| Number: | 47 |
| Award: | Academy Awards |
| Date: | April 8, 1975 |
| Site: | Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles |
| Host: | Bob Hope, Shirley MacLaine, Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra |
| Producer: | Howard W. Koch |
| Director: | Marty Pasetta |
| Best Picture: | The Godfather Part II |
| Most Wins: | The Godfather Part II (6) |
| Most Nominations: | Chinatown and The Godfather Part II (11) |
| Network: | NBC |
| Last: | 46th |
| Next: | 48th |
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.
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.
Nominees were announced on February 24, 1975. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double dagger .[7] [8]
| Nominations | Film |
|---|---|
| 11 | Chinatown |
| The Godfather Part II | |
| 8 | The Towering Inferno |
| 6 | Lenny |
| Murder on the Orient Express | |
| 4 | Earthquake |
| 3 | Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore |
| Blazing Saddles | |
| The Conversation | |
| Day for Night | |
| 2 | The Great Gatsby |
| Harry and Tonto | |
| The Little Prince | |
| A Woman Under the Influence | |
| Young Frankenstein | |
| Awards | Film |
|---|---|
| 6 | The Godfather Part II |
| 3 | The Towering Inferno |
| 2 | Earthquake |
| The Great Gatsby | |
The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers:
| Name | Role | |
|---|---|---|
| Announcer for the 47th Academy Awards | ||
| (AMPAS President) | Giver of opening remarks welcoming guests to the awards ceremony | |
| Explainers of the voting rules to the public and presenters of the award for Best Supporting Actor | ||
| Recipient of the award for Best Supporting Actor on behalf of Robert De Niro | ||
| Presenters of the Short Films Awards | ||
| Presenters of the Documentary Awards | ||
| Presenter of the Honorary Award to Jean Renoir | ||
| Presenter of the Special Achievement Award to Frank Brendel, Glen Robinson and Albert Whitlock for their work in Earthquake | ||
| Presenter of the award for Best Original Song | ||
| Presenters of the award for Best Sound | ||
| Presenter of the Honorary Award to Howard Hawks | ||
| Presenters of the Music Awards | ||
| Presenter of the award for Best Costume Design | ||
| Presenters of the award for Best Supporting Actress | ||
| Presenters of the award for Best Art Direction | ||
| Presenters of the award for Best Cinematography | ||
| Presenters of the award for Best Film Editing | ||
| Presenters of the award for Best Foreign Language Film | ||
| Presenter of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Arthur J. Krim | ||
| Presenters of the award for Best Director | ||
| Presenter of the awards for Best Screenplay Adapted from Other Material and Best Original Screenplay | ||
| Presenter of the award for Best Actor | ||
| Presenter of the award for Best Actress | ||
| Presenter of the award for Best Picture |
| Name | Role | Performed | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Musical arranger and conductor | Orchestral | ||
| Performer | "Blazing Saddles" from Blazing Saddles | ||
| Performer | “Little Prince” from The Little Prince | ||
| 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 | |
Shirley MacLaine Sammy Davis Jr. Bob Hope Academy Awards Orchestra | Performers | "That's Entertainment!" |