Only three films—It Happened One Night, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and The Silence of the Lambs—have ever won the “Big Five” at the Academy Awards. By winning the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay Oscars, these exceptional powerhouse movies have accomplished an amazing feat (Original or Adapted).
There are many other excellent movies that came close to accomplishing the same feat, despite the rarity of these accomplishments. These films came so close to joining the exclusive club of cinematic honours, whether they missed out on some nominations or didn’t receive one of the Big Five.
‘Coming Home’ (1978)
A Vietnam War veteran’s wife who volunteers at a hospital for veterans is Sally Hyde (Jane Fonda). There she meets veteran Luke Martin (Jon Voight), who was paralysed in battle and whom she befriends before gradually falling in love with. But when Sally’s husband shows up out of the blue, she is forced to assess where her true loyalties lie.
Coming Home was nominated for eight Academy Awards, but only managed to take home three: Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor (Voight), and Best Actress, giving Jane Fonda her second Oscar. All three of these awards were Big Five categories. Sadly, Best Picture and Best Director triumphed in their competition.
‘Forrest Gump’ (1994)
Despite having an intellectual impairment, Forrest (Tom Hanks) is able to do amazing things. As he follows his life over several decades, Forrest never loses his good nature even when he is exposed to significant historical events.
Forrest Gump was on the verge of becoming a Big Five movie and is a hugely adored and uplifting movie. The only issue was that it didn’t win any Best Actress nods. Nevertheless, despite receiving an incredible 13 nominations, the film took home six prizes, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (Eric Roth), Best Director (Robert Zemeckis), and Best Actor (Tom Hanks), giving him two wins in a row.
‘Kramer vs Kramer’ (1979)
After Joanna (Meryl Streep) abandons her family, Ted (Dustin Hoffman), Joanna’s workaholic husband, finds himself improving his relationship with their kid. The two parents get into a heated argument after Joanna returns and seeks full custody of the child.
It was expected that Kramer vs. Kramer would win five of its nine Academy Award nominations given its huge fan and critical success. They were not all members of the Big Five, which was unfortunate for this epic family conflict. Streep ended up receiving her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, not Best Actress, in a year where the movie won Best Picture and Best Actor (Hoffman), and Robert Benton astonishingly received both honours for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Even so, it’s a remarkable accomplishment.
‘Million Dollar Baby’ (2004)
Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank), who is adamant about becoming a successful professional boxer, looks for Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) to be her trainer. He is short-tempered and first opposed to the concept of training a woman, but after seeing her incredible grit in the ring, he changes his mind, and the two start to become quite close.
Even though Million Dollar Baby received four of its seven Academy Award nominations as one of the best boxing movies, only three of them made up the Big Five. Swank won Best Actress and Best Picture, while Eastwood won Best Director, but he didn’t win Best Actor. Additionally, Paul Haggis failed to win the Best Original Screenplay prize.
‘Mrs. Miniver’ (1942)
As a middle-class family entrapped in the horrors of war in England during the early years of World War II, Kay Miniver (Greer Garson) is desperate to keep her family together.
Mrs. Miniver did quite well by taking home six of its twelve nominations, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director (William Wyler), and Best Actress (Garson). Sadly, they fell short of the Big Five since Walter Pidgeon didn’t take home the Best Actor Oscar, leaving them with only four total nominations.
‘On Golden Pond’ (1981)
They are requested to take care of their estranged daughter’s stepson by the elderly couple Norman (Henry Fonda) and Ethel Thayer (Katherine Hepburn), who typically spend the summers at their vacation house. Chelsea (Jane Fonda) finds it difficult to comprehend how her father and stepson have grown close after her homecoming because she always wishes she had.
Some people might consider winning three Oscars after being nominated for 10, but when those three awards go to Best Actor (Henry Fonda), Best Actress (Hepburn), and Best Original Screenplay, it’s indisputably spectacular. It’s unlikely that there were any complaints about On Golden Pond missing out on the grand status by not winning the Best Picture or Best Director prize.
‘Terms of Endearment’ (1983)
This film recounts the life and relationship of Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter Emma over the course of 30 years (Debra Winger). The two fight their battles together, from the pleasures of true love to the difficulties of heartache.
Terms of Endearment came so close to achieving the Big Five, but fell short because the movie didn’t receive a Best Actor nomination. Despite getting 11 nominations, they only received five wins, including Best Picture, Best Actress (MacLaine), and two Oscars for James L. Brooks for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director. It’s a very amazing achievement.
‘The Apartment’ (1960)
Jack Lemmon’s character, C.C. “Bud” Baxter, an insurance clerk, tries to advance in his firm by letting senior executives use his apartment for extramarital affairs. When he learns that Fran (MacLaine), the woman he is madly in love with, is one of the mistresses, things get even more complicated.
This unusual rom-com received 10 nominations, and it won five awards—three of which—Best Picture, Best Director (Billy Wilder), and Best Original Screenplay—were all given to it. Lemmon and MacClaine regrettably failed to win Best Actor and Best Actress for The Apartment.
‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ (1957)
Japanese captors gave allied POWs orders to construct a bridge over the River Kwai during World War II so that the Siam-Burma railway could be built. This assignment turns into a perverted technique for Colonel Nicholson (Sir Alec Guinness) to increase prisoner morale and a serious preoccupation for him.
This epic World War II film, which is frequently hailed as one of the all-time greats, reached an amazing milestone when The Bridge on the River Kwai won seven of its eight Academy Award nominations. This includes Best Actor, Best Director (David Lean), Best Picture, and Best Adapted Screenplay (Guinness). They missed out on the Big Five since Best Actress was not nominated; nonetheless, this does not lessen the movie’s overall cinematic and cultural influence.
‘The King’s Speech’ (2010)
As soon as the Duke of York (Colin Firth) becomes King George IV, he seeks the services of a speech therapist to help him get rid of his stammer because he wants to become the strong leader that England needs as they prepare for World War II.
The King’s Speech got a staggering 12 nominations, but despite having no Best Actress nods (Helena Bonham Carter was nominated for Best Supporting Actress), it was unable to secure the Big Five. They were still incredibly successful, though, as the movie went on to win Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay (David Seidler), Best Director (Tom Hooper), and Best Actor Oscars (Firth). This is the most recent movie to pull off such a remarkable victory.
