Academy Awards for 1970

By Patrick Mondout

The 43^rd Annual Academy Awards were held on April 15, 2024 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion (Los Angeles) and broadcast live on NBC. The show was one of the more memorable with George C. Scott's rejection and for Bob Hope's ill-conceived anti-demonstration joke which lead to a chorus of boos. Hope's monologue was called "weary, bitter, and excruciatingly unfunny" and "an embarrassment to everyone" by Los Angeles Times critic Charles Champlin.

As expected, Patton was the big winner with Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Writing awards. George C. Scott, who portrayed Patton, shocked Hollywood by becoming the first actor to refuse an Oscar. (The first to refuse any Oscar was 1935 winner Dudley Nichols, who returned his screenwriter award twice over a labor dispute.) Scott refused his award for Patton, calling the ceremonies “a two-hour meat parade, a public display with contrived suspense for economic reasons.” (Hmmm... Sounds like the movie Patton.) In reality, Scott was still bitter over his 1959 loss to Hugh Griffen of Ben Hur. Rather than watched the meat parade, Scott stayed home and watched a hockey game (a two-hour bloodbath contrived for economic reasons). Everyone had an opinion about Scott's gesture but one megastar was taking notes: Marlon Brando not only matched Scott's refusal two years later, he raised the gesture to an art form.

BEST PICTURE
	Airport, Ross Hunter, producer
	Five Easy Pieces, Bob Rafelson and Richard Wechsler, producers
	Love Story, Howard G. Minsky, producer
	M*A*S*H, Ingo Preminger, producer
	Patton, Frank McCarthy, producer

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
	Jack Nicholson, Five Easy Pieces
	James Earl Jones, The Great White Hope
	Melvyn Douglas, I Never Sang for My Father
	Ryan O'Neal, Love Story
	George C. Scott, Patton (refused)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
	Carrie Snodgress, Diary of a Mad Housewife
	Jane Alexander, The Great White Hope
	Ali MacGraw, Love Story
	Sarah Miles, Ryan's Daughter
	Glenda Jackson, Women in Love

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
	Gene Hackman, I Never Sang for My Father
	Chief Dan George, Little Big Man
	Richard Castellano, Lovers and Other Strangers
	John Marley, Love Story
	John Mills, Ryan's Daughter

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
	Helen Hayes, Airport
	Maureen Stapleton, Airport
	Karen Black, Five Easy Pieces
	Lee Grant, The Landlord
	Sally Kellerman, M*A*S*H

BEST DIRECTOR
	Federico Fellini, Satyricon
	Arthur Hiller, Love Story
	Robert Altman, M*A*S*H
	Franklin J. Schaffner, Patton
	Ken Russell, Women in Love

BEST WRITING (SCREENPLAY FACTUALLY BASED OR NEW MATERIAL)
	Bob Rafelson and Adrien Joyce, story; Adrien Joyce, screenplay, Five Easy Pieces
	Norman Wexler, Joe
	Erich Segal, Love Story
	Eric Rohmer, My Night at Maud's
	Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North, Patton

BEST WRITING (SCREENPLAY BASED ON MATERIAL FROM ANOTHER MEDIUM)
	George Seaton, Airport
	Robert Anderson, I Never Sang for My Father
	Renee Taylor, Joseph Bologna and David Zelag Goodman, Lovers and Other Strangers
	Ring Lardner, Jr., M*A*S*H
	Larry Kramer, Women in Love

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
	Ernest Laszlo, Airport
	Fred Koenekamp, Patton
	Freddie Young, Ryan's Daughter
	Charles F. Wheeler, Osami Furuya, Sinsaku Himeda and Masamichi Satoh, Tora! Tora! Tora!
	Billy Williams, Women in Love

BEST FILM EDITING
	Stuart Gilmore, Airport
	Danford B. Greene, M*A*S*H
	Hugh S. Fowler, Patton
	James E. Newcom, Pembroke J. Herring and Inoue Chikaya, Tora! Tora! Tora!
	Thelma Schoonmaker, Woodstock

BEST ART DIRECTION/SET DIRECTION
	Alexander Golitzen and E. Preston Ames, art direction; Jack D. Moore and Mickey S. Michaels, set decoration, Airport
	Tambi Larsen, art direction; Darrell Silvera, set decoration, The Molly Maguires
	Urie McCleary and Gil Parrondo, art direction; Antonio Mateos and Pierre-Louis Thevenet, set decoration, Patton
	Terry Marsh and Bob Cartwright, art direction; Pamela Cornell, set decoration, Scrooge
	Jack Martin Smith, Yoshiro Muraki, Richard Day and Taizoh Kawashima, art direction; Walter M. Scott, Norman Rockett and Carl Biddiscombe, set decoration, Tora! Tora! Tora!

