Cinemanolis wrote:The supporting actress category was way weaker.
I have to disagree with you, Cinemanolis. I've posted something similar elsewhere, but I actually think that the Best Supporting Actress lineup that year was unusally strong and interesting. Shelley Winters gave a heartfelt, self-effacing performance as the whale-like woman swimmer in The Poseiden Adventure, providing one of the film's most memorable scenes. Jeannie Berlin is hilariously tragic as the ugly duckling in The Heartbreak Kid (I think this is a favorite of Sabin's). Susan Tyrell is screechingly common and almost too real in a Sylvia Miles kinda way in Fat City. And Geraldine Page is a romping hoot in the otherwise dreary melodrama Pete N' Tillie.
However, this category 100% belongs to Eileen Heckart for her fabulous turn as the sarcastic yet endearing mother of a blind boy poised on the brink of independence in Butterflies Are Free. A truly beautiful performance deservedly awarded that year.
If I had gotten Best Supporting Actress, 1972 in Penelope's game, I would've used a pass in a heartbeat to save Heckart's Oscar.
Edited By flipp525 on 1207752783
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
Maggie Smith, Liza Minelli, Joanne Woodward, Barbara Streisand, Diana Ross , Liv Ullmann, Goldie Hawn, and i suppose Cicely Tyson (which i haven't seen) were all worthy along with Ruth Gordon for 'Harold and Maude' who was also eligible i think.
The supporting actress category was way weeker. I would include 2 names nobody mentioned: Irene Papas and Vanessa Redgrave in 'The Trojan Women'.
--Big Magilla wrote:1972 was one of the most exciting years ever for film....
The Oscars, for once, got it mostly right.
I very much agree with this. It was particularly notable since, in the years just preceding, the all-but-declared war between old and new Hollywood had resulted in such bummer best picture nominees as Hello, Dolly!, Airport and Nicholas and Alexandra -- to say nothing of waste-of-space acting nominees like Matthau in Kotch. I steeled myself that February morning for the usual "How COULD they?", and was stunned as one after another category came out with nominees as good as or better than I'd imagined.
1972 was one of the most exciting years ever for film. Cabaraet and The Godfather were phenomenons, as highly anticipated in their day as Gone With the Wind must have been in 1939 or the Star Wars sequels were in more recent times. I remember seeing The Godfather at a midnight or 1 A.M. showing and having to go work the next day on 2 hours sleep and not minding a bit.
It was the year of many highly anticipated stage to screen adaptations - Butterflies Are Free, Child's Play, Sleuth, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, 1776, Man of La Mancha - of which only the latter was a disappointment. It was a year of promising works from new film-makers - Deliverance, The Ruling Class, The Candidate, The Heartbreak Kid - and old masters - Huston's Fat City, Hitchcock's Frenzy, Wilder's Avanti!, Cukor's Travels With My Aunt, Bunuel's Discreet Charm of the Bougeoisie, of new style westerns - Bad Company, The Cowboys, The Culpepper Cattle Company, J.W. Coop, Junior Bonner and Jeremiah Johnson and the emergence of African-African actresses as major players - Cicely Tyson in Sounder and Diana Ross in Lady Sings the Blues.
Perhaps best of all, the New Yorker (the theatre, not the magazine) premiered a series of Ozu films nine years after his death and Tokyo Story made ten best lists in America nineteen years after it was first seen in its native Japan.
The Oscars, for once, got it mostly right. Of the twenty acting nominees, the only one I disagreed with was Paul Winfield, not because he wasn't good in Sounder, but because his role was small, probably the shortest of any actor ever to be nominated for a lead Oscar. My choice for the slot was James Mason at his mmesmerizing best in Child's Play. While I wished there had been room, too, for Joanne Woodward in Marigolds and Robert Preston and Ida Lupino in Junior Bonner, there can only be five nominees in each category so I was immensely satisfied for once.
--Mister Tee wrote:The Golden Globe Avanti! thing was pretty much in-house love for the great Wilder; the film hadn't done well critically or commercially (it's one of the few Wilders I've never seen).
