25 best movies that never won an Oscar

14. Singin’ In The Rain

Singin’ In The Rain is one of those films that personified what many today would consider “old Hollywood.” It’s a completely sincere movie musical featuring an electric lead performance by the immensely talented Gene Kelly. This should’ve been the sort of thing the Academy drooled over in 1953. And yet, that simply wasn’t the case.

That’s not to say that Singin’ In The Rain was completely shunned by the 1953 Oscars. It was nominated for Original Score and Best Supporting Actress (Jean Hagen), neither of which it won. This one’s a bit screwy, as it seems criminal that Kelly wouldn’t have gotten nominated. The fact most movie fans still know the song “Singin’ In The Rain” and who sang/performed it is proof that this was an egregious oversight.

It’s also very strange that the Academy didn’t nominate the film in categories like Sound Recording, Art Direction and Cinematography. At this point in Oscars history, the latter two awards were actually split up into “color” and “black-and-white” subcategories. One would think that there would be space for Singin’ In The Room in the color fields with that much breathing room.

Sadly, Kelly never won an Oscar. His only nomination came in 1946 for Anchors Aweigh, but he lost to Ray Milland for The Lost Weekend. It would’ve been nice if he had at least been nominated for his most iconic role. The idea of singing in the rain seems a little less gleeful in that context.