1973 Alternate Oscars

Best Picture of 1973

American Graffiti

Cries and Whispers

ƒ Day for Night

The Exorcist

The Long Goodbye

Mean Streets

Sleeper

The Spirit of the Beehive

★ ✔ The Sting

Westworld

View Results
Crowdsignal.com

Best Actor of 1973 (Poll Closed)

• Marlon Brando (Last Tango in Paris)  32.14%  (9 votes)  
   
• ★ Elliott Gould (The Long Goodbye)  14.29%  (4 votes)  
   
• ✔ Jack Lemmon (Save The Tiger)  3.57%  (1 votes)  
   
• Jack Nicholson (The Last Detail)  14.29%  (4 votes)  
   
• Robert Redford (The Sting and The Way We Were)  35.71%  (10 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 28

 

Best Actress of 1973

Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist)

✱ Tatum O'Neal (Paper Moon)

Barbra Streisand (The Way We Were)

Ingrid Thulin (Cries And Whispers)

★ Liv Ullmann (Cries and Whispers and Scenes from a Marriage)

View Results
Crowdsignal.com

Best Director of 1973

★ Ingmar Bergman (Cries and Whispers and Scenes from a Marriage)

William Friedkin (The Exorcist)

✔ George Roy Hill (The Sting)

George Lucas (American Graffiti)

François Truffaut (Day for Night)

View Results
Crowdsignal.com

Best Supporting Actor of 1973 (Poll Closed)

• Robert De Niro (Mean Streets and Bang the Drum Slowly)  44.07%  (26 votes)  
   
• ✔ John Houseman (The Paper Chase)  16.95%  (10 votes)  
   
• Christopher Lee (The Wicker Man)  8.47%  (5 votes)  
   
• ★ Robert Shaw (The Sting)  30.51%  (18 votes)  
   
• Charles Martin Smith (American Graffiti)  0%  (0 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 59

 

Best Supporting Actress of 1973

★ Harriet Andersson (Cries and Whispers)

Linda Blair (The Exorcist)

Eileen Brennan (The Sting)

Candy Clark (American Graffiti)

Valentina Cortese (Day for Night)

View Results
Crowdsignal.com

Special Award

Bruce Lee (lifetime achievement)

David S. Ward (The Sting) (original screenplay)

Marvin Hamlisch (music adaptor); Scott Joplin (composer) (The Sting) (adapted score)

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid) music and lyrics by Bob Dylan (song)

Soylent Green (Soylent Green) (a dinner to die for)

Yul Brynner (Westworld) (employee of the month)

View Results
Crowdsignal.com

My choices are noted with a ★. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a . Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ. A historical winner who won in a different category is noted with a ✱.

Note: Tatum O'Neal won best supporting actress for Paper Moon despite being on screen for all but something like 3 minutes of the movie, so I put her in the lead category where she belongs.

1972 Alternate Oscars

Best Picture of 1972 (Poll Closed)

• Aguirre, the Wrath of God  2.6%  (2 votes)  
   
• Cabaret  15.58%  (12 votes)  
   
• Chloe in the Afternoon  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• Deliverance  2.6%  (2 votes)  
   
• ƒ The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie  3.9%  (3 votes)  
   
• ★ ✔ The Godfather  72.73%  (56 votes)  
   
• The Poseidon Adventure  2.59%  (2 votes)  
   
• 1776  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• Sleuth  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• Solaris  0%  (0 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 77

 

Best Actor of 1972 (Poll Closed)

• ★ ✔ Marlon Brando (The Godfather)  68.49%  (50 votes)  
   
• Michael Caine (Sleuth)  5.48%  (4 votes)  
   
• Stacy Keach (Fat City)  9.59%  (7 votes)  
   
• Klaus Kinski (Aguirre: The Wrath of God)  8.22%  (6 votes)  
   
• Laurence Olivier (Sleuth)  8.22%  (6 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 73

 

Best Actress of 1972

Margit Carstensen (The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant)

Juliet Mills (Avanti!)

