Something happened to 1985’s most eagerly anticipated film on the way to the Oscars. Though it won an impressive eleven nominations, its director was ignored and the film itself ended up losing in every category it was nominated for.

Steven Spielberg’s film of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Color Purple, did not start out awards season very well. Terry Gilliam’s out-of-nowhere futuristic Brazil nabbed the year’s first critics’ prize, that given bythe Los Angeles Film Critics. The Color Purple rebounded two days later to win the National Board of Review award but the Best Director prize went to legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa for Ran.

The New York Film Critics went with Prizzi’s Honor, both for Best Picture and Director, veteran John Huston. The National Society of Film Critics went with Ran and Kurosawa.

Would the Golden Globes restore Purple’s front-runner status? It had been nominated for several Globes including Best Picture – Drama, Actress (Whoopi Goldberg), Supporting Actress (Oprah Winfrey) and Director. Oprah lost, but Whoopi won. Spielberg lost Best Director to Huston, whose Prizzi’s Honor won for Best Picture – Musical or Comedy. Best Picture – Drama went, in something of a surprise, to Out of Africa.

Speilberg did win the Director’s Guild award over Ron Howard (Cocoon); Peter Weir (Witness); Huston and Out of Africa’s Sydney Pollack.

Pollack, Huston and Weir were among Oscar’s nominated directors. They were joined by Hector Babenco (Kiss of the Spider Woman) and Kurosawa.

Best Picture nominations, in addition to The Color Purple, went to Out of Africa which tied Puprle’s eleven nods; Prizzi’s Honor and Witness which earned eight nods each and Kiss of the Spider Woman which garnered four.

What then would be the other five nominees had Oscar gone to ten in 1985? Certainly Cocoon which won the two awards it was nominated for (Supporting Actor Don Ameche and Special Effects) would have been there. So would Back to the Future (four nominations, one win) and Brazil (two nominations, no wins).

The last two slots would probably have been a battle royal between The Trip to Bountiful (two nominations and a win for Geraldine Page as Best Actress on her eighth nomination); Mask (one nomination and win) and Agnes of God (three nominations, no wins). Lets drop the latter from consideration to make it an even ten.

The winner? Golden Globe surprise winner Out of Africa, which also won Best Director for Pollack. Best Picture nominees Kiss of the Spider Woman and Prizzi’s Honor yielded acting awards for William Hurt as Best Actor and Anjelcia Huston for Best Supporting Actress, respectively.