| William Friedkin – The French Connection*Stanley Kubrick – A Clockwork Orange*Norman Jewison – Fiddler on the Roof*Peter Bogdanovich – The Last Picture Show*John Schlesinger – Sunday [Bloody Sunday (film)|Sunday Bloody Sunday] |
| Gene Hackman – The French Connection as Det. Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle*Peter Finch – Sunday Bloody Sunday as Dr. Daniel Hirsch*Walter Matthau – Kotch as Joseph P. Kotcher*George C. Scott – The Hospital as Dr. Herbert "Herb" Bock*Chaim Topol – Fiddler on the Roof as Tevye | Jane Fonda – Klute as Bree Daniels*Julie Christie – McCabe & Mrs. Miller as Constance Miller*Glenda Jackson – Sunday Bloody Sunday as Alex Greville*Vanessa Redgrave – Mary, [Queen of Scots (1971 film)|Mary, Queen of Scots] as Mary, Queen of Scots*Janet Suzman – Nicholas and Alexandra as Empress Alexandra |
| Ben Johnson – The Last Picture Show as Sam the Lion*Jeff Bridges – The Last Picture Show as Duane Jackson*Leonard Frey – Fiddler on the Roof as Motel Kamzoil*Richard Jaeckel – Sometimes a Great Notion as Joe Ben Stamper*Roy Scheider – The French Connection as Det. Buddy 'Cloudy' Russo | Cloris Leachman – The Last Picture Show as Ruth Popper*Ann-Margret – Carnal Knowledge as Bobbie*Ellen Burstyn – The Last Picture Show as Lois Farrow*Barbara Harris – Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? as Allison Densmore*Margaret Leighton – The Go-Between as Mrs. Maudsley |
| The Hospital – Paddy Chayefsky*Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion – Elio Petri and Ugo Pirro*Klute – Andy Lewis and Dave Lewis*Summer of '42 – Herman Raucher*Sunday Bloody Sunday – Penelope Gilliatt | The French Connection – Ernest Tidyman based on the book by Robin Moore*A Clockwork Orange – Stanley Kubrick based on the novel by Anthony Burgess*The Conformist – Bernardo Bertolucci based on the novel Il Conformista by Alberto Moravia*The Garden of the Finzi-Continis – Vittorio Bonicelli and Ugo Pirro based on the novel by Giorgio Bassani*The Last Picture Show – Peter Bogdanovich and Larry McMurtry based on the novel by Larry McMurtry |
| The Garden of the Finzi-Continis in Italian – Vittorio De Sica* Dodes'ka-den in Japanese – Akira Kurosawa* The Emigrants in Swedish – Jan Troell* The Policeman in Hebrew – Ephraim Kishon* Tchaikovsky in Russian – Igor Talankin | The Hellstrom Chronicle – Walon Green*Alaska Wilderness Lake – Alan Landsburg*On Any Sunday – Bruce Brown*Ra – Lennart Ehrenborg and Thor Heyerdahl*The Sorrow and the Pity – Marcel Ophüls |
| Sentinels of Silence – Robert Amram and Manuel Arango*Adventures in Perception – Han van Gelder*Art Is... – Julian Krainin and DeWitt L. Sage Jr.*The Numbers Start with the River – Donald Wrye*Somebody Waiting – Sherwood Omens, Hal Riney and Dick Snider | Sentinels of Silence – Robert Amram and Manuel Arango*Good Morning – Denny Evans and Ken Greenwald*The Rehearsal – Stephen F. Verona |
| The Crunch Bird – Ted Petok*Evolution – Michael Mills*The [Selfish Giant (1972 film)|The Selfish Giant] – Peter Sander and Murray Shostak | Summer of '42 – Michel Legrand*Mary, Queen of Scots – John Barry*Nicholas and Alexandra – Richard Rodney Bennett*Shaft – Isaac Hayes*Straw Dogs – Jerry Fielding |
| Fiddler on the Roof – Adapted by John Williams*Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Adapted by Irwin Kostal; Song Score by The Sherman Brothers: Robert B. and Richard M.*The [Boy Friend (1971 film)|The Boy Friend] – Adapted by Peter Maxwell Davies and Peter Greenwell*Tchaikovsky – Adapted by Dimitri Tiomkin*Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory – Adapted by Walter Scharf; Song Score by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley | "Theme from Shaft" from Shaft – Music and Lyrics by Isaac Hayes* "The Age of Not Believing" from Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Music and Lyrics by Robert Sherman and Richard Sherman* "All His Children" from Sometimes a Great Notion – Music by Henry Mancini; Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman* "Bless the Beasts and Children" from Bless the Beasts and Children – Music and Lyrics by Perry Botkin Jr. and Barry De Vorzon* "Life Is What You Make It" from Kotch – Music by Marvin Hamlisch; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer |
| Nicholas and Alexandra – Yvonne Blake and Antonio Castillo*Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Bill Thomas*Death in Venice – Piero Tosi*Mary, Queen of Scots – Margaret Furse*What's the Matter with Helen? – Morton Haack | Fiddler on the Roof – David Hildyard and Gordon K. McCallum* Diamonds Are Forever – Gordon K. McCallum, John W. Mitchell and Alfred J. Overton* The French Connection – Christopher Newman and Theodore Soderberg* Kotch – Richard Portman and Jack Solomon* Mary, Queen of Scots – John Aldred and Bob Jones |
| Nicholas and Alexandra – Art Direction: Ernest Archer, John Box, Jack Maxsted and Gil Parrondo; Set Decoration: Vernon Dixon*The [Andromeda Strain (film)|The Andromeda Strain] – Art Direction: Boris Leven and William H. Tuntke; Set Decoration: Ruby R. Levitt*Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Art Direction: Peter Ellenshaw and John B. Mansbridge; Set Decoration: Hal Gausman and Emile Kuri*Fiddler on the Roof – Art Direction: Robert F. Boyle and Michael Stringer; Set Decoration: Peter Lamont*Mary, Queen of Scots – Art Direction: Terence Marsh and Robert Cartwright; Set Decoration: Peter Howitt | Fiddler on the Roof – Oswald Morris*The French Connection – Owen Roizman*The Last Picture Show – Robert Surtees*Nicholas and Alexandra – Freddie Young*Summer of '42 – Robert Surtees |
| The French Connection – Gerald B. Greenberg* The Andromeda Strain – Stuart Gilmore and John W. Holmes* A Clockwork Orange – Bill Butler* Kotch – Ralph E. Winters* Summer of '42 – Folmar Blangsted | Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Danny Lee, Eustace Lycett and Alan Maley*When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth – Jim Danforth and Roger Dicken |