Oscar Nominations and Winners (1972)

Best Picture

• Cabaret
• Deliverance
• The Emigrants
• The Godfather
• Sounder

Best Director

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

Best Actor in a Leading Role

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

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

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

Best Actress in a Leading Role

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

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

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

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Cabaret (Jay Allen)
• The Emigrants (Jan Troell and Bengt Forslund
• The Godfather (Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola)
• Pete 'N' Tillie (Julius J. Epstein)
• Sounder (Lonne Elder III)

Best Original Screenplay

• The Candidate (Jeremy Larner)
• The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Luis Bunuel and Jean-Claude Carriere)
• Lady Sings the Blues (Terence McCloy, Chris Clark and Suzanne de Passe)
• Murmur of the Heart (Louis Malle)
• Young Winston (Carl Foreman)

Best Foreign Language Film

• The Dawns are Quiet (U.S.S.R.)
• The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (France)
• I Love You Rosa (Israel)
• My Dearest Senorita (Spain)
• The New Land (Sweden)

Art Direction

• Cabaret
• Lady Sings the Blues
• The Poseidon Adventure
• Travels with My Aunt
• Young Winston

Cinematography

• Butterflies Are Free
• Cabaret
• The Poseidon Adventure
• 1776
• Travels with My Aunt

Costume Design

• The Godfather
• Lady Sings the Blues
• The Poseidon Adventure
• Travels with My Aunt
• Young Winston

Documentary Feature

• Ape and Super-Ape
• Malcolm X
• Manson
• Marjoe
• The Silent Revolution

Documentary Short Subject

• Hundertwasser's Rainy Day
• K-Z
• Selling Out
• This Tiny World
• The Tide of Traffic

Film Editing

• Cabaret
• Deliverance
• The Godfather
• The Hot Rock
• The Poseidon Adventure

Adaptation Score

• Cabaret (Ralph Burns)
• Lady Sings the Blues (Gil Askey)
• Man of La Mancha (Laurence Rosenthal)

Original Score

• Images (John Williams)
• Limelight (Charles Chaplin, Raumond Rasch and Larry Russell)
• Napoleon and Samantha (Buddy Baker)
• The Poseidon Adventure (John Williams)
• Sleuth (John Addison)

Original Song

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

Animated Short Film

• A Christmas Carol
• Kama Sutra Rides Again
• Tup Tup

Live Action Short Film

• Frog Story
• Norman Rockwell's World...An American Dream
• Solo

Sound

• Butterflies Are Free
• Cabaret
• The Candidate
• The Godfather
• The Poseidon Adventure

Visual Effects

• The Poseidon Adventure