Awards

1971 Oscars 43rd Academy Awards

Posted by Joe Hummel IIIPosted 54 years ago April 15, 1971

1971 Oscars 43rd Academy Awards

Table of Contents

971 Oscars 43rd Academy Awards: A Night of Cinematic Marvels

Winners Announced: April 15, 1971
Held at: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, California
Host: no one (34 presenters)
Eligibility Year: 1970

The Night’s Big Winners and Memorable Moments

Patton Sweeps the Night: The biographical war film about General George S. Patton captured seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Franklin J. Schaffner.
George C. Scott’s No-Show: The leading man for Patton, George C. Scott, won Best Actor but famously refused the award, citing disdain for the competitive nature of acting awards.
First Solo Female Director Nominee: Barbara Loden was the first woman nominated for Best Director for her groundbreaking film Wanda.

Movie Trivia You Didn’t Know You Needed

34 Presenters But No Host: This year, the Oscars went without a host, instead opting for many presenters. This became an interesting format experiment, although not a frequently repeated one.
Cicely Tyson’s Historic Nomination: Actress Cicely Tyson was nominated for her role in Sounder, becoming only the second African American woman to be nominated for Best Actress.
First Televised Nomination Announcements: This was the year the Oscar nominations were televised for the first time, adding yet another layer of suspense and public interest to the proceedings.
Helen Hayes was the first performer in lead and supporting categories to win Oscars.
The documentary film Woodstock garnered three Oscar nominations, making it the most nominated documentary film in Oscar history.
Take our 1971 Quiz!

1971 Oscar Nominees and Winners

Best Picture:
Patton – Frank McCarthy, producer (WINNER)
Airport – Ross Hunter, producer
Five Easy Pieces – Bob Rafelson and Richard Wechsler, producers
Love Story – Howard G. Minsky, producer
M*A*S*H – Ingo Preminger, producer

Best Director:
Franklin J. Schaffner – Patton (WINNER)
Federico Fellini – Fellini Satyricon
Arthur Hiller – Love Story
Robert Altman – M*A*S*H
Ken Russell – Women in Love

Best Actor:
George C. Scott – Patton as General George S. Patton (declined) (WINNER)
Melvyn Douglas – I Never Sang for My Father as Tom Garrison
James Earl Jones – The Great White Hope as Jack Jefferson
Jack Nicholson – Five Easy Pieces as Robert Eroica Dupea
Ryan O’Neal – Love Story as Oliver Barrett IV

Best Actress:
Glenda Jackson – Women in Love as Gundrun Brangwen (WINNER)
Jane Alexander – The Great White Hope as Eleanor Backman
Ali MacGraw – Love Story as Jennifer “Jenny” Cavalleri
Sarah Miles – Ryan’s Daughter as Rosy Ryan
Carrie Snodgress – Diary of a Mad Housewife as Bettina “Tina” Balser

Best Supporting Actor:
John Mills – Ryan’s Daughter as Michael (WINNER)
Richard S. Castellano – Lovers and Other Strangers as Frank Vecchio
Chief Dan George – Little Big Man as Old Lodge Skins
Gene Hackman – I Never Sang for My Father as Gene Garrison
John Marley – Love Story as Phil Cavalleri

Best Supporting Actress:
Helen Hayes – Airport as Ada Quonsett (WINNER)
Karen Black – Five Easy Pieces as Rayette Dipesto
Lee Grant – The Landlord as Joyce Enders
Sally Kellerman – M*A*S*H as Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan
Maureen Stapleton – Airport as Inez Guerrero

Best Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced:
Patton – Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North (WINNER)
Five Easy Pieces – Screenplay by Adrien Joyce; Story by Bob Rafelson and Adrien Joyce
Joe – Norman Wexler
Love Story – Erich Segal
My Night at Maud’s – Éric Rohmer

Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium:
M*A*S*H – Ring Lardner Jr. based on the novel by Richard Hooker (WINNER)
Airport – George Seaton based on the novel by Arthur Hailey
I Never Sang for My Father – Robert Woodruff Anderson based on his play
Lovers and Other Strangers – Renée Taylor, Joseph Bologna and David Zelag Goodman based on the play by Joseph Bologna and Renée Taylor
Women in Love – Larry Kramer based on the novel by D. H. Lawrence

