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.
The ceremony was marked by Marlon Brando's boycott of the Oscars, and his sending of Sacheen Littlefeather to explain why he could 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. Prior to this ceremony, Chaplin had received 2 Academy Honorary Awards: in 1972 for his lifetime of work; and in 1929 (after having revoked his nominations for Best Director, Actor, and Writing (Original), thereby presenting him with a special award celebrating his multifaceted achievements).
With eight wins for Cabaret, adapted from the Broadway stage musical by Bob Fosse, the film set a record for most Oscar prizes without winning Best Picture. Best Picture winner The Godfather received three Academy Awards.
This year was the first time that two African American women received nominations for Best Actress: Cicely Tyson and Diana Ross. Minnelli accepted her Oscar despite a slight scrape she had incurred while riding a motorcycle. Ross was criticized for running a promotional ad campaign demanding that she win the Best Actress Oscar. Meanwhile, Edward G. Robinson, who died two months before the ceremony, became the second actor to receive his honorary Oscar posthumously, after Douglas Fairbanks (d. 1939) in 1940.
This was also the first year when all Oscar winners were brought on stage at the end of the ceremony. The show drew a television audience of viewers.
Winners and nominees
Awards Nominees were announced on February 12, 1973. Winners are listed first in boldface. Select "1972" in the "Award Year(s)" drop-down menu and press "Search".
The Godfather – Albert S. Ruddy, producerCabaret – Cy Feuer, producer Deliverance – John Boorman, producer The Emigrants – Bengt Forslund, producer Sounder – Robert B. Radnitz, producer | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|Bob Fosse – Cabaret John Boorman – Deliverance Jan Troell – The Emigrants Francis Ford Coppola – The Godfather Joseph L. Mankiewicz – SleuthMarlon 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 MorganLiza 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 NilssonJoel 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 CorleoneEileen 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 RosenThe 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 ForemanThe 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 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 TroellMarjoe – Sarah Kernochan and Howard Smith Ape and Super-Ape – Bert Haanstra Malcolm X – Arnold Perl (posthumously) and Marvin Worth Manson – Robert Hendrickson and Laurence Merrick The Silent Revolution – Eckehard MunckThis 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 SwinglerNorman Rockwell's World... An American Dream – Richard Barclay Frog Story – Ray Gideon and Ron Satlof Solo – David AdamsA Christmas Carol – Richard Williams Kama Sutra Rides Again – Bob Godfrey Tup Tup – Nedeljko DragićLimelight – Charlie Chaplin, Raymond Rasch (posthumously) and Larry Russell (posthumously) Images – John Williams Napoleon and Samantha – Buddy Baker The Poseidon Adventure – John Williams Sleuth – John Addison The Godfather – Nino Rota (nomination revoked)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 WebsterCabaret – 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 SoderbergCabaret – 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 JamesCabaret – Geoffrey Unsworth 1776 – Harry Stradling Jr. Butterflies Are Free – Charles Lang The Poseidon Adventure – Harold E. Stine Travels with My Aunt – Douglas SlocombeTravels 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 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 (Visual Effects) The Poseidon Adventure – L. B. Abbott and A. D. Flowers.
Honorary Awards 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. 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. (Accepted on his behalf by his wife)
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award Rosalind Russell
Films with multiple nominations and awards
+ Films that received multiple nominationsNominationsFilm10Cabaret The Godfather8 The Poseidon Adventure5 Lady Sings the Blues4 The Emigrants Sleuth Sounder Travels with My Aunt3 Butterflies Are Free Deliverance Young Winston2 The Candidate The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie The Heartbreak Kid Pete 'n' Tillie § Was also nominated in the previous year for Best Foreign Language Film.
+ Films that received multiple awardsAwardsFilm8 Cabaret3 The Godfather
Eligibility controversies It was initially announced, on February 12, 1973, that The Godfather received 11 nominations, more than any other film that year. 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. 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. 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 1958. Pacino also did not attend the ceremony; he was allegedly insulted at being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, when he had more screen time than his co-star and Best Actor-winner Brando, and thus should have received the nomination for Best Actor.Grobel; p. xxi Pacino denies this, saying in his memoir, Sonny Boy, that he was "scared" of his sudden fame and never heard the rumor until much later in his life.
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". 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."
Sacheen Littlefeather's appearance
Sacheen Littlefeather was an American actress, model, and activist of Native American civil rights who Marlon Brando chose to represent him at the ceremony. Littlefeather took the stage and spoke on Brando's behalf as a form of protest, representing Native Americans.
The audience in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion was divided between applause and jeers. "I was distressed that people should have booed and whistled and stomped, even though perhaps it was directed at myself," Brando later told Dick Cavett. "They should have at least had the courtesy to listen to her." Her appearance prompted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to rule out future proxy acceptance of Academy Awards. (Oscars for winners unable, or unwilling, to accept in person are now accepted in their behalf by the presenters.)
Both Sacheen Littlefeather and Marty Pasetta, who directed the Academy Awards telecast, claimed that John Wayne had to be restrained by six security guards to prevent him from assaulting Littlefeather. The story was later refuted as having "never happened" by film historian Farran Nehme. She characterised Pasetta's account as "getting more exciting each time it was told".Did John Wayne try to assault Sacheen Littlefeather at the 1973 Oscars? Debunking a Hollywood myth
Presenters and performers The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.