Best Picture and Director 1972

[Sabin]

Mister Tee wrote
I've always wondered what would have happened had Paramount released Face to Face in December 1975 instead of holding it for the following Spring. With all the "is she lead or support?" brouhaha surrounding Louise Fletcher, Ullmann might have been able to scratch out the (then) second Oscar victory for a non-English speaking performance.

Maybe the camera crew might have caught Spielberg saying "They went for Bergman over me?"

I still need to see Face to Face.

Also need to see Amarcord. That probably would have shaken up the 1974 race as well.

[Mister Tee]

I was away for a few days, and unable to post on the board from my tablet (that stupid Clear Cookies thing from last Spring still makes it impossible), so this is the first chance I've had to respond here.

It sounds like The Emigrants benefited from a longer release window but we're lucky that even made it in (I assume, I haven't seen it yet). The projected nominees were probably Cabaret, The Godfather, and some combination of Deliverance, The Poseidon Adventure, Sleuth, and Sounder.

After Hello, Dolly!, Airport, and Nicholas and Alexandra, most of us expected the high-grossing The Poseidon Adventure to fill the crap-movie-that-makes-money slot; it was a very pleasant surprise when it didn't, and an even brighter surprise that The Emigrants did. I, for one, hadn't the slightest expectation for Troell's film. Until Ullmann's Globe win, it wasn't on my list at all, and best actress seemed its only hope, till the morning of nominations.

Just noticed that Liv Ullmann won Best Actress from the National Board of Review and the National Society of Film Critics for The New Land. Was she in any conversation for Best Actress that year?

This is 1973, and I spent much of the season (till she failed to be nominated) thinking she might have a shot at winning. She was following up a losing nomination, had the additional credit of Cries and Whispers, was becoming a presence in American films (albeit awful ones: the combo of Forty Carats and Lost Horizon pushed her back to Swedish directors). And the best actress line-up that year, as evidenced by who won, was exceedingly weak -- for much of the year, Tatum O'Neal was touted as the strongest candidate, which didn't sit well with the "she's just a CHILD" caucus. I'd guess, in the end, Ullmann's two credits probably divided voters, and neither individual performance got enough votes for nomination.

This really is a remarkable three year showing for Ullmann. In 1972, she won Best Actress from NYFCC for Cries and Whispers and The Emigrants*, but didn't even place for the NSFC. In 1973, she won the National Board of Review and National Society awards for The New Land, but NYFCC gave theirs to Woodward and had Jackson as their runner up. And in 1974, she won both NYFCC and NSFC for Scenes from a Marriage.

Don't stop there. Include 1976, where she won NY, NBR and the newly-formed LA Critics best actress prize (and finished second at National Society to Sissy Spacek, possibly because the National's were just sick of picking Ullmann every year). Unfortunately, unlike in 1973, Ullmann faced formidable competition, at least in Oscar terms: Faye Dunaway was seen by then as wildly overdue, in a far more central film. Yet even some Hollywood handicappers thought Ullmann had a chance to win, that's how dominant a presence she was in the period.

I've always wondered what would have happened had Paramount released Face to Face in December 1975 instead of holding it for the following Spring. With all the "is she lead or support?" brouhaha surrounding Louise Fletcher, Ullmann might have been able to scratch out the (then) second Oscar victory for a non-English speaking performance.

[dws1982]

It sounds like The Emigrants benefited from a longer release window but we're lucky that even made it in (I assume, I haven't seen it yet).

It is really great in my opinion! It and The New Land are pretty impossible to separate in my mind, and if you ever get a chance to watch them in pretty close succession (I watched them on subsequent days when we had snow days a few years back), it is a very rewarding experience. They probably kind of seem like miserablist homework, especially if you read a plot description, but even though they are pretty heavy and dark at times, I didn't find them miserable at all. Mildly surprising to me that Ullmann never seemed to have much traction for a follow-up Best Actress nomination for The New Land, although she did win the NBR Best Actress prize for 1973.

