Academy Awards for 1975

By Patrick Mondout

The 48^th Annual Academy Awards were hosted by Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, George Segal, Goldie Hawn, and Gene Kelly on March 29, 1976 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion (Los Angeles) and broadcast live on ABC. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, based on the Ken Kesey novel of the same name, was the big winner garnering five O's for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Writing.

One person who was not happy Oscar night was Cuckoo's author. Kesey who had endeared himself to the cast and crew by telling a local reporter who asked if he'd visited the set, "Does a mother preside over her own abortion?", and had also sued producer Michael Douglas for a bigger share of the film's profits was upset no one mentioned his name during the entire show! "Oscar night should have been one of the great days of my life, like a wedding. I really love movies. When they can be turned around to break your heart like this, well, it's like something you never thought would happen", Kesey told Variety. He more recently told Entertainment Weekly that he's never seen the movie.

On a more moving Cuckoo note, Louise Fletcher - winner for Best Actress - thanked her deaf parents watching in Alabama in sign language: "I want to thank you for teaching me to have a dream."

BEST PICTURE
	Barry Lyndon, Stanley Kubrick, producer
	Dog Day Afternoon, Martin Bregman and Martin Elfand, producers
	Jaws, Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown, producers
	Nashville, Robert Altman, producer
	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Saul Zaentz and Michael Douglas, producers

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
	Al Pacino, Dog Day Afternoon
	James Whitmore, Give 'em Hell, Harry!
	Maximilian Schell, The Man in the Glass Booth
	Jack Nicholson, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
	Walter Matthau, The Sunshine Boys

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
	Glenda Jackson, Hedda
	Carol Kane, Hester Street
	Louise Fletcher, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
	Isabelle Adjani, The Story of Adele H.
	Ann-Margret, Tommy

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
	Burgess Meredith, The Day of the Locust
	Chris Sarandon, Dog Day Afternoon
	Brad Dourif, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
	Jack Warden, Shampoo
	George Burns, The Sunshine Boys

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
	Sylvia Miles, Farewell, My Lovely
	Brenda Vaccaro, Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough
	Ronee Blakley, Nashville
	Lily Tomlin, Nashville
	Lee Grant, Shampoo

BEST DIRECTOR
	Federico Fellini, Amarcord
	Stanley Kubrick, Barry Lyndon
	Sidney Lumet, Dog Day Afternoon
	Robert Altman, Nashville
	Milos Forman, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

BEST WRITING (SCREENPLAY FACTUALLY BASED OR NEW MATERIAL)
	Federico Fellini and Tonino Guerra, Amarcord
	Claude Lelouch and Pierre Uytterhoeven, And Now My Love
	Frank Pierson, Dog Day Afternoon
	Ted Allan, Lies My Father Told Me
	Robert Towne and Warren Beatty, Shampoo

BEST WRITING (SCREENPLAY BASED ON MATERIAL FROM ANOTHER MEDIUM)
	Stanley Kubrick, Barry Lyndon
	John Huston and Gladys Hill, The Man Who Would Be King
	Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
	Ruggero Maccari and Dino Risi, Scent of a Woman
	Neil Simon, The Sunshine Boys

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
	John Alcott, Barry Lyndon
	Conrad Hall, The Day of the Locust
	James Wong Howe, Funny Lady
	Robert Surtees, The Hindenburg
	Haskell Wexler and Bill Butler, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

BEST FILM EDITING
	Dede Allen, Dog Day Afternoon
	Verna Fields, Jaws
	Russell Lloyd, The Man Who Would Be King
	Richard Chew, Lynzee Klingman and Sheldon Kahn, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
	Frederic Steinkamp and Don Guidice, Three Days of the Condor

BEST ART DIRECTION/SET DIRECTION
	Ken Adam and Roy Walker, art direction; Vernon Dixon, set decoration, Barry Lyndon
	Edward Carfagno, art direction; Frank McKelvy, set decoration, The Hindenburg
	Alexander Trauner and Tony Inglis, art direction; Peter James, set decoration, The Man Who Would Be King
	Richard Sylbert and W. Stewart Campbell, art direction; George Gaines, set decoration, Shampoo
	Albert Brenner, art direction; Marvin March, set decoration, The Sunshine Boys

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
	Ulla-Britt Soderlund and Milena Canonero, Barry Lyndon
	Yvonne Blake and Ron Talsky, The Four Musketeers
	Ray Aghayan and Bob Mackie, Funny Lady
	Henny Noremark and Karin Erskine, The Magic Flute
	Edith Head, The Man Who Would Be King

