Oscars 2013: The apology Oscars

Over the Academy Awards' 83 years in the gong-giving business, the good voters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have dropped the ball a few times (*cough* 'Shakespeare in Love *cough*). But at least they sometimes say 'sorry' in the only way they know how - by belatedly giving the wronged actor or director an Oscar for inferior work at a later date. These are called (by us anyway) the ‘Apology Oscars’, and are given to stars whose work has long been overlooked, or who gave a particularly stunning performance in something, but were somehow snubbed. These are the classic examples...

Martin Scorsese – The Departed
Scorsese, or Marty to his pals, had been an Oscar bridesmaid so many times it was starting to get embarrassing. Things came to a head when 'Dances With Wolves' beat 'Goodfellas' to the Best Picture prize in 1990. Marty also missed out for both 'Taxi Driver' and 'Raging Bull', confounding both fans and critics alike. It was, however, for one of his least impressive films that he brought home the bacon – 2006's 'The Departed', which hauled in his long-awaited Best Director gong, along with Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing. Yet for all the accolades, there's not a single sane fan who would admit to calling it his best film.

Morgan Freeman – Million Dollar Baby
As far as pretty much everyone is concerned, 'Million Dollar Baby' is about Clint Eastwood and Hilary Swank. Morgan Freeman was pretty solid in support as the half-blind Eddie 'Scrap Iron' Dupris, but then Morgan Freeman is always pretty solid. It's a small, pretty average role – when you compare it to say, his pivotal, career-defining part in 'The Shawshank Redemption', a film which was roundly ignored by the Academy. Though there were plenty of roles in between, this was payback for Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding.

Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
Jeff Bridges had been stacking up Oscar nominations since his first for 'Starman' in 1984 (he lost out, and quite rightly, to F. Murray Abraham in 'Amadeus' that year). More followed, however. He was overlooked by the Academy for even a nomination for 'The Fisher King', though he got a Golden Globe nod, and then he failed to convert his Best Supporting Actor nomination for 'The Contender' in 2000. Many also thought he deserved a nomination for his cult role as Jeffrey 'The Dude' Lebowski in the Coen Brothers' near-perfect 'The Big Lebowski'. But again, not a sausage. When 'Crazy Heart' arrived in 2009, the stars aligned and a combination of his venerable stature in Hollywood and having been criminally passed over for so many years scored him the gong for what was, essentially, a decent performance in an unremarkable film.

Paul Newman – The Color of Money
No one thinks 'The Color Of Money' - entertaining as it is - is better than 'The Hustler', for which Newman was nominated in the Best Actor category in 1961. But by the time 1986 came along, Newman had been nominated a ludicrous five times, for films including 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof', 'Hud', 'Absence Of Malice' and 'Cool Hand Luke'. He simply had to win for 'The Color of Money', despite that performance paling in comparison to the others. The Academy clearly felt pretty bad about it. They gave him an honorary Oscar 'in recognition of his many and memorable compelling screen performances and for his personal integrity and dedication to his craft' in 1985 too.

Al Pacino – The Scent Of A Woman
Another classic case of a 'guilty Oscar' came in 1992, when Al Pacino won Best Actor for the perfectly charming 'The Scent Of A Woman'. Prior to that, however, he'd been nominated a total of seven times. Was his turn as blind, cantankerous, alcoholic military man Frank Slade better than his brooding Michael Corleone in 'The Godfather'? Or better than Frank Serpico in the electrifying 'Serpico'? Or his reprisal of Corleone in 'The Godfather Part II'? Or frazzled bank robber Sonny Wortzik in 'Dog Day Afternoon'? Course not. Though oddly, he was even passed over on the same year he won. He was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 1992 for his role as hotshot salesman Ricky Roma in Mamet's 'Glengarry Glen Ross', the better performance by a country mile.

Bette Davis – Dangerous
Davis's performance in 'Of Human Bondage' in 1934 was regarded as the best of the year, but she didn't get the nomination. It caused quite the outrage, with several influential figures campaigning for her to be included, leading the Academy to change the rules stating that performers and directors could be nominated if supported by enough write-in votes from members, meaning that technically any performance of the year could be eligible. But despite the support, she remained un-nominated. She won the following year for her role in 'Dangerous', thought to have been given in deference to overlooking her. Davis herself even conceded that Katharine Hepburn in 'Alice Adams' was the better performance.

Jack Palance – City Slickers
Palance was a powerhouse throughout his career, particularly in the Western genre. He was nominated three times, all in the Best Actor in a Supporting Role category, but failed to convert any of them into mantelpiece fodder. Yet it was for the much-liked but inescapably lightweight comedy 'City Slickers' that he eventually won, rather than his solid performances in the likes of 'Shane' or 'Sudden Fear'. Mind you, it took Gregory Peck four nominations before he won for 'To Kill A Mockingbird', so perhaps he was in decent company.

James Stewart – The Philadelphia Story
Jimmy Stewart was not even planning to attend the 1940 Oscars. It's said that he was called and 'strongly advised' to show up, and to wear a tuxedo. Stewart deemed Henry Fonda's performance in 'The Grapes Of Wrath' to be the right choice for Best Actor that year, and had voted for Fonda himself. But instead, Stewart won for his turn as tabloid reporter Mike Connor in the rom-com 'The Philadelphia Story'. It was Stewart himself who believed that he was gifted the gong as compensation for not winning the previous year for 'Mr Smith Goes To Washington'. Instead, Robert Donat took home the statue for 'Goodbye, Mr Chips' (more confusingly, it was said that Donat had lost out the previous year for 'The Citadel', and his award for 'Mr Chips' was given in compensation).

Julie Andrews – Mary Poppins
This one was political. 'My Fair Lady' cleaned up with nominations in 1964, except in the Best Actress category. Julie Andrews had played Eliza Doolittle to much acclaim in the stage version, but instead Audrey Hepburn was cast in the film by director Jack Warner, which upset some Academy voters, leading to a snub in the category for Hepburn. Some felt that Andrews was given the gong for 'Mary Poppins' because she should have been given the Doolittle role, and won the Oscar for that instead.

Charlie Chaplin – The Honorary Award
In 1972, Charlie Chaplin won an Honorary Award for 'the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century'. It would, perhaps, have been more calculable (to the Academy at least) had they recognised him a little more often. He had won another 'special award' at the very first ceremony in 1929 for his acting, writing, directing and producing of 'The Circus', but after that only received nominations, and just a handful of those. The 1972 award was long overdue. Greta Garbo also lost out many times, and was handed an honorary award in 1954. She didn't even show up to accept it, and had the statue mailed to her instead. Lillian Gish too was scarcely recognised by the Academy during her career, receiving her honorary gong in 1971 'for superlative artistry and for distinguished contribution to the progress of motion picture'.