[Sabin]

Mister Tee wrote
Cries and Whispers came pretty much out of nowhere to win those NYFCC prizes, so you can hardly fault the producers for not planning a big Oscar run. Look back over the preceding decade or more: with the obvious exception of Z, NY was no more likely to cite a foreign-language film than AMPAS. Who knew they'd suddenly go on a 3-year run of such choices? (In a time when American film was so exciting, we still look back on it as a golden age.)

Foreign films weren't exactly at their zenith in America -- to the point where Cries and Whispers was released by New World, a fledgling studio formed by Roger Corman, which mostly concentrated on the low-budget B's Corman had always favored. I remember Corman saying he couldn't believe how few other studios were interested in a Bergman film; that he acquired it mainly because he thought every Bergman film deserved a release. (Its surprise success did prompt Corman to release a few other foreign efforts over the years just following -- winning foreign-language film Oscars with Amarcord and The Tin Drum.)

So, the surprise is not that Cries and Whispers wasn't ready for an Oscar run; it was that it made that run at all.

That's a very good point. I think my perception was that they made that move all the time but that was the National Society of Film Critics, and their track record with the Academy is/was three Best Picture nominees over the course of their first ten years (Z, M*A*S*H, Nashville). And in 1972, they opted for Bunuel over Bergman.

It sounds like The Emigrants benefited from a longer release window but we're lucky that even made it in (I assume, I haven't seen it yet). The projected nominees were probably Cabaret, The Godfather, and some combination of Deliverance, The Poseidon Adventure, Sleuth, and Sounder.


EDIT:
Just noticed that Liv Ullmann won Best Actress from the National Board of Review and the National Society of Film Critics for The New Land. Was she in any conversation for Best Actress that year?

This really is a remarkable three year showing for Ullmann. In 1972, she won Best Actress from NYFCC for Cries and Whispers and The Emigrants*, but didn't even place for the NSFC. In 1973, she won the National Board of Review and National Society awards for The New Land, but NYFCC gave theirs to Woodward and had Jackson as their runner up. And in 1974, she won both NYFCC and NSFC for Scenes from a Marriage.

*Interestingly, Cicely Tyson won the National Board of Review and National Society of Film Critics Award. In 1972, it would seem that Tyson (not Ullmann) was the critics choice.

[Big Magilla]

I was always puzzled by Cabaret's omission from the costume category, but 1) the film's credited designer was German (and Hollywood-unknown) and 2) if Fosse/Verdon is to be believed (and I believe it should be), Gwen Verdon stepped in and provided a number of the costumes, including Liza's instantly-familiar Mein Herr outfit.

I'm wondering how many knew that Verdon supplied some of the costumes at the time. BAFTA was the only other organization recognizing costumes then, and they nominated it. The Costume Designers Guild didn't start giving out awards until 1998.

It was probably more that Charlotte Flemming, despite her lengthy career in German films, was a complete unknown to the guild's Oscar voters that kept her out of the running.

[Mister Tee]

What would have happened if Cries and Whispers was nominated this year? It's odd that it wasn't given a qualifying date considering that it picked up four NYFCC awards. Was that a record at that point? Had they given out a cinematography award at that time, it would almost certainly have been five. Why wasn't it eligible? Did the distributor think that with The Emigrants and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie in the running that it might do better the following year? That sounds like contemporary thinking but not the case in the more adventurous 70's.

Cries and Whispers came pretty much out of nowhere to win those NYFCC prizes, so you can hardly fault the producers for not planning a big Oscar run. Look back over the preceding decade or more: with the obvious exception of Z, NY was no more likely to cite a foreign-language film than AMPAS. Who knew they'd suddenly go on a 3-year run of such choices? (In a time when American film was so exciting, we still look back on it as a golden age.)

Foreign films weren't exactly at their zenith in America -- to the point where Cries and Whispers was released by New World, a fledgling studio formed by Roger Corman, which mostly concentrated on the low-budget B's Corman had always favored. I remember Corman saying he couldn't believe how few other studios were interested in a Bergman film; that he acquired it mainly because he thought every Bergman film deserved a release. (Its surprise success did prompt Corman to release a few other foreign efforts over the years just following -- winning foreign-language film Oscars with Amarcord and The Tin Drum.)

So, the surprise is not that Cries and Whispers wasn't ready for an Oscar run; it was that it made that run at all.

