Every year, the Academy Awards brings together some of the most renowned filmmakers in Hollywood to recognize the best films of the year. Making movies requires countless moving parts and all major members of the process are recognized with nominations, from the director to the hair and makeup team. While it feels like the western genre has been making a comeback in recent years, westerns have actually been recognized at the Oscars since the very beginning.
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Some of the most classic westerns of all time didn't get the attention you might have expected at the Oscars though. For example, The Searchers wasn't even nominated, and the original True Grit, which earned John Wayne his only Oscar, only received two nominations as did another one of his classics, Red River. The Magnificent Seven and The Ox-Bow Incident each only got one nod and Sergio Leone has never even received a nomination. But it seems like ever since Kevin Costner reignited the genre in the early '90s, westerns are hotter than ever.
The Netflix western The Power of the Dog has been talk of the town at the 2022 Oscars, boasting an impressive 11 nominations. But do they have the most of any western movie? Currently, Dances With Wolves holds the western record with a whopping 12 nominations across the various categories. It seems like every few years there's a popular new western full of cowboys, gunslingers and more that gets recognized by the Academy, which is definitely exciting to see for fans of the genre.
Here are the western movies that have received the most Oscar nominations so far. There are definitely some nominees not included on this list but for the sake of narrowing things down, these are only the westerns with at least four nominations.
19. The Power of the Dog (2022)
Best Picture - Jane Campion, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Roger Frappier
Best Director - Jane Campion
Best Actor - Benedict Cumberbatch
Best Supporting Actor - Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Best Supporting Actress - Kirsten Dunst
Best Adapted Screenplay - Jane Campion
Best Cinematography - Ari Wegner
Best Film Editing - Peter Sciberras
Best Original Score - Jonny Greenwood
Best Production Design - Grant Major and Amber Richards
Best Sound - Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie, Tara Webb
18. News of the World (2020)
Best Cinematography - Dariusz Wolski
Best Original Score - James Newton Howard
Best Production Design - David Crank and Elizabeth Keenan
Best Sound - Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller, and John Pritchett
17. Hell or High Water (2016)
Best Picture - Carla Hacken and Julie Yorn
Best Supporting Actor - Jeff Bridges
Best Original Screenplay - Taylor Sheridan
Best Film Editing - Jake Roberts
16. The Revenant (2015)
Best Picture - Arnon Milchan, Steve Golin, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mary Parent and Keith Redmon
Best Director - Alejandro G. Iñárritu (won)
Best Actor - Leonardo DiCaprio (won)
Best Supporting Actor - Tom Hardy
Best Cinematography - Emmanuel Lubezki (won)
Best Costume Design - Jacqueline West
Best Film Editing - Stephen Mirrione
Best Makeup and Hairstyling - Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman and Robert Pandini
Best Production Design - Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Hamish Purdy
Best Sound Editing - Martin Hernández and Lon Bender
Best Sound Mixing - Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Randy Thom and Chris Duesterdiek
Best Visual Effects - Rich McBride, Matthew Shumway, Jason Smith and Cameron Waldbauer
15. Django Unchained (2012)
Best Picture - Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin, Pilar Savone
Best Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz (won)
Best Original Screenplay - Quentin Tarantino (won)
Best Cinematography - Robert Richardson
Best Sound Editing - Wylie Stateman
14. True Grit (2010)
Best Picture - Scott Rudin, Ethan and Joel Coen
Best Director - Joel and Ethan Coen
Best Actor - Jeff Bridges
Best Supporting Actress - Hailee Steinfeld
Best Adapted Screenplay - Joel and Ethan Coen
Best Art Direction - Art Direction: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
Best Cinematography - Roger Deakins
Best Costume Design - Mary Zophres
Best Sound Editing - Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
Best Sound Mixing - Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland
13. No Country for Old Men (2007)
