1976--The Year in Review

The British miniseries I, Claudius was really the "film" event of the year, but I can’t give a miniseries Best Picture; something about it seems unfair to even five-hour films. So I had to leave it to Scorsese, Lumet, and Pakula to battle it out for Best Picture and Director. Ultimately, I had to go with the film whose lonely, frank harshness has influenced decades of filmmaking hence, and whose lead performance from Robert De Niro has continually astounded all. Supporting Actor was a packed category this year, by the way--at least ten more possibilities were left by the wayside. Best Song, too, was a bear, with a very unlikely choice topping my list (the whole score for Alan Parker's still underrated and underseen Bugsy Malone nearly overtook the latter category. though ultimately I had to go another very surprising way, I did recognize Paul Williams for his extraordinary contribution to movies this year, though (he ended up winning the Oscar alongside Barbara Streisand for their "Evergreen" collaboration). As for Best Actress, I had to dip into television for the proper choice, and I do so without regret, though I do laud the runner up, who'd go on to do greater things. In the end, has there ever been a more contentious battle for Best Picture? I don't think so. Rocky, Taxi Driver, All The President's Men, Network, Bound for Glory. A perfect lineup. A rarity. NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and are only occasionally reflective of the selections made by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka The Oscars). When available, the nominee that actually won the Oscar will be highlighted in bold. 

PICTURE: TAXI DRIVER (US, Martin Scorsese)
(2nd: Network (US, Sidney Lumet)
followed by: All the President’s Men (US, Alan J. Pakula)
Rocky (US, John G. Avildsen)
Bound for Glory (US, Hal Ashby)
The Front (US, Martin Ritt)
Small Change (France, François Truffaut)
Bugsy Malone (UK, Alan Parker)
Carrie (US, Brian de Palma)
Harlan County, USA (US, Barbara Kopple)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (US, Clint Eastwood)
The Bad News Bears (US, Michael Richie)
Sybil (US, Daniel Petrie)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (UK, Nicolas Roeg)
The Shootist (US, Don Siegel)
Stay Hungry (US, Bob Rafelson)
In the Realm of the Senses (Japan, Nagisa Oshima)
1900 (Italy, Bernardo Bertolucci)
The Memory of Justice (France, Marcel Ophuls)
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (US, John Cassavetes)
Kings of the Road (West Germany, Wim Wenders)
Nuts in May (UK, Mike Leigh)
The Tenant (France, Roman Polanski)
The Seven Per-Cent Solution (US, Herbert Ross)
Face to Face (Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)
Robin and Marian (UK, Richard Lester)
Heart of Glass (West Germany, Werner Herzog)
Next Stop, Greenwich Village (US, Paul Mazursky)
Silent Movie (US, Mel Brooks)
Marathon Man (US, John Schlesinger)
Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 (Switzerland, Alain Tanner)
Allegro Non Troppo (Italy, Bruno Bazzeto)
Griffin and Phoenix (US, Daryl Duke)
Assault on Precinct 13 (US, John Carpenter)
Mikey and Nicky (US, Elaine May)
Car Wash (US, Michael Schultz)
God Told Me To (US, Larry Cohen)
Fellini Casanova (Italy, Federico Fellini)
Hollywood on Trial (US, David Helpern)
The Marquise of O (France, Eric Rohmer)
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (Brazil, Bruno Baretto)
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (US, Nicholas Gessner)
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings (US, John Badham)
The Blank Generation (US, Ivan Kral and Amos Poe)
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea (US, Lewis John Carlino)
Silver Streak (US, Arthur Hiller)
Ode to Billy Joe (US, Max Baer)
Baby Blue Marine (US, John Hancock)
Mother, Jugs and Speed (US, Peter Yates)
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (US, Robert Altman)
Obsession (US, Brian de Palma)
Gator (US, Burt Reynolds)
Leadbelly (US, Gordon Parks)
Logan's Run (US, Michael Anderson)
Murder by Death (US, Robert Moore)
The Enforcer (US, James Fargo)
The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (US, Melvin Frank)
Family Plot (US, Alfred Hitchcock)
The Last Tycoon (US, Elia Kazan)
The Missouri Breaks (US, Arthur Penn)
The Opening of Misty Beethoven (US, Radley Metzger))


  
ACTOR: Robert De Niro, TAXI DRIVER (2nd: Sylvester Stallone, Rocky, followed by: William Holden, Network; Woody Allen, The Front; Ben Gazzara, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie; David Carradine, Bound for Glory; John Wayne, The Shootist; Clint Eastwood, The Outlaw Josey Wales) 

ACTRESS: Faye Dunaway, NETWORK (2nd: Sissy Spacek, Carrie, followed by: Sally Field, Sybil; Liv Ullmann, Face to Face; Joanne Woodward, Sybil; Sonia Braga, Doña Flor and Her Two Husbands; Allison Steadman, Nuts in May; Jodie Foster, The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane) 



SUPPORTING ACTOR: Peter Finch, NETWORK (won as Best Actor) (2nd: Jason Robards, All The President’s Men, followed by: Ned Beatty, Network; Lawrence Olivier, Marathon Man; Richard Pryor, Silver Streak; Burt Young, Rocky; Burgess Meredith, Rocky; Chief Dan George, The Outlaw Josey Wales; Zero Mostel, The Front)



SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jodie Foster, TAXI DRIVER (2nd: Piper Laurie, Carrie, followed by: Melinda Dillon, Bound for Glory; Beatrice Straight, Network; Martine Bartlett, Sybil; Talia Shire, Rocky; Jane Alexander, All the President’s Men; Dominique Sanda, 1900)

DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese, TAXI DRIVER (2nd: Sidney Lumet, Network, followed by: Alan J. Pakula, All The President’s Men; Martin Ritt, The Front; Hal Ashby, Bound for Glory; John G. Avildsen, Rocky; Francois Truffaut, Small Change; Alan Parker, Bugsy Malone)

NON-ENGLISH-LANGUAGE FILM: SMALL CHANGE (France, François Truffaut) (2nd: In the Realm of the Senses (Japan, Nagisa Oshima), followed by: 1900 (Italy, Bernardo Bertolucci); The Memory of Justice (France, Marcel Ophuls); Kings of the Road (West Germany, Wim Wenders); Face to Face (Sweden, Ingmar Bergman); Heart of Glass (West Germany, Werner Herzog); L’Innocente (Italy, Luchino Visconti); Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 (Switzerland, Alain Tanner); Allegro Non Troppo (Italy, Bruno Bazzeto); Casanova (Italy, Federico Fellini); The Marquise of O (France, Eric Rohmer); Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (Brazil, Bruno Baretto))



DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: HARLAN COUNTY USA (US, Barbara Kopple) (2nd: The Memory of Justice (France, Marcel Ophuls), followed by: Hollywood on Trial (US, David Helpern); The Blank Generation (US, Ivan Kral and Amos Poe))



ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Paddy Chayefsky, NETWORK (2nd: Paul Schrader, Taxi Driver, followed by: Walter Bernstein, The Front; Bill Lancaster, The Bad News Bears; Alan Parker, Bugsy Malone)



ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: William Goldman, ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (2nd: Robert Getchell, Bound for Glory; Stewart Stern, Sybil; Philip Kaufman and Sonia Chernus, The Outlaw Josey Wales; Nicholas Meyer, The Seven Per-Cent Solution)

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM: RENDEZVOUS (France, Claude Lelouch) (2nd: Children (UK, Terence Davies), followed by: Plaisir d’amour en Iran (France, Agnes Varda); Kudzu (US, Marjorie Ann Short); To Fly! (US, Jim Freeman and Greg MacGillivrey))

ANIMATED SHORT FILM: THE STREET (Canada, Caroline Leaf) (2nd: Leisure (Australia, David Denneen), followed by: Le Paysagiste (Canada, Jacques Drouin); Arabesque (US, John Whitney Sr.); Dojoji (Japan, Kihachiro Kawamoto)



CINEMATOGRAPHY: Haskell Wexler, BOUND FOR GLORY (2nd: Gordon Willis, All The President's Men, followed by: Michael Chapman, Taxi Driver; Owen Roizman, Network; Vittorio Storaro, 1900)

ART DIRECTION: ALL THE PRESIDENT‘S MEN, Bugsy Malone, The Shootist, Logan’s Run, Bound for Glory 

COSTUME DESIGN: CASANOVA, Bugsy Malone, 1900, The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings, Bound for Glory  



FILM EDITING: TAXI DRIVER, Rocky, All The President’s Men, Network, Carrie 

SOUND: ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, Rocky, Network, Bound for Glory, Silver Streak


 
ORIGINAL SCORE: Bernard Herrmann, TAXI DRIVER (2nd: Pino Donaggio, Carrie, followed by Bill Conti, Rocky; Jerry Fielding, The Outlaw Josey Wales; Bernard Herrmann, Obsession)



ADAPTED OR MUSICAL SCORE: Paul Williams, BUGSY MALONE (2nd: Leonard Rosenman, Bound for Glory, followed by: Patrick Williams, The Bad News Bears)



ORIGINAL SONG: “I Never Dreamed Someone Like You Could Love Someone Like Me” from CARRIE (Music and lyrics by Pino Donnagio and Merrit Malloy) (2nd: “My Name is Tallulah” from Bugsy Malone (Music and lyrics by Paul Williams), followed by: "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star is Born)" (Music by Barbra Streisand, lyrics by Paul Williams); “I Wanna Get Next to You” from Car Wash (Music and lyrics by Norman Whitfield); “Hooked on Your Love” from Sparkle (Music and lyrics by Curtis Mayfield); “You Give A Little Love” from Bugsy Malone (Music and lyrics by Paul Williams); "Tomorrow" from Bugsy Malone (Music and lyrics by Paul Williams); "Ordinary Fool" from Bugsy Malone (Music and lyrics by Paul Williams); "So You Wanna Be a Boxer" from Bugsy Malone (Music and lyrics by Paul Williams); “Car Wash” from Car Wash (Music and lyrics by Norman Whitfield); "Gonna Fly Now" from Rocky (Music by Bill Conti, lyrics by Carol Collins and Ayn Robbins); "Gator" from Gator (Music and lyrics by Jerry Reed); "Please Don't Touch Me Plums" from The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (Music and lyrics by Sammy Cahn, Melvin Frank and Charles Fox); "Crossroads" from Massacre at Central High (Music by Tommy Leonetti, lyrics by Jill Williams)

SPECIAL EFFECTS: LOGAN'S RUN

MAKEUP: TAXI DRIVER, Bugsy Malone, Rocky