The 50th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1977 and took place on April 3, 1978, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 22 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Howard W. Koch and directed by Marty Pasetta. Actor and comedian Bob Hope hosted the show for the 19th time. He first presided over the 12th ceremony held in 1940 and had last served as a co-host of the 47th ceremony held in 1975. Five days earlier, in a ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on March 29, the Academy Scientific and Technical Awards were presented by hosts Kirk Douglas and Gregory Peck.

Annie Hall won four awards, including Best Picture. Other winners included Star Wars with six awards, Julia with three, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Gravity Is My Enemy, I'll Find a Way, A Little Night Music, Madame Rosa, The Sand Castle, Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids?, and You Light Up My Life with one. In addition, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Star Wars were each presented with an additional Special Award. The telecast garnered 48.5 million viewers in the United States.

Winners and nominees The nominees for the 50th Academy Awards were announced on February 21, 1978. Julia and The Turning Point tied for the most nominations with eleven each. The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on April 3. Woody Allen became the first person to receive nominations for acting, directing, and screenwriting for the same film since Orson Welles, who previously achieved this feat for 1941's Citizen Kane. With its eleven nominations and zero wins, The Turning Point was the most nominated film in Oscar history without a win. Vanessa Redgrave became the first performer to win in a supporting acting category for playing a titular role (via Julia). United Artists became the first studio to win Best Picture for a third consecutive year.

Awards

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double dagger ().

+Annie Hall – Charles H. Joffe, producerThe Goodbye Girl – Ray Stark, producer Julia – Richard Roth, producer Star Wars – Gary Kurtz, producer The Turning Point – Herbert Ross and Arthur Laurents, producers | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"| Woody Allen – Annie Hall Steven Spielberg – Close Encounters of the Third Kind Fred Zinnemann – Julia George Lucas – Star Wars Herbert Ross – The Turning Point Richard Dreyfuss – The Goodbye Girl as Elliot Garfield Woody Allen – Annie Hall as Alvy Singer Richard Burton – Equus as Doctor Martin Dysart Marcello Mastroianni – A Special Day as Gabriele John Travolta – Saturday Night Fever as Anthony "Tony" Manero Diane Keaton – Annie Hall as Annie Hall Anne Bancroft – The Turning Point as Emma Jacklin Jane Fonda – Julia as Lillian Hellman Shirley MacLaine – The Turning Point as DeeDee Rodgers Marsha Mason – The Goodbye Girl as Paula McFadden Jason Robards – Julia as Dashiell Hammett Mikhail Baryshnikov – The Turning Point as Yuri Kopeikine Peter Firth – Equus as Alan Strang Alec Guinness – Star Wars as Obi Wan "Ben" Kenobi Maximilian Schell – Julia as Johann Vanessa Redgrave – Julia as Julia Leslie Browne – The Turning Point as Emilia Rodgers Quinn Cummings – The Goodbye Girl as Lucy McFadden Melinda Dillon – Close Encounters of the Third Kind as Jillian Guiler Tuesday Weld – Looking for Mr. Goodbar as Katherine Dunn Annie Hall – Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman The Goodbye Girl – Neil Simon The Late Show – Robert Benton Star Wars – George Lucas The Turning Point – Arthur Laurents Julia – Alvin Sargent based on the novel Pentimento by Lillian Hellman Equus – Peter Shaffer based on his play I Never Promised You a Rose Garden – Gavin Lambert and Lewis John Carlino based on the novel by Hannah Greene Oh, God! – Larry Gelbart based on the novel by Avery Corman That Obscure Object of Desire – Luis Buñuel and Jean-Claude Carrière based on the novel La Femme et le pantin by Pierre LouÿsMadame Rosa (France) in French – directed by Moshé Mizrahi Iphigenia (Greece) in Greek – directed by Michael Cacoyannis Operation Thunderbolt (Israel) in Hebrew, English, Arabic, German, French, and Spanish – directed by Menahem Golan A Special Day (Italy) in Italian – directed by Ettore Scola That Obscure Object of Desire (Spain) in Spanish – directed by Luis BuñuelWho Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids? – John Korty, Dan McCann and Warren L. Lockhart The Children of Theatre Street – Robert Dornhelm and Earle Mack High Grass Circus – Bill Brind, Torben Schioler and Tony Ianzelo Homage to Chagall: The Colours of Love – Harry Rasky Union Maids – James Klein, Julia Reichert and Miles MogulescuGravity Is My Enemy – John Joseph and Jan Stussy Agueda Martinez: Our People, Our Country – Moctesuma Esparza First Edition – Helen Whitney and DeWitt L. Sage Jr. Of Time, Tombs and Treasures – James R. Messenger and Paul N. Raimondi The Shetland Experience – Douglas GordonI'll Find a Way – Beverly Shaffer and Yuki Yoshida The Absent-Minded Waiter – William E. McEuen Floating Free – Jerry Butts Notes on the Popular Arts – Saul Bass Spaceborne – Philip DauberThe Sand Castle – Co Hoedeman Bead Game – Ishu Patel The Doonesbury Special – John Hubley (posthumous nomination), Faith Hubley and Garry Trudeau Jimmy the C – James Picker, Robert Grossman and Craig WhitakerStar Wars – John Williams Close Encounters of the Third Kind – John Williams Julia – Georges Delerue Mohammad, Messenger of God – Maurice Jarre The Spy Who Loved Me – Marvin HamlischA Little Night Music – Adapted by Jonathan Tunick Pete's Dragon – Song Score by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn; Adapted by Irwin Kostal The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella – Song Score by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman; Adapted by Angela Morley"You Light Up My Life" from You Light Up My Life – Music and Lyrics by Joseph Brooks "Candle on the Water" from Pete's Dragon – Music and Lyrics by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn "Nobody Does It Better" from The Spy Who Loved Me – Music by Marvin Hamlisch; Lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager "The Slipper and the Rose Waltz (He Danced with Me/She Danced with Me)" from The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella – Music and Lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman "Someone's Waiting for You" from The Rescuers – Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Carol Connors and Ayn RobbinsStar Wars – Don MacDougall, Ray West, Bob Minkler and Derek Ball Close Encounters of the Third Kind – Robert Knudson, Robert J. Glass, Don MacDougall and Gene S. Cantamessa The Deep – Walter Goss, Dick Alexander, Tom Beckert and Robin Gregory Sorcerer – Robert Knudson, Robert J. Glass, Richard Tyler and Jean-Louis Ducarme The Turning Point – Theodore Soderberg, Paul Wells, Douglas O. Williams and Jerry JostStar Wars – Art Direction: John Barry, Norman Reynolds and Leslie Dilley; Set Decoration: Roger Christian Airport '77 – Art Direction: George C. Webb; Set Decoration: Mickey S. Michaels Close Encounters of the Third Kind – Art Direction: Joe Alves and Dan Lomino; Set Decoration: Phil Abramson The Spy Who Loved Me – Art Direction: Ken Adam and Peter Lamont; Set Decoration: Hugh Scaife The Turning Point – Art Direction: Albert Brenner; Set Decoration: Marvin MarchClose Encounters of the Third Kind – Vilmos Zsigmond Islands in the Stream – Fred J. Koenekamp Julia – Douglas Slocombe Looking for Mr. Goodbar – William A. Fraker The Turning Point – Robert Surtees Star Wars – John Mollo Airport '77 – Edith Head and Burton Miller Julia – Anthea Sylbert A Little Night Music – Florence Klotz The Other Side of Midnight – Irene SharaffStar Wars – Paul Hirsch, Marcia Lucas and Richard Chew Close Encounters of the Third Kind – Michael Kahn Julia – Walter Murch Smokey and the Bandit – Walter Hannemann and Angelo Ross The Turning Point – William ReynoldsStar Wars – John Stears, John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Grant McCune and Robert Blalack Close Encounters of the Third Kind – Roy Arbogast, Douglas Trumbull, Matthew Yuricich, Gregory Jein and Richard Yuricich

