Oscar win without a nomination: This incredible case has only happened once in almost 100 years of Oscar history

“Barbie” or “Oppenheimer”? Martin Scorsese or Christopher Nolan? Emma Stone or Lily Gladstone? On March 10, 2024, it will be decided for the 96th time who will take home an Oscar – following in the footsteps of some of the biggest films and stars in film history.

The basic requirement for winning an Academy Award is, of course, a nomination. Normally this issue should not be discussed here, but the following article is about an exceptional case that is unique in almost a century of Oscar history: There was even a filmmaker who wasn’t even nominated – and yet managed to win one of the coveted gold statues for his work. How is that possible?

The big winner at the Oscars in 1936 was ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’: the film adventure with Charles Laughton and Clark Gable won best film against, among others, the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical ‘I Dance me into your heart’ and Leo McCarey’s brilliant comedy “A Butler in America”. John Ford won his first of four (!) directing Oscars for ‘The Traitor’, and Bette Davis won Best Actress for ‘Dangerous’.

However, Hal Mohr’s award stands out the most in the list of winners: The Shakespeare film adaptation A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle, was nominated in four categories in 1936, including Best Picture. She also managed to win two statues – but unlike Ralph Dawsonwho won an award for editing, cinematographer Hal Mohr wasn’t even on the nominees list!

A choice with consequences…

Mohr was so disappointed not to make the shortlist that, supported by his studio Warner Bros. launched a campaign urging voters to put his name on their ballot despite no nomination. With success: Mohr was finally able to hold his own against his competition as a so-called write-in candidate!

As a direct result of this strange event, the option to choose a non-nominated filmmaker as the winner via written ballot was subsequently abolished. Hal Mohr probably didn’t care much about this – he certainly had his Oscar in his pocket (albeit by less than fair means), and just seven years later he won his second Academy Award for “The Phantom of the Opera” (1943). !