Being an Oscar winner is supposed to be the absolute confirmation that Hollywood recognizes a film as one of a kind. However, this is the point: not all winners are recalled. Some of the Best Picture winners develop into cultural phenomena, being viewed and quoted constantly. The rest? They become so deeply forgotten that even cinephiles have to check the list to make sure they don’t miss them. So what causes some of the best award-winning films to lose their spotlight? Sometimes it is all about the wrong timing, the too strong competition, or simply the lack of staying power. What’s the story with 10 Oscar-winning films that no one after the ceremony cares about yet are prestigious because of their wins?
10. Nomadland (2020)
The 2020 Oscars were quite a different affair, a distanced, muted event just in the middle of the pandemic. Chloé Zhao made history, and Frances McDormand got her statue once more as the juries and the viewers warmly embraced Nomadland in that bizarre moment. The film was a very touching and beautiful meditation on the disenfranchised Americans living on the road, but, due to the particular year it came in and the theatres closed and postponed openings of big films, it never had the same cultural impact as the winners before. It is a great movie, but still, it slipped away.
9. The Artist (2011)
The Artist was not supposed to ever happen, a black and white silent film went on to win Best Picture in 2010, and yet, The Artist managed to charm Academy voters with its take a step back in time approach and the performance by Jean Dujardin. At that time, it was innovative and challenging. However, a year later, it was hardly talked about, and the stars as well as the directors were nowhere to be seen. Compared to other movies released at the same time, such as Midnight in Paris or The Descendants, this is an intellectual experiment rather than a conventional masterpiece.
8. Dances with Wolves (1990)
Dances with Wolves was a seven-time Oscar winner, including Best Picture, which saw Kevin Costner’s ambitious western walking off with the trophy. Still, the past hasn’t been that kind towards it. Where once it was hailed as a grand epic, now everyone refers to Goodfellas as the gritty classic it stood in the way of, i.e., the true 1990 classic. Additionally, Dances with Wolves is often criticized for its portrayal of Indigenous peoples as being very predictable. Its Oscar win is less about heritage and more about debate.
7. How Green Was My Valley (1941)
How Green Was My Valley is a film that will always be known for what it defeated. Beautiful and deeply emotive, John Ford’s How Green Was My Valley was the unlucky one to be compared against Citizen Kane. Their history as cinema legends now undeniably sees Welles’ masterpiece as one of the greatest ever, and Ford’s as mostly “the one that won Kane’s Oscar.” No matter if it is a reputation that has cast it in a lesser light since then.
6. Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)
Gregory Peck was the lead in this drama that went straight off at antisemitism, only a short while before Hollywood was ready to openly discuss the subject, and for that alone, it should be praised. It was awarded Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress, among other things, which speaks volumes about how much the Academy liked its theme. But in the end, the film dealing with this issue in a daring way in that era hasn’t kept the audience’s attention and is not considered one of the classics. Films like Miracle on 34th Street that were made the same year still get far more love today.
5. Spotlight (2015)
Hardly any Oscars are more deserved than that for Spotlight, a powerful portrayal of the journalists uncovering systemic evil in the Catholic Church. The film is intelligent, moving, and brilliantly acted. However, despite receiving all possible awards, it is not a frequently rewatched or cited film by other films. Maybe the gravity of the topic, possibly due to the lack of flashy moments, but for some reason, this fantastic film has become more associated with silence than with the memory of the mainstream.
4. Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
One of the most lavish Technicolor films in history was a real money-spinning machine at the time and impressed the audience with its grandeur, famous faces, and scale. But it is hardly ever talked about. Though it snagged the Best Picture award, it now seems more of a mystery than a model, the kind of movie one would merely stumble upon in a trivia quiz but never think of as entertainment for a night off at the sofa. It is a primary illustration that neither being enormous nor brash can secure lasting fame.
3. Argo (2012)
Ben Affleck’s Argo was a typical audience favorite: an overly dramatic Hollywood-CIA escapade with just the right amount of suspense and comedy. It flaunted the awards season and came out on top at the Oscars. However, with time, it can’t keep pace with the others as far as its cultural longevity is concerned. Life of Pi is still talked about for its stunning visual experience, and Django Unchained continues to divide opinions. Argo is good, but it is one of the few great things that only stays in the mind.
2. The English Patient (1996)
The English Patient was an epic love story that bagged nine Oscars at the 1997 ceremony, including Best Picture. The next ten years, however, have seen the film being joked about more than praised as a classic. It is indisputably beautiful and well-done, but also very long, very slow, and rarely revisited. For most, it is “masterpiece” less and “the film that everyone got way too excited about in the ’90s” more.
1. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
Among the Best Picture award winners, The Greatest Show on Earth is often referred to as the one that is most criticized for being one of the most baffling victors. It had enough glamour and showmanship to win the hearts of the voters then. It was not so lucky with time. These days, it is seen as one of the worst winners of the Oscars rather than as a classic, especially since it got the trophy instead of High Noon, a film that is still considered one of the all-time greats.
If there is anything that can be learned from this list, it is that winning an Oscar does not always measure a film’s lasting legacy. Some movies dazzle at their moment of glory and then slowly vanish, while others that lose on awards night are immortalized in cultural memory. Thus, the next time you skim through the list of Best Picture winners and say, “Wait, that one got the Oscar?” just relax and know there are others like you.