Oscar statuette ©AMPAS&origin=noms-by-year


1972 (45th Annual Awards)
Nominations and Winners

Listed below are the Academy Award nominations and winners for the year 1972. TheWinner marker&origin=noms-by-year symbol appears next to the winner in each category. Click on the name of a film, person or song in the list to display more information about that film, person or song. Or, click on a year in the column on the right to display the nominations and winners from that year.

Best Picture

Cabaret, ABC Pictures Production; Allied Artists. Cy Feuer, Producer.
Deliverance, Warner Bros. John Boorman, Producer.
The Emigrants, A.B. Svensk Filmindustri Production; Warner Bros. (Sweden) Bengt Forslund, Producer.
Winner markerThe Godfather, Albert S. Ruddy Production; Paramount. Albert S. Ruddy, Producer.
Sounder, Radnitz/Mattel Productions; 20th Century-Fox. Robert B. Radnitz, Producer.

Best Actor

Winner markerMarlon Brando in The Godfather, Albert S. Ruddy Production; Paramount.
Michael Caine in Sleuth, Palomar Pictures International Production; 20th Century-Fox. (UK, USA)
Laurence Olivier in Sleuth, Palomar Pictures International Production; 20th Century-Fox. (UK, USA)
Peter O’Toole in The Ruling Class, Keep Films, Ltd. Production; Avco Embassy. (UK)
Paul Winfield in Sounder, Radnitz/Mattel Productions; 20th Century-Fox.

Best Actress

Winner markerLiza Minnelli in Cabaret, ABC Pictures Production; Allied Artists.
Diana Ross in Lady Sings the Blues, Motown-Weston-Furie Production; Paramount.
Maggie Smith in Travels with My Aunt, Robert Fryer Productions; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Cicely Tyson in Sounder, Radnitz/Mattel Productions; 20th Century-Fox.
Liv Ullmann in The Emigrants, A.B. Svensk Filmindustri Production; Warner Bros. (Sweden)

Actor in a Supporting Role

Eddie Albert in The Heartbreak Kid, Palomar Pictures International Production; 20th Century-Fox.
James Caan in The Godfather, Albert S. Ruddy Production; Paramount.
Robert Duvall in The Godfather, Albert S. Ruddy Production; Paramount.
Winner markerJoel Grey in Cabaret, ABC Pictures Production; Allied Artists.
Al Pacino in The Godfather, Albert S. Ruddy Production; Paramount.

Actress in a Supporting Role

Jeannie Berlin in The Heartbreak Kid, Palomar Pictures International Production; 20th Century-Fox.
Winner markerEileen Heckart in Butterflies Are Free, Frankovich Productions; Columbia.
Geraldine Page in Pete ’n’ Tillie, Universal-Martin Ritt-Julius J. Epstein Production; Universal.
Susan Tyrrell in Fat City, Rastar Productions; Columbia.
Shelley Winters in The Poseidon Adventure, Irwin Allen Production; 20th Century-Fox.

Directing

Winner markerCabaret, ABC Pictures Production; Allied Artists. Bob Fosse.
Deliverance, Warner Bros. John Boorman.
The Emigrants, A.B. Svensk Filmindustri Production; Warner Bros. (Sweden) Jan Troell.
The Godfather, Albert S. Ruddy Production; Paramount. Francis Ford Coppola.
Sleuth, Palomar Pictures International Production; 20th Century-Fox. (UK, USA) Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

Art Direction-Set Decoration

Winner markerCabaret, ABC Pictures Production; Allied Artists. Art direction by Rolf Zehetbauer and Jurgen Kiebach; set decoration by Herbert Strabel.
Lady Sings the Blues, Motown-Weston-Furie Production; Paramount. Art direction by Carl Anderson; set decoration by Reg Allen.
The Poseidon Adventure, Irwin Allen Production; 20th Century-Fox. Art direction by William Creber; set decoration by Raphael Bretton.
Travels with My Aunt, Robert Fryer Productions; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. John Box, Gil Parrondo and Robert W. Laing.
Young Winston, Open Road Films, Ltd. Production; Columbia. (UK) Art direction by Geoffrey Drake, Don Ashton, John Graysmark and William Hutchinson; set decoration by Peter James.

Cinematography

Butterflies Are Free, Frankovich Productions; Columbia. Charles B. Lang.
Winner markerCabaret, ABC Pictures Production; Allied Artists. Geoffrey Unsworth.
The Poseidon Adventure, Irwin Allen Production; 20th Century-Fox. Harold E. Stine.
1776, Jack L. Warner Production; Columbia. Harry Stradling, Jr.
Travels with My Aunt, Robert Fryer Productions; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Douglas Slocombe.

Costume Design

The Godfather, Albert S. Ruddy Production; Paramount. Anna Hill Johnstone.
Lady Sings the Blues, Motown-Weston-Furie Production; Paramount. Bob Mackie, Ray Aghayan and Norma Koch.
The Poseidon Adventure, Irwin Allen Production; 20th Century-Fox. Paul Zastupnevich.
Winner markerTravels with My Aunt, Robert Fryer Productions; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Anthony Powell.
Young Winston, Open Road Films, Ltd. Production; Columbia. (UK) Anthony Mendleson.

