When 'best' isn't good enough: Best picture nominees that went Oscar-less

"Frost/Nixon" garnered five Oscar nominations -- best picture (Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner), best director (Ron Howard), best actor (Frank Langella), best adapted screenplay (Peter Morgan), and best film editing (Mike Hill and Daniel P. Hanley) -- but it appears extremely likely that the film will become the 133rd best picture nominee in the Oscars history to go home empty-handed, thanks to the stream roller that is "Slumdog Millionaire" plus a best actor race that appears to be down to Sean Penn ("Milk") and Mickey Rourke ("The Wrestler").

A look back at Oscars history reveals that Oscar-less best picture nominees are generally not all that uncommon, although it's been three years since we last had one -- actually two, "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Munich" (both 2005).

There have, in fact, only been 18 ceremonies in 80 years in which every best picture nominee did win an Oscar: 1945, 1948, 1949, 1953, 1955, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1975, 1979, 1986, 1988, 1995, 1997, 2004, 2006, 2007.

On the other hand, there have been 28 ceremonies in 80 years in which more than one best picture nominee went home empty-handed -- although it's important to note that prior to 1943, some years had as many as 10 best picture nominees:

• Seven lost all: 1934
• Six lost all: 1933, 1935, 1940, 1942
• Four lost all: 1931/1932, 1936, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1943
• Three lost all: 1927/1928, 1930/1931, 1957, 1966, 1972, 1987
• Two lost all: 1928/1929, 1937, 1946, 1951, 1958, 1959, 1974, 1983, 1990, 1993, 2005

Here's a look back at all of the Oscar-less best picture nominees, with their number of unsuccessful nominations listed alongside them in parentheses:

