45th Academy Awards

The 45th Academy Awards were presented Tuesday, March 27, 1973, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California, honoring the best films of 1972. The ceremonies were presided over by Carol Burnett, Michael Caine, Charlton Heston, and Rock Hudson.

45th Academy Awards
Date	March 27, 1973
Site	Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Los Angeles, California
Hosted by	Carol Burnett, Michael Caine, Charlton Heston and Rock Hudson
Produced by	Howard W. Koch
Directed by	Marty Pasetta
Highlights
Best Picture	The Godfather
Most awards	Cabaret (8)
Most nominations	Cabaret and The Godfather (10)
TV in the United States
Network	NBC
Duration	2 hours, 38 minutes

The ceremony was marked by Marlon Brando's boycott of the Oscars and his sending of Sacheen Littlefeather to explain why he would not show up to collect his Best Actor award for The Godfather, and by Charlie Chaplin's only competitive Oscar win for Best Original Dramatic Score for his 20-year-old film Limelight, which was eligible because it did not screen in Los Angeles until 1972.[1][2] Chaplin had received honorary Academy Awards in 1929 and 1972.

Cabaret, Bob Fosse's adaptation of the Broadway stage musical, set a record for the most Oscars won without winning Best Picture. Best Picture winner The Godfather received only three Academy Awards.

This year was the first time that two African American women received nominations for Best Actress.[3]

This was also the first year when all the Oscar winners were brought out on stage at the end of the ceremony.[4] The show drew a television audience of 85 million viewers.[5][6]

Winners and nominees

Bob Fosse, Best Director winner

Liza Minnelli, Best Actress winner

Joel Grey, Best Supporting Actor winner

Eileen Heckart, Best Supporting Actress winner

Francis Ford Coppola, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium co-winner

Richard Williams, Best Animated Short Film winner

Charlie Chaplin, Best Original Score (Dramatic) co-winner

Ralph Burns, Best Score (Adaptation and Original Song) winner

Awards

Winners are listed first in boldface.[7][8]

