Notable Firsts and Records

[Big Magilla]

Good catches.

[HarryGoldfarb]

One that came close - Leo McCarey the first time around - The Awful Truth (1937) (a Best Picture nominee but not a winner) and Love Affair (1939).

Several others came close but in a different way: they released critical acclaimed films after their BP winner, getting multiple Oscar nods including directing, but failed to make it into the BP line up: Kazan (On The Waterfront/East of Eden), Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy/Sunday Bloody Sunday), and Woody Allen (Annie Hall/Interiors) comes to mind.

[HarryGoldfarb]

- Frank Capra (It Happened One Night, 1934 and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, 1936). Capra’s Broadway Bill was also released in 1934. It if was released after It Happened One Night, then this supposed achievement does not belong on this list

It Happened One Night was released in February 1934. Broadway Bill wasn't released until December. If the premise is that the director's next film after his Oscar win was also a Best Picture nominee, then Capra should count because his film didn't win its Oscar until early 1935, making Mr. Deeds Goes to Town his first film after his win.

One that came close - Leo McCarey the first time around - The Awful Truth (1937) (a Best Picture nominee but not a winner) and Love Affair (1939).

Right, Magilla. Thanks for the clarification. Allthesame, Capra remains on the list by virtue of Mr. Smith getting nominated after YCTIWY.

And on second look, I catch my (big) mistake/omission: Bigelow belongs on the list (The Hurt Locker/Zero Dark Thirty).

[Big Magilla]

- Frank Capra (It Happened One Night, 1934 and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, 1936). Capra’s Broadway Bill was also released in 1934. It if was released after It Happened One Night, then this supposed achievement does not belong on this list

It Happened One Night was released in February 1934. Broadway Bill wasn't released until December. If the premise is that the director's next film after his Oscar win was also a Best Picture nominee, then Capra should count because his film didn't win its Oscar until early 1935, making Mr. Deeds Goes to Town his first film after his win.

One that came close - Leo McCarey the first time around - The Awful Truth (1937) (a Best Picture nominee but not a winner) and Love Affair (1939).

[HarryGoldfarb]

I thought it was notable that Guillermo del Toro directed a Best Picture nominee just after he directed a Best Picture winner. I checked a little bit this and, even though it is not that uncommon, it is still a remarkable achievement. Del Toro has joined the distinguished group of directors that after directing a film that wins Best Picture go on to direct another film that also gets nominated for Best Picture. He is only the 14th director to achieve this, although this has happened more than 14 times since some of the previous 13 directors achieved this more than once:

- Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front, 1930 and The Front Page, 1931)
- Frank Capra (It Happened One Night, 1934 and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, 1936). Capra’s Broadway Bill was also released in 1934. It if was released after It Happened One Night, then this supposed achievement does not belong on this list
- Frank Capra (You Can’t Take It With You, 1938 and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, 1939).
- William Wyler (Mrs. Miniver, 1942, and The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946).
- William Wyler (The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946 and The Heiress, 1949)
- Leo McCarey (Going my Way, 1944 and The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)
- Cecil B. DeMille (The Greatest Show on Earth, 1952 and The Ten Commandments, 1956)
- David Lean (The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957 and Lawrence of Arabia, 1962)
- David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia, 1962 and Dr. Zhivago, 1965)
- Franklin J. Schaffner (Patton, 1970 and Nicholas and Alexandra, 1971).
- William Friedkin (The French Connection, 1971 and The Exorcist, 1973).
- Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, 1972 followed by The Conversation, 1974)
- Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather Part II, 1974 and Apocalypse Now, 1979)
- James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment, 1983 and Broadcast News, 1987)
- James Cameron (Titanic, 1997 and Avatar, 2009). This is valid only if we exclude the series of documentaries he directed in between.
- Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, 2008 and 127 Hours, 2010).
- Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Birdman, 2014 and The Revenant, 2015).
- Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water, 2017 and Nightmare Alley, 2021).

[Mister Tee]

1942 was indeed the year with the highest number of nominated actors playing characters who are related to other nominated ones – 12.

I confess I'd forgotten Peters was related to Colman (it's a long time since I watched Random Harvest, and I suffer -- forgive this -- amnesia over it.) Even at that, she's listed as his step-niece, which is kind of pushing the boundaries of the stat.

Teresa Wright becomes a multi-pronged relation by marriage partway through the film. Does that give her extra points?

I mainly ask because, if we're going by "related at any point in the film", I have to adjust my claim that this year's four married couples are unprecedented. 1966, which already has George & Martha/NIck & Honey/Thomas & Alice More, adds, in the last 30 or so seconds of the film, Georgina and James.

[Big Magilla]

And what about 1992? Redgrave and Thompson played the first and second wives of Hopkins – do they count as relatives?

No.

[Uri]

1942 was indeed the year with the highest number of nominated actors playing characters who are related to other nominated ones – 12.

This year we have 9, tying at second place with 1980. Unless we count Colman and Buckley too (changing the definition from “relatives” to “members of the same family”, I guess), raising this year count to 11, making it a sole second.

