20 of the worst Oscar winners in history

Tom Huddleston sorts the least deserving Academy Award winners

It’s Oscar season once again – and while Academy members scratch their heads trying to decide which of this year’s crop of worthy titles deserves to take home the big prize, we trawl the archives to uncover the worst Oscar offences of all time. From the film that beat ‘Citizen Kane’ to Best Picture to the time ‘Harry and the Hendersons’ walked away with a handful of gold, here are all the Academy’s biggest blunders in one handy list.

This is by no means a definitive rundown of all of Oscar’s shoddy decisions – we didn’t even have room to mention Celine Dion or ’Chicago’ – so if you really, really hate ‘Titanic’ or really, really love ‘Forrest Gump’, tell us about it in the comments box below.

6. ‘The Sound of Music’ (1965)

Best Picture, 38th Academy Awards, 1965

The mid-'60s were a grim time for Hollywood both artistically and economically, as reflected by a truly lacklustre brace of Best Picture nominees at the 1966 awards: alongside Robert Wise’s excruciatingly cheerful nuns ‘n’ Nazis romp were ranged the likes of ‘Doctor Zhivago’, ‘Darling’ and something called ‘A Thousand Clowns’.

It could’ve been: Um… ‘Von Ryan’s Express’?




Browse through our list of Oscar blunders

Victor Fleming for 'Gone with the Wind' (1939) 'How Green was My Valley' (1941) 'The Greatest Show on Earth' (1952) 'Around the World in 80 Days' (1956) Leon Shamroy for 'Cleopatra' (1963) 'The Sound of Music' (1965) 'Une Homme et une Femme' (1966) John G Avildsen for 'Rocky' (1977) 'I Just Called to Say I Love You' by Stevie Wonder (1985) 'Out of Africa' (1986) Rick Baker for 'Harry and the Hendersons' (1988) 'Driving Miss Daisy' (1990) Anthony Hopkins for ‘The Silence of the Lambs’, Al Pacino for ‘Scent of a Woman’ Three drippy ballads from Disney 'Forrest Gump' (1994) 'A Beautiful Mind' (2002) Renee Zellweger for ‘Cold Mountain’ (2003) 'Crash' (2006) 'The Secret in Their Eyes' (2010) Mauro Fiore for 'Avatar' (2010)

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  • Sorry to comment again, but the Sound of Music is a fantastic musical. Sometimes, I don't even think you've even seen these movies.

    Jackson Thu May 9
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