by Nathaniel R
Before the '72 Smackdown THIS SUNDAY (have you voted yet?) we thought it might be fun to look back at how the awards race played out across the big six categories by comparing the Globes, Oscars, and various other awards organizations of the time to see what the hottest commodities were.
Where the Globes and Oscar lined up, I've lined them up on the chart belows (obviously the Globes have two wins for Best Picture and Leading Actors do to how they split the categories.) You'll notice that except for Best Actress no categories were closer than a 3/5 match. We wish awards season were that excitingly differentiated now! It's unfortunate that opinions have become so homogenized. As we've said many times, you don't need dozens of groups if they all feel exactly the same way about art. The "other" column is for key wins and nominations that season (if it's a different year for Oscar eligibility we've noted that) that add broader context to what excited people in 1972.
Ready? Let's time travel...
| BEST PICTURE OSCAR | BEST PICTURE GLOBE | BEST PICTURE OTHER |
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| Cabaret | Cabaret ★ | BAFTA - Cabaret |
| Deliverance | Deliverance | Cannes - [tie] Working Class Goes to Heaven ('75) & The Mattei Affair ('73) |
| The Godfather ★ | The Godfather ★ | |
| The Emigrants | NBR - Cabaret | |
| Sounder | NSFC - Discreet Charm of the... | |
| 1776 | NYFCC - Cries and Whispers ('73) | |
| Avanti! | ||
| Butterflies are Free | NBR (top ten) - The Effect of Gamma Rays... | |
| Frenzy | NBR (top ten) - The Ruling Class | |
| The Poseidon Adventure | NBR (top ten) - The Candidate | |
| Sleuth | NSFC (5th place) - The Sorrow and the Pity | |
| Travels With My Aunt |
Clearly it was neck-and-neck for Cabaret and The Godfather all year though Cabaret actually won more Best Picture prizes... just not the Oscar.
| BEST DIRECTOR OSCAR | BEST DIRECTOR GLOBE | BEST DIRECTOR OTHER |
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| Bob Fosse, Cabaret ★ | Bob Fosse, Cabaret | BAFTA - Bob Fosse, Cabaret |
| Francis Coppola, The Godfather | Francis Coppola, The Godfather ★ | Directors Guild - Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather |
| John Boorman, Deliverance | John Boorman, Deliverance | Cannes - Miklos Jancso, Red Psalm ('73) |
| Jan Troell, The Emigrants | NBR - Bob Fosse, Cabaret | |
| Joseph L Mankiewicz, Sleuth | NSFC - Luis Buñuel, Discreet Charm of the... | |
| Alfred Hitchcock, Frenzy | NYFCC - Ingmar Bergman, Cries and Whispers ('73) | |
| Billy Wilder, Avanti! | ||
| DGA (nominee) - George Roy Hill, Slaughterhouse-Five | ||
| DGA (nominee) -Martin Ritt, Sounder |
It's common knowledge that starpower is important to the Globes in the acting categories but it's even true in Best Director (and not just in this year) -- notice Alfred Hitchcock and Billy Wilder popping up.
| BEST ACTRESS OSCAR | BEST ACTRESS GLOBE | BEST ACTRESS OTHER |
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 |
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| Liza Minnelli, Cabaret ★ | Liza Minelli, Cabaret ★ | BAFTA - Liza Minnelli, Cabaret |
| Diana Ross, Lady Sings the Blues | Diana Ross, Lady Sings the Blues | Cannes - Susannah York, Images |
| Maggie Smith, Travels with my Aunt | Maggie Smith, Travels with my Aunt | NBR - Cicely Tyson, Sounder |
| Cicely Tyson, Sounder | Cicely Tyson, Sounder | NSFC - Cicely Tyson, Sounder |
| Liv Ullmann, The Emigrants | Liv Ullmann, The Emigrants ★ | NYFCC - Liv Ullman, The Emigrants and Cries and Whispers |
| Carol Burnett, Pete n Tillie | ||
| Goldie Hawn, Butterflies are Free | BAFTA (nominee): Anne Bancroft, Young Winston | |
| Juliet Mills, Avanti | NSFC (4th place) - Janet Suzman, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | |
| Trish Van Devere, One is a Lonely Number | ||
| Tuesday Weld, Play it As it Lays | ||
| Joanne Woodward, The Effect of Gamma Rays... |
Liza Minnelli was the clear frontrunner but Liv Ullman and Cicely Tyson both had a lot of critical support.