I think you should really try and catch hold of Wilder's Avanti. Thought it was a really charming (if old fashioned) comedy with superb performances by Lemmon, Clive Revill and especially the delightful Juliet Mills.
--Mister Tee wrote:... but I also thought Deliverance was pretty certain. (my surprise was its not picking up nods for Voight or Beatty under acting, or Zsigmond for cinematography).
Beatty?? I thought Burt Reynolds was the one who was a sure shot going into awards season?
Reynolds was the most media-visible in the cast (this was shortly after his famous Cosmo centerfold), but I never heard much praise for his acting in the film (he was thought to have the film's worst, most portentous lines -- "We go down the river because it's there", etc.). Voight, still clinging to Midnight Cowboy heat, had the sympathetic lead role, and Beatty -- a new face to me at the time -- had the focal supporting part.
--Mister Tee wrote:... but I also thought Deliverance was pretty certain. (my surprise was its not picking up nods for Voight or Beatty under acting, or Zsigmond for cinematography).
Beatty?? I thought Burt Reynolds was the one who was a sure shot going into awards season?
Like everyone, I started with Cabaret and Godfather as the sure shots, but I also thought Deliverance was pretty certain. It had got very good reviews, and, by late Fall, had turned into a substantial box-office hit (well bigger than Sounder or Heartbreak Kid or other alternatives); that seemed to me to presage a best picture nod (my surprise was its not picking up nods for Voight or Beatty under acting, or Zsigmond for cinematography).
My predicted five that year were filled out by The Heartbreak Kid and The Poseidon Adventure (the latter on the Airport precedent; I was delighted to be wrong). I'd overestimated affection for Heartbreak (which even lost a screenplay spot to Pete 'n' Tillie), and underestimated love for Sounder (which had struck me as a writing/acting candidate only). And I didn't see The Emigrants coming at all -- even the Ullmann Golden Globe win had struck me more overall reward for her big year (including a Time cover); I almost dropped when I heard about the best picture nod.
The Golden Globe Avanti! thing was pretty much in-house love for the great Wilder; the film hadn't done well critically or commercially (it's one of the few Wilders I've never seen).
I don't think there was much expectation of a foreign nomination the way there is today (except in screenplay, where the writers almost always slipped in something subtitled). I never heard anyone touting Bunuel for directing, despite his National Society win.
I did think Hitchcock would get a late-career directing salute, since Frenzy was his best-reviewed flm post-Psycho.
I remember expecting the best picture nominees to be Cabaret, The Godfather, Sleuth and Sounder with either 1776 or Deliverance picking up the slack in lieu of New York Film Critics award winner, Cries and Whispers, which was ineligible as it didn't open in Los Angeles until 1973. The New York Film Critics Award was still regarded as the most presitgious precursor at the time, but it didn't occur to me that AMPAS would substitute the ineligible Swedish film with another one from the same country (The Emigrants) with the same star (Liv Ullmann). Nor did it occur to me that Deliverance would prove to be more popular than Sleuth with the voters.
The Poseidon Adventure was a huge box-office success, and expected to do well in the technical categories but I don't think anyone anticipated that it would win more than one mention in the top eight categories (best supporting actress nominee, Shelley Winters) despite its Golden Globe nod for best picture.
Avanti!, despite its Golden Globe nod, was not a huge box-office success, and Billy Wilder, having been honored so many times in the past was not the year's most high profile legendary director. That distinction was split between John Huston and Alfred Hitchcock, both garnering their best notices in over a decade with Fat City and Frenzy, respectively.
Question for the elders of the board: what was the expected lineup for the oscars this year? I'm looking at a lot of the nominees and the precursors and the only consensus I can find is that 'The Godfather' and 'Cabaret' were foregone conclusions going in and led the Globe nods with 7 and 9 nods respectively, followed by 6 for 'Avanti!' (which I saw recently and enjoyed). The DGA in addition nodded 'Deliverance', 'Slaughterhouse-Five', and 'Sounder.'
