Awards

1975 Oscars 47th Academy Awards

Posted by Joe Hummel IIIPosted 49 years ago April 8, 1975

1975 Oscars 47th Academy Awards

Winners Announced: April 8, 1975
Held at: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, California
Hosts: Sammy Davis, Jr., Bob Hope, Shirley MacLaine, Frank Sinatra
Eligibility Year: 1974

Trivia and Details

This was the only Oscars where the same studio released all nominees in one category: all five Best Costume Design nominations were for films released by Paramount Pictures.
The hosting line-up was studded with iconic performers. Bob Hope, who had hosted multiple times, joined a rare ensemble of hosts that included Sammy Davis, Jr., Shirley MacLaine, and Frank Sinatra.
The Best Picture award went to The Godfather Part II. It was the first sequel to win Best Picture, and it also won for Best Director (Francis Ford Coppola) and Best Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro).
The Towering Inferno received a Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects. The film was a commercial blockbuster and a significant entry in the disaster movie genre.
Art Carney won Best Actor for Harry and Tonto, beating out actors like Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson. It was a surprising win and remains one of the Oscars’ notable upsets.
The Great Gatsby swept the costume and art direction categories, making it a rare case where a film’s visual aesthetics were highly celebrated, but it failed to snag any of the top awards.
Actress Ingrid Bergman won her third Oscar for her role in Murder on the Orient Express, further cementing her status as an icon in Hollywood history.
Blazing Saddles, directed by Mel Brooks, was nominated for three awards but failed to win any. However, its legacy as a comedy classic endures.

1975 Oscar Nominees and Winners

Best Picture:
The Godfather Part II – Francis Ford Coppola, producer; Gray Frederickson and Fred Roos, co – producers (WINNER)
Chinatown – Robert Evans, producer
The Conversation – Francis Ford Coppola, producer; Fred Roos, co-producer
Lenny – Marvin Worth, producer
The Towering Inferno – Irwin Allen, producer

Best Director:
Francis Ford Coppola – The Godfather Part II (WINNER)
Roman Polanski – Chinatown
François Truffaut – Day for Night
Bob Fosse – Lenny
John Cassavetes – A Woman Under the Influence

Best Actor:
Art Carney – Harry and Tonto as Harry Coombes (WINNER)
Albert Finney – Murder on the Orient Express as Hercule Poirot
Dustin Hoffman – Lenny as Lenny Bruce
Jack Nicholson – Chinatown as J.J. “Jake” Gittes
Al Pacino – The Godfather Part II as Michael Corleone

Best Actress:
Ellen Burstyn – Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore as Alice Hyatt (WINNER)
Diahann Carroll – Claudine as Claudine Price
Faye Dunaway – Chinatown as Evelyn Cross Mulwray
Valerie Perrine – Lenny as Honey Bruce
Gena Rowlands – A Woman Under the Influence as Mabel Longhetti

Best Supporting Actor:
Robert De Niro – The Godfather Part II as Vito Corleone (WINNER)
Fred Astaire – The Towering Inferno as Harlee Claiborne
Jeff Bridges – Thunderbolt and Lightfoot as Lightfoot
Michael V. Gazzo – The Godfather Part II as Frankie “Five Angels” Pentangeli
Lee Strasberg – The Godfather Part II as Hyman Roth

Best Supporting Actress:
Ingrid Bergman – Murder on the Orient Express as Greta Ohlsson (WINNER)
Valentina Cortese – Day for Night as Severine
Madeline Kahn – Blazing Saddles as Lili von Shtupp
Diane Ladd – Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore as Florence “Flo” Castleberry
Talia Shire – The Godfather Part II as Connie Corleone

Best Original Screenplay:
Chinatown – Robert Towne (WINNER)
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore – Robert Getchell
The Conversation – Francis Ford Coppola
Day for Night – François Truffaut, Suzanne Schiffman and Jean-Louis Richard
Harry and Tonto – Paul Mazursky and Josh Greenfeld

Best Screenplay Adapted from Other Material:
The Godfather Part II – Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo based on the novel The Godfather by Mario Puzo (WINNER)
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz – Mordecai Richler and Lionel Chetwynd based on the novel by Mordecai Richler
Lenny – Julian Barry based on his play
Murder on the Orient Express – Paul Dehn based on the novel by Agatha Christie
Young Frankenstein – Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks based on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Best Documentary Feature:
Hearts and Minds – Peter Davis (WINNER)
The 81st Blow – Haim Gouri
Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman – Judy Collins and Jill Godmilow
The Challenge… A Tribute to Modern Art – Herbert Kline
The Wild and the Brave – Natalie R. Jones and Eugene S. Jones

