Let’s just dive right back in, shall we?<\/p>\n
This exercise turned out to be very revealing about the biases built into IMDB ratings. IMDB tends to over-rate science fiction, westerns and movies by certain directors (Tarantino, Leone, Kubrick). It tends to underrate musicals and movies with women leads. This is not entirely surprising if you know about the internet. But it is fascinating to see it in such fine grain.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Year<\/b>: 1953
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: From Here to Eternity<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 7.8 (9 of 47 with 2000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: The Wages of Fear<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: Shane<\/i><\/p>\n
Year<\/b>: 1954
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: On the Waterfront<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 8.3 (3 of 36 with 2000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: Seven Samurai<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: Rear Window<\/i>
\nComment<\/b>: The 1950’s are when we first begin to see foreign films regularly appear atop IMDB ratings. The Academy established an award in the 40’s, formalized by 1956, to recognize them. But they clearly had no shot at the major prize. And they still don’t because the Best Foreign Film<\/i> award mainly serves to hove off foreign films from treading on some American producer’s night. I can’t really blame the Academy when a foreign film doesn’t win it. But you will see this lacuna becoming stronger in the comparison of Academy to IMDB and critics. Rear Window<\/i> was not nominated for Best Picture although Hitch was nominated for Best Director. On the Waterfront<\/i> is a defensible choice; it’s a classic as well.<\/p>\n
Year<\/b>: 1955
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: Marty<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 7.7 (14 of 48, minimum 2000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: Diabolique<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: Pather Panchali<\/i> or Night of the Hunter<\/i>
\nComment<\/b>: Night of the Hunter<\/i> is a fantastic film, incidentally. You should absolutely see it. Mister Roberts<\/i>, my dad’s favorite comedy, was also nominated.<\/p>\n
Year<\/b>: 1956
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: Around the World in 80 Days<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 6.8 (32 out of 40, minimum 200 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: The Killing<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: The Searchers<\/i>
\nComment<\/b> This is regarded as one of the worst choices of all time and deserves the reputation. Around<\/i> is the second of four post-1936 films to be rated below 7.0 on IMDB while The Searchers<\/i> is regarded as one of the best westerns of all time. It didn’t receive a single nomination. This year also featured Aparajito<\/i>, Invasion of the Body Snatchers<\/i>, The Ten Commandments<\/i>, Forbidden Planet<\/i>, The Man Who Knew Too Much<\/i>, The Wrong Man<\/i>. If you ever decide to relive 1956, Around<\/i> would be one of the last films to watch. A horrible pick. The Killing<\/i>‘s IMDB rating may be inflated by Kubrick fans. But this would not be his last snub.<\/p>\n
Note also: one of the reasons The Greatest Show on Earth<\/i> won Best Picture was because the Academy saw it as a last chance to recognize DeMille. But in doing so, they missed the chance to give him the award for The Ten Commandments<\/i>, arguably his greatest film. This exposes the big problem with the Academy Awards — they are an industry award<\/i> and many of the bad choices in its history have more to do with politics than anything else. The Oscars are not intended to necessarily recognize the best films. They frequently do but we can’t really be surprised when they don’t. In this case, juggling DeMille’s recognition meant two years got hosed.<\/p>\n
Year<\/b>: 1957
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: Bridge on the River Kwai<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 8.3 (4 of 43, minimum 2000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: 12 Angry Men<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: The Bridge on the River Kwai<\/i> or 12 Angry Men<\/i>
\nComment<\/b>: Not going to argue with either choice. They are both excellent films.<\/p>\n
Year<\/b>: 1958 No. Gigi<\/i> is the reason I did this exercise. Gigi<\/i> is a good movie. But it was a horrible choice for Best Picture. The problem is not Gigi<\/i>. The problem is Vertigo<\/i>. Vertigo<\/i> is now regarded as one of the best films ever made. In 1958 it was nominated for Best Sound Editing and Best Art Direction. Seriously. That was it.<\/p>\n And it’s more than Vertigo<\/i>. That year you also had A Touch of Evil<\/i>, Cat on A Hot Tin Roof<\/i>, A Night to Remember<\/i>, Auntie Mame<\/i>, The Hidden Fortress<\/i>, Run Silent Run Deep<\/i>, The Seventh Voyage of Simbad<\/i>, The Fly<\/i> … all of which are rated better by IMDB and all of which deserve to be. Seriously, is anyone other my mother going to argue that they wouldn’t watch any of those over Gigi<\/i>? 1958 had one of the worst choices in Oscar history. And no one talks about it because Gigi<\/i> swept the awards.