The generic roots of Dances With Wolves and Unforgiven were laid by John Ford, with The Searchers, and Sergio Leone, with The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Neither predecessor was nominated in its day in any category, and as explorations of violence and racism, both were far more subtle than any later, "social issue" Westerns.

Critical appreciation for those earlier films did eventually arrive -- if in unexpected ways. Last year, composer Ennio Morricone won an honorary Oscar (his only) for The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly's trumpet howls, shuffles, and wah-wah. John Wayne had to wait for the prize until 1968, when he won Best Actor for True Grit, albeit playing a hammy part that largely made light of the Western persona. Even when Oscar honors the Western, he doesn't necessarily get it right!