Best Documentary Short Subject:
Don’t – Robin Lehman (WINNER)
City Out of Wilderness
Exploratorium
John Muir’s High Sierra
Naked Yoga

Best Live Action Short Film:
One-Eyed Men Are Kings – Paul Claudon and Edmond Sechan (WINNER)
Climb – Dewitt Jones
The Concert – Julian Chagrin and Claude Chagrin
Planet Ocean – George V. Casey
The Violin – Andrew Welsh and George Pastic

Best Animated Short Film:
Closed Mondays – Will Vinton and Bob Gardiner (WINNER)
The Family That Dwelt Apart – Yvon Mallette and Robert Verrall
Hunger – Peter Foldes and René Jodoin
Voyage to Next – John Hubley and Faith Hubley
Winnie the Pooh and Teggir Too – Wolfgang Reitherman

Best Original Dramatic Score:
The Godfather Part II – Nino Rota and Carmine Coppola (WINNER)
Chinatown – Jerry Goldsmith
Murder on the Orient Express – Richard Rodney Bennett
Shanks – Alex North
The Towering Inferno – John Williams

Best Scoring: Original Song Score and Adaptation or Scoring: Adaptation:
The Great Gatsby – Adapted by Nelson Riddle (WINNER)
The Little Prince – Song Score by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe; Adapted by Angela Morley and Douglas Gamley
Phantom of the Paradise – Song Score by Paul Williams; Adapted by Paul Williams and George Aliceson Tipton

Best Song:
“We May Never Love Like This Again” – The Towering Inferno • Music and Lyrics by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn (WINNER)
“Benji’s Theme (I Feel Love)” – Benji • Music by Euel Box • Lyrics by Betty Box
“Blazing Saddles” – Blazing Saddles • Music by John Morris • Lyrics by Mel Brooks
“Little Prince” – The Little Prince • Music by Frederick Loewe • Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
“Wherever Love Takes Me” – Gold • Music by Elmer Bernstein • Lyrics by Don Black

Best Sound:
Earthquake – Ronald Pierce and Melvin Metcalfe Sr. (WINNER)
Chinatown – Bud Grenzbach and Larry Jost
The Conversation – Walter Murch and Arthur Rochester
The Towering Inferno – Theodore Soderberg and Herman Lewis
Young Frankenstein – Richard Portman and Gene Cantamessa

Best Foreign Language Film:
Amarcord – Italy (WINNER)
Cats’ Play – Hungary
The Deluge – Poland
Lacombe, Lucien – France
The Truce – Argentina

Best Costume Design:
The Great Gatsby – Theoni V. Aldredge (WINNER)
Chinatown – Anthea Sylbert
Daisy Miller – John Furniss
The Godfather Part II – Theadora Van Runkle
Murder on the Orient Express – Tony Walton

Best Art Direction:
The Godfather Part II – Art Direction: Dean Tavoularis and Angelo P. Graham: Set Decoration: George R. Nelson (WINNER)
Chinatown – Art Direction: Richard Sylbert and W. Stewart Campbell; Set Decoration: Ruby R. Levitt
Earthquake – Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen and E. Preston Ames; Set Decoration: Frank R. McKelvy
The Island at the Top of the World – Art Direction: Peter Ellenshaw, John B. Mansbridge, Walter H. Tyler and Al Roelofs; Set Decoration: Hal Gausman
The Towering Inferno – Art Direction: William J. Creber and Ward Preston; Set Decoration: Raphaël Bretton

Best Cinematography:
The Towering Inferno – Joseph Biroc and Fred J. Koenekamp (WINNER)
Chinatown – John A. Alonzo
Earthquake – Philip H. Lathrop
Lenny – Bruce Surtees
Murder on the Orient Express – Geoffrey Unsworth

Best Film Editing:
The Towering Inferno – Harold F. Kress and Carl Kress (WINNER)
Blazing Saddles – John C. Howard and Danford Greene
Chinatown – Sam O’Steen
Earthquake – Dorothy Spencer
The Longest Yard – Michael Luciano

Special Achievement Award:
Frank Brendel, Glen Robinson, and Albert Whitlock for the visual effects of Earthquake

Academy Honorary Awards:
Jean Renoir
Howard Hawks

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award:
Arthur B. Krim

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