<\/p>\n Year<\/b>: 1959 Year<\/b>: 1960 Year<\/b>: 1961 Year<\/b>: 1962 Year<\/b>: 1963 Year<\/b>: 1964 Year<\/b>: 1965 Year<\/b>: 1966 Year<\/b>: 1967 Year<\/b>: 1968 Year<\/b>: 1969 Year<\/b>: 1970 Year<\/b>: 1971 Year<\/b>: 1972 Year<\/b>: 1973 Year<\/b>: 1974 Year<\/b>: 1975 Year<\/b>: 1976 Year<\/b>: 1977 The Academy’s streak of great choices would run into the next year, incidentally before crashing hard in the early 80’s. And this is a good point to break because Star Wars<\/i> marks the beginning of action films taking over the IMDB ratings.<\/p>\n So, let’s review. The Academy’s second quarter century was far better than their first. In four straight years, 1972-1975, they picked the consensus Best Picture. In 12 other years — 1954, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1965, 1967, 1969-1971 and 1976-1977, they picked a very defensible choice, a movie that is either at or near the top of the IMDB ratings or is still regarded as a great film. That’s 16 of 25, almost twice as good as their first quarter century. And in only three years — 1956, 1958 and 1963 did they make a really terrible choice.<\/p>\n The worst pick of the second era? Well, if you read the entire the post this far, you know it’s got to be Gigi<\/i>. Around the World in 80 Days<\/i> may have, objectively, been the worst movie picked. But Gigi<\/i> is still regarded as a great movie by many and bumped what many regard as one of the best movies of all time. It’s not Gigi<\/i> itself, so much. It’s that Gigi<\/i> was the apotheosis of an era where the Academy repeatedly snubbed masterpieces in favor of safe fare. It’s selection was everything that was wrong with the 1950’s and 1960’s.<\/p>\n One more rundown of years and then a concluding post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Let’s just dive right back in, shall we? This exercise turned out to be very revealing about the biases built into IMDB ratings. IMDB tends to over-rate science fiction, westerns and movies by certain directors (Tarantino, Leone, Kubrick). It tends to underrate musicals and movies with women leads. This is not entirely surprising if you … Continue reading The Worst of the Oscars: 1953-1977<\/span>
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: Gigi<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 6.8 (35 of 45, minimum 2000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: Vertigo<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: Vertigo<\/i>
\nComment<\/b>: For some reason, Gigi<\/i> does not make a lot of lists for worst Best Picture winners. In fact, Hollywood.com rated it as the 16th best<\/a> Academy Award winner. And maybe it’s low rating is an IMDB peculiarity. It’s not a movie that’s going to appeal to teenage boys, after all. It made a clean sweep of nine awards. So is this, at long last, one where IMDB gets it wrong and the Academy got it right?<\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: Ben-Hur<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 8.1 (5 of 49, minimum 2000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: North by Northwest<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: North by Northwest<\/i>
\nComment<\/b>: Both are classics. You also had Some Like it Hot<\/i> that year.<\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: The Apartment<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 8.4 (2 of 46, minimum 2000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: Psycho<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: Psycho<\/i> or The Apartment<\/i>
\nComment<\/b>: Two more classics. That’s three Hitchcock snubs in a row by the way. Two of those could be justified. But this is the reason Gigi<\/i> is such a giant slimy wart on Academy history. At the precise time that Hitch was doing his best work he earned a grand total of one nomination for Best Director, none for Best Picture and no awards. Whose dog did he run over?<\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: West Side Story<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 7.6 (17 of 40, minimum 2000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: Yojimbo<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: West Side Story<\/i>
\nComment<\/b>: This is a rare event — the Academy loved this and the critics still do. The IMDB voters don’t. You can attribute to either IMDB voting bias or critical bias. I have not seen the movie since I was about ten, so I’m in no position to judge. But my inclination is that IMDB is probably wrong on this one and the Academy was right. West Side Story<\/i> is generally regarded as a classic.<\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: Lawrence of Arabia<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 8.4 (1 out of 50, minimum 2000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: Lawrence of Arabia<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: To Kill a Mockingbird<\/i> or Lawrence of Arabia<\/i>
\nComment<\/b>: The amazing thing about the 1950’s and 60’s is that you frequently had years like this — with two major classics butting against each other. In such years there wasn’t a wrong choice. But in the years where you didn’t have that problem — oh, 1958 for example — the Academy inevitably picked the wrong one.<\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: Tom Jones<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 6.8 (36 of 50, minimum 2000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: The Great Escape<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: Unclear. There were a few foreign films like 8 1\/2<\/i> and The Leopard<\/i>.
