Other Brown movies of note are Wife vs. Secretary, Ah Wilderness, and Anna Karenina (all 1935); Edison, the Man (1940); and The White Cliffs of Dover (1944). He also directed Greta Garbo in the pre-Oscar, Flesh and the Devil (1926). Garbo, who worked with Brown five times, considered him her favorite director.

King Vidor (1894-1982)

Vidor was Oscar nominated for The Crowd (1927/28, which was given an honorary award instead); Hallelujah! (1929/30, which featured a groundbreaking all African-American cast); The Champ (1931/32); The Citadel (1938); and War and Peace (1956). He was given an honorary award in 1978 for “his incomparable achievements as a cinematic creator and innovator.”

Other noteworthy films directed by Vidor were The Big Parade (1925); the Hollywood spoof, Show People (1928); Stella Dallas (1937); Duel in the Sun (1946); and The Fountainhead (1949). He also directed, without credit, the Kansas scenes for The Wizard of Oz (1939). His career spanned over eight decades, the longest of any director.

Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980)

Hitchcock’s nominations were for Rebecca (1941); Lifeboat (1945); Spellbound (1946); Rear Window (1955); and Psycho (1961). The last two, along with Vertigo (1958) and North by Northwest (1959) are listed in the American Film Institute’s 100 greatest American movies. Another, Dial M for Murder (1954) is also on the AFI’s top ten mystery films.

It is hard to believe that this British-American director with the macabre sense of humor never won an Oscar for his direction. Known as “The Master of Suspense,” Hitchcock was selected as the greatest director of all time by Entertainment Weekly and ranked #2 by Empire (UK) magazine. He received the Academy’s Irving G. Thalberg Award in 1968.

Robert Altman (1925-2006)

Altman cut his directing teeth in film documentaries and in TV classics such as Bonanza, Combat and Alfred Hitchcock Presents before directing his first full length movie at the age of 40. His five Oscar nominations were for M*A*S*H (1970); Nashville (1975); The Player (1992); Short Cuts (1993); and Gosford Park (2001). His other notable films include McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) and Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982).

Altman’s movies are often noted for having large ensemble casts, several intertwining plot threads, and often overlapping dialogue. Nine months before his death in 2006, the director was given an honorary award by the Academy for “a career that has repeatedly reinvented the art form and inspired filmmakers and audiences alike.”

Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999)

In a 38 year career from 1951 to 1999, Kubrick directed only 16 films and received Oscar nominations for four of them -- a remarkably high percentage. They were Dr. Strangelove (1964); 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968); A Clockwork Orange (1971); and Barry Lyndon (1975). Other notable movies of his include: The Killing (1956); Paths of Glory (1957); Spartacus (1960); The Shining (1980); and Full Metal Jacket (1987).

Many of Kubrick’s films were off-beat and an acquired taste. While many viewers of 2001 and Clockwork, for instance, are enthralled by his artistry and use of symbolism, others are left befuddled or bored. Nonetheless, he is among the directing greats.

The copyright of the article Academy Awards Neglected Directors in Classic Films is owned by John K. Davis. Permission to republish Academy Awards Neglected Directors in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.