The 2.0 Rate
Among all directors in our database with at least 5 Oscar-nominated films, David Lean holds the second-highest nominations-per-film ratio: 2.0 nominations per film. Only Bob Fosse (2.4) exceeds him โ but Fosse directed 5 films total versus Lean's 13. When we filter for directors with 10+ films, Lean stands alone at the top.
What this means in practical terms: every film David Lean made averaged two Oscar nominations. Not just the epics. Not just the famous ones. His entire filmography, from Brief Encounter (1945) to A Passage to India (1984), maintained this rate.
The Two Eras
Lean's career splits neatly into two periods, and the data for each is fascinating:
Early Lean (1942-1957): 9 films, average IMDb 7.6, smaller-scale dramas and literary adaptations. Films like Brief Encounter (8.0), Great Expectations (7.7), and Oliver Twist (7.8) โ intimate, precise, character-driven.
Epic Lean (1957-1984): 4 films, average IMDb 8.0, sweeping historical epics. The Bridge on the River Kwai (8.1, 8 Oscar noms), Lawrence of Arabia (8.3, 10 Oscar noms), Doctor Zhivago (7.9, 5 Oscar noms), A Passage to India (7.3, 11 Oscar noms).
The transition from intimate to epic is one of the most dramatic stylistic shifts in director filmography data โ and remarkably, his quality metrics improved rather than declined.
Lawrence of Arabia: The Statistical Outlier
With 10 Oscar nominations, an 8.3 IMDb rating, and a Master Score above 85, Lawrence of Arabia is not just Lean's best film โ it's one of the most honored individual films in our database. Among films with 10+ Oscar nominations, its IMDb rating ranks in the top 5. It represents the peak of what Lean's efficiency model could produce: maximum recognition from a single cinematic output.
The 7.6 Average
Lean's career-wide average of 7.6 IMDb is high but not exceptional by the standards of this article series. What's exceptional is the ratio of external recognition (26 Oscar noms) to that rating level. Directors with comparable IMDb averages (Spielberg at 7.4, Eastwood at 7.0) have far lower per-film Oscar rates. Lean converted quality into awards recognition more efficiently than anyone.
The Gap Metric
Lean's rating range โ from 7.3 (A Passage to India / Ryan's Daughter) to 8.3 (Lawrence of Arabia) โ spans exactly 1.0 point. This is one of the tightest ranges among epic filmmakers. Ridley Scott's range spans 3.1 points. Spielberg's spans 3.2 points. Lean kept his quality band remarkably narrow while working at the largest possible cinematic scale.
13 films. 26 nominations. Every one an event. David Lean's data proves that in cinema, efficiency and scale are not mutually exclusive โ they can be the same thing.