Unexpected Oscar Winners

Submitted by TastyGreggsPasty t3_125ntov in movies

I was watching In the Heat of the Night (1967) the other day, great film and great performances from Rod Steiger and Sidney Poitier.

Rod Steiger ended up winning the Oscar for best actor that year.

If you've seen the film you might understand why I think that was an odd decision that Steiger was nominated ahead of Poitier for best actor. The film is more or less about Poiter's character and the persecution he has to deal with as a black detective in the American South (Steiger and Poitier probably have an equal amount of screen time though). In my opinion Poitier's performance was stronger than Steiger's in the film.

I get the feeling that, because Poitier had already won an oscar by the time ITHOTN was released, they just nominated Steiger ahead of him as he hadn't won an oscar yet.

Don't get me wrong, Steiger is brilliant in the film.

I was wondering if there were any other films you can think of where someone won an award, ahead of someone else in the same film, who arguably had put in a much stronger performance?

0

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

mikeyfreshh t1_je4x9or wrote

Most recently, Jamie Lee Curtis over Stephanie Hsu

6

Galac_tacos t1_je529zh wrote

JLC over pretty much any of the best supporting actresses . Her character was purely for laughs and frankly I didn't think it was that well acted anyway. Kerry Condon deserved it the most, then Hsu, then Hong Chau, then Bassett, then jlc. Should've just given her the lifetime award.

3

mikeyfreshh t1_je54ly7 wrote

This pretty much was a lifetime achievement award, though you probably could have said the same thing if it went to Angel Bassett. I like JLC and I think it's cool that she has an Oscar, but her performance was definitely the least interesting of the bunch

3

BeginningAppeal8599 t1_je52gsw wrote

I actually loved her quirky over the top character so much. I love her acting much more in her old age than when she was starting out.

0

FoxOntheRun99 t1_je6sb5a wrote

I loved her in Knives Out and she played her returning Halloween character with such defiance and strength.

Though in saying that, I was very surprised on her win here, as I think the other performances was a bit more..how do I say..more substantial?

But like what other ppl say, a deserved lifetime award if you frame it as such.

1

charleyismyhero t1_je4xihr wrote

I think this one is going to be a hot take but I personally believe Tom Hulce deserved the Oscar over F Murray Abraham in Amadeus.

Not that Abraham wasn’t great, but Hulce’s range for that character was incredible, and I don’t think Abraham had to dive quite as deep for his portrayal.

4

BeginningAppeal8599 t1_je532cd wrote

Yeah, such a great character actor but that always felt weird but it was in line with the condescending nature of many people who think it's so groundbreaking and moving to see a racist guy start to warm up to PoCs. 'What a great achievement! He showed that PoC some kindness, he's a hero!'

4

jmlush t1_je51dkb wrote

I think the Oscar's do that quite a bit. Now it is for far more political reasons other than artistic but in the past it was using the award to recognize careers at the expense of the best performance of the year...righting past wrongs so to speak. I am thinking of Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman, Paul Newman, Henry Fonda etc. Not that their performance wasn't necessarily worthy but the were beaten before and the overall career deemed winning one a priority for the voters.

3

MrsMaiselsBrisket t1_je51xwx wrote

Poitier was in three films that year that could have landed him a nomination - ITHotN and To Sir With Love in lead, and potentially Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner in supporting. I suspect his votes were split.

3

TheMadLurker17 t1_je55yy8 wrote

Another thing about Steiger, is that there was a lot sentiment that he should have won previously for The Pawnbroker, so that also easily could have factored in.

2

FloppedYaYa t1_je6fsix wrote

Did anyone actually expect Spotlight to win Best Picture?

It's a pretty incredible film tbf but I swear no one even considered it slightly among the favourites beforehand

2

Jerrymoviefan3 t1_je6isnp wrote

The year Spotlight won the experts doing predictions said it was a nearly impossible to call three way race for best picture. They were used to either a runaway favorite or a close two picture race so they were amazed by what appeared to be a dead heat with three pictures. No one would have been shocked if any of The Revenant, The Big Short, or Spotlight had one. All three made my top ten that year but Room was #1 followed by #2 Spotlight.

1

TheCosmicFailure t1_je51lon wrote

La La Land seemed like a slam dunk. But Moonlight won.

1

FoxOntheRun99 t1_je6t4ll wrote

The Artist win wasn't necessarily unexpected...as it gained momentum heading into the awards season iirc. But it has some what faded out of public consciousness quite quickly. More so than its fellow nominees (Hugo, The Help, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, Tree of Life, War Horse, Extremely Loud....).

Though I don't think the field was particularly strong that year, out of all them, I only rewatch Moneyball.

1

MrsMaiselsBrisket t1_jeacl42 wrote

2011 was such a great year. Another wonderful film from that season was Beginners, which won Christopher Plummer his only Oscar, and Fincher’s version of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo remains one of my favourites.

Personally, I wonder what on Earth convinced anyone to give Meryl Streep Best Actress that year - I really love Meryl, but that was so far from her best performance, and leagues below the other nominees.

1