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The Godfather Wins Best Picture: 45th Oscars (1973)
Clint Eastwood presents the Academy Award for Best Picture to The Godfather. In his introduction, Eastwood makes reference to Littlefeather's speech. The transcript of the video is included below:
CE: I don't know if I should present this award on behalf of all the cowboys shot in all the John Ford westerns over the years.
I've seen all five nominated pictures as I'm sure all of you have, and they're all so excellent and so different, I'd have a hard time choosing one without feeling I'd been unfair to the others. And so it occurred to me that as different as they seem - 'go ahead and flip the card man, I'm still here' - they all have something in common. They're all concerned with the human dilemma and our confrontation with fate. Human beings engulfed in a lunatic dictatorship. Men brutalized by their fellow men on a hostile river. Families ripping up their old roots and hoping to plant new ones. And quite different families too who seek to prove that morality can exist within immorality. And finally, a mother, a father, three children , and a dog, who ask only to live in the dignity of which all life is entitled. These are diverse and distinguished pictures, and they are:
Cabaret, an ABC Pictures Production, Allied Artists, Cy Feuer, Producer.
Deliverance, Warner Brothers, produced by John Boorman.
The Emigrants, A.B. Svensk Filmindustri Production, Warner Brothers, Bengt Forslund, producer.
The Godfather, an Albert S. Ruddy production, Paramount, Albert S. Ruddy, producer.
Sounder, a Radnitz/Mattel productions, Twentieth Century Fox, Robert B. Radnitz, producer.
And the winner- and the winner is:
Albert S. Ruddy, Godfather.
AR: Don't fail me now! We were all getting nervous there for a moment. Let me do this quickly in two parts, because I know it's past midnight in New York and some of my relatives want to go to sleep.
There are a number of people I would like to thank, as everyone else would, because they deserve it. Bob Evans, for giving more than any studio head should in time and creativity. Frank Yablans, for having the courage and imagination to sell this film and make my mother rich. Charlie Bluhdorn, for having the courage to finance films, which I guess borders on insanity. And Peter Bart, who was a friend all the way through.
Now last off, there's millions of people who sit out there and people who love film and want to make film that will look at this [holding up the Oscar] and wonder what it's all about. America needs the motion picture business and the motion picture business needs the United States. Good audiences need good films as good films need good audiences. The American dream and what we all want, for me at least, is represented by this [holding up the Oscar]. It's there for everybody if we want to work, dream and try to get it. Thank you very much.
CE: I don't know if I should present this award on behalf of all the cowboys shot in all the John Ford westerns over the years.
I've seen all five nominated pictures as I'm sure all of you have, and they're all so excellent and so different, I'd have a hard time choosing one without feeling I'd been unfair to the others. And so it occurred to me that as different as they seem - 'go ahead and flip the card man, I'm still here' - they all have something in common. They're all concerned with the human dilemma and our confrontation with fate. Human beings engulfed in a lunatic dictatorship. Men brutalized by their fellow men on a hostile river. Families ripping up their old roots and hoping to plant new ones. And quite different families too who seek to prove that morality can exist within immorality. And finally, a mother, a father, three children , and a dog, who ask only to live in the dignity of which all life is entitled. These are diverse and distinguished pictures, and they are:
Cabaret, an ABC Pictures Production, Allied Artists, Cy Feuer, Producer.
Deliverance, Warner Brothers, produced by John Boorman.
The Emigrants, A.B. Svensk Filmindustri Production, Warner Brothers, Bengt Forslund, producer.
The Godfather, an Albert S. Ruddy production, Paramount, Albert S. Ruddy, producer.
Sounder, a Radnitz/Mattel productions, Twentieth Century Fox, Robert B. Radnitz, producer.
And the winner- and the winner is:
Albert S. Ruddy, Godfather.
AR: Don't fail me now! We were all getting nervous there for a moment. Let me do this quickly in two parts, because I know it's past midnight in New York and some of my relatives want to go to sleep.
There are a number of people I would like to thank, as everyone else would, because they deserve it. Bob Evans, for giving more than any studio head should in time and creativity. Frank Yablans, for having the courage and imagination to sell this film and make my mother rich. Charlie Bluhdorn, for having the courage to finance films, which I guess borders on insanity. And Peter Bart, who was a friend all the way through.
