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 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.[1][2] 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.[3] 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.[4] 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 the Oscar winners were brought out on stage at the end of the ceremony.[5] The show drew a television audience of 85 million viewers.[6][7]
Winners and nominees
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Awards
editNominees were announced on February 12, 1973. Winners are listed first in boldface.[8][9]
Honorary Academy Awards
editSpecial Achievement Award
edit- L. B. Abbott and A. D. Flowers for the visual effects of The Poseidon Adventure
Academy Honorary Award
edit- Charles S. Boren
- Edward G. Robinson†
Films with multiple nominations and awards
edit| Nominations | Film |
|---|---|
| 10 | Cabaret |
| The Godfather | |
| 8 | The Poseidon Adventure |
| 5 | Lady Sings the Blues |
| 4 | The Emigrants[A] |
| Sleuth | |
| Sounder | |
| Travels with My Aunt | |
| 3 | Butterflies Are Free |
| Deliverance | |
| Young Winston | |
| 2 | The Candidate |
| The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie | |
| The Heartbreak Kid | |
| Pete 'n' Tillie |
^ A Was also nominated in the previous year for Best Foreign Language Film.
| Awards | Film |
|---|---|
| 8 | Cabaret |
| 3 | The Godfather |
Eligibility controversies
editIt was initially announced, on February 12, 1973, that The Godfather received 11 nominations, more than any other film that year.[10][11] 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.[12][13] 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.[14] 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.[15]
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".[16] 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."[17]
Sacheen Littlefeather's appearance
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Sacheen Littlefeather was an American actress, model, and activist of Native American civil rights who Marlon Brando chose to represent him at the ceremony.[18] Littlefeather took the stage and spoke on Brando's behalf as a form of protest, representing Native Americans.[19]
The audience in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion was divided between applause and jeers.[20] "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."[20] Her appearance prompted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to rule out future proxy acceptance of Academy Awards. (Oscars for winners unable to accept in person are now accepted in their behalf by the presenters.)[21]
Presenters and performers
editThe 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.[22]
Presenters
edit| 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 Academy Award 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 Oughta Be in Pictures" |
Performers
edit| 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
editReferences
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ Bret Wood. "Limelight". TCM. Archived from the original on April 20, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
- ^ Bruce Russell (February 13, 1973). "'Godfather' Gets 11 Oscar Nominations". Toledo Blade. Reuter. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
- ^ Wallechinsky, David; Wallace, Irving (1975). The People's Almanac. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. p. 846. ISBN 0-385-04060-1.
- ^ John Wayne and the Academy Award Winners: 1973 Oscars on YouTube
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
- ^ "The Official Academy Awards Database". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2011. Select "1972" in the "Award Year(s)" drop-down menu and press "Search".
- ^ "The 45th Academy Awards (1973) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on July 17, 2014. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
- ^ Bruce Russell (February 13, 1973). "'Godfather' Gets 11 Oscar Nominations". Toledo Blade. Reuter. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
- ^ "Oscar Nominations Offer Few Oddities". The Milwaukee Journal. February 13, 1973. Retrieved June 16, 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "The Godfather loses one count". The Star-Phoenix. AP. March 3, 1973. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
- ^ "The Godfather". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on July 17, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
[permanent dead link] - ^ "'Godfather', 'Super Fly' Music Not Nominated For Oscar". The Toledo Blade. AP. March 7, 1973. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
- ^ "Marlon Brando". IMDb. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
- ^ "Marlon Brando declines Best Actor Oscar". HISTORY. November 13, 2009. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
- ^ a b Rottenberg, Josh (January 19, 2013). "Catching up with Sacheen Littlefeather, 40 years after her controversial brush with Oscar history". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
- ^ Schaefer, Stephen (March 16, 2003). "Oscar Watch; Oscar takes a bow for legacy of controversy". Boston Herald.
- ^ "The Most Memorable Moments in Oscar Hosting History". Time. February 21, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2020.