Best Picture	Best Director
The Godfather – Albert S. Ruddy, producer Cabaret – Cy Feuer, producer Deliverance – John Boorman, producer The Emigrants – Bengt Forslund, producer Sounder – Robert B. Radnitz, producer	Bob Fosse – Cabaret John Boorman – Deliverance Jan Troell – The Emigrants Francis Ford Coppola – The Godfather Joseph L. Mankiewicz – Sleuth
Best Actor	Best Actress
Marlon Brando – The Godfather as Vito Corleone (declined) Michael Caine – Sleuth as Milo Tindle Laurence Olivier – Sleuth as Andrew Wyke Peter O'Toole – The Ruling Class as Jack Gurney Paul Winfield – Sounder as Nathan Lee Morgan	Liza Minnelli – Cabaret as Sally Bowles Diana Ross – Lady Sings the Blues as Billie Holiday Maggie Smith – Travels with My Aunt as Augusta Bertram Cicely Tyson – Sounder as Rebecca Morgan Liv Ullmann – The Emigrants as Kristina Nilsson
Best Supporting Actor	Best Supporting Actress
Joel Grey – Cabaret as the M.C. Eddie Albert – The Heartbreak Kid as Mr. Corcoran James Caan – The Godfather as Santino "Sonny" Corleone Robert Duvall – The Godfather as Tom Hagen Al Pacino – The Godfather as Michael Corleone	Eileen Heckart – Butterflies Are Free as Mrs. Baker Jeannie Berlin – The Heartbreak Kid as Lila Kolodny Geraldine Page – Pete 'n' Tillie as Gertrude Wilson Susan Tyrrell – Fat City as Oma Shelley Winters – The Poseidon Adventure as Belle Rosen
Best Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Produced or Published	Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
The Candidate – Jeremy Larner The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie – Luis Buñuel and Jean-Claude Carrière Lady Sings the Blues – Chris Clark, Suzanne de Passe and Terence McCloy Murmur of the Heart – Louis Malle Young Winston – Carl Foreman	The Godfather – Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo based on the novel by Puzo Cabaret – Jay Presson Allen based on the musical by Fred Ebb and John Kander and the book by Joe Masteroff The Emigrants – Bengt Forslund and Jan Troell based on the novels The Emigrants and Unto a Good Land by Vilhelm Moberg Pete 'n' Tillie – Julius J. Epstein based on the story Witch's Milk by Peter De Vries Sounder – Lonne Elder III based on the novel by William H. Armstrong
Best Foreign Language Film	Best Documentary Feature
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (France) in French – Luis Buñuel The Dawns Here Are Quiet (USSR) in Russian – Stanislav Rostotsky I Love You Rosa (Israel) in Hebrew – Moshé Mizrahi My Dearest Senorita (Spain) in Spanish – Jaime de Armiñán The New Land (Sweden) in Swedish – Jan Troell	Marjoe – Sarah Kernochan and Howard Smith Ape and Super-Ape – Bert Haanstra Malcolm X – Arnold Perl (posthumous nomination) and Marvin Worth Manson – Robert Hendrickson and Laurence Merrick The Silent Revolution – Eckehard Munck
Best Documentary Short Subject	Best Live Action Short Subject
This Tiny World – Charles Huguenot van der Linden and Martina Huguenot van der Linden Hundertwasser's Rainy Day – Peter Schamoni K-Z – Giorgio Treves Selling Out – Tadeusz Jaworski The Tide of Traffic – Humphrey Swingler	Norman Rockwell's World... An American Dream – Richard Barclay Frog Story – Ray Gideon and Ron Satlof Solo – David Adams
Best Animated Short Subject	Best Original Dramatic Score
A Christmas Carol – Richard Williams Kama Sutra Rides Again – Bob Godfrey Tup Tup – Nedeljko Dragic	Limelight – Charlie Chaplin, Raymond Rasch and Larry Russell (posthumous awards) Images – John Williams Napoleon and Samantha – Buddy Baker The Poseidon Adventure – John Williams Sleuth – John Addison
Best Scoring: Adaptation and Original Song Score	Best Song Original for the Picture
Cabaret – Adaptated by Ralph Burns Lady Sings the Blues – Adapted by Gil Askey Man of La Mancha – Adapted by Laurence Rosenthal	"The Morning After" from The Poseidon Adventure – Music and Lyrics by Joel Hirschhorn and Al Kasha "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 Alan and Marilyn Bergman "Strange Are the Ways of Love" from The Stepmother – Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
Best Costume Design	Best Sound
Travels with My Aunt – Anthony Powell The Godfather – Anna Hill Johnstone Lady Sings the Blues – Ray Aghayan, Norma Koch and Bob Mackie The Poseidon Adventure – Paul Zastupnevich Young Winston – Anthony Mendleson	Cabaret – David Hildyard and Robert Knudson Butterflies Are Free – Charles T. Knight and Arthur Piantadosi The Candidate – Gene Cantamessa and Richard Portman The Godfather – Bud Grenzbach, Christopher Newman and Richard Portman The Poseidon Adventure – Herman Lewis and Theodore Soderberg
Best Art Direction	Best Cinematography
Cabaret – Art Direction: Hans Jürgen Kiebach and Rolf Zehetbauer; Set Decoration: Herbert Strabel Lady Sings the Blues – Art Direction: Carl Anderson; Set Decoration: Reg Allen The Poseidon Adventure – Art Direction: William Creber; Set Decoration: Raphaël Bretton Travels with My Aunt – Art Direction and Set Decoration: John Box, Robert W. Laing and Gil Parrondo Young Winston – Art Direction: Donald M. Ashton, Geoffrey Drake, John Graysmark and William Hutchinson; Set Decoration: Peter James	Cabaret – Geoffrey Unsworth 1776 – Harry Stradling Jr. Butterflies Are Free – Charles Lang The Poseidon Adventure – Harold E. Stine Travels with My Aunt – Douglas Slocombe
Best Film Editing
Cabaret – David Bretherton Deliverance – Tom Priestley The Godfather – William H. Reynolds and Peter Zinner The Hot Rock – Fred W. Berger and Frank P. Keller The Poseidon Adventure – Harold F. Kress