[Mister Tee]

(Side note: it's so odd that The Godfather isn't nominated for Production Design and Cabaret isn't nominated for Costume Design).

The Godfather not only failed to be nominated for Production Design (then called Art Direction-Set Decoration), it wasn't even included among the 10 finalists cited by the branch. It was (within the then-limited Oscar gossip circle -- which is to say, the Hollywood trades) a pretty big WTF?

I was always puzzled by Cabaret's omission from the costume category, but 1) the film's credited designer was German (and Hollywood-unknown) and 2) if Fosse/Verdon is to be believed (and I believe it should be), Gwen Verdon stepped in and provided a number of the costumes, including Liza's instantly-familiar Mein Herr outfit.

[Big Magilla]

Big Magilla wrote
It's not that those four lead actresses were locked in as that they were probable nominees along with Joanne Woodward in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. Maggie Smith over Woodward was a bit of a surprise, but not a shock.

It sounds like Travels with My Aunt was an anticipated project that was ultimately disappointing. Was it anticipated to factor at all in the Oscar race and is it worthwhile to check out?

Travels with My Aunt was intended for Katharine Hepburn who either quit or was fired (depending on the source) because she couldn't convincingly play the flashback scenes as a younger version of the old lady of the title whereas Maggie Smith could do both.

It's not a great movie, but it's worth a watch if you're a Maggie Smith fan, and who isn't?

[Reza]

Ingrid Thulin was seriously robbed. She should have received a nod in the supporting category for Cries and Whispers.

[mlrg]

Big Magilla wrote
It's not that those four lead actresses were locked in as that they were probable nominees along with Joanne Woodward in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. Maggie Smith over Woodward was a bit of a surprise, but not a shock.

It sounds like Travels with My Aunt was an anticipated project that was ultimately disappointing. Was it anticipated to factor at all in the Oscar race and is it worthwhile to check out?

Last week I watched Lady Sings the Blues for the first time and was impressed about how committed Diana Ross was to her role. It’s not a great film but it’s much better than that dreadful Andra Day film released in 2020.

Travels with my Aunt is a pretty dull film as far as I remember.

[Sabin]

Big Magilla wrote
It's not that those four lead actresses were locked in as that they were probable nominees along with Joanne Woodward in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. Maggie Smith over Woodward was a bit of a surprise, but not a shock.

It sounds like Travels with My Aunt was an anticipated project that was ultimately disappointing. Was it anticipated to factor at all in the Oscar race and is it worthwhile to check out?

[Big Magilla]

I think you make a good point about Liv Ullmann possibly missing out if she's up against her Emigrants performance but my sense (and please correct me) of the Best Actress race in 1972 is that the main four were locked in (Minnelli, Ross, Ullmann, Tyson) with Smith a distant fifth. So maybe she gets in for Cries and Whispers. My memory of the film (I don't think I've seen it since my teenage years) is that it was very much an ensemble thing.

For Best Supporting Actress, I don't see consensus around who the standout was. BAFTA nominated Ingrid Thulin while NSFC gave a runner up to Harriett Andersson. Seeing as how I just watched Butterflies Are Free, Best Supporting Actress is a race I'm now looking at and my vague memory of Cries and Whispers is that there isn't a standout supporting performance that probably was going to get more industry support than Shelley Winters in The Poseidon Adventure (again, haven't seen it but I can imagine).

It's not that those four lead actresses were locked in as that they were probable nominees along with Joanne Woodward in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. Maggie Smith over Woodward was a bit of a surprise, but not a shock.

I thought Ullmann was more deserving for The Emigrants than Cries and Whispers due to the size of her role, but Cries and Whispers is the film for which she is best known.

Shelley Winters had never won a Golden Globe so her win for The Poseidon Adventure was expected but she had already won two Oscars which gave the edge to Eileen Heckart.

[Sabin]

Big Magilla wrote
Cries and Whispers would have easily replaced The Emigrants in the Best Picture race had it been eligible. If anything, The Emigrants may have gotten the nominations it did because Cries and Whispers was ineligible.