Best Documentary Feature:
Woodstock – Michael Wadleigh (WINNER)
Erinnerungen an die Zukunft – Harald Reinl (Released in English language version under title “Chariots of the Gods?”)
Jack Johnson – Jimmy Jacobs
King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis – Ely Landau
Say Goodbye – David H. Vowell

Best Documentary Short Subject:
Interviews with My Lai Veterans – Joseph Strick (WINNER)
The Gifts
A Long Way from Nowhere
Oisin
Time Is Running Out

Best Live Action Short Subject:
The Resurrection of Broncho Billy – John Longenecker (WINNER)
Shut Up…I’m Crying – Robert Siegler
Sticky My Fingers…Fleet My Feet – John D. Hancock

Best Short Subject – Cartoons:
Is It Always Right to Be Right? – Nick Bosustow (WINNER)
The Further Adventures of Uncle Sam: Part Two – Robert Mitchell and Dale Case
The Shepherd – Cameron Guess

Best Original Score:
Love Story – Francis Lai (WINNER)
Airport – Alfred Newman (posthumous nomination)
Cromwell – Frank Cordell
Patton – Jerry Goldsmith
I Girasoli – Henry Mancini

Best Original Song Score:
Let It Be – Music and Lyrics by The Beatles: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr (WINNER)
The Baby Maker – Music by Fred Karlin; Lyrics by Tylwyth Kymry
A Boy Named Charlie Brown – Music by Rod McKuen and John Scott Trotter; Lyrics by Rod McKuen, Bill Melendez, and Al Shean; Adapted by Vince Guaraldi
Darling Lili – Music by Henry Mancini; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Scrooge – Music and Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse; Adapted by Ian Fraser and Herbert W. Spencer

Best Song Original for the Picture:
“For All We Know” – Lovers and Other Strangers • Music by Fred Karlin • Lyrics by Robb Royer (Robb Wilson) and Jimmy Griffin (Arthur James) (WINNER)
“Whistling Away the Dark” – Darling Lili • Music by Henry Mancini • Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
“Till Love Touches Your Life” – Madron • Music by Riz Ortolani • Lyrics by Arthur Hamilton
“Pieces of Dreams” – Pieces of Dreams • Music by Michel Legrand • Lyrics by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman
“Thank You Very Much” – Scrooge • Music and Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse

Best Sound:
Patton – Douglas Williams and Don Bassman (WINNER)
Airport – Ronald Pierce and David H. Moriarty
Ryan’s Daughter – Gordon McCallum and John Bramall
Tora! Tora! Tora! – Murray Spivack and Herman Lewis
Woodstock – Dan Wallin and L. A. Johnson

Best Foreign Language Film:
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (Italy) (WINNER)
First Love (Switzerland)
Hoa-Binh (France)
Paix sur les champs (Belgium)
Tristana (Spain)

Best Costume Design:
Cromwell – Vittorio Nino Novarese (WINNER)
Airport – Edith Head
Darling Lili – Donald Brooks and Jack Bear
The Hawaiians – Bill Thomas
Scrooge – Margaret Furse

Best Art Direction:
Patton – Art Direction: Urie McCleary and Gil Parrondo; Set Decoration: Antonio Mateos and Pierre-Louis Thévenet (WINNER)
Airport – Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen and E. Preston Ames; Set Decoration: Jack D. Moore and Mickey S. Michaels
The Molly Maguires – Art Direction: Tambi Larsen; Set Decoration: Darrell Silvera
Scrooge – Art Direction: Terence Marsh and Bob Cartwright; Set Decoration: Pamela Cornell
Tora! Tora! Tora! – Art Direction: Jack Martin Smith, Yoshiro Muraki, Richard Day, and Taizoh Kawashima; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott, Norman Rockett and Carl Biddiscombe

Best Cinematography:
Ryan’s Daughter – Freddie Young (WINNER)
Airport – Ernest Laszlo
Patton – Fred J. Koenekamp
Tora! Tora! Tora! – Charles F. Wheeler, Osami Furuya, Masamichi Satoh, and Sinsaku Himeda
Women in Love – Billy Williams

Best Film Editing:
Patton – Hugh S. Fowler (WINNER)
Airport – Stuart Gilmore
M*A*S*H – Danford B. Greene
Tora! Tora! Tora! – James E. Newcom, Pembroke J. Herring, and Inoue Chikaya
Woodstock – Thelma Schoonmaker

Best Special Visual Effects:
Tora! Tora! Tora! – A. D. Flowers and L. B. Abbott (WINNER)
Patton – Alex Weldon

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