Special Achievement Award

• L. B. Abbott and A. D. Flowers for the visual effects of The Poseidon Adventure

Academy Honorary Award

• Charles S. Boren
• Edward G. Robinson

Films with multiple nominations and awards

The following 15 films received multiple nominations. 10 Nominations: Cabaret and The Godfather 8 Nominations: The Poseidon Adventure 5 Nominations: Lady Sings the Blues 4 Nominations: The Emigrants^[A], Sleuth, Sounder and Travels with My Aunt 3 Nominations: Butterflies Are Free, Deliverance and Young Winston 2 Nominations: The Candidate, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The Heartbreak Kid and Pete 'n' Tillie ^ A Was also nominated in the previous year for Best Foreign Language Film.

The following three films received multiple awards. 8 Wins: Cabaret 3 Wins: The Godfather 2 Wins: The Poseidon Adventure

Eligibility controversies

It was initially announced, on February 12, 1973, that The Godfather received 11 nominations, more than any other film that year.[9][10] This was reduced to 10 nominations (tied with Cabaret for the most) after a new vote by the Academy's music branch, following a controversy over whether Nino Rota's score for The Godfather was eligible for the nomination it received.[11][12] For the re-balloting, members of the music branch chose from six films: The Godfather and the five films that had been on the shortlist for best original dramatic score but did not get nominated. John Addison's score for Sleuth won this new vote, and thus replaced Rota's score on the official list of nominees.[13] The controversy arose, according to Academy President Daniel Taradash, because the love theme in The Godfather had previously been used by Rota in Fortunella, an Italian movie from several years earlier.[14]

The nominations in the category of Best Original Song were not announced in February with the rest of the nominations, reportedly because of "a mixup in balloting".[15] It was later reported that the Academy had been considering whether Curtis Mayfield's song "Freddie's Dead" from the film Super Fly should be eligible. The song was ruled ineligible for a nomination because its lyrics were not sung in the film. (The song was released as a single with lyrics, but the version in the film was an instrumental.) Academy governor John Green was quoted as saying: "Times have changed. In the old days, Hollywood made 30 or 40 musicals a year, and there were plenty of songs to choose from. Now there are hardly any, and most of the eligible songs are themes. Both the lyric and the music must be heard on the sound track to be eligible."[16]

Presenters and performers

The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers. Notably, Charlton Heston was late for his role presenting the voting rules, reportedly due to a flat tire. Clint Eastwood, who was slated to present for Best Picture, was asked to fill in. Heston's written dialogue leaned heavily on his role in the movie The Ten Commandments, leading Eastwood to quip “Come on, flip the card, man. This isn’t my bag.” Eastwood also famously said on filling in at the last minute, "...They pick the guy who hasn’t said but three lines in 12 movies to substitute for him [Heston]”. Heston arrived part of the way through the bit, allowing Eastwood to escape.[17]

Presenters

Name	Role
Hank Simms	Announcer for the 45th Academy Awards
Daniel Taradash (AMPAS President)	Giver of opening remarks welcoming guests to the awards ceremony
Clint Eastwood Charlton Heston	Explainers of the voting rules to the public
Eddie Albert Edward Albert	Presenters of the award for Best Sound
Merle Oberon	Presenter of the Special Achievement Award for Best Visual Effects
Bea Arthur Peter Boyle	Presenters of the Short Subjects Awards
Robert Duvall Cloris Leachman	Presenters of the award for Best Supporting Actress
Elke Sommer Jack Valenti	Presenters of the award for Best Foreign Language Film
John Gavin Katharine Ross	Presenters of the award for Best Film Editing
James Coburn Diana Ross	Presenters of the award for Best Supporting Actor
Richard Walsh	Presenter of the Honorary Award to Charles S. Boren
Robert Wagner Natalie Wood	Presenters of the Documentary Awards
Marisa Berenson Michael Caine	Presenters of the award for Best Costume Design
Greer Garson Laurence Harvey	Presenters of the award for Best Art Direction
Dyan Cannon Burt Reynolds	Presenters of the Music Awards
Candice Bergen Billy Dee Williams	Presenters of the award for Best Cinematography
Sonny & Cher	Presenters of the award for Best Song Original for the Picture
Charlton Heston	Presenter of the Honorary Award to Edward G. Robinson
Frank Sinatra	Presenter of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
Jack Lemmon	Presenter of the Writing Awards
Julie Andrews George Stevens	Presenters of the award for Best Director
Roger Moore Liv Ullmann	Presenters of the award for Best Actor
Sacheen Littlefeather	Declined Marlon Brando's Oscar on his behalf
Gene Hackman Raquel Welch	Presenters of the award for Best Actress
Clint Eastwood	Presenter of the award for Best Picture
John Wayne	Introducer of the performance of "You Ought to Be in Pictures"