★ ✔ Liza Minnelli (Cabaret)

Diana Ross (Lady Sings the Blues)

Cicely Tyson (Sounder)

View Results
Crowdsignal.com

Best Director of 1972

Luis Buñuel (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie)

★ Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather)

✔ Bob Fosse (Cabaret)

Werner Herzog (Aguirre: The Wrath of God)

Andrei Tarkovsky (Solaris)

View Results
Crowdsignal.com

Best Supporting Actor of 1972 (Poll Closed)

• James Caan (The Godfather)  10%  (7 votes)  
   
• Howard Da Silva (1776)  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• Robert Duvall (The Godfather)  4.29%  (3 votes)  
   
• ✔ Joel Grey (Cabaret)  34.29%  (24 votes)  
   
• ★ Al Pacino (The Godfather)  51.42%  (36 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 70

 

Best Supporting Actress of 1972 (Poll Closed)

• Jeannie Berlin (The Heartbreak Kid)  25%  (18 votes)  
   
• ✔ Eileen Heckart (Butterflies are Free)  13.89%  (10 votes)  
   
• Diane Keaton (The Godfather)  11.11%  (8 votes)  
   
• ★ Susan Tyrrell (Fat City)  29.17%  (21 votes)  
   
• Shelley Winters (The Poseidon Adventure)  20.83%  (15 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 72

 

Special Award (Poll Closed)

• Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo, from the novel by Mario Puzo (The Godfather) (adapted screenplay)  22.22%  (12 votes)  
   
• Gordon Willis (The Godfather) (cinematography)  22.22%  (12 votes)  
   
• Nino Rota (The Godfather) (score)  18.52%  (10 votes)  
   
• Ralph Burns (music supervisor); John Kander & Fred Ebb (Cabaret) (song score)  5.56%  (3 votes)  
   
• "Superfly" (Superfly) music and lyrics by Curtis Mayfield (song)  24.07%  (13 votes)  
   
• L.B. Abbott and A.D. Flowers (The Poseidon Adventure) (visual effects)  7.41%  (4 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 54

 

My choices are noted with a ★. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ.

I've seen Stacy Keach on the stage twice, as Macbeth and as King Lear, both in Washington, D.C., where he was performing with the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Damn fine actor. As Macbeth, he was terrific — intense, unhinged, and often scary. As the latter, he was frequently naked — also pretty scary. But he nailed it. Lear, that is.

By the way, I wonder how many people remember now that Cabaret won 8 Oscars — including best director and best supporting actor — to The Godfather's 3? Talk about two movies whose reputations have completely flipped over time.

1971 Alternate Oscars

Best Picture of 1971 (Poll Closed)

• A Clockwork Orange  26.23%  (16 votes)  
   
• Dirty Harry  3.28%  (2 votes)  
   
• Duel  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• ✔ The French Connection  14.75%  (9 votes)  
   
• Klute  4.92%  (3 votes)  
   
• ★ The Last Picture Show  34.43%  (21 votes)  
   
• McCabe & Mrs. Miller  11.48%  (7 votes)  
   
• Szerelem a.k.a. Love  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• Walkabout  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory  4.91%  (3 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 61

 

Best Actor of 1971 (Poll Closed)

• Warren Beatty (McCabe & Mrs. Miller)  1.82%  (1 votes)  
   
• Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry and Play Misty For Me)  3.64%  (2 votes)  
   
• ★ ✔ Gene Hackman (The French Connection)  50.91%  (28 votes)  
   
• Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange)  34.55%  (19 votes)  
   
• Gene Wilder (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)  9.08%  (5 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 55

 

Best Actress of 1971 (Poll Closed)

• Jenny Agutter (Walkabout)  4.35%  (3 votes)  
   
• Julie Christie (McCabe and Mrs. Miller)  20.29%  (14 votes)  
   
• ★ ✔ Jane Fonda (Klute)  65.22%  (45 votes)  
   
• Ruth Gordon (Harold and Maude)  4.35%  (3 votes)  
   
• Jessica Walter (Play Misty For Me)  5.79%  (4 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 69

 

Best Director of 1971

Robert Altman (McCabe & Mrs. Miller)

★ Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show)

✔ William Friedkin (The French Connection)

Stanley Kubrick (A Clockwork Orange)

Don Siegel (Dirty Harry)

View Results
Crowdsignal.com

Best Supporting Actor of 1971 (Poll Closed)

• Jack Albertson (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)  8.33%  (4 votes)  
   
• Jeff Bridges (The Last Picture Show)  2.08%  (1 votes)  
   
• Barnard Hughes (The Hospital)  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• ★ ✔ Ben Johnson (The Last Picture Show)  64.58%  (31 votes)  
   
• Roy Scheider (The French Connection)  25%  (12 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 48

 

Best Supporting Actress of 1971

Eileen Brennan (The Last Picture Show)

Ellen Burstyn (The Last Picture Show)

★ ✔ Cloris Leachman (The Last Picture Show)

Ann-Margret (Carnal Knowledge)

Diana Rigg (The Hospital)

View Results
Crowdsignal.com

Special Award

Larry McMurtry and Peter Bogdanovich, from the novel by Larry McMurtry (The Last Picture Show) (adapted screenplay)

Robert Surtees (The Last Picture Show) (cinematography)

"Theme From Shaft" music and lyrics by Issac Hayes (Shaft) (song)

The French Connection (best action sequence) (the car chase)

"Dog" (Big Jake) (best mind-reading dog)

Brian's Song (making grown men cry since 1971)

View Results
Crowdsignal.com

My choices are noted with a ★. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔.