\nComment<\/b>: Tom Jones<\/i> was the last Best Picture to be rated below 7 but that may be an IMDB bias. It was a weak year.<\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: My Fair Lady<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 7.8 (10 of 43, minimum 3000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: Dr. Strangelove<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: Dr. Strangelove<\/i>
\nComment<\/b>: Strangelove<\/i> was nominated but the 1960’s were a weird time for the Academy. At precisely the time films were becoming bolder and more innovative thanks to the collapse of the Hays code, the Academy got very<\/i> conservative in their movie choices. They picked four musicals in eight years and the emerging Kubrick would become his generation’s Hitchcock, pumping out masterpiece after masterpiece without a single statue. It would culminate in the only award ever given to a G-rated picture in 1968. My Fair Lady<\/i> is a fine picture. It’s not Dr. Strangelove<\/i>. And I suspect the Academy knew it.<\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: The Sound of Music<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 7.9 (7 out of 40, minimum 3000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: For a Few Dollars More<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: The Sound of Music<\/i>
\nComment<\/b>: Again, the IMDB bias shows up. It’s Musical vs. Clint Eastwood and Eastwood wins handily. You can add Sergio Leone to Hitch and Kubrick as snubbed directors. IMDB rates his films as the best of the year four times. He received zero nominations. Still, The Sound of Music<\/i> as a defensible choice.<\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: A Man For All Seasons<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 7.9 (7 of 44, minimum 3000 votes
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly<\/i>
\nComment<\/b>: I have not seen Man<\/i> but I’ve never heard anyone claim it was a classic. Roger Ebert is among those who think Leone’s epic is<\/i> a classic. So am I.<\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: In the Heat of the Night<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 8.0 (5 of 42, minimum 3000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: Cool Hand Luke<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: The Graduate<\/i>
\nComment<\/b>: In the Heat…<\/i> is a great film and makes many best ever lists. It was a fine (and for the Academy, bold) choice. It may not have been the best of 1967 but 1967 was a very good year for movies. I would say that this is where the Academy finally broke down and began to recognize great films again. There is one more horrible choice ahead but they were about to enter arguably their best era.<\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: Oliver!<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 7.4 (19 of 42, minimum 3000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: Once Upon a Time in The West<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: 2001<\/i>
\nComment<\/b>: Kubrick got a director nomination and an award for best special effects. It’s hard to blame the Academy for not rewarding 2001<\/i> which was not as well-regarded then as it is now. Oliver!<\/i> is not a bad film but … seriously? Over The Lion in Winter<\/i>?<\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: Midnight Cowboy<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 7.9 (5 of 31, minimum 3000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: Butch Cassidy<\/i> or Midnight Cowboy<\/i>
\nComment<\/b>: Talk about a whipsaw. From a G-rated musical to an X-rated classic? The crumbling of the Academy’s prudery was almost instantaneous. Watch out, folks. From 1969 to 1978, every Academy pick will be either the consensus Best Picture or a close second. Every choice will be defensible.<\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: Patton<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 8.0 (2 of 38, minimum 3000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: La Cercle Rouge<\/i> (?!)
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: MASH<\/i><\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: The French Connection<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 7.9 (5 of 53, minimum 3000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: A Clockwork Orange<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: A Clockwork Orange<\/i> or The French Connection<\/i> or Last Picture Show<\/i><\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: The Godfather<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 9.2 (1 of 30, minimum 5000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: The Godfather<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: The Godfather<\/i><\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: The Sting<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 8.4 (1 of 42, minimum 5000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: The Sting<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: The Sting<\/i><\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: The Godfather, Part II<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 9.0 (1 of 34, minimum 5000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: The Godfather, Part II<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: The Godfather, Part II<\/i><\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 8.8 (1 of 29, minimum 5000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest<\/i>
\nComment<\/b>: That’s four straight where all three methods agree.<\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: Rocky<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: 8.1 (5 of 35, minimum 5000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: Taxi Driver<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: Taxi Driver<\/i>, Network<\/i> or Rocky<\/i>
\nComment<\/b>: And just like that, Scorsese becomes the new “Whose dog did he run over?” poster boy. Rocky<\/i> is regarded by some wags as a bad Oscar pick. It wasn’t. Both IMDB and the critics have a high opinion of it, even if that opinion falls a bit short of Taxi Driver<\/i>.<\/p>\n
\nAcademy Pick<\/b>: Annie Hall<\/i>
\nIMDB Rating and Rank<\/b>: (2 of 39, minimum 5000 votes)
\nIMDB Pick as Best Picture<\/b>: Star Wars<\/i>
\nConsensus Best Picture<\/b>: Star Wars<\/i> or Annie Hall<\/i>
\nComment<\/b>: I personally find Annie Hall<\/i> to be a fine film but a tad over-rated. Hollywood.com rates is as the best Best Picture of all time, which is ridiculous. There is some hostility toward it in fanboy world because it beat Star Wars<\/i>, which is regarded, at least by IMDB, as one of the ten best films of all time. But, by the Academy’s standards, Annie Hall<\/i> was a fine choice, still regarded as a classic. That and Star Wars<\/i> stand way out from the pack of films that year.<\/p>\n