Best Picture Winner
The Godfather
Best Picture
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Studio: Paramount
The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control to his reluctant youngest son.
From the Worthy Podcast
The Gangster genre was born in the silent era but came into its own with sound, highlighting squealing tires, sirens, and gunfire. The term “gangster” referred to politicians in the 1890s.
Criminal/gangster films are one of the most enduring and popular film genres. They date back to the early days of film during the silent era. In fact, even Edwin S. Porter's silent short western The Great Train Robbery (1903) has often been considered a classic hold-up story and chase film - a movie about crime.
After the turn of the century it denoted criminals. The first talkie gangster film was The Lights of New York in (1928). With the onset of the Great Depression, bank closings, and people out of work and going hungry—Americans came to trust the system less. The gangster sometimes became the “tragic hero.” Prohibition was a great way to make money, along with gambling and other illegal activities. So gangsters made good money, dressed nicely, and led what looked to be glamorous lives. Audiences were somewhat fascinated by them and, in a time where it was such a struggle just to survive, perhaps it was also a great genre for escaping reality, which makes sense.
- The Gangster Film chapter from American Cinema | by Julia Brady-Jenner
Pre-Code Era: The early beginnings of the mafia film genre can be traced back to the "Pre-Code" era of Hollywood, which was the period before the strict enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code (commonly known as the Hays Code) in 1934. During this time, filmmakers had more freedom to portray explicit content and controversial subjects, including crime and gangsters.
Little Caesar (1931) directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Edward G. Robinson, centered around the fictional character Caesar Enrico "Rico" Bandello, loosely based on Al Capone.
All Categories (25)
Best Picture
The Godfather— Albert S. Ruddy, Producer
Winner
Cabaret— Cy Feuer, Producer
Deliverance— John Boorman, Producer
Sounder— Robert B. Radnitz, Producer
The Emigrants— Bengt Forslund, Producer
Actor
Laurence Olivier— Sleuth {"Andrew Wyke"}
Michael Caine— Sleuth {"Milo Tindale"}
Paul Winfield— Sounder {"Nathan Lee Morgan"}
Peter O'Toole— The Ruling Class {"Jack, 14th Earl of Gurney"}
Actor In A Supporting Role
Al Pacino— The Godfather {"Michael Corleone"}
Eddie Albert— The Heartbreak Kid {"Mr. Corcoran"}
James Caan— The Godfather {"Sonny Corleone"}
Robert Duvall— The Godfather {"Tom Hagen"}
Actress
Cicely Tyson— Sounder {"Rebecca Morgan"}
Diana Ross— Lady Sings the Blues {"Billie Holiday"}
Liv Ullmann— The Emigrants {"Kristina"}
Maggie Smith— Travels with My Aunt {"Aunt Augusta"}
Actress In A Supporting Role
Geraldine Page— Pete 'n' Tillie {"Gertrude"}
Jeannie Berlin— The Heartbreak Kid {"Lila"}
Shelley Winters— The Poseidon Adventure {"Belle Rosen"}
Susan Tyrrell— Fat City {"Oma"}
Directing
Deliverance— John Boorman
Sleuth— Joseph L. Mankiewicz
The Emigrants— Jan Troell
The Godfather— Francis Ford Coppola
Writing (Screenplay Based On Material From Another Medium)
The Godfather— Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola
Winner
Cabaret— Jay Allen
Pete 'n' Tillie— Julius J. Epstein
Sounder— Lonne Elder, III
The Emigrants— Jan Troell, Bengt Forslund
Writing (Story And Screenplay--Written Directly For The Screen)
The Candidate— Jeremy Larner
Winner
Lady Sings the Blues— Terence McCloy, Chris Clark, Suzanne de Passe
Murmur of the Heart— Louis Malle
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie— Story and Screenplay by Luis Buñuel; in collaboration with Jean-Claude Carrière
Young Winston— Carl Foreman
Cinematography
Cabaret— Geoffrey Unsworth
Winner
1776— Harry Stradling, Jr.
Butterflies Are Free— Charles B. Lang
The Poseidon Adventure— Harold E. Stine
Travels with My Aunt— Douglas Slocombe
Music (Original Dramatic Score)
Limelight— Charles Chaplin, Raymond Rasch, Larry Russell
Winner
Cabaret— Adaptation Score by Ralph Burns
Lady Sings the Blues— Adaptation Score by Gil Askey
MUSIC (Scoring: Adaptation and Original Song Score)
Man of La Mancha— Adaptation Score by Laurence Rosenthal
Napoleon and Samantha— Buddy Baker
Sleuth— John Addison
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.
The Godfather— Nino Rota
THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL NOMINATION. 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.