Documentary

(Feature)

Ape and Super-Ape, Bert Haanstra Film Production; The Netherlands Ministry of Culture, Recreation and Social Welfare. (Netherlands) Bert Haanstra, Producer.
Malcolm X, Marvin Worth Production; Warner Bros. Marvin Worth and Arnold Perl, Producers.
Manson, Merrick International Pictures. Robert Hendrickson and Laurence Merrick, Producers.
Winner markerMarjoe, Cinema X Production; Cinema 5, Ltd. Howard Smith and Sarah Kernochan, Producers.
The Silent Revolution, Leonaris Film Production. Eckehard Munck, Producer.

(Short Subject)

Hundertwasser’s Rainy Day, Argos Films-Peter Schamoni Filmproduktion. (West Germany, France) Peter Schamoni, Producer.
K-Z, Nexus Film S.r.L Production. (Italy) Giorgio Treves, Producer.
Selling Out, Unit Productions Film. (Canada) Tadeusz Jaworski, Producer.
Winner markerThis Tiny World, Charles Huguenot van der Linden Production. (Netherlands) Charles Huguenot van der Linden and Martina Huguenot van der Linden, Producers.
The Tide of Traffic, BP-Greenpark Production. (UK) Humphrey Swingler, Producer.

Film Editing

Winner markerCabaret, ABC Pictures Production; Allied Artists. David Bretherton.
Deliverance, Warner Bros. Tom Priestley.
The Godfather, Albert S. Ruddy Production; Paramount. William Reynolds and Peter Zinner.
The Hot Rock, Landers-Roberts Production; 20th Century-Fox. Frank P. Keller and Fred W. Berger.
The Poseidon Adventure, Irwin Allen Production; 20th Century-Fox. Harold F. Kress.

Foreign Language Film

The Dawns Here Are Quiet, Gorky Film Studios Production. (Soviet Union)
Winner markerThe Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Serge Silberman Production; 20th Century-Fox. (France)
I Love You Rosa, Noah Films, Ltd. Production. (Israel)
My Dearest Senorita, El Iman Production. (Spain)
The New Land, A.B. Svensk Filmindustri Production. (Sweden)

Music

(Original Dramatic Score)

The Godfather, Albert S. Ruddy Production; Paramount. Nino Rota. [NOTE: The Godfather score, composed by Nino Rota, was originally announced as one of the five official nominees. It was later pointed out that portions of the score and the main theme were composed by Rota for his score to the 1958 Italian film Fortunella. The Music Branch was given this information and re-balloted to determine the fifth nomination. The list of six films they were to choose from were the remaining five of the top ten preliminary listings, plus The Godfather score. The results of the re-balloting was that the fifth nomination became Sleuth, composed by John Addison, and The Godfather was dropped.]
Images, Hemdale Group, Ltd.-Lion’s Gate Films Production; Columbia. (UK, USA) John Williams.
Winner markerLimelight, Charles Chaplin Productions; Columbia. Charles Chaplin, Raymond Rasch and Larry Russell. [NOTE: Limelight, made in 1952, was belatedly eligible for 1972 consideration because it had not previously been shown in a Los Angeles theater as Academy rules require.]
Napoleon and Samantha, Walt Disney Productions; Buena Vista. Buddy Baker.
The Poseidon Adventure, Irwin Allen Production; 20th Century-Fox. John Williams.
Sleuth, Palomar Pictures International Production; 20th Century-Fox. (UK, USA) John Addison.

(Scoring: Adaptation and Original Song Score)

Winner markerCabaret, ABC Pictures Production; Allied Artists. Adaptation score by Ralph Burns.
Lady Sings the Blues, Motown-Weston-Furie Production; Paramount. Adaptation score by Gil Askey.
Man of La Mancha, P.E.A. Produzioni Europee Associate S.p.A. Production; United Artists. (Italy, USA) Adaptation score by Laurence Rosenthal.

(Song [Original for the Picture])

Ben from Ben, BCP Productions, Cinerama. Music by Walter Scharf; lyrics by Don Black.
Come Follow, Follow Me from The Little Ark, Robert Radnitz Productions, Ltd.; Cinema Center Films Presentation; National General Pictures. Music by Fred Karlin; lyrics by Marsha Karlin.
Marmalade, Molasses & Honey from The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, First Artists Production Company, Ltd. Production; National General Pictures. Music by Maurice Jarre; lyrics by Marilyn and Alan Bergman.
Winner markerThe Morning After from The Poseidon Adventure, Irwin Allen Production; 20th Century-Fox. Music and lyrics by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn.
Strange Are the Ways of Love from The Stepmother, Magic Eye of Hollywood Productions; Crown International. Music by Sammy Fain; lyrics by Paul Francis Webster.