Non-competitive awards Special Achievement Award To Benjamin Burtt, Jr. for the creation of the alien, creature and robot voices featured in Star Wars. To Frank E. Warner for the sound effects editing of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Honorary Award To Margaret Booth for her exceptional contribution to the art of film editing in the motion picture industry.

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award The award recognizes individuals whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the motion picture industry. Charlton Heston

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award The award honors "creative producers whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production". Walter Mirisch

Multiple nominations and awards

+ Films with multiple nominations Nominations Film 11 Julia The Turning Point 10 Star Wars 8 Close Encounters of the Third Kind 5 Annie Hall The Goodbye Girl 3 Equus The Spy Who Loved Me 2 Airport '77 A Little Night Music Looking for Mr. Goodbar Pete's Dragon The Slipper and the Rose A Special Day That Obscure Object of Desire

+ Wins Film 6 Star Wars 4 Annie Hall 3 Julia

Presenters and performers The following individuals (in order of appearance) presented awards or performed musical numbers:

Presenters + Name(s) Role Announcer for the 50th Academy Awards (AMPAS President) Gave opening remarks welcoming guests to the awards ceremony Gregory Peck Explained the voting rules to the public Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actress R2-D2C-3PO Presenters of the Special Achievement Award Mickey MousePaul Williams Presenters of the awards for Best Animated Short Film and Best Live Action Short Film Barbara Stanwyck Presenters of the Best Sound Presenter of the award for Best Visual Effects Raquel Welch Presenters of the awards for Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short Subject Presenter of the segment of the Academy Scientific and Technical Awards Henry Winkler Presenters of the award of Best Art DirectionJack Valenti Presenters of the award for Best Foreign Language FilmMaggie Smith Presenters of the award for Best Supporting Actor Presenter of the award for Best Costume DesignHenry ManciniOlivia Newton-John Presenters of the awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score Jon Voight Presenters of the award for Best Cinematography Presenter of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Charlton Heston Presenter of the Honorary Award to Margaret Booth Marcello Mastroianni Presenters of the award for Best Film Editing Presenter of the award for Best Original Song King Vidor Presenters of the award for Best Director Presenter of the awards for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Based on Factual Material or on Story Material Not Previously Published or Produced and Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium Walter Matthau Presenters of the award for Best Actress Presenter of the award for Best Actor Presenter of the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to Walter Mirisch Presenter of the award for Best Picture

Performers