Best Picture - Scott Rudin, Joel and Ethan Coen (won)
Best Director - Joel and Ethan Coen (won)
Best Supporting Actor - Javier Bardem (won)
Best Adapted Screenplay - Joel and Ethan Coen (won)
Best Cinematography - Roger Deakins
Best Film Editing - Joel and Ethan Coen (as Roderick Jaynes)
Best Sound Editing - Skip Lievsay
Best Sound Mixing - Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland
12. Unforgiven (1992)
Best Picture - Clint Eastwood (won)
Best Director - Clint Eastwood (won)
Best Actor - Clint Eastwood
Best Supporting Actor - Gene Hackman (won)
Best Screenplay - David Webb Peoples
Best Art Direction - Henry Bumstead and Janice Blackie-Goodine
Best Cinematography - Jack N. Green
Best Film Editing - Joel Cox (won)
Best Sound - Henry Bumstead and Janice Blackie-Goodine
11. Dances With Wolves (1990)
Best Picture - Jim Wilson and Kevin Costner (won)
Best Director - Kevin Costner (won)
Best Actor - Kevin Costner
Best Supporting Actor - Graham Greene
Best Supporting Actress - Mary McDonnell
Best Adapted Screenplay - Michael Blake (won)
Best Art Direction - Jeffrey Beecroft and Lisa Dean
Best Cinematography - Dean Semler (won)
Best Costume Design - Elsa Zamparelli
Best Film Editing - Neil Travis (won)
Best Original Score - John Barry (won)
Best Sound - Russell Williams, Jeffrey Perkins, Bill W. Benton, and Gregory H. Watkins (won)
10. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Best Picture - John Foreman
Best Director - George Roy Hill
Best Screenplay - William Goldman (won)
Best Cinematography - Conrad Hall (won)
Best Original Score - Burt Bacharach (won)
Best Song - "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" - Burt Bacharach and Hal David (won)
Best Sound - William Edmondson and David Dockendorf
9. Cat Ballou (1965)
Best Actor - Lee Marvin (won)
Best Screenplay - Walter Newman and Frank Pierson
Best Film Editing - Charles Nelson
Best Score - Frank De Vol
Best Original Song - "The Ballad of Cat Ballou" - Jerry Livingston and Mack David
8. How the West Was Won (1962)
Best Picture - Bernard Smith
Best Cinematography - William Daniels, Milton Krasner, Charles Lang, and Joseph LaShelle
Best Screenplay - James R. Webb (won)
Best Set Direction - George Davis, William Ferrari, Addison Hehr, Henry Grace, Don Greenwood Jr., and Jack Mills
Best Film Editing - Harold F. Kress (won)
Best Original Score - Alfred Newman and Ken Darby
Best Costume Design - Walter Plunkett
Best Sound - Franklin Milton (won)
7. Giant (1956)
Best Picture - George Stevens and Henry Ginsberg
Best Director - George Stevens (won)
Best Actor - James Dean, Rock Hudson
Best Supporting Actress - Mercedes McCambridge
Best Screenplay - Ivan Moffat and Fred Guiol
Best Art Direction - Boris Leven and Ralph S. Hurst
Best Costume Design - Moss Mabry and Marjorie Best
Best Film Editing - William Hornbeck, Philip W. Anderson and Fred Bohanan
Best Score - Dimitri Tiomkin
6. Shane (1953)
Best Picture - George Stevens
Best Director - George Stevens
Best Supporting Actor - Brandon deWilde, Jack Palance
Best Screenplay -A. B. Guthrie Jr.
Best Cinematography (won)
5. High Noon (1952)
Best Picture - Stanley Kramer
Best Director - Fred Zinnemann
Best Actor - Gary Cooper (won)
Best Screenplay - Carl Foreman
Best Film Editing - Elmo Williams and Harry W. Gerstad (won)
Best Score - Dimitri Tiomkin (won)
Best Original Song - "The Ballad of High Noon" - Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington (won)
4. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Best Picture - Henry Blanke
Best Director - John Huston (won)
Best Supporting Actor - Walter Huston (won)
Best Screenplay - John Huston (won)
3. Stagecoach (1939)
Best Picture - John Ford
Best Director - John Ford
Best Supporting Actor - Thomas Mitchell (won)
Best Cinematography - Bert Glennon
Best Original Score - Richard Hageman, W. Franke Harling, John Leipold, Leo Shuken (won)
Best Film Editing - Otho Lovering, Dorothy Spencer
Best Art Direction - Alexander Toluboff
2. Cimarron (1931)
Best Picture - William LeBaron (won)
Best Director - Wesley Ruggles
Best Actor - Richard Dix
Best Actress - Irene Dunne
Best Screenplay - Howard Estabrook (won)
Best Art Direction - Max Rée (won)
Best Cinematography - Edward Cronjager
1. In Old Arizona (1928)
Best Picture - Irving Cummings
Best Director - Irving Cummings
Best Actor - Warner Baxter (won)
Best Screenplay - Tom Barry
Best Cinematography - Arthur Edeson
READ MORE: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Kevin Costner's Oscar-Winner 'Dances With Wolves'