Short Subjects

(Animated)

Winner markerA Christmas Carol, Richard Williams Production; American Broadcasting Company Film Services. Richard Williams, Producer.
Kama Sutra Rides Again, Bob Godfrey Films, Ltd.; Lion International Films. (UK) Bob Godfrey, Producer.
Tup Tup, Zagreb Film-Corona Cinematografica Production; Manson Distributing Corporation. (Yugoslavia, Italy) Nedeljko Dragic, Producer.

(Live Action)

Frog Story, Gidron Productions; Schoenfeld Film Distributing Corporation. Ron Satlof and Ray Gideon, Producers.
Winner markerNorman Rockwell’s World . . . An American Dream, Concepts Unlimited Production; Columbia. Richard Barclay, Producer.
Solo, Pyramid Films; United Artists. David Adams, Producer.

Sound

Butterflies Are Free, Frankovich Productions; Columbia. Arthur Piantadosi and Charles Knight.
Winner markerCabaret, ABC Pictures Production; Allied Artists. Robert Knudson and David Hildyard.
The Candidate, Redford-Ritchie Production; Warner Bros. Richard Portman and Gene Cantamessa.
The Godfather, Albert S. Ruddy Production; Paramount. Bud Grenzbach, Richard Portman and Christopher Newman.
The Poseidon Adventure, Irwin Allen Production; 20th Century-Fox. Theodore Soderberg and Herman Lewis.

Special Achievement Award

(Visual Effects)

Winner markerThe Poseidon Adventure, Irwin Allen Production; 20th Century-Fox. L. B. Abbott and A. D. Flowers.

Writing

(Screenplay—based on material from another medium)

Cabaret, ABC Pictures Production; Allied Artists. Jay Allen.
The Emigrants, A.B. Svensk Filmindustri Production; Warner Bros. (Sweden) Jan Troell and Bengt Forslund.
Winner markerThe Godfather, Albert S. Ruddy Production; Paramount. Mario Puzzo and Francis Ford Coppola.
Pete ’n’ Tillie, Universal-Martin Ritt-Julius J. Epstein Production; Universal. Julius J. Epstein.
Sounder, Radnitz/Mattel Productions; 20th Century-Fox. Lonne Elder III.

(Story and Screenplay—based on factual material or material not previously published or produced)

Winner markerThe Candidate, Redford-Ritchie Production; Warner Bros. Jeremy Larner.
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Serge Silberman Production; 20th Century-Fox. (France) Story and screenplay by Luis Buñuel; in collaboration with Jean-Claude Carrière.
Lady Sings the Blues, Motown-Weston-Furie Production; Paramount. Terence McCloy, Chris Clark and Suzanne de Passe.
Murmur of the Heart, Nouvelles Editions De Films-Marianne Productions-Vides Cinematografica-Franz Seitz Filmproduktion; Continental Distributing, Inc. (France, Italy, West Germany) Louis Malle.
Young Winston, Open Road Films, Ltd. Production; Columbia. (UK) Carl Foreman.

Honorary Award

Winner markerTo Charles S. Boren, leader for 38 years of the industry’s enlightened labor relations and architect of its policy of non-discrimination. With respect and affection of all who work in films. [ [Statuette]]
Winner markerTo Edward G. Robinson who achieved greatness as a player, a patron of the arts and a dedicated citizen . . . in sum, a Renaissance man. From his friends in the industry he loves. [ [Statuette]]

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

Winner markerRosalind Russell

Scientific or Technical Award

(Class II)

Winner markerTo Joseph E. Bluth for research and development in the field of electronic photography and transfer of video tape to motion picture film.
Winner markerTo Edward H. Reichard and Howard T. La Zare of Consolidated Film Industries, and Edward Efron of IBM for the engineering of a computerized light valve monitoring system for motion picture printing.
Winner markerTo Panavision, Incorporated, for the development and engineering of the Panaflex motion picture camera.

(Class III)

Winner markerTo Photo Research, a Division of Kollmorgen Corporation, and PSC Technology, Inc., Acme Products Division, for the Spectra Film Gate Photometer for motion picture printers.
Winner markerTo Carter Equipment Company, Inc. and RAMtronics for the RAMtronics light-valve photometer for motion picture printers.
Winner markerTo David Degenkolb, Harry Larson, Manfred Michelson and Fred Scobey of DeLuxe General Incorporated for the development of a computerized motion picture printer and process control system.
Winner markerTo Jiro Mukai and Ryusho Hirose of Canon, Inc., and Wilton R. Holm of the AMPTP Motion Picture and Television Research Center for development of the Canon Macro Zoom Lens for motion picture photography.
Winner markerTo Philip V. Palmquist and Leonard L. Olson of the 3M Company, and Frank P. Clark of the AMPTP Motion Picture and Television Research Center for development of the Nextel simulated blood for motion picture color photography.
Winner markerTo E. H. Geissler and G. M. Berggren of Wil-Kin Inc., for engineering of the Ultra-Vision Motion Picture Theater Projection System.