1973 Oscars: Winners and Nominees

48 films were recognised at the 1973 Academy Awards, across 22 categories. 12 of them took home at least one award.

The biggest winner of the year was Cabaret, with 8 awards, ahead of The Godfather with 3. The categories below run from Actor, Actor in a Supporting Role and Actress 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

Actor

The Godfather(1972)
Marlon Brando
Winner
Sleuth(1972)
Michael Caine
Sleuth(1972)
Laurence Olivier
Sounder(1972)
Paul Winfield
The Ruling Class(1972)
Peter O'Toole

Actor in a Supporting Role

Cabaret(1972)
Joel Grey
Winner
The Godfather(1972)
James Caan
The Godfather(1972)
Robert Duvall
The Godfather(1972)
Al Pacino
The Heartbreak Kid(1972)
Eddie Albert

Actress

Cabaret(1972)
Liza Minnelli
Winner
Lady Sings the Blues(1972)
Diana Ross
Sounder(1972)
Cicely Tyson
The Emigrants(1971)
Liv Ullmann
Travels with My Aunt(1972)
Maggie Smith

Actress in a Supporting Role

Butterflies Are Free(1972)
Eileen Heckart
Winner
Fat City(1972)
Susan Tyrrell
Pete 'n' Tillie(1972)
Geraldine Page
The Heartbreak Kid(1972)
Jeannie Berlin
The Poseidon Adventure(1972)
Shelley Winters

Art Direction

Cabaret(1972)
Art Direction: Rolf Zehetbauer, Jurgen Kiebach; Set Decoration: Herbert Strabel
Winner
Lady Sings the Blues(1972)
Art Direction: Carl Anderson; Set Decoration: Reg Allen
The Poseidon Adventure(1972)
Art Direction: William Creber; Set Decoration: Raphael Bretton
Travels with My Aunt(1972)
Art Direction: John Box, Gil Parrondo, Robert W. Laing
Young Winston(1972)
Art Direction: Geoffrey Drake, Don Ashton, John Graysmark, William Hutchinson; Set Decoration: Peter James

Best Picture

The Godfather(1972)
Albert S. Ruddy, Producer
Winner
Cabaret(1972)
Cy Feuer, Producer
Deliverance(1972)
John Boorman, Producer
Sounder(1972)
Robert B. Radnitz, Producer
The Emigrants(1971)
Bengt Forslund, Producer

Cinematography

Cabaret(1972)
Geoffrey Unsworth
Winner
1776(1972)
Harry Stradling, Jr.
Butterflies Are Free(1972)
Charles B. Lang
The Poseidon Adventure(1972)
Harold E. Stine
Travels with My Aunt(1972)
Douglas Slocombe

Costume Design

Travels with My Aunt(1972)
Anthony Powell
Winner
Lady Sings the Blues(1972)
Bob Mackie, Ray Aghayan, Norma Koch
The Godfather(1972)
Anna Hill Johnstone
The Poseidon Adventure(1972)
Paul Zastupnevich
Young Winston(1972)
Anthony Mendleson

Directing

Cabaret(1972)
Bob Fosse
Winner
Deliverance(1972)
John Boorman
Sleuth(1972)
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
The Emigrants(1971)
Jan Troell
The Godfather(1972)
Francis Ford Coppola

Documentary (Feature)

Marjoe(1972)
Howard Smith and Sarah Kernochan, Producers
Winner
Ape and Super-Ape(1972)
Bert Haanstra, Producer
Malcolm X(1972)
Marvin Worth and Arnold Perl, Producers
Manson(1973)
Robert Hendrickson and Laurence Merrick, Producers
The Silent Revolution(1972)
Eckehard Munck, Producer

Documentary (Short Subject)

This Tiny World(1972)
Charles Huguenot van der Linden and Martina Huguenot van der Linden, Producers
Winner
Hundertwasser's Rainy Day(1972)
Peter Schamoni, Producer
K-Z(1972)
Giorgio Treves, Producer
Selling Out(1972)
Tadeusz Jaworski, Producer
The Tide of Traffic(1972)
Humphrey Swingler, Producer

Film Editing

Cabaret(1972)
David Bretherton
Winner
Deliverance(1972)
Tom Priestley
The Godfather(1972)
William Reynolds, Peter Zinner
The Hot Rock(1972)
Frank P. Keller, Fred W. Berger
The Poseidon Adventure(1972)
Harold F. Kress

International Feature Film

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie(1972)
France
Winner
I Love You Rosa(1972)
Israel
My Dearest Senorita(1972)
Spain
The Dawns Here Are Quiet(1972)
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
The New Land(1972)
Sweden

Music (Original Dramatic Score)

Limelight(1952)
Charles Chaplin, Raymond Rasch, Larry Russell
Winner
Images(1972)
John Williams
Napoleon and Samantha(1972)
Buddy Baker
Sleuth(1972)
John Addison
The Poseidon Adventure(1972)
John Williams

Music (Song--Original for the Picture)

The Poseidon Adventure(1972)
The Morning After in "The Poseidon Adventure" Music and Lyrics by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn
Winner
Ben(1972)
Ben in "Ben" Music by Walter Scharf; Lyrics by Don Black
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean(1972)
Marmalade, Molasses & Honey in "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean" Music by Maurice Jarre; Lyrics by Marilyn Bergman and Alan Bergman
The Little Ark(1972)
Come Follow, Follow Me in "The Little Ark" Music by Fred Karlin; Lyrics by Marsha Karlin
The Stepmother(1972)
Strange Are The Ways Of Love in "The Stepmother" Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster

Sound

Cabaret(1972)
Robert Knudson, David Hildyard
Winner
Butterflies Are Free(1972)
Arthur Piantadosi, Charles Knight
The Candidate(1972)
Richard Portman, Gene Cantamessa
The Godfather(1972)
Bud Grenzbach, Richard Portman, Christopher Newman
The Poseidon Adventure(1972)
Theodore Soderberg, Herman Lewis

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

The Godfather(1972)
Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola
Winner
Cabaret(1972)
Jay Allen
Pete 'n' Tillie(1972)
Julius J. Epstein
Sounder(1972)
Lonne Elder, III
The Emigrants(1971)
Jan Troell, Bengt Forslund

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

The Candidate(1972)
Jeremy Larner
Winner
Lady Sings the Blues(1972)
Terence McCloy, Chris Clark, Suzanne de Passe
Murmur of the Heart(1971)
Louis Malle
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie(1972)
"The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" Story and Screenplay by Luis Buñuel; in collaboration with Jean-Claude Carrière
Young Winston(1972)
Carl Foreman

Music (Scoring: Adaptation and Original Song Score)

Cabaret(1972)
Adaptation Score by Ralph Burns
Winner
Lady Sings the Blues(1972)
Adaptation Score by Gil Askey
Man of La Mancha(1972)
Adaptation Score by Laurence Rosenthal

Short Subject (Animated)

A Christmas Carol(1971)
Richard Williams, Producer
Winner
Kama Sutra Rides Again(1971)
Bob Godfrey, Producer
Tup Tup(1972)
Nedeljko Dragic, Producer

Short Subject (Live Action)

Norman Rockwell's World... An American Dream(1972)
Richard Barclay, Producer
Winner
Frog Story(1972)
Ron Satlof and Ray Gideon, Producers
Solo(1972)
David Adams, Producer

Special Achievement Award (Visual Effects)

The Poseidon Adventure(1972)
L. B. Abbott, A. D. Flowers
Winner