BEST SOUND
	Arthur Piantadosi, Les Fresholtz, Richard Tyler and Al Overton, Jr., Bite the Bullet
	Richard Portman, Don MacDougall, Curly Thirlwell and Jack Solomon, Funny Lady
	Leonard Peterson, John A. Bolger, Jr., John Mack and Don K. Sharpless, The Hindenburg
	Robert L. Hoyt, Roger Heman, Earl Madery and John Carter, Jaws
	Harry W. Tetrick, Aaron Rochin, William McCaughey and Roy Charman, The Wind and the Lion

BEST SOUND (SONG ORIGINAL TO THE PICTURE)
	“How Lucky Can You Get,” Funny Lady, Fred Ebb and John Kander, music and lyrics
	“Theme From Mahogany” (Do You Know Where You're Going To), Mahogany, Michael Masser, music; Gerry Goffin, lyrics
	“I'm Easy,” Nashville, Keith Carradine, music and lyrics
	“Richard's Window,” The Other Side of the Mountain, Charles Fox, music; Norman Gimbel, lyrics
	“Now That We're in Love,” Whiffs, George Barrie, music; Sammy Cahn, lyrics

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
	Gerald Fried, Birds Do It, Bees Do It
	Alex North, Bite the Bullet
	John Williams, Jaws
	Jack Nitzsche, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
	Jerry Goldsmith, The Wind and the Lion

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG SCORE)
	Leonard Rosenman, Barry Lyndon
	Peter Matz, Funny Lady
	Peter Townshend, Tommy

BEST SHORT FILMS (ANIMATED)
	Great (Grantstern Ltd.; British Lion Films Ltd.)
	Kick Me (Robert Swarthe, producer; Robert Swarthe Productions)
	Monsieur Pointu (René Jodoin, Bernard Longpré and André Leduc, producers; National Film Board of Canada)
	Sisyphus (Marcell Jankovics, producer; Hungarofilms)

BEST SHORT FILMS (LIVE ACTION)
	A Day in the Life of Bonnie Consolo (Barry Spinello, producer; Barr Films)
	Angel and Big Joe (Bert Salzman, producer; Bert Salzman Productions)
	Conquest of Light (Louis Marcus, producer; Louis Marcus Films Ltd.)
	Dawn Flight (Lawrence M. Lansburgh and Brian Lansburgh, producers; Lawrence M. Lansburgh Productions)
	Doubletalk (Alan Beattie, producer; Beattie Productions)

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECTS)
	Arthur and Lillie (Jon Else, Steven Kovacs and Kristine Samuelson, producers; Stanford University Department of Communication)
	The End of the Game (Claire Wilbur and Robin Lehman, producers; Opus Films Ltd.)
	Millions of Years Ahead of Man (Manfred Baier, producer; BASF)
	Probes in Space (George V. Casey, producer; Graphic Films)
	Whistling Smith (Barrie Howells and Michael Scott, producers; National Film Board of Canada)

BEST DOCUMENTARY (FEATURES)
	The California Reich (Walter F. Parkes and Keith F. Critchlow, producers; Yasny Talking Pictures)
	Fighting for Our Lives (Glen Pearcy, producer; Farm Worker Film)
	The Incredible Machine (National Geographic Society and Wolper Productions)
	The Man Who Skied Down Everest (F. R. Crawley, James Hager and Dale Hartleben, producers; Crawley Films Presentation)
	The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir (Shirley MacLaine, producer; MacLaine Productions)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
	Dersu Uzala, U.S.S.R.
	Land of Promise, Poland
	Letters From Marusia, Mexico
	Sandakan No. 8, Japan
	Scent of a Woman, Italy

Other Awards

The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award was awarded to Mervyn LeRoy and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award was presented to Dr. Jules C. Stein.

An Honorary Award was given to Mary Pickford "in recognition of her unique contributions to the film industry and the development of film as an artistic medium."

Special Achievement Awards were handed out for Sound Effects (Peter Berkos, The Hindenburg) and for Visual Effects (Albert Whitlock and Glen Robinson, The Hindenburg).

Scientific Awards

William F. Miner (Lighting)
Chadwell O'Connor (Stage Operations)
O'Connor Engineering Laboratories (Stage Operations)
Universal City Studios, Inc. (Lighting)
Westinghouse Electric Corporation (Lighting)
Akwaklame Company (Laboratory)
Roger Banks (Special Photographic)
Bell and Howell Company (Laboratory)
Lawrence W. Butler (Special Photographic)
Carter Equipment Company, Inc. (Laboratory)
David J. Degenkolb (Laboratory)
Deluxe General Incorporated (Laboratory)
John C. Dolan (Laboratory)
Richard Dubois (Laboratory)
Hollywood Film Company (Laboratory)
Ramtronics (Laboratory)
Fredrik Schlyter (Laboratory)
Fred Scobey (Laboratory)
Joseph Westheimer (Special Photographic)