The least deserving Academy Award winners for Best Picture

The Most Overrated Best Picture Winners

I once studied this same question, but I did so based upon the IMDb ratings rather than my own opinions. I wrote the article about a decade ago and have not updated it, so it's not up to date. I haven't checked to see if some recent stinker could have snuck into the race, and I haven't monitored the ups and down of the IMDb ratings, which could significantly affect the final outcome .

By my definitions, the least deserving Oscar nominee could have been one of three, depending on which definition you accept.

Definition 1: one nominee beating out another nominee with a higher rating.

By this criterion, the least deserving Oscar winner was Chariots of Fire. There was a 1.6 point difference between that film and Raiders. I can't really comment on Chariots of Fire except to say that I've tried to watch it three times and fell asleep each time. The next time I try, if any, I'll load up on caffeine and sit in an uncomfortable chair.

Definition 2: one film beating out another higher-rated film.

This criterion produces a different result only because of a spectacularly memorable film (Singin' in the Rain) which was not even a nominee. By this definition, the least-deserving winner is The Greatest Show on Earth, which was 1.7 points lower than the famous musical classic. I have seen Greatest Show, and I can attest that it is truly a stinker. Even its modest IMDb rating of 6.7 is inflated. God only knows what kind of drugs the voters were taking that year. In addition to beating Singin' in the Rain, it also cock-blocked: (1) John Ford's The Quiet Man; and (2) High Noon, which is in the IMDb Top 250.

Definition 3: lowest rated winner in general.

When I wrote the article the answer was Out of Africa. I just noticed that this is no longer true. Out of Africa is now rated higher than The Greatest Show on Earth, as well it should be. It is difficult to name a film which should NOT be rated higher than Greatest Show, including Deuce Bigelow, European Gigolo. That just goes to show that Rob Schneider was just born at the wrong time. If he had been born early enough to make films in 1952, he would probably be one of the industry's most beloved elder statesmen, respected as a comic genius on par with Chaplin and Groucho.

All three of those films in bold are mentioned in the EW article linked above.

By my calculations when I wrote the article, the best nominated pictures NOT to win an Oscar were The Shawshank Redemption (#1 of all time), Citizen Kane (#38) and Dr. Strangelove (#34). That list should now include Pulp Fiction (#4). Astoundingly, Shawshank and Pulp Fiction came out the same year, but neither won the Best Picture Oscar, which went to Forrest Gump (also considered a classic at #28).

At the time I did the study, the best non-nominated pictures were The Seven Samurai and Rear Window. The Seven Samurai, one of the most influential pictures in history and currently #14 of all time, was nominated for two Oscars, but no major ones. Rear Window, currently #22 of all time, was nominated for four Oscars including three major ones (director, screenplay, cinematography), but did not win any, and was not nominated for Best Picture. Apparently the academy couldn't find room for it on a nominee list crowded by such works of sheer genius as Three Coins in the Fountain. If I re-did the study today, Samurai and Window would now be joined on the list by The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (#5 of all time) and Fight Club (#12).