Now last off, there's millions of people who sit out there and people who love film and want to make film that will look at this [holding up the Oscar] and wonder what it's all about. America needs the motion picture business and the motion picture business needs the United States. Good audiences need good films as good films need good audiences. The American dream and what we all want, for me at least, is represented by this [holding up the Oscar]. It's there for everybody if we want to work, dream and try to get it. Thank you very much.
“Liza Minnelli Wins Best Actress: 1973 Oscars”
Raquel Welch and Gene Hackman present Liza Minnelli with the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in Cabaret. In their introduction, Welch makes reference to Littlefeather's speech, which had just taken place. The transcript of the video is included below:
RW: To all of us, the ladies we have just seen are unforgettable players. To me, they are more than that: they are friends.
GH: At the risk of increasing the suspense for our friends, I'd like to take a moment just to say something. The conventional wisdom is that you're born with talent. Maybe that's so, but talent is unusable and wasted without work, dedication, and a deep feeling for others. The truly talented ladies nominated for best performance by an actress are:
RW: Liza Minnelli in Cabaret.
GH: Diana Ross in Lady Sings the Blues.
RW: Maggie Smith in Travels With My Aunt.
GH: Cicely Tyson in Sounder.
RW: Liv Ullmann in The Emigrants.
GH: And the winner is.
RW: Hope they haven't got a cause.
GH: Liza Minnelli.
LM: Thank you. Thank you very much. Making the film of "Cabaret" was one of the happiest times of my whole life and I would like to thank everybody connected with it but most especially the artistic staff: Mr. Fosse, and Fred Ebb and John Kander. And thank you for giving me this award. You've made me very happy.
RW: To all of us, the ladies we have just seen are unforgettable players. To me, they are more than that: they are friends.
GH: At the risk of increasing the suspense for our friends, I'd like to take a moment just to say something. The conventional wisdom is that you're born with talent. Maybe that's so, but talent is unusable and wasted without work, dedication, and a deep feeling for others. The truly talented ladies nominated for best performance by an actress are:
RW: Liza Minnelli in Cabaret.
GH: Diana Ross in Lady Sings the Blues.
RW: Maggie Smith in Travels With My Aunt.
GH: Cicely Tyson in Sounder.
RW: Liv Ullmann in The Emigrants.
GH: And the winner is.
RW: Hope they haven't got a cause.
GH: Liza Minnelli.
LM: Thank you. Thank you very much. Making the film of "Cabaret" was one of the happiest times of my whole life and I would like to thank everybody connected with it but most especially the artistic staff: Mr. Fosse, and Fred Ebb and John Kander. And thank you for giving me this award. You've made me very happy.
Marlon Brando's Best Actor Oscar win for "The Godfather" | Sacheen Littlefeather
This item is a video of Sacheen Littlefeather refusing the Academy Award for Best Actor on behalf of Marlon Brando. The transcript of the video is included below:
SL: Hello. My name is Sacheen Littlefeather. I'm Apache and I am president of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee. I'm representing Marlon Brando this evening and he has asked me to tell you in a very long speech, which I cannot share with you presently because of time but I will be glad to share with the press afterwards, that he very regretfully cannot accept this very generous award. And the reasons for this being are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry – excuse me – and on television in movie reruns, and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee. I beg at this time that I have not intruded upon this evening and that we will in the future, our hearts and our understandings will meet with love and generosity. Thank you on behalf of Marlon Brando.
SL: Hello. My name is Sacheen Littlefeather. I'm Apache and I am president of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee. I'm representing Marlon Brando this evening and he has asked me to tell you in a very long speech, which I cannot share with you presently because of time but I will be glad to share with the press afterwards, that he very regretfully cannot accept this very generous award. And the reasons for this being are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry – excuse me – and on television in movie reruns, and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee. I beg at this time that I have not intruded upon this evening and that we will in the future, our hearts and our understandings will meet with love and generosity. Thank you on behalf of Marlon Brando.