Did people really consider 'Deliverance' Oscar-worthy (or 'The Poseidon Adventure' for that matter), or was it just a matter of filling up slots not occupied by 'Cabaret' and 'The Godfather'? Was 'The Emigrants' the expected foreign nod, or did some see it going to Bunuel for 'The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie'? Were 'Fat City' and 'The Heartbreak Kid' expected inclusions or happy accidents?
James Caan ... The Godfather
Robert Duvall ... The Godfather
Joel Grey ... Cabaret
Al Pacino ... The Godfather *
Paul Winfield ... Sounder
Best Supporting Actress
Marisa Berenson ... Cabaret
Jeannie Berlin ... The Heartbreak Kid
Susan Tyrell ... Fat City
Cicely Tyson ... Sounder *
Shelley Winters ... The Poseidon Adventure
Best Actor
Marlon Brando ... The Godfather
Michael Caine ... Sleuth
Laurence Olivier ... Sleuth *
Robert Redford ... The Candidate
Jon Voight ... Deliverance
Best Actress
Liza Minelli ... Cabaret
Diana Ross ... Lady Sings The Blues *
Maggie Smith ... Travels With My Aunt
Liv Ullmann ... The Emigrants
Joanne Woodward ... The Effects Of Gamma Rays on Man-On-The-Moon Marigolds
1. Savage Messiah
2. Heat
3. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeois
4. Roma
5. Cabaret
Best Director
1. Ken Russell, Savage Messiah
2. Luis Bunuel, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeois
3. Paul Morrissey, Heat
4. Federico Fellini, Roma
5. Bob Fosse, Cabaret
Best Actor
1. Scott Antony, Savage Messiah
2. Marlon Brando, Last Tango in Paris
3. Al Pacino, The Godfather
4. Michael York, Cabaret
5. Yaphet Kotto, Bone
Best Actress
1. Liza Minnelli, Cabaret
2. Dorothy Tutin, Savage Messiah
3. Sylvia Miles, Heat
4. Joanne Woodward, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
5. Joyce Van Patten, Bone
Best Supporting Actor
1. Lou Jacobi, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex
2. Gene Wilder, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex
3. Robert Duvall, The Godfather
4. Helmut Griem, Cabaret
5. Fernando Rey, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeois
Best Supporting Actress
1. Pat Ast, Heat
2. Andrea Feldman, Heat
3. Eileen Heckart, Butterflies Are Free
4. Shelley Winters, The Poseidon Adventure
5. Sudie Bond, Tomorrow
Best Screenplay
1. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeois
2. Heat
3. Cries and Whispers
4. Bone
5. Love in the Afternoon
Best Screenplay Adaptation
1. Savage Messiah
2. Cabaret
3. The Canterbury Tales
4. Solaris
5. The Poseidon Adventure
Best Cinematography
1. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeois
2. Savage Messiah
3. Roma
4. Cabaret
5. Cries and Whispers
Best Editing
1. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeois
2. Savage Messiah
3. Cabaret
4. State of Siege
5. Roma
Best Sound
1. Cabaret
2. Solaris
3. The Poseidon Adventure
4. Roma
5. Savages
Best Art Direction
1. Solaris
2. Savage Messiah
3. Roma
4. Cabaret
5. The Canterbury Tales
Best Costume Design
1. Savage Messiah
2. Roma
3. The Canterbury Tales
4. Cabaret
5. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Where Afraid to Ask
Best Music
1. The Poseidon Adventure
2. The Godfather
3. Butterflies Are Free
4. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Where Afraid to Ask
5. Solaris
Last edited by Precious Doll on Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:00 am, edited 4 times in total.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
Picture:
Cabaret
Cries And Whispers
The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie
Four Nights Of A Dreamer
The Godfather
Actor:
Marlon Brando – The Godfather
Michael Caine - Sleuth
Laurence Olivier - Sleuth
Peter O’Toole – The Ruling Class
*Al Pacino – The Godfather*
Actress:
Harriet Andersson – Cries And Whispers
*Liza Minnelli – Cabaret*
Ingrid Thulin – Cries And Whispers
Cicely Tyson - Sounder
Liv Ullmann – Cries And Whispers
Supporting Actor:
James Caan – The Godfather
Robert Duvall – The Godfather
*Joel Grey – Cabaret*
Clive Revill – Avanti!