On the opposite position, with no relations at all, we have 1953, 1960, 1988, 2007, 2008 and 2011. It we don’t apply the playing-the-same-person rule, add 1997.

And what about 1992? Redgrave and Thompson played the first an second wives of Hopkins – do they count as relatives?

[Mister Tee]

Add to that a mother/daughter match -- Colman/Buckley.

They’re not mother/daughter. They’re playing the same character at different ages.

You're of course right. Brain cramp.

[Big Magilla]

Good research, but just to be clear, Arthur Kennedy was Hope Lange's stepfather in Peyton Place. It would have been a then even more shocking film had Kennedy been her real father.

I believe 1945 had the only pair of father-daughter winners if you count honorary wins - James Dunn and Peggy Ann Garner.

1948 had nine family relationships in just two films - mother-daughter (Dunne, Bel Geddes), sisters (Dunne, Corby), uncle-niece (Homolka, Dunne as well as Corby and Bel Geddes), aunt-nice (Corby, Bel Geddes), father-daughter (Bickford, Wyman), brother-sister (Bickford, Moorehead), aunt-niece (Moorehead, Wyman).

[flipp525]

Add to that a mother/daughter match -- Colman/Buckley.

They’re not mother/daughter. They’re playing the same character at different ages.

[Mister Tee]

Uri's trivia quiz sparked something for me. I went back and checked, and it appears this year's set of acting nominees features the greatest numbers of characters with familial connections to other nominees.

We start with an unprecedented four husband/wife pairs (Bardem/Kidman, Smith/Ellis, Plemons/Dunst, Hinds/Dench) -- the most in any year I can find.

Add to that a mother/daughter match -- Colman/Buckley -- and a mother/son pair -- Dunst/McPhee.

Cap it off with two brothers -- Cumberbatch/Plemons. (Throw in brother-in-law/sister-in-law if you want to stretch -- Cumberbatch/Dunst -- but that's just gravy.)

Years I've found that also have a notable number of such familial ties: 1942 (with the Minivers/Cohans/Gehrigs), 1944 (Gaslight, Mr. Skeffington, Since You Went Away and None but the Lonely Heart making it a contender), 2012 (the Lincolns, the Silver Linings family, The Master couple), and 2013 (American Hustle, Blue Jasmine, August: Osage County, and Nebraska all providing matches).

It struck me odd, doing this research, to find The Last Picture Show had those four supporting nominations, with not one of them related to another. That seemed to defy the odds, for a small town story. (Peyton Place had had mother/daughter and father/daughter pairs among its five nods.)

[Big Magilla]

No one has noted this as a first, but it may well be.

Does anyone know why The Worst Person in the World was eligible for Oscars other than Best International Film? It was not given an Oscar qualifying run in 2021. It opened in L.A. on 2/4/22 as it did in in New York.

It had won a number of critics' awards for 2021 but critics go by different rules. It's odd, though, that the New York Film Critics would award a film seen only at the New York Film Festival. In prior years, films shown at the Festival were not eligible for NYFCC awards. They had to have had a commercial run.

I think this is the answer.

The Worst Person in the World was screened as part of MoMA's Contenders Series for 2021 on 11/17/2021. As it was in 2020, this is an on-line accessible streaming program for a fee. I guess streaming makes it eligible under COVID rules even without a corresponding theatrical release.

MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art) has been running this program since 2008, not sure if they streamed anything prior to 2020.

Here's what their website has to say about the program:

Every year there are films that resonate far beyond a theatrical release (if they manage to find their way to a commercial screen at all) or film festival appearance. Their significance can be attributed to a variety of factors, from structure to subject matter to language, but these films are united in their lasting impact on the cinematic art form. For this new ongoing series, the Department of Film combs through major studio releases and the top film festivals in the world, selecting influential, innovative films made in the last twelve months that we believe will stand the test of time. Whether bound for awards glory or destined to become a cult classic, each of these films is a contender for lasting historical significance—and any true cinephile will want to catch them on the big screen.

[mlrg]

Third time this century that all supporting nominees are coattails from leading nominees or from best picture nominees, the other years being 2013 and 2006.

Haven’t got the time to check prior 2000 yet.

Just checked and since the inception of the supporting categories it only happened 4 times: 1949, 2006, 2013 and this year.

Are you mistakenly remembering Dreamgirls as a best picture nominee in 2006? Because, otherwise, I don't see how that year qualifies.

Yes, my mistake.

Which makes this stat an ever rare occurence.

[Big Magilla]

No one has noted this as a first, but it may well be.

Does anyone know why The Worst Person in the World was eligible for Oscars other than Best International Film? It was not given an Oscar qualifying run in 2021. It opened in L.A. on 2/4/22 as it did in in New York.

It had won a number of critics' awards for 2021 but critics go by different rules. It's odd, though, that the New York Film Critics would award a film seen only at the New York Film Festival. In prior years, films shown at the Festival were not eligible for NYFCC awards. They had to have had a commercial run.