Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Adapted Screenplay 1981

The Contenders:

The French Lieutenant’s Woman
On Golden Pond (winner)
Pennies from Heaven
Prince of the City
Ragtime

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Actor 1981

The Contenders:

Paul Newman: Absence of Malice
Dudley Moore: Arthur
Burt Lancaster: Atlantic City
Henry Fonda: On Golden Pond (winner)
Warren Beatty: Reds

Best Original Screenplay 1981

The Contenders:

Absence of Malice
Arthur
Atlantic City
Chariots of Fire (winner)
Reds

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Actress 1981

The Contenders:

Susan Sarandon: Atlantic City
Meryl Streep: The French Lieutenant’s Woman
Katharine Hepburn: On Golden Pond (winner)
Marsha Mason: Only When I Laugh
Diane Keaton: Reds

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Director 1981

The Contenders:

Louis Malle: Atlantic City
Hugh Hudson: Chariots of Fire
Mark Rydell: On Golden Pond
Steven Spielberg: Raiders of the Lost Ark
Warren Beatty: Reds (winner)

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Picture 1981

The Contenders:
Atlantic City
Chariots of Fire (winner)
On Golden Pond
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Reds