Source link : https://las-vegas-news.com/8-films-that-won-best-picture-without-a-best-director-nomination/
The Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director usually move together. Of the 98 films that have won Best Picture, 71 have also been awarded Best Director. A film winning the top prize while its director sits out the nominations is rare.
Strictly speaking, that has happened only six times. This list covers all six in order. It then adds two close calls, winners whose directors were nominated but lost, because they show how narrow the gap can be.
Wings (1927/28)
The first Best Picture winner in Oscar history is also the first one on this list. William A. Wellman’s Wings is a WWI drama about two young men, one rich and one middle class, who love the same woman before becoming pilots. The film is remembered for its air combat sequences.
Wellman was left out of the directing race even though the first ceremony had two categories. There was a Best Director award for both comedy and drama, and Wings missed both. Frank Borzage and Lewis Milestone took those prizes.
Grand Hotel (1931/32)
Grand Hotel follows a group of very different guests in a luxurious Berlin hotel. It’s one of the very few films to win Best Picture without any acting nominations. That’s surprising given its cast, which included Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford.
Edmund Goulding directed it. Edmund Goulding was not nominated for Best Director, while Frank Borzage won that year for Bad Girl. The film’s only Oscar…
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Author : Matthias Binder
Publish date : 2026-10-08 11:15:00
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