1972 Oscars 44th Academy Awards

• Winners Announced: April 10, 1972
• Held at: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, California
• Hosts: Helen Hayes, Alan King, Sammy Davis, Jr., Jack Lemmon
• Eligibility Year: 1971

Cinematic Highlights and Achievements

• The French Connection Cleans Up: This crime thriller won, snagging five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Gene Hackman.
• Jane Fonda’s Breakthrough: Fonda won Best Actress for her role in “Klute,” which also secured an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for Donald Sutherland.
• Disney’s Resurgence: “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” took home the award for Best Visual Effects, showcasing Disney’s persistent prowess in the category.

Noteworthy Trivia

• Unusual Host Quartet: This year saw a unique hosting scenario with four hosts: Helen Hayes, Alan King, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Jack Lemmon, who kept the audience engaged throughout the ceremony.
• Film Editing Triumph: “The French Connection” nabbed the Best Picture and took home the trophy for Best Film Editing, cementing its place as a technical masterpiece.
• Costume Drama: A British period drama, “Nicholas and Alexandra,” won for Best Costume Design, emphasizing the genre’s significance in this particular category.
• Try our 1972 Quiz!

1972 Oscar Nominees and Winners

Best Picture:
The French Connection – Philip D’Antoni, producer (WINNER)
A Clockwork Orange – Stanley Kubrick, producer
Fiddler on the Roof – Norman Jewison, producer
The Last Picture Show – Stephen J. Friedman, producer
Nicholas and Alexandra – Sam Spiegel, producer

Best Director:
William Friedkin – The French Connection (WINNER)
Stanley Kubrick – A Clockwork Orange
Norman Jewison – Fiddler on the Roof
Peter Bogdanovich – The Last Picture Show
John Schlesinger – Sunday Bloody Sunday

Best Actor:
Gene Hackman – The French Connection as Det. Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (WINNER)
Peter Finch – Sunday Bloody Sunday as Dr. Daniel Hirsch
Walter Matthau – Kotch as Joseph P. Kotcher
George C. Scott – The Hospital as Dr. Herbert “Herb” Bock
Chaim Topol – Fiddler on the Roof as Tevye

Best Actress:
Jane Fonda – Klute as Bree Daniels (WINNER)
Julie Christie – McCabe & Mrs. Miller as Constance Miller
Glenda Jackson – Sunday Bloody Sunday as Alex Greville
Vanessa Redgrave – Mary, Queen of Scots as Mary, Queen of Scots
Janet Suzman – Nicholas and Alexandra as Empress Alexandra

Best Supporting Actor:
Ben Johnson – The Last Picture Show as Sam the Lion (WINNER)
Jeff Bridges – The Last Picture Show as Duane Jackson
Leonard Frey – Fiddler on the Roof as Motel Kamzoil
Richard Jaeckel – Sometimes a Great Notion as Joe Ben Stamper
Roy Scheider – The French Connection as Det. Buddy ‘Cloudy’ Russo

Best Supporting Actress:
Cloris Leachman – The Last Picture Show as Ruth Popper (WINNER)
Ann-Margret – Carnal Knowledge as Bobbie
Ellen Burstyn – The Last Picture Show as Lois Farrow
Barbara Harris – Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? as Allison Densmore
Margaret Leighton – The Go-Between as Mrs. Maudsley

Best Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Produced or Published:
The Hospital – Paddy Chayefsky (WINNER)
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion – Elio Petri and Ugo Pirro
Klute – Andy Lewis and Dave Lewis
Summer of ’42 – Herman Raucher
Sunday Bloody Sunday – Penelope Gilliatt

Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium:
The French Connection – Ernest Tidyman based on the book by Robin Moore (WINNER)
A Clockwork Orange – Stanley Kubrick based on the novel by Anthony Burgess
The Conformist – Bernardo Bertolucci based on the novel Il Conformista by Alberto Moravia
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis – Vittorio Bonicelli and Ugo Pirro based on the novel by Giorgio Bassani
The Last Picture Show – Peter Bogdanovich and Larry McMurtry based on the novel by Larry McMurtry

Best Foreign Language Film:
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (Italy) in Italian – Vittorio De Sica (WINNER)
Dodes’ka-den (Japan) in Japanese – Akira Kurosawa
The Emigrants (Sweden) in Swedish – Jan Troell
The Policeman (Israel) in Hebrew – Ephraim Kishon
Tchaikovsky (USSR) in Russian – Igor Talankin

