# 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 the appearance of Betty Grable who made one of her last public appearances. She appeared along with one of her leading men from the 1940s, singer Dick Haymes, to present the musical scoring awards. Grable died the following year. This was the first time in the history of the awards that the nominees were shown in superimposed pictures while being announced. There were around seven million people who watched the ceremony.

## Winners and nominees
### Awards

Nominations announced on February 22, 1972. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double dagger (‡).
| Best Picture | Best Directing |
| The French Connection – Philip D'Antoni, producer‡ A Clockwork Orange – Stanley Kubrick, producer Fiddler on the Roof – Norman Jewison, producer The Last Picture Show – Stephen J. Friedman, producer Nicholas and Alexandra – Sam Spiegel, producer | 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 |
| Best Actor | Best Actress |
| 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 |
| Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Best Actress in a Supporting Role |
| 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 |
| Best Writing (Story and Screenplay -- Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced) | Best Writing (Screenplay -- Based on Material from Another Medium) |
| 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 |
| Best Foreign Language Film | Best Documentary (Feature) |
| The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (Italy) in Italian – Vittorio De Sica‡ Dodes'ka-den (Japan) in Japanese – Akira Kurosawa The Emigrants (Sweden) in Swedish – Jan Troell The Policeman (Israel) in Hebrew – Ephraim Kishon Tchaikovsky (USSR) 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 |
| Best Documentary (Short Subject) | Best Short Subject (Live Action) |
| 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 |
| Best Short Subject (Animated) | Best Music (Original Dramatic Score) |
| 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 |
| Best Music (Scoring: Adaptation and Original Song Score) | Best Music (Song -- Original for the Picture) |
| 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 |
| Best Costume Design | Best Sound |
| 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 |
| Best Art Direction | Best Cinematography |
| 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 |
| Best Film Editing | Best Special Visual Effects |
| The French Connection – Gerald B. Greenberg‡ The Andromeda Strain – Stuart Gilmore (posthumous nomination) 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

* To Charles Chaplin for the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century.
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

Films that received multiple nominations :
| Nominations | Film |
| 8 | Fiddler on the Roof |
| 8 | The French Connection |
| 8 | The Last Picture Show |
| 6 | Nicholas and Alexandra |
| 5 | Bedknobs and Broomsticks |
| 5 | Mary, Queen of Scots |
| 4 | A Clockwork Orange |
| 4 | Kotch |
| 4 | Summer of '42 |
| 4 | Sunday Bloody Sunday |
| 2 | The Andromeda Strain |
| 2 | The Garden of the Finzi-Continis |
| 2 | The Hospital |
| 2 | Klute |
| 2 | Sentinels of Silence |
| 2 | Shaft |
| 2 | Sometimes a Great Notion |
| 2 | Tchaikovsky |
Films that received multiple awards :
| Awards | Film |
| 5 | The French Connection |
| 3 | Fiddler on the Roof |
| 2 | The Last Picture Show |
| 2 | Nicholas and Alexandra |
| 2 | Sentinels of Silence |

## Presenters and performers
### Presenters (in order of appearance)

| Name(s) | Role |
| Hank Simms | Announcer for the 44th Academy Awards |
| Daniel Taradash (AMPAS President) | Gave opening remarks welcoming guests to the awards ceremony |
| Ann-Margret John Gavin | Presenters of the award for Best Cinematography |
| Karen Black Richard Chamberlain | Presenters of the award for Best Special Visual Effects |
| Timothy Bottoms Jennifer O'Neill | Presenters of the award for Best Art Direction |
| Red Buttons Jill St. John | Presenters of the award for Best Film Editing |
| James Caan Joey Heatherton | Presenters of the award for Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short Subject |
| Frank Capra Natalie Wood | Presenters of the award for Best Director |
| Leslie Caron Jack Valenti | Presenters of the award for Best Foreign Language Film |
| Sandy Duncan Michael York | Presenters of the award for Best Sound |
| Betty Grable Dick Haymes | Presenters of the award for Best Original Score (Dramatic) and Best Score (Adaptation and Original Song) |
| Joel Grey | Presenter of the award for Best Original Song |
| Tennessee Williams | Presenter of the awards for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium and Best Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Produced or Published |
| Gene Hackman Raquel Welch | Presenters of the award for Best Supporting Actress |
| Richard Harris Sally Kellerman | Presenters of the award for Best Supporting Actor |
| Cloris Leachman Richard Roundtree | Presenters of the award for Best Animated Short Subject and Live Action Short Subject |
| Walter Matthau | Presenter of the award for Best Actress |
| Liza Minnelli | Presenter of the award for Best Actor |
| Joe Namath Cybill Shepherd | Presenters of the award for Best Costume Design |
| Jack Nicholson | Presenter of the award for Best Picture |
| Daniel Taradash | Presenter of the Academy Honorary Award to Charlie Chaplin |

### Performers (in order of appearance)

| Name(s) | Role | Performed |
| Henry Mancini | Musical arranger | Orchestral |
| Joel Grey | Performer | "Lights, Camera, Action!" |
| The Carpenters | Performer | "Bless the Beasts and Children" |
| Isaac Hayes | Performer | "Theme from Shaft" |
| Johnny Mathis | Performer | "Life Is What You Make It" |
| Charley Pride | Performer | "All His Children" |
| Debbie Reynolds | Performer | "The Age of Not Believing" |
| Academy Awards Chorus | Performers | "Smile" |