The “A Star Is Born” cinematic universe has never done that well when it comes to the Oscars, and that trend continued Sunday as Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga‘s version converted just one of its eight nominations — Best Original Song for “Shallow” — into a win. That ties the haul set by two of the previous three versions.
Here’s the Oscar history of all four “A Star Is Born” films:
1937 version: 7 nominations, 1 win, 1 honorary award
Best Picture
Best Director — William Wellman
Best Actor — Fredric March
Best Actress — Janet Gaynor
Best Original Story (win)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Assistant Director
Honorary Oscar to W. Howard Greene for the color photography (“A Star Is Born” was the first color film to get a Best Picture nomination)
1954 version: 6 nominations, 0 wins
Best Actor — James Mason
Best Actress — Judy Garland
Best Original Song — “The Man That Got Away”
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture
Best Art Direction, Color
Best Costume Design, Color
1976 version: 4 nominations, 1 win
Best Cinematography
Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score
Best Original Song — “Evergreen (Love Theme From A Star Is Born)” (win)
Best Sound
2018 version: 8 nominations, 1 win
Best Picture
Best Actor — Bradley Cooper
Best Actress — Lady Gaga
Best Supporting Actor — Sam Elliott
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Original Song — “Shallow” (win)
Best Sound Mixing
SEE Oscars: See the full list of winners
No need to break out your abacus: That’s just a paltry three wins from 25 nominations, not counting the honorary award since that’s not competitive. The films didn’t have that much trouble nabbing multiple nominations, but “Star,” sadly, has never shone brightly on Oscar night. Is it because it’s a female-focused sweeping romance? Is it because it paints the industry in a bad light? Is it because there are multiple remakes? Who knows, could be all three, could be none.
While the 2018 remake received the most bids, the 1937 original is arguably the most well-received of the four, having scored nominations in the Big Five categories: picture, director, actor, actress and screenplay. Cooper’s version is the first since that one to earn a Best Picture nomination, but he, of course, was left off the directing shortlist.
Barbra Streisand‘s 1976 rock musical is the only one without any above-the-line nominations, specifically acting ones for the two leads. Cooper’s remake, meanwhile, is the first to get three acting bids.
The Best Original Song win for “Shallow,” which makes Gaga just the 14th woman to win the category, means the 1954 version remains the only one to be goose-egged. Garland was notoriously upset by Grace Kelly (“The Country Girl”) in the “greatest robbery since Brinks,” to Groucho Marx at least.
“Shallow” giving “A Star Is Born” its sole Oscar win is a far cry from the high expectations we all had for the film when it opened in the fall. But its Oscar dream quickly turned into a nightmare after it only won Best Original Song at the Golden Globes, kicking off a string of losses and snubs in the top categories from which it was never able to recover.
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