CONTEST WINNER! (And Oscarless Greats)

One of television's best annual traditions, Turner Classic Movies "31 Days of Oscar" (now showing!) sponsored a fine contest for us. I was able to choose 5 DVDs to give away to one lucky reader. I chose five films that Oscar sorta loved (multiple nominations) but couldn't settle down with (major losses) and I asked all contestants to write a note about the Oscarless situation that bugs them most. The winner and runners up were drawn randomly.

• 5 DVD PACK: Double Indemnity (1944), A Star is Born (1954), The Umbrellas of Cherbourgh (1964), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) and They Shoot Horses Don't They (1969)

And the Winner is...
SAM in Texas. Even if I hadn't drawn randomly, I would have had Sam's back on his favorite "snub" choice. Here's what he has to say...

My great Oscar snub is also my favorite actress: Kathleen Turner. Only one nomination? Really? Hilary Swank has two Oscars and Kathleen Turner only has one nomination? I'd like to see Swank tackle Peggy Sue and Romancing the Stone and Prizzi's Honor and make them all hits. If I were the Oscar God, I would have nominated Kathleen for Body Heat, a film that almost turned me straight (thank God for William Hurt's nakedness). If she can make a gay like me want her, she's a brilliant actress.

The Runners Up...
who'll receive an Oscar party pack from Turner Classic Movies are DAVID in North Carolina and CHRISTINE in Massachussets. They both picked two of Oscar's most frequently nominated but never winning players.

David says:

There are many celebrities that should have won an Oscar, but actor that comes to mind is (Sir) Richard Burton. Not only was he such an amazing talent, a ferociously brilliant actor, but also the fact that he was one half of the most famous couple in the world, or at least the 60's, while he was married to the great Elizabeth Taylor, cemented his status as one of Hollywood's biggest/greatest leading men. His iconic performances in such film classics as "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold", "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?", "Night Of The Iguana", and "The Longest Day" still linger on in the mind.

Christine picks the woman who shares Deborah Kerr's Oscar record for an actress (6 noms / 0 wins). (Yes, there were women who had it worse than Glenn Close and Julianne Moore)

It's probably too obvious, but I'm going to go with Thelma Ritter as an Oscar nominee who should have won at least once. Her line delivery alone ought to have clenched it for a lot of her films ("What a story! Everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end!"). In addition, she was one of the last great old-school character actors, and it would have been nice to see her win for all of the Edward Everett Horton's and Iris Adrian's of the world.

I want to thank everyone who entered. It was great fun to read your entries and certainly provided food for thought. How is it that some people just can't get lucky with Oscar?

Here's a few fun bits from other contest entries. I didn't include any Julianne Moore quotes but you are correct in guessing that she was the most popular answer to this "i hate that they've never won!" query. Give or take Alfred Hitchock.

Robert on cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki

He utilized only natural light with a constantly moving camera for a period epic, and not only were the results not a disaster, The New World ended up arguably the most beautiful film of 2005.

Joseph on Joan Allen (another popular answer to this question)

an Oscar for her heartbreaking turn as the resilient Elizabeth Proctor (The Crucible) would've been really nice...And might I add that she's also kind of awesome in Death Race!

Sean on cinematographer Roger Deakins

I even watch The Man Who Wasn't There on mute!

Erica on Peter O'Toole

Lawrence of Arabia, for crissakes. Oh, sure, he has an honorary one, but those are basically Hollywood's silent excuse, both acknowledging that 'you probably deserved it more than anyone else of any year ever, but now you're too old, so please enjoy this montage of better days'.