1971 Oscars: Winners and Nominees

49 films were recognised at the 1971 Academy Awards, across 22 categories. 15 of them took home at least one award.

The biggest winner of the year was Patton, with 7 awards, ahead of Ryan's Daughter with 2. The categories below run from International Feature Film, Actor and Actor in a Supporting Role to the smaller prizes, and in every one the winner is listed first, followed by the other nominees.

Each title links to the film's full award history at all four awards, and the links at the bottom step to the previous and next ceremony.

Last updated August 12, 2026

International Feature Film

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion(1970)
Italy
Winner
First Love(1970)
Switzerland
Hòa Bình (Hoa-Binh)(1970)
France
Hòa Bình (Hoa-Binh)(1970)
Hoa-Binh
Peace in the Fields (Paix Sur Les Champs)(1970)
Belgium
Peace in the Fields (Paix Sur Les Champs)(1970)
Paix Sur Les Champs
Tristana(1970)
Spain

Actor

Patton(1970)
George C. Scott
Winner
Five Easy Pieces(1970)
Jack Nicholson
I Never Sang for My Father(1970)
Melvyn Douglas
Love Story(1970)
Ryan O'Neal
The Great White Hope(1970)
James Earl Jones

Actor in a Supporting Role

Ryan's Daughter(1970)
John Mills
Winner
I Never Sang for My Father(1970)
Gene Hackman
Little Big Man(1970)
Chief Dan George
Love Story(1970)
John Marley
Lovers and Other Strangers(1970)
Richard Castellano

Actress

Women in Love(1969)
Glenda Jackson
Winner
Diary of a Mad Housewife(1970)
Carrie Snodgress
Love Story(1970)
Ali MacGraw
Ryan's Daughter(1970)
Sarah Miles
The Great White Hope(1970)
Jane Alexander

Actress in a Supporting Role

Airport(1970)
Helen Hayes
Winner
Airport(1970)
Maureen Stapleton
Five Easy Pieces(1970)
Karen Black
M*A*S*H(1970)
Sally Kellerman
The Landlord(1970)
Lee Grant

Art Direction

Patton(1970)
Art Direction: Urie McCleary, Gil Parrondo; Set Decoration: Antonio Mateos, Pierre-Louis Thevenet
Winner
Airport(1970)
Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen, E. Preston Ames; Set Decoration: Jack D. Moore, Mickey S. Michaels
Scrooge(1970)
Art Direction: Terry Marsh, Bob Cartwright; Set Decoration: Pamela Cornell
The Molly Maguires(1970)
Art Direction: Tambi Larsen; Set Decoration: Darrell Silvera
Tora! Tora! Tora!(1970)
Art Direction: Jack Martin Smith, Yoshiro Muraki, Richard Day, Taizoh Kawashima; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott, Norman Rockett, Carl Biddiscombe

Best Picture

Patton(1970)
Frank McCarthy, Producer
Winner
Airport(1970)
Ross Hunter, Producer
Five Easy Pieces(1970)
Bob Rafelson and Richard Wechsler, Producers
Love Story(1970)
Howard G. Minsky, Producer
M*A*S*H(1970)
Ingo Preminger, Producer

Cinematography

Ryan's Daughter(1970)
Freddie Young
Winner
Airport(1970)
Ernest Laszlo
Patton(1970)
Fred Koenekamp
Tora! Tora! Tora!(1970)
Charles F. Wheeler, Osami Furuya, Sinsaku Himeda, Masamichi Satoh
Women in Love(1969)
Billy Williams

Costume Design

Cromwell(1970)
Nino Novarese
Winner
Airport(1970)
Edith Head
Darling Lili(1970)
Donald Brooks, Jack Bear
Scrooge(1970)
Margaret Furse
The Hawaiians(1970)
Bill Thomas

Directing

Patton(1970)
Franklin J. Schaffner
Winner
Fellini Satyricon(1969)
Federico Fellini
Love Story(1970)
Arthur Hiller
M*A*S*H(1970)
Robert Altman
Women in Love(1969)
Ken Russell

Documentary (Feature)

Woodstock(1970)
Bob Maurice, Producer
Winner
Chariots of the Gods(1970)
Dr. Harald Reinl, Producer
Jack Johnson(1970)
Jim Jacobs, Producer
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis(1970)
Ely Landau, Producer
Say Goodbye(1971)
David H. Vowell, Producer