| BEST ACTOR OSCAR | BEST ACTOR GLOBE | BEST ACTOR OTHER |
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 |
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| Marlon Brando, The Godfather ★ | Marlon Brando, The Godfather ★ | BAFTA - Gene Hackman, The French Connection ('71) and Poseidon Adventure |
| Michael Caine, Sleuth | Michael Caine, Sleuth | Cannes - Jean Yanne, We Won't Grow Old Together |
| Laurence Olivier, Sleuth | Laurence Olivier, Sleuth | NBR - Peter O'Toole, The Ruling Class and Man of La Mancha |
| Peter O'Toole, The Ruling Class | NSFC - Al Pacino, The Godfather | |
| Paul Winfield, Sounder | NYFCC - Laurence Olivier, Sleuth | |
| Edward Albert, Butterflies are Free | ||
| Charles Grodin, The Heartbreak Kid | BAFTA (nominee) - Robert Shaw, Young Winston | |
| Jack Lemmon, Avanti ★ | NSFC (4th place) -Alec McCowen, Travels with my Aunt | |
| Walter Matthau, Pete N' Tillie | NYFCC (nominee) - James Mason, Child's Play | |
| Peter O'Toole, Man of La Mancha | Globes (promising newcomer nom) - Frederic Forrest, When the Legends Die | |
| Al Pacino, The Godfather | Globes (promising newcomer nom) - Michael Sacks, Slaughterhouse-Five | |
| Jon Voight, Deliverance | Globes (promising newcomer nom) - Michael Sacks, Slaughterhouse-Five |
Cheers to the National Society of Film Critics AND the Globes for honoring Al Pacino in the correct category for The Godfather. The Oscars category-frauded him into supporting instead. The Globes were REALLY into the Billy Wilder comedy Avanti! that year (6 nominations and a win) but it received zero Oscar nods. I've never seen it. Anyone?
| BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS OSCAR | BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS GLOBE | BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS OTHER |
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| Eileen Heckart, Butterflies are Free ★ | BAFTA - Cloris Leachman, The Last Picture Show ('71) | |
| Jeannie Berlin, The Heartbreak Kid | Jeannie Berlin, The Heartbreak Kid | Cannes - n/a |
| Geraldine Page, Pete N' Tillie | Geraldine Page, Pete N' Tillie | NBR - Marisa Berenson, Cabaret |
| Shelley Winters, The Poseidon Adventure | Shelley Winters, The Poseidon Adventure ★ | NSFC - Jeannie Berlin, The Heartbreak Kid |
| Susan Tyrell, Fat City | NYFCC - Jeannie Berlin, The Heartbreak Kid | |
| Marisa Berenson, Cabaret | ||
| Helena Kallianiotes, Kansas City Bomber | NSFC (2nd place) - Ida Lupino, Junior Bonner | |
| NSFC (4th place) - Cybill Shepherd, The Heartbreak Kid | ||
| Globes (promising newcomer nom) - Madeline Kahn, What's Up Doc? | ||
| Globes (promising newcomer nom) - The Great Waltz, Mary Costa | ||
| Globes (promising newcomer nom) - Victoria Principal, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean | ||
| Globes (promising newcomer nom) - Sian Barbara Allen, You'll Like My Mother |
It's not every year that you get an Oscar winner who wasn't even nominated at the Globes. But we'll discuss this category in full on Sunday.
| BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR OSCAR | BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR GLOBE | BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR OTHER |
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 |
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| Joel Grey, Cabaret ★ | Joel Grey, Cabaret ★ | BAFTA - Ben Johnson, The Last Picture Show ('71) |
| James Caan, The Godfather | James Caan, The Godfather | Cannes - n/a |
| Eddie Albert, The Heartbreak Kid | NBR - [TIE] Joel Grey, Cabaret and Al Pacino, The Godfather | |
| Robert Duvall, The Godfather | NSFC - [TIE] Joel Grey, Cabaret and Eddie Albert, The Heartbreak Kid | |
| Al Pacino, The Godfather | NYFCC - Robert Duvall, The Godfather | |
| James Coco, Man of La Mancha | ||
| Alec McCowen, Travels with my Aunt | NYFCC (nominee) - Robert Shaw, Young Winston | |
| Clive Revill, Avanti | NSFC (4th place) - Barry Foster, Frenzy | |
| Globes (promising newcomer nom) - Kevin Hooks, Sounder |
People really couldn't agree in 1972 about which "supporting" man in The Godfather was the best. That surely helped Joel Grey though we're glad he won because that performance is genius and like nothing else ever as we discussed in the recent Team Experience revisit of Bob Fosse's first of two musical masterpieces.
Which 1972 film listed here are you most curious to see for the first time and which do you already love the most?