12 Hugely Iconic Movies That Shockingly Didn't Win A Single Academy Award

6. It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

Nominated For: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Actor (Stewart); Best Film Editing; Best Sound Recording. IMDB Ranking: #26 Rotten Tomatoes: 94% When people think "Christmas Movie" they generally think of two things: A Christmas Carol, and It's a Wonderful Life. Frank Capra's retelling of The Greatest Gift works with a heart-warming albeit simple story, culminating in an angel showing the protagonist what life would be like if he had never been born. This narrative is now hugely familiar to us all; in essence, It's a Wonderful Life is one of the most referenced movies in history, with a plethora of television sitcoms and specials producing episodes directly inspired by the film's premise. It's a Wonderful Life was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor, but lost them all (four of the five to The Best Years of Our Lives). But in spite of this, over the years it has built one of the greatest legacies of any film ever produced, and the fact that it didn't clean up at the Oscars shouldn't change anything; after all, can you imagine what the world might be like if it had never been written?