Performers

Name	Role	Performed
John Williams	Musical arranger and conductor	Orchestral
Angela Lansbury	Performer	"Make a Little Magic"
Disney characters	Performers	A musical salute to Walt Disney Productions' 50th anniversary
Michael Jackson	Performer	"Ben" from Ben
Springfield Revival	Performer	"Come Follow, Follow Me" from The Little Ark
Glen Campbell The Mike Curb Congregation	Performer	"Marmalade, Molasses & Honey" from The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
Connie Stevens	Performer	"The Morning After" from The Poseidon Adventure
Diahann Carroll	Performer	"Strange Are the Ways of Love" from The Stepmother
Academy Awards Chorus	Performers	"You Oughta Be in Pictures"

See also

• 30th Golden Globe Awards
• 1972 in film
• 15th Grammy Awards
• 24th Primetime Emmy Awards
• 25th Primetime Emmy Awards
• 26th British Academy Film Awards
• 27th Tony Awards

References

1. Bruce Russell (March 28, 1973). "Cabaret shades Godfather". Leader-Post. Regina, Sask. Reuters. Retrieved June 9, 2013 – via Google News Archive. The film, withdrawn from U.S. movie theatres in the bitter controversy over Chaplin's political views and private life, qualified by being released for the first time in Los Angeles last year.
2. Bret Wood. "Limelight". TCM. Archived from the original on April 20, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
3. Bruce Russell (February 13, 1973). "'Godfather' Gets 11 Oscar Nominations". Toledo Blade. Reuter. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
4. John Wayne and the Academy Award Winners: 1973 Oscars on YouTube
5. Robinson, Melia (February 27, 2014). "The unbelievable story of Why Marlon Brando rejected his 1973 Oscar for 'The Godfather'". Business Insider. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
6. Marlon Brando, Dick Cavett (June 12, 1973). Marlon Brando on Rejecting His Oscar for 'The Godfather' (video). The Dick Cavett Show (television). United States. Event occurs at 0:49. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
7. "The Official Academy Awards Database". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2011. Select "1972" in the "Award Year(s)" drop-down menu and press "Search".
8. "The 45th Academy Awards (1973) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on July 17, 2014. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
9. Bruce Russell (February 13, 1973). "'Godfather' Gets 11 Oscar Nominations". Toledo Blade. Reuter. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
10. "Oscar Nominations Offer Few Oddities". The Milwaukee Journal. February 13, 1973. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
11. "The Godfather loses one count". The Star-Phoenix. AP. March 3, 1973. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
12. "The Godfather". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on July 17, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
13. "100 Years of Paramount: Academy Awards". Paramount Pictures. Archived from the original on June 4, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2013. 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.
14. "Godfather, Superfly music out of Oscars". The Montreal Gazette. AP. March 7, 1973. Archived from the original on November 21, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
15. "Oscar Nominations Offer Few Oddities". The Milwaukee Journal. February 13, 1973. Retrieved June 16, 2013. Because of a mixup in balloting, the nominations for best song won't be announced until March 5.
16. "'Godfather', 'Super Fly' Music Not Nominated For Oscar". The Toledo Blade. AP. March 7, 1973. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
17. "The Most Memorable Moments in Oscar Hosting History". Time. Retrieved May 13, 2020.