Best Costume Design:
Nicholas and Alexandra – Yvonne Blake and Antonio Castillo (WINNER)
Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Bill Thomas
Death in Venice – Piero Tosi
Mary, Queen of Scots – Margaret Furse
What’s the Matter with Helen? – Morton Haack

Best Documentary Feature:
The Hellstrom Chronicle – Walon Green (WINNER)
Alaska Wilderness Lake – Alan Landsburg
On Any Sunday – Bruce Brown
Ra – Lennart Ehrenborg and Thor Heyerdahl
The Sorrow and the Pity – Marcel Ophüls

Best Documentary Short Subject:
Sentinels of Silence – Robert Amram and Manuel Arango (WINNER)
Adventures in Perception – Han van Gelder
Art Is… – Julian Krainin and DeWitt L. Sage, Jr.
The Numbers Start with the River – Donald Wrye
Somebody Waiting – Sherwood Omens, Hal Riney and Dick Snider

Best Live Action Short Subject:
Sentinels of Silence – Robert Amram and Manuel Arango (WINNER)
Good Morning – Denny Evans and Ken Greenwald
The Rehearsal – Stephen F. Verona

Best Animated Short Subject:
The Crunch Bird – Ted Petok (WINNER)
Evolution – Michael Mills
The Selfish Giant – Peter Sander and Murray Shostak

Best Original Dramatic Score:
Summer of ’42 – Michel Legrand (WINNER)
Mary, Queen of Scots – John Barry
Nicholas and Alexandra – Richard Rodney Bennett
Shaft – Isaac Hayes
Straw Dogs – Jerry Fielding

Best Scoring: Adaptation and Original Song Score:
Fiddler on the Roof – Adapted by John Williams (WINNER)
Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Adapted by Irwin Kostal; Song Score by The Sherman Brothers: Robert B. and Richard M.
The Boy Friend – Adapted by Peter Maxwell Davies and Peter Greenwell
Tchaikovsky – Adapted by Dimitri Tiomkin
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory – Adapted by Walter Scharf; Song Score by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley

Best Song Original for the Picture:
“Theme from Shaft” from Shaft – Music and Lyrics by Isaac Hayes (WINNER)
“The Age of Not Believing” from Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Music and Lyrics by Robert Sherman and Richard Sherman
“All His Children” from Sometimes a Great Notion – Music by Henry Mancini; Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman
“Bless the Beasts and Children” from Bless the Beasts and Children – Music and Lyrics by Perry Botkin Jr. and Barry De Vorzon
“Life Is What You Make It” from Kotch – Music by Marvin Hamlisch; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

Best Sound:
Fiddler on the Roof – David Hildyard and Gordon K. McCallum (WINNER)
Diamonds Are Forever – Gordon K. McCallum, John W. Mitchell and Alfred J. Overton
The French Connection – Christopher Newman and Theodore Soderberg
Kotch – Richard Portman and Jack Solomon
Mary, Queen of Scots – John Aldred and Bob Jones

Best Art Direction:
Nicholas and Alexandra – Art Direction: Ernest Archer, John Box, Jack Maxsted and Gil Parrondo; Set Decoration: Vernon Dixon (WINNER)
The Andromeda Strain – Art Direction: Boris Leven and William H. Tuntke; Set Decoration: Ruby R. Levitt
Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Art Direction: Peter Ellenshaw and John B. Mansbridge; Set Decoration: Hal Gausman and Emile Kuri
Fiddler on the Roof – Art Direction: Robert F. Boyle and Michael Stringer; Set Decoration: Peter Lamont
Mary, Queen of Scots – Art Direction: Terence Marsh and Robert Cartwright; Set Decoration: Peter Howitt

Best Cinematography:
Fiddler on the Roof – Oswald Morris (WINNER)
The French Connection – Owen Roizman
The Last Picture Show – Robert Surtees
Nicholas and Alexandra – Freddie Young
Summer of ’42 – Robert Surtees

Best Film Editing:
The French Connection – Gerald B. Greenberg (WINNER)
The Andromeda Strain – Stuart Gilmore (posthumous nomination) and John W. Holmes
A Clockwork Orange – Bill Butler
Kotch – Ralph E. Winters
Summer of ’42 – Folmar Blangsted

Best Special Visual Effects:
Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Danny Lee, Eustace Lycett and Alan Maley (WINNER)
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth – Jim Danforth and Roger Dicken

Honorary Academy Award:
Charlie Chaplin received an honorary award at this ceremony, for “the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century”.

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