• 1927/1928 "Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness" (1)
• 1927/1928 "The Crowd" (2)
• 1927/1928 "The Racket" (1)
• 1928/1929 "Alibi" (3)
• 1928/1929 "The Hollywood Revue of 1929" (1)
• 1929/1930 "The Love Parade" (6)
• 1930/1931 "East Lynne" (1)
• 1930/1931 "The Front Page" (3)
• 1930/1931 "Trader Horn" (1)
• 1931/1932 "Arrowsmith" (4)
• 1931/1932 "Five Star Final" (1)
• 1931/1932 "One Hour with You" (1)
• 1931/1932 "The Smiling Lieutenant" (1)
• 1933 "42nd Street" (2)
• 1933 "I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang" (3)
• 1933 "Lady for a Day" (4)
• 1933 "She Done Him Wrong" (1)
• 1933 "Smilin' Through" (1)
• 1933 "State Fair" (2)
• 1934 "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" (2)
• 1934 "Flirtation Walk" (2)
• 1934 "Here Comes the Navy" (1)
• 1934 "The House of Rothschild" (1)
• 1934 "Imitation of Life" (3)
• 1934 "The Thin Man" (4)
• 1934 "The White Parade" (2)
• 1935 "Alice Adams" (2)
• 1935 "Captain Blood" (5)
• 1935 "Les Miserables" (4)
• 1935 "David Copperfield" (3)
• 1935 "Ruggles of Red Gap" (1)
• 1935 "Top Hat" (4)
• 1936 "Libeled Lady" (1)
• 1936 "Romeo and Juliet" (4)
• 1936 "A Tale of Two Cities" (2)
• 1936 "Three Smart Girls" (3)
• 1937 "Dead End" (4)
• 1937 "Stage Door" (4)
• 1938 "The Citadel" (4)
• 1938 "Four Daughters" (5)
• 1938 "Grand Illusion" (1)
• 1938 "Test Pilot" (3)
• 1939 "Dark Victory" (3)
• 1939 "Love Affair" (6)
• 1939 "Ninotchka" (4)
• 1939 "Of Mice and Men" (4)
• 1940 "All This, And Heaven Too" (3)
• 1940 "Foreign Correspondent" (6)
• 1940 "The Great Dictator" (5)
• 1940 "The Letter" (7)
• 1940 "The Long Voyage Home" (6)
• 1940 "Our Town" (6)
• 1941 "Hold Back the Dawn" (6)
• 1941 "The Little Foxes" (9)
• 1941 "The Maltese Falcon" (3)
• 1941 "One Foot in Heaven" (1)
• 1942 "King's Row" (3)
• 1942 "The Magnificent Ambersons" (4)
• 1942 "The Pied Piper" (3)
• 1942 "Random Harvest" (7)
• 1942 "The Talk of the Town" (7)
• 1942 "Wake Island" (4)
• 1943 "Heaven Can Wait" (3)
• 1943 "In Which We Serve" (2)
• 1943 "Madame Curie" (7)
• 1943 "The Ox-Bow Incident" (1)
• 1944 "Double Indemnity" (7)
• 1946 "Henry V" (4)
• 1946 "It's a Wonderful Life" (5)
• 1947 "Crossfire" (5)
• 1950 "Father of the Bride" (3)
• 1951 "Decision Before Dawn" (2)
• 1951 "Quo Vadis" (8)
• 1952 "Ivanhoe" (3)
• 1956 "Friendly Persuasion" (6)
• 1957 "12 Angry Men" (3)
• 1957 "Peyton Place" (9)
• 1957 "Witness for the Prosecution" (6)
• 1958 "Auntie Mame" (6)
• 1958 "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (6)
• 1959 "Anatomy of a Murder" (7)
• 1959 "The Nun's Story" (8)
• 1960 "The Sundowners" (5)
• 1961 "Fanny" (5)
• 1962 "Mutiny on the Bounty" (7)
• 1964 "Dr. Strangelove" (4)
• 1966 "Alfie" (5)
• 1966 "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming" (4)
• 1966 "The Sand Pebbles" (8)
• 1968 "Rachel, Rachel" (4)
• 1970 "Five Easy Pieces" (4)
• 1971 "A Clockwork Orange" (4)
• 1972 "Deliverance" (3)
• 1972 "The Emigrants" (5)
• 1972 "Sounder" (4)
• 1973 "American Graffiti" (5)
• 1974 "The Conversation" (3)
• 1974 "Lenny" (6)
• 1976 "Taxi Driver" (4)
• 1977 "The Turning Point" (11)
• 1978 "An Unmarried Woman" (3)
• 1980 "The Elephant Man" (8)
• 1981 "Atlantic City" (5)
• 1982 "The Verdict" (5)
• 1983 "The Big Chill" (3)
• 1983 "The Dresser" (5)
• 1984 "A Soldier's Story" (3)
• 1985 "The Color Purple" (11)
• 1987 "Broadcast News" (7)
• 1987 "Fatal Attraction" (6)
• 1987 "Hope and Glory" (5)
• 1989 "Field of Dreams" (3)
• 1990 "Awakenings" (3)
• 1990 "The Godfather, Part III" (7)
• 1991 "The Prince of Tides" (7)
• 1992 "A Few Good Men" (4)
• 1993 "In the Name of the Father" (7)
• 1993 "The Remains of the Day" (8)
• 1994 "Four Weddings and a Funeral" (2)
• 1994 "Quiz Show" (4)
• 1994 "The Shawshank Redemption" (7)
• 1996 "Secrets & Lies" (6)
• 1998 "The Thin Red Line" (7)
• 1999 "The Green Mile" (4)
• 1999 "The Insider" (7)
• 1999 "The Sixth Sense" (6)
• 2000 "Chocolat" (5)
• 2001 "In the Bedroom" (5)
• 2002 "Gangs of New York" (10)
• 2003 "Seabiscuit" (7)
• 2005 "Good Night, and Good Luck" (6)
• 2005 "Munich" (5)

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Photo: "Frost/Nixon" (Universal)