Let's assume that Cries and Whispers gets in for Best Picture and Director. The other three categories it was up for at the 46th Academy Awards was Original Screenplay, Cinematography, and Costume Design (winning for Cinematography). Looking at how those categories played out, I don't think Cries and Whispers has any difficulty elbowing in. It possibly wins Cinematography and/or Costume Design. So, the question then becomes what else? It's been ages since I've seen the film but I recall it being a very set decorated thing. So maybe a Best Production Design nomination? I haven't seen Lady Sings the Blues, The Poseidon Adventure, Travels with My Aunt, or Young Winston.

(Side note: it's so odd that The Godfather isn't nominated for Production Design and Cabaret isn't nominated for Costume Design).

That's six nominations. I think you make a good point about Liv Ullmann possibly missing out if she's up against her Emigrants performance but my sense (and please correct me) of the Best Actress race in 1972 is that the main four were locked in (Minnelli, Ross, Ullmann, Tyson) with Smith a distant fifth. So maybe she gets in for Cries and Whispers. My memory of the film (I don't think I've seen it since my teenage years) is that it was very much an ensemble thing.

For Best Supporting Actress, I don't see consensus around who the standout was. BAFTA nominated Ingrid Thulin while NSFC gave a runner up to Harriett Andersson. Seeing as how I just watched Butterflies Are Free, Best Supporting Actress is a race I'm now looking at and my vague memory of Cries and Whispers is that there isn't a standout supporting performance that probably was going to get more industry support than Shelley Winters in The Poseidon Adventure (again, haven't seen it but I can imagine).

So basically had it been released in 1972, Cries and Whispers could end up topping its five nomination total from the following years with nominations for Best Actress and Production Design, which is more than the other Best Picture/Director contenders: The Emigrants, Deliverance, Sleuth, and Sounder.

[Big Magilla]

Cries and Whispers would have easily replaced The Emigrants in the Best Picture race had it been eligible. If anything, The Emigrants may have gotten the nominations it did because Cries and Whispers was ineligible.

The film had its world premiere in New York on December 21, 1972, and was not shown anywhere else in the world including Sweden, until 1973. It was released after the National Board of Review announced its awards on December 14, 1972. It was a rare film to have missed the New York based NBR cut-off but made up for it the following year. Usually, if missed the cut-off it would have been ignored the following year. The last time they included a holdover film was probably 1940 when Gone with the Wind came in in ninth place.

The 1973 awards were announced on December 24, 1973, with Cries and Whispers winning Best Foreign Film over Day for Night and The New Land. Liv Ullmann was named Best Actress, albeit for The New Land.

The only question is, would Ullman have been Oscar nominated for The Emigrants or Cries and Whispers if the latter had been eligible for the 1972 awards. It's possible that she missed a nomination in 1973 with competing votes for Cries and Whispers, for which she had won the New York Film Critics award in 1972 and The New Land for which she won the National Society of Film Critics award in 1973.

I have no idea why the Los Angeles based Golden Globes would have included either The New Land or Cries and Whispers in their 1972 awards.

[Sabin]

I still have to watch The Emigrants, Sleuth, and Sounder. But I have a question and I'm surprised I didn't ask it on this thread before.

What would have happened if Cries and Whispers was nominated this year? It's odd that it wasn't given a qualifying date considering that it picked up four NYFCC awards. Was that a record at that point? Had they given out a cinematography award at that time, it would almost certainly have been five. Why wasn't it eligible? Did the distributor think that with The Emigrants and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie in the running that it might do better the following year? That sounds like contemporary thinking but not the case in the more adventurous 70's.

Speaking of said adventurous 70's, was this year a high-water mark? I see The Emigrants and The New Land winning in tandem at The Golden Globes (seems like a double nominee), The Sorrow and the Pity winning Best Foreign Film at the National Board of Review, and Bunuel and Bergman splitting the top crix prizes. All of this with Bertolucci waiting in the wings as Last Tango in Paris premiered at NYFF fall of 1972 (imagine if that was released too!).

If Cries and Whispers had been released, would it have pushed The Emigrants off the list or was The Emigrants a stronger ticket that year overall? Two foreign-language films in the top five is probably too much to ask from the Academy although if there was one year it might happen.