Two of the best movies of the year — Brian's Song and Steven Spielberg's Duel — were actually made for television. But both were also given world-wide theatrical releases, and while that doesn't make them Oscar eligible, it makes them alternate Oscar eligible. Thus, their presence here.

Hey, I don't make the rules, I just live by them. Direct all complaints to the blog-typing sock monkey.

1970 Alternate Oscars

Best Picture of 1970 (Poll Closed)

• Le Cercle Rouge  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• Claire's Knee  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• The Conformist  21.95%  (9 votes)  
   
• Five Easy Pieces  9.76%  (4 votes)  
   
• ƒ Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• Kelly's Heroes  17.07%  (7 votes)  
   
• Little Big Man  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• M*A*S*H  17.07%  (7 votes)  
   
• ★ ✔ Patton  31.71%  (13 votes)  
   
• Woodstock  2.44%  (1 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 41

 

Best Actor of 1970 (Poll Closed)

• Melvyn Douglas (I Never Sang for My Father)  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• Albert Finney (Scrooge)  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• ★ Jack Nicholson (Five Easy Pieces)  19.4%  (13 votes)  
   
• ✔ George C. Scott (Patton)  68.66%  (46 votes)  
   
• Jean-Louis Trintignant (The Conformist)  11.94%  (8 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 67

 

Best Actress of 1970 (Poll Closed)

• Stéphane Audran (Le Boucher)  12.82%  (5 votes)  
   
• Sandy Dennis (The Out of Towners)  0%  (0 votes)  
   
• ★ ✔ Glenda Jackson (Women in Love)  79.49%  (31 votes)  
   
• Sarah Miles (Ryan's Daughter)  2.56%  (1 votes)  
   
• Carrie Snodgress (Diary of a Mad Housewife)  5.13%  (2 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 39

 

Best Director of 1970 (Poll Closed)

• ★ Robert Altman (M*A*S*H)  47.62%  (30 votes)  
   
• Bernardo Bertolucci (The Conformist)  20.63%  (13 votes)  
   
• Arthur Penn (Little Big Man)  1.59%  (1 votes)  
   
• Bob Rafelson (Five Easy Pieces)  6.35%  (4 votes)  
   
• ✔ Franklin J. Schaffner (Patton)  23.81%  (15 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 63

 

Best Supporting Actor of 1970 (Poll Closed)

• ★ Chief Dan George (Little Big Man)  35.59%  (21 votes)  
   
• Gene Hackman (I Never Sang For My Father)  10.17%  (6 votes)  
   
• Trevor Howard (Ryan's Daughter)  20.34%  (12 votes)  
   
• Don Rickles (Kelly's Heroes)  11.86%  (7 votes)  
   
• Donald Sutherland (Kelly's Heroes)  22.03%  (13 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 59

 

Best Supporting Actress of 1970 (Poll Closed)

• ★ Karen Black (Five Easy Pieces)  53.62%  (37 votes)  
   
• ✔ Helen Hayes (Airport)  5.8%  (4 votes)  
   
• Sally Kellerman (M*A*S*H)  8.7%  (6 votes)  
   
• Maureen Stapleton (Airport)  7.25%  (5 votes)  
   
• Stella Stevens (The Ballad of Cable Hogue)  24.63%  (17 votes)  
   

 

Total Votes: 69

 

Special Award

Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North, based on factual material by Ladislas Farago and Omar N. Bradley (Patton) (screenplay)

Jerry Goldsmith (Patton) (score)

"Thank You Very Much" (Scrooge) music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse (song)

The Beatles (Let It Be) (original song score)

"Colossus" (Colossus: The Forbin Project) (a computer programmer's worst nightmare)

View Results
Crowdsignal.com

My choices are noted with a ★. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ.

The crop of actresses was so bad in 1970, Ali MacGraw got an Oscar nomination for Love Story — and you can't even say for sure that somebody better got snubbed as a result. Probably the worst year for actresses ever.