44th Academy Awards


The 44th Academy Awards were presented April 10, 1972, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. The ceremonies were presided over by Helen Hayes, Alan King, Sammy Davis Jr., and Jack Lemmon. One of the highlights of the evening was one of the last public appearances of Betty Grable, who died the following year. She appeared alongside one of her leading men from the 1940s, singer Dick Haymes, to present the musical scoring awards. This was the first time in Awards history that the nominees were shown in superimposed pictures while being announced. Around seventy-five million viewers watched the ceremony.

Winners and nominees

Awards

Nominations announced on February 22, 1972. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

  • 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
  • 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 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 – 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 – 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 – 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
  • Honorary Award

    Chaplin, who had been living in self-imposed exile in Switzerland for twenty years, went back to the United States to re-market his older films and to receive this award. When introduced to the audience, Chaplin received a twelve-minute standing ovation, the longest in Academy Awards history.

    Films with multiple wins and nominations

    NominationsFilm
    8Fiddler on the Roof
    8The French Connection
    8The Last Picture Show
    6Nicholas and Alexandra
    5Bedknobs and Broomsticks
    5Mary, Queen of Scots
    4A Clockwork Orange
    4Kotch
    4Summer of '42
    4Sunday Bloody Sunday
    2The Andromeda Strain
    2The Garden of the Finzi-Continis
    2The Hospital
    2Klute
    2Sentinels of Silence
    2Shaft
    2Sometimes a Great Notion
    2Tchaikovsky

    AwardsFilm
    5The French Connection
    3Fiddler on the Roof
    2The Last Picture Show
    2Nicholas and Alexandra
    2Sentinels of Silence