| 50th Academy Awards | |
|---|---|
 Official poster | |
| Date | April 3, 1978 |
| Site | Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Hosted by | Bob Hope |
| Produced by | Howard W. Koch |
| Directed by | Marty Pasetta |
| Highlights | |
| Best Picture | Annie Hall |
| Most awards | Star Wars (6) |
| Most nominations | Julia and The Turning Point (11) |
| TV in the United States | |
| Network | ABC |
| Duration | 3 hours, 30 minutes |
| Ratings | 39.73 million 31.1% (Nielsen ratings)[1] |
The 50th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1977 and took place on April 3, 1978, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 7:00 p.m. PST / 10:00 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 22 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Howard W. Koch and was directed by Marty Pasetta. Actor and comedian Bob Hope hosted for the nineteenth time. He first presided over the 12th ceremony held in 1940 and had last served as a co-host of the 47th ceremony held in 1975. Five days earlier, in a ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on March 29, the Academy Scientific and Technical Awards were presented by hosts Kirk Douglas and Gregory Peck.
Annie Hall won four awards, including Best Picture. Other winners included Star Wars with six awards, Julia with three, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Gravity Is My Enemy, I'll Find a Way, A Little Night Music, Madame Rosa, The Sand Castle, Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids?, and You Light Up My Life with one.
Winners and nominees
The nominees for the 50th Academy Awards were announced on February 21, 1978. Julia and The Turning Point tied for the most nominations with eleven each.[2] The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on April 3. Woody Allen became the first person to receive nominations for acting, directing, screenwriting for the same film since Orson Welles, who previously achieved this feat for 1941's Citizen Kane.
With its 11 nominations and zero wins, The Turning Point became the most nominated film in Oscar history without a win, a record that still stands (tied by The Color Purple in 1985).
This event marked the second time that three films received 10 or more nominations: Julia and The Turning Point both received 11 nominations each, while Star Wars received 10.
Awards
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Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double dagger (‡).[3]
Academy Honorary Awards
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
Special Achievement Awards
- Ben Burtt for the creation of the alien, creature and robot voices in Star Wars
- Frank Warner for sound effects editing in Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Ceremony
Debby Boone's performance of You Light Up My Life was accompanied by schoolgirls described as "affiliated with the John Tracy Clinic for the Deaf" interpreting the lyrics in sign language. After complaints that their signing was incomprehensible, it was revealed the girls were not deaf and had been taught rudimentary signing specifically for the performance. This prompted protests from the Alliance for Deaf Artists.[4]
Redgrave speech
During the ceremony, Vanessa Redgrave won the Best Supporting Actress award for Julia (1977). Her nomination drew a lot of attention and backlash even prior to the ceremony, as in 1977 she had also produced and appeared in the film The Palestinian, which followed the activities of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Lebanon,[5][6] an organization that at the time was defined as a terrorist organization by Israel due to its responsibility for the deaths of thousands of civilians.[7] The film was criticized by many Jewish groups for its perceived anti-Israel slant,[6] and members of the Jewish Defense League (JDL) picketed Redgrave's nomination outside the Academy Awards ceremony while counter-protestors waved PLO flags.[5] Redgrave won the Oscar and made the following acceptance speech:
My dear colleagues, I thank you very much for this tribute to my work. I think that Jane Fonda and I have done the best work of our lives, and I think this is in part due to our director, Fred Zinnemann. [Audience applause.]
And I also think it's in part because we believed and we believe in what we were expressing—two out of millions who gave their lives and were prepared to sacrifice everything in the fight against fascist and racist Nazi Germany.
And I salute you, and I pay tribute to you, and I think you should be very proud that in the last few weeks you've stood firm, and you have refused to be intimidated by the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums [gasps from the audience, followed by a smattering of boos and clapping] whose behavior— [continuation of booing until it quieted down] whose behavior is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world and their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression. [General applause]
And I salute that record and I salute all of you for having stood firm and dealt a final blow against that period when Nixon and McCarthy launched a worldwide witch hunt against those who tried to express in their lives and their work the truth that they believe in. [some boos and hissing] I salute you and I thank you and I pledge to you that I will continue to fight against anti-Semitism and fascism.
Two hours later,[8] when it came his turn to announce the winners for the two Best Screenplay awards, Paddy Chayefsky, perturbed by what he perceived as "cracks about Jews"[8] at the Academy Awards, replied:
Before I get on to the writing awards, there's a little matter I'd like to tidy up—at least if I expect to live with myself tomorrow morning. I would like to say—personal opinion, of course—that I'm sick and tired of people exploiting the occasion of the Academy Awards [loud applause] for the propagation of their own personal political propaganda. [Loud applause] I would like to suggest to Miss Redgrave that her winning an Academy Award is not a pivotal moment in history, does not require a proclamation, and a simple 'thank you' would have sufficed. [Loud applause]
Presenters and performers
The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.
Presenters
Performers
| Performer | Role | Performed |
|---|---|---|
| Nelson Riddle | Musical arranger and conductor | Orchestral |
| Debbie Reynolds | Performer | "Look How Far We've Come" |
| Debby Boone | Performer | "You Light Up My Life" from You Light Up My Life |
| Gloria Loring | Performer | "Candle on the Water" from Pete's Dragon and "Someone's Waiting for You" from The Rescuers |
| Sammy Davis Jr. Marvin Hamlisch | Performers | "Come Light the Candles" |
| Aretha Franklin | Performer | "Nobody Does It Better" from The Spy Who Loved Me |
| Jane Powell | Performer | "The Slipper and the Rose Waltz (He Danced with Me)" from The Slipper and the Rose |
| Academy Awards Chorus | Performers | "That's Entertainment" |
Multiple nominations and awards
|
These films had multiple nominations:
|
The following films received multiple awards.
|
Tribute
Sammy Davis Jr. and Marvin Hamlisch performed "Come Light the Candles" in tribute to:
See also
References
- ↑ Bialik, Carl (February 26, 2008). "And the Oscar Goes to... Fewer TV Viewers". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on April 4, 2008.
- ↑ Harmetz, Aljean (February 22, 1978). "Woody Allen Is Up For Three Oscars". The New York Times. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- ↑ "The 50th Academy Awards (1978) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
- ↑ Crouse, Richard (October 22, 2005). Reel Winners: Movie Award Trivia. Dundurn. pp. 138–139. ISBN 9781770701991. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
- 1 2 Fretts, Bruce (January 11, 2019). "Oscars Rewind: The Most Political Ceremony in Academy History". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
- 1 2 EmanuelLevy. "Oscar Politics: Redgrave, Vanessa–Julia | Emanuel Levy". Retrieved February 5, 2022.
- ↑ "Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)". Anti-Defamation League. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
- 1 2 John Bradey, "The craft of the screenwriter", 1981. Page 57
External links
- 75 Years of Oscar - 1978, E! Online
- Academy Awards, USA: 1978 Archived January 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, IMDb
- filmsite.org: 1977 Academy Awards Winners and History
- Redgrave's 'Zionist Hoodlums' Speech Shocks Hollywood
