Dune not actually close to the record

When I witnessed Dune winning six Oscars but not best picture -- which I never thought it had any chance of winning -- I wondered if that was the most Oscars ever won by a movie that didn't win best picture.

Nope, and it's not actually as close to the record as you might think.

In 1972, Cabaret won eight Oscars without winning best picture, though it was nominated. The only Oscars it was nominated for but didn't win were best picture and best adapted screenplay -- both of which went to The Godfather. The only other Oscar that went to The Godfather was the best actor trophy for Marlon Brando, which he famously declined.

Ha, that's exactly 50 years ago, though of course that Oscars ceremony won't celebrate its 50th anniversary until next year. 

The weirdest thing about this story might not be that Cabaret won all those Oscars without nabbing the big one, but that The Godfather was not more of a sweeping awards phenomenon, given the cinematic reputation it has gone on to enjoy. To be sure, it was nominated for 11 Oscars, but kept coming up as the loser in the early part of the show -- which must have seemed like a bellwether for its chances of taking home the big prize. 

Looking at this now on Wikipedia, I see that the 11th nomination was actually revoked for the film's score. I have to read up on that. 

It appears that part of the film's love theme was already used in the 1958 film Fortunatella, so they had to replace it with the score for Sleuth. 

I guess they did not have a "best adapted score" Oscar back then.