8. The Apartment - 1960
This one wasn't even remotely close. In other years, the other four films, including The Alamo, wouldn't have been deserving of nominations. Billy Wilder's The Apartment stood head and shoulders above every other film. It won five Oscars, including for directing, writing and of course, Best Picture. The Apartment came hot on the heels of another Billy Wilder success, Some Like It Hot, and like that film, The Apartment featured the incomparable Jack Lemmon. Lemmon plays a man trying to climb the corporate ladder by allowing his superiors to use his apartment for their extramarital affairs. This leads to his neighbors believing him to be bringing home different women himself on a regular basis. He achieves his promotion by allowing his main boss to use his apartment exclusively. Happy with his promotion he asks a woman out who happens to be his boss' fling. We'll cut this recap short in saying that events quickly and hilariously spiral out of control. A film that blended comedy, romance and drama with ease, The Apartment was a no brainer for the Academy.