The Poseidon Adventure— John Williams
images— John Williams
Music (Original Song)
"The Morning After" from The Poseidon Adventure— Music and Lyrics by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn
Winner
"Ben" from Ben— Music by Walter Scharf; Lyrics by Don Black
"Come Follow, Follow Me" from The Little Ark— Music by Fred Karlin; Lyrics by Marsha Karlin
"Marmalade, Molasses & Honey" from The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean— Music by Maurice Jarre; Lyrics by Marilyn Bergman and Alan Bergman
"Strange Are The Ways Of Love" from The Stepmother— Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
Art Direction
Cabaret— Art Direction: Rolf Zehetbauer, Jurgen Kiebach; Set Decoration: Herbert Strabel
Winner
Lady Sings the Blues— Art Direction: Carl Anderson; Set Decoration: Reg Allen
The Poseidon Adventure— Art Direction: William Creber; Set Decoration: Raphael Bretton
Travels with My Aunt— Art Direction: John Box, Gil Parrondo, Robert W. Laing
Young Winston— Art Direction: Geoffrey Drake, Don Ashton, John Graysmark, William Hutchinson; Set Decoration: Peter James
Film Editing
Cabaret— David Bretherton
Winner
Deliverance— Tom Priestley
The Godfather— William Reynolds, Peter Zinner
The Hot Rock— Frank P. Keller, Fred W. Berger
The Poseidon Adventure— Harold F. Kress
Sound
Cabaret— Robert Knudson, David Hildyard
Winner
Butterflies Are Free— Arthur Piantadosi, Charles Knight
The Candidate— Richard Portman, Gene Cantamessa
The Godfather— Bud Grenzbach, Richard Portman, Christopher Newman
The Poseidon Adventure— Theodore Soderberg, Herman Lewis
Costume Design
Travels with My Aunt— Anthony Powell
Winner
Lady Sings the Blues— Bob Mackie, Ray Aghayan, Norma Koch
The Godfather— Anna Hill Johnstone
The Poseidon Adventure— Paul Zastupnevich
Young Winston— Anthony Mendleson
Documentary (Feature)
Marjoe— Howard Smith and Sarah Kernochan, Producers
Winner
Ape and Super-Ape— Bert Haanstra, Producer
Malcolm X— Marvin Worth and Arnold Perl, Producers
Manson— Robert Hendrickson and Laurence Merrick, Producers
The Silent Revolution— Eckehard Munck, Producer
Documentary (Short Subject)
This Tiny World— Charles Huguenot van der Linden and Martina Huguenot van der Linden, Producers
Winner
Hundertwasser's Rainy Day— Peter Schamoni, Producer
K-Z— Giorgio Treves, Producer
Selling Out— Tadeusz Jaworski, Producer
The Tide of Traffic— Humphrey Swingler, Producer
Foreign Language Film
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie— France
Winner
I Love You Rosa— Israel
My Dearest Señorita— Spain
The Dawns Here Are Quiet— Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
The New Land— Sweden
Honorary Award
To Charles S. Boren, Leader for 38 years of the industry's enlightened labor relations and architect of its policy of non-discrimination. With the respect and affection of all who work in films.
Winner
To 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.
The Academy's Board of Governors voted to confer this award on January 6, 1973. Mr. Robinson passed away on January 26th, and the award was accepted on his behalf by his wife.
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
Rosalind Russell
Winner
Scientific Or Technical Award (Class II)
To JOSEPH E. BLUTH for research and development in the field of electronic photography and transfer of video tape to motion picture film. [Laboratory]
Winner
To 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. [Laboratory]
To PANAVISION, INCORPORATED, for the development and engineering of the Panaflex motion picture camera. [Camera]
Scientific Or Technical Award (Class III)
To PHOTO RESEARCH, A DIVISION OF KOLLMORGEN CORPORATION, and PSC TECHNOLOGY INC., ACME PRODUCTS DIVISION, for the Spectra Film Gate Photometer for motion picture printers. [Laboratory]
Winner
To CARTER EQUIPMENT COMPANY, INC. and RAMTRONICS for the RAMtronics light-valve photometer for motion picture printers. [Laboratory]
To 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. [Laboratory]
To E. H. GEISSLER and G. M. BERGGREN of Wil-Kin Inc., for engineering of the Ultra-Vision Motion Picture Theater Projection System. [Projection]
To 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. [Lenses and Filters]
To 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. [Props]
Short Subject (Animated)
A Christmas Carol— Richard Williams, Producer
Winner
Kama Sutra Rides Again— Bob Godfrey, Producer
Tup Tup— Nedeljko Dragic, Producer
Short Subject (Live Action)
Norman Rockwell's World...An American Dream— Richard Barclay, Producer
Winner
Frog Story— Ron Satlof and Ray Gideon, Producers
Solo— David Adams, Producer
Special Achievement Award (Visual Effects)
The Poseidon Adventure— L. B. Abbott, A. D. Flowers
Winner