Fernando Rey – The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie
Supporting Actress:
Stephane Audran – The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie
Jeannie Berlin – The Heartbreak Kid
*Madeline Kahn – What’s Up Doc?*
Kari Sylwan – Cries And Whispers
Susan Tyrrell – Fat City
Director:
Ingmar Bergman – Cries And Whispers
Robert Bresson – Four Nights Of A Dreamer
Luis Bunuel – The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie
Francis Ford Coppola – The Godfather
Bob Fosse - Cabaret
Original Screenplay:
Robert Benton, Peter Bogdanovich, Buck Henry & David Newman - What’s Up Doc?
Ingmar Bergman - Cries And Whispers
Luis Bunuel & Jean-Claude Carriere - The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie
Andre Harris & Marcel Ophuls - The Sorrow And The Pity
Eric Rohmer – Chloe In The Afternoon
Adapted Screenplay:
Jay Presson Allen - Cabaret
Robert Bresson - Four Nights Of A Dreamer
Francis Ford Coppola & Mario Puzo - The Godfather
I.A.L. Diamond & Billy Wilder - Avanti!
Anthony Shaffer - Sleuth
Foreign Film:
Chloe In The Afternoon (France)
*Cries And Whispers (Sweden)*
The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie (France)
Four Nights Of A Dreamer (France)
The Sorrow And The Pity (Switzerland)
Film:
*Godfather
What's Up Doc?
Cabaret
Lady Sings the Blues
Emmigrants
Actor:
* Marlon Brando (Godfather)
Gene Hackman (Posideon Adventure)
Robert Redford (Canidate)
Paul Scofield (Sounder)
Laurence Oliver (Sleuth)
Actress:
* Barbra Streisand (What's Up Doc?)
Liza Minnelli (Cabaret)
Diana Ross (Lady Sings the Blues)
Goldie Hawn (Butterflies Are Free)
Cybill Shepherd (Heartbreak Kid)
Supporting Actor:
*Al Pacino (Godfather)
Eric Shea (Posideon Adventure)
Joel Grey (Cabaret)
Richard Pryor (Lady Sings The Blues)
Eddie Albert (Heartbreak Kid)
Supporting Actress:
*Madeline Kahn (What's Up Doc?)
Diane Keaton (Godfather)
Eileen Heckhart (Butterflies Are Free)
Pamela Sue Martin (Posideon Adventure)
Isabel Sanford (Lady Sings the Blues)
1972
Best Picture
Cabaret
Cries and Whispers
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
*The Godfather
What's Up Doc?
Best Actor
Marlon Brando, Last Tango in Paris
Michael Caine, Sleuth
Laurence Olivier, Sleuth
Peter O'Toole, The Ruling Class
*Al Pacino, The Godfather
Best Actress
*Liza Minnelli, Cabaret
Diana Ross, Lady Sings the Blues
Cicely Tyson, Sounder
Liv Ullmann, Cries and Whispers
Susannah York, Images
Best Supporting Actor
Marlon Brando, The Godfather
James Caan, The Godfather
Robert Duvall, The Godfather
*Joel Grey, Cabaret
Kenneth Mars, What's Up Doc?
Best Supporting Actress
Jeannie Berlin, The Heartbreak Kid
Eileen Heckart, Butterflies are Free
*Madeline Kahn, What's Up Doc?
Ida Lupino, Junior Bonner
Ingrid Thulin, Cries and Whispers
Best Director
Ingmar Bergman, Cries and Whispers
Bernardo Bertolucci, Last Tango in Paris
Luis Bunuel, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Francis Coppola, The Godfather
*Bob Fosse, Cabaret
Last edited by Reza on Sun Feb 18, 2024 11:07 pm, edited 10 times in total.