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
	Edith Head, Airport
	Nino Novarese, Cromwell
	Donald Brooks and Jack Bear, Darling Lili
	Bill Thomas, The Hawaiians
	Margaret Furse, Scrooge

BEST SOUND
	Gordon K. McCallum and John Bramall, Ryan's Daughter
	Ronald Pierce and David Moriarty, Airport
	Murray Spivack and Herman Lewis, Tora! Tora! Tora!
	Dan Wallin and Larry Johnson, Woodstock
	Douglas Williams and Don Bassman, Patton

BEST SOUND (SONG ORIGINAL TO THE PICTURE)
	“Whistling Away the Dark,” Darling Lili, Henry Mancini, music; Johnny Mercer, lyrics
	“For All We Know,” Lovers and Other Strangers, Fred Karlin, music; Robb Royer and James Griffin, lyrics
	“Till Love Touches Your Life,” Madron, Riz Ortolani, music; Arthur Hamilton, lyrics
	“Pieces of Dreams,” Pieces of Dreams, Michel Legrand, music; Alan and Marilyn Bergman, lyrics
	“Thank You Very Much,” Scrooge, Leslie Bricusse, music and lyrics

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
	Alfred Newman, Airport
	Frank Cordell, Cromwell
	Francis Lai, Love Story
	Jerry Goldsmith, Patton
	Henry Mancini, Sunflower

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG SCORE)
	Rod McKuen and John Scott Trotter, music; Rod McKuen, Bill Melendez and Al Shean, lyrics; Vince Guaraldi, adaptation score, A Boy Named Charlie Brown
	Fred Karlin and Tylwyth Kymry, The Baby Maker
	Henry Mancini, music; Johnny Mercer, lyrics, Darling Lili
	The Beatles, Let It Be
	Leslie Bricusse, music and lyrics; Ian Fraser and Herbert W. Spencer, adaptation, Scrooge

BEST SHORT FILMS (CARTOON)
	The Further Adventures of Uncle Sam: Part Two (Haboush Company; Goldstone Films)
	Is It Always Right to Be Right? (Stephen Bosustow Productions; Lester A. Schoenfeld Films)
	The Shepherd (Cameron Guess and Associates; Brandon Films)

BEST SHORT FILMS (LIVE ACTION)
	The Resurrection of Broncho Billy (University of Southern California, Department of Cinema; Universal)
	Shut Up . . .I'm Crying (Robert Siegler Productions; Lester A. Schoenfeld Films)
	Sticky My Fingers . . .Fleet My Feet (American Film Institute; Lester A. Schoenfeld Films)

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECTS)
	A Long Way From Nowhere (Bob Aller, producer; Robert Aller Productions)
	The Gifts (Robert McBride, producer; Richter-McBride Productions for the Water Quality Office of the Environmental Protection Agency)
	Interviews With My Lai Veterans (Joseph Strick, producer; Laser Film Corp.)
	Oisin (Vivien Carey and Patrick Carey, producers; Aengus Films)
	Time Is Running Out (Horst Dallmayr and Robert Menegoz, producers; Gesellschaft für bildende Filme)

BEST DOCUMENTARY (FEATURES)
	Chariots of the Gods (Dr. Harald Reinl, producer; Terra-Filmkunst GmbH)
	Jack Johnson (Jim Jacobs, producer; The Big Fights)
	King: A Filmed Record . . .Montgomery to Memphis (Ely Landau, producer; Commonwealth United Corporation Production)
	Say Goodbye (David H. Vowell, producer; David L. Wolper Productions)
	Woodstock (Wadleigh-Maurice Ltd.; Warner Bros.)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
	First Love, Switzerland
	Hoa-Binh, France
	Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, Italy
	Paix Sur Les Champs, Belgium
	Tristana, Spain

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
	Alex Weldon, Patton
	A.D. Flowers and L.B. Abbott, Tora! Tora! Tora!

Other Awards

The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award went to Ingmar Bergman and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Frank Sinatra. Honorary Awards were awarded to Lillian Gish "for superlative artistry and for distinguished contribution to the progress of motion pictures" and to Orson Welles "for superlative artistry and versatility in the creation of motion pictures."

Scientific Awards

Consolidated Film Industries (Laboratory)
Edward H. Reichard (Laboratory)
Leonard Sokolow (Laboratory)
Eastman Kodak Company (Laboratory)
Electro Sound Incorporated (Sound)
B. J. Losmandy (Sound)
Photo Electronics Corporation (Laboratory)
Sylvania Electric Products, Inc. (Lighting)