The 47th Academy Awards were presented Tuesday, April 8, 1975, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California, honoring the best films of 1974. The ceremonies were presided over by Bob Hope, Shirley MacLaine, Sammy Davis Jr., and Frank Sinatra. Before ABC, the ceremony's current broadcaster, acquired the U.S. broadcast rights, this was the last ceremony to air on NBC.

47th Academy Awards
DateApril 8, 1975
SiteDorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles
Hosted byBob Hope, Shirley MacLaine, Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra
Produced byHoward W. Koch
Directed byMarty Pasetta
Highlights
Best PictureThe Godfather Part II
Most awardsThe Godfather Part II (6)
Most nominationsChinatown and The Godfather Part II (11)
TV in the United States
NetworkNBC

The success of The Godfather Part II was notable; it received twice as many Oscars as its predecessor (six) and duplicated its feat of three Best Supporting Actor nominations (as of the 96th Academy Awards, it is the last film to receive three nominations in a single acting category). Between the two of them, father and son Carmine and Francis Ford Coppola won four awards, with Carmine winning for Best Original Dramatic Score (with Nino Rota) and Francis for Picture, Director, and Best Screenplay Adapted from Other Material (with Mario Puzo).

Prior to the ceremony, Dustin Hoffman, who was nominated for his performance in the film Lenny, described the awards as "ugly" and "grotesque" and likened the ceremony to a beauty pageant, causing host Hope to remark that "if Dustin Hoffman wins tonight, he's going to have a friend pick it up for him—George C. Scott."[1] Ingrid Bergman felt that she won her Academy Award out of a collective showbusiness guilt over her being ostracized from Hollywood in 1949 due to her affair with director Roberto Rossellini and that Valetina Cortese was worthy of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.[1] Upon winning the Best Documentary Feature Oscar for Hearts & Minds, co-producer Bert Schneider said, "It's ironic that we're here at a time just before Vietnam is about to be liberated," and then read a telegram containing "Greetings of Friendship to All American People" from Ambassador Dinh Ba Thi of the Provisional Revolutionary Government (Viet Cong)[2] delegation to the Paris Peace Accords.[1][3] The telegram thanked the anti-war movement "for all they have done on behalf of peace".[4] The speech infuriated Hope, who later wrote a telegram that he had Sinatra read to the divided audience. The note said: "The academy is saying, 'We are not responsible for any political references made on the program, and we are sorry they had to take place this evening.'"[1][5] This speech infuriated a third co-host, Shirley MacLaine, and actor Warren Beatty, who sarcastically retorted "thank you, Frank, you old Republican". MacLaine, for her part, remarked "You said you were speaking for the Academy. Well, I'm a member of the Academy and you didn't ask me!".[6]

This was the only Oscar ceremony in which all five of the nominees in a single category were released by the same studio: all five Best Costume Design nominations were for films released by Paramount Pictures.

Winners and nominees

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Francis Ford Coppola, Best Director winner, Best Picture co-winner, and Best Adapted Screenplay co-winner
Art Carney, Best Actor winner
Ellen Burstyn, Best Actress winner
Robert De Niro, Best Supporting Actor winner
Ingrid Bergman, Best Supporting Actress winner
Robert Towne, Best Original Screenplay winner
Will Vinton, Best Animated Short Film co-winner

Nominees were announced on February 24, 1975. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double dagger (‡).[7][8]

Best Picture Best Director
Best Actor Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress
Best Original Screenplay Best Screenplay Adapted from Other Material
Best Foreign Language Film Best Documentary Feature
Best Documentary Short Subject Best Live Action Short Film
  • One-Eyed Men Are Kings – Paul Claudon and Edmond Sechan
    • 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 Best Original Dramatic Score
Best Scoring: Original Song Score and Adaptation or Scoring: Adaptation Best Song
Best Costume Design Best Sound
Best Art Direction Best Cinematography
Best Film Editing

Special Achievement Award

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Academy Honorary Award

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Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

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Multiple nominations and awards

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Films with multiple awards
Awards Film
6 The Godfather Part II
3 The Towering Inferno
2 Earthquake
The Great Gatsby

Presenters and performers

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The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers:

Presenters

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Name Role
Hank Simms Announcer for the 47th Academy Awards
Walter Mirisch (AMPAS President) Giver of opening remarks welcoming guests to the awards ceremony
Ryan O'Neal
Tatum O'Neal
Explainers of the voting rules to the public and presenters of the award for Best Supporting Actor
Francis Ford Coppola Recipient of the award for Best Supporting Actor on behalf of Robert De Niro
Roddy McDowall
Brenda Vaccaro
Presenters of the Short Films Awards
Lauren Hutton
Danny Thomas
Presenters of the Documentary Awards
Ingrid Bergman Presenter of the Honorary Award to Jean Renoir
Bob Hope Presenter of the Special Achievement Award to Frank Brendel, Glen Robinson and Albert Whitlock for their work in Earthquake
Gene Kelly Presenter of the award for Best Original Song
Joseph Bottoms
Deborah Raffin
Presenters of the award for Best Sound
John Wayne Presenter of the Honorary Award to Howard Hawks
Diahann Carroll
Johnny Green
Presenters of the Music Awards
Lauren Bacall Presenter of the award for Best Costume Design
Peter Falk
Katharine Ross
Presenters of the award for Best Supporting Actress
Susan Blakely
O. J. Simpson
Presenters of the award for Best Art Direction
Jon Voight
Raquel Welch
Presenters of the award for Best Cinematography
Macdonald Carey
Jennifer O'Neill
Presenters of the award for Best Film Editing
Susan George
Jack Valenti
Presenters of the award for Best Foreign Language Film
Frank Sinatra Presenter of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Arthur J. Krim
Goldie Hawn
Robert Wise
Presenters of the award for Best Director
James Michener Presenter of the awards for Best Screenplay Adapted from Other Material and Best Original Screenplay
Glenda Jackson Presenter of the award for Best Actor
Jack Lemmon Presenter of the award for Best Actress
Warren Beatty Presenter of the award for Best Picture

Performers

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Name Role Performed
Johnny Green Musical arranger and conductor Orchestral
Frankie Laine Performer "Blazing Saddles" from Blazing Saddles
Jack Jones Performer “Little Prince” from The Little Prince
Aretha Franklin Performer "Wherever Love Takes Me" from Gold
Frankie Laine
Jack Jones
Aretha Franklin
Performers "We May Never Love Like This Again" from The Towering Inferno and "Benji's Theme (I Feel Love)" from Benji
Frank Sinatra
Shirley MacLaine
Sammy Davis Jr.
Bob Hope
Academy Awards Orchestra
Performers "That's Entertainment!"

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Wallechinsky, David; Wallace, Irving (1975). The People's Almanac. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. p. 847. ISBN 0-385-04060-1.
  2. ^ Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, p. 275.
  3. ^ Robinson, George. Sometimes A Thank You Isn't Enough", The New York Times, March 4, 2001. Accessed May 29, 2008.
  4. ^ Schulzinger, Robert D., "A Time for Peace: The Legacy of the Vietnam War", page 155, Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York, 2006
  5. ^ Efron, Eric. " The World: Acting Out; At the Oscars, a Cause and Effect", The New York Times, March 30, 2003. Accessed May 29, 2008.
  6. ^ "Politics and Oscar Night". The Nation. February 25, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  7. ^ "The Official Academy Awards Database". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2011. Select "1974" in the "Award Year(s)" drop-down menu and press "Search".
  8. ^ "The 47th Academy Awards (1975) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved October 2, 2011.