Documentary (Short Subject)

Interviews with My Lai Veterans(1971)
Joseph Strick, Producer
Winner
A Long Way from Nowhere(1970)
Bob Aller, Producer
Oisín(1970)
Vivien Carey and Patrick Carey, Producers
The Gifts(1970)
Robert McBride, Producer
Time Is Running Out(1970)
Horst Dallmayr and Robert Menegoz, Producers

Film Editing

Patton(1970)
Hugh S. Fowler
Winner
Airport(1970)
Stuart Gilmore
M*A*S*H(1970)
Danford B. Greene
Tora! Tora! Tora!(1970)
James E. Newcom, Pembroke J. Herring, Inoue Chikaya
Woodstock(1970)
Thelma Schoonmaker

Music (Original Score)

Love Story(1970)
Francis Lai
Winner
Airport(1970)
Alfred Newman
Cromwell(1970)
Frank Cordell
Patton(1970)
Jerry Goldsmith
Sunflower(1970)
Henry Mancini

Music (Original Song Score)

Let It Be(1970)
Music and lyrics by The Beatles
Winner
A Boy Named Charlie Brown(1969)
Music by Rod McKuen and John Scott Trotter; lyrics by Rod McKuen, Bill Melendez and Al Shean; adaptation score by Vince Guaraldi
Darling Lili(1970)
Music by Henry Mancini; lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Scrooge(1970)
Music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse; adaptation score by Ian Fraser and Herbert W. Spencer
The Baby Maker(1970)
Music by Fred Karlin; lyrics by Tylwyth Kymry

Music (Song--Original for the Picture)

Lovers and Other Strangers(1970)
For All We Know in "Lovers and Other Strangers" Music by Fred Karlin; Lyrics by Robb Royer (aka Robb Wilson) and James Griffin (aka Arthur James)
Winner
Darling Lili(1970)
Whistling Away The Dark in "Darling Lili" Music by Henry Mancini; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Madron(1970)
Till Love Touches Your Life in "Madron" Music by Riz Ortolani; Lyrics by Arthur Hamilton
Pieces of Dreams(1970)
Pieces Of Dreams in "Pieces of Dreams" Music by Michel Legrand; Lyrics by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman
Scrooge(1970)
Thank You Very Much in "Scrooge" Music and Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse

Sound

Patton(1970)
Douglas Williams, Don Bassman
Winner
Airport(1970)
Ronald Pierce, David Moriarty
Ryan's Daughter(1970)
Gordon K. McCallum, John Bramall
Tora! Tora! Tora!(1970)
Murray Spivack, Herman Lewis
Woodstock(1970)
Dan Wallin, Larry Johnson

Writing (Screenplay--based on material from another medium)

M*A*S*H(1970)
Ring Lardner, Jr.
Winner
Airport(1970)
George Seaton
I Never Sang for My Father(1970)
Robert Anderson
Lovers and Other Strangers(1970)
Renee Taylor, Joseph Bologna, David Zelag Goodman
Women in Love(1969)
Larry Kramer

Writing (Story and Screenplay--based on factual material or material not previously published or produced)

Patton(1970)
Francis Ford Coppola, Edmund H. North
Winner
Five Easy Pieces(1970)
Story by Bob Rafelson, Adrien Joyce; Screenplay by Adrien Joyce
Joe(1970)
Norman Wexler
Love Story(1970)
Erich Segal
My Night at Maud's(1969)
Eric Rohmer

Short Subject (Cartoon)

Is It Always Right to Be Right?(1970)
Nick Bosustow, Producer
Winner
The Further Adventures of Uncle Sam (The Further Adventures of Uncle Sam: Part Two)(1971)
Robert Mitchell and Dale Case, Producers
The Shepherd(1969)
Cameron Guess, Producer

Short Subject (Live Action)

The Resurrection of Broncho Billy(1970)
John Longenecker, Producer
Winner
Shut Up... I'm Crying(1970)
Robert Siegler, Producer
Sticky My Fingers ... Fleet My Feet(1970)
John Hancock, Producer

Special Visual Effects

Tora! Tora! Tora!(1970)
A. D. Flowers, L. B. Abbott
Winner
Patton(1970)
Alex Weldon

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