Won For: Scent of a Woman Should Have Won For: The Godfather: Part II or Dog Day Afternoon Al Pacino is another Hollywood legend that went far too many years without an Oscar statuette. When Pacino finally got his one and only Oscar for Best Actor, it was for playing the blind Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade in Martin Brest's Scent of a Woman. It is a memorable performance for sure, and Pacino chews lots of scenery, but it is not the performance for which he should have garnered the Oscar. That win will forever be overshadowed by two iconic film roles that went unrewarded: Michael Corleone in The Godfather: Part II and Sonny Wortzik in Dog Day Afternoon. These incredible films were amazingly released in consecutive years: 1974 and 1975. In Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather: Part II, Michael Corleone takes up the mantle of his father and Pacino gives a chillingly effective performance. Pacino admirably fills the void left by Marlon Brando's Vito Corleone and further develops a classic character of his own. While Robert De Niro took home a Best Supporting Oscar for playing a young Vito in the movie's flashback sequences, Pacino went home empty-handed. In Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon, Pacino plays Sonny Wortzik, who robs a bank and creates a hostage situation in attempt to pay for his lover's sex-change operation. It is an incredible, frenzied performance that perfectly conveys a sense of utter desperation. Either of these legendary roles would have been much better suited for Pacino's only Oscar win - they're far more impressive than anything glimpsed in Scent of a Woman. That's it: 10 actors who won Oscars for the wrong role. Which others can you think of? Let us know in the comments section below.
