The Godfather: 1972 Best Picture

At the 45th Academy Awards, “The Godfather” won Best Picture over “Cabaret”, “Deliverance”, “The Emigrants” and “Sounder”.

Oscar history sort of repeated itself when Marlon Brando refused to accept the Best Actor Oscar for his role in the Best Picture as Vito Corleone. The reason given, through his spokesperson, Sacheen Littlefeather, were very different from George C. Scott’s and Ms. Littlefeather did not take the statuette when it was offered to her.

“Cabaret” took Best Director (Bob Fosse), Best Actress (Liza Minelli), and Joel Grey won Best Supporting Actor for his role in the musical, over 3 Godfather stars (Caan, Duvall and Pacino), and Eddie Albert in “The Heartbreak Kid.” Sometimes you wonder why they even nominate more than one actor from the same film. Both Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier were nominated for Best Actor for Sleuth, too. But do they ever pick one over the other(s), when it comes down to it?

Jeopardy! clues on “The Godfather”
MOVIE TERMS $800: Cross-cutting juxtaposes 2 different scenes, like a Baptism with Corleone enemies being killed in this 1972 film
MOVIE QUOTES $400: It’s the 1972 film with the timeless line “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli”
AL PACINO MOVIES $400: Al’s first Oscar nomination came for his supporting work in this 1972 gangster film
MOVIE QUOTES $100: 1972 film re-released in 1997; its last line is “Don Corleone”
MARLON BRANDO $600: Yes, he did stuff his cheeks for this 1972 film; he wore a special mouthpiece, too
THE MOVIES $100: Lawrence Olivier was an early choice to play Don Vito Corleone in this 1972 film
THE OSCARS $100: Francis Ford Coppola & Mario Puzo won writing Oscars for this 1972 film

More 1972 film clues:
MANKIEWICZES AT THE MOVIES $1600: Joseph L. Mankiewicz’ last film was this 1972 Olivier-Caine battle of wits, remade in 2007 with Caine & Jude Law battling
CARE TO DANCE? $800: Marlon Brando actually does (or attempts) this title dance at the end of a 1972 film
REGGAE $2000: He sang “The Harder They Come” & his performance in that 1972 film made reggae internationally popular
JOHNSON & JOHNSON $600: The Crow Indians kill Robert Redford’s family in this 1972 film & he’s hell-bent on revenge
DIRECTORS & THEIR FILMS $400: Bob Fosse won an Oscar for this 1972 Liza Minnelli film
I HEAR BANJOS $200: The classic bluegrass song “Dueling Banjos” is featured in this disturbing 1972 film
BEFORE & AFTER $800: 1972 Marlon Brando film set in France in which he decides to live “the simple life” as an heiress
’70s POP CULTURE $1200: You could say this French Olympian went downhill as a ski instructor turned thief in the 1972 film “Snow Job”
“COM” $1600: Controversial 1969 Philip Roth novel that was made into a 1972 film
REEL PEOPLE $2000: The title Westerner of a 1972 Robert Redford film; in real life, he was said to eat his enemies’ livers
FILMS OF THE ’70s $600: A canoe trip into the Georgia backwoods became a living nightmare for four friends in this 1972 film
THE 1970s MUSIC SCENE $200: The 1972 film “Fillmore” chronicled the closing of promoter Bill Graham’s Fillmore West in this city
THEY PLAYED JESSE JAMES $2000: This co-star of 2003’s “Open Range” played Jesse in a 1972 film
THEY ALL PLAYED COUNTRY SINGERS $1200: Before “The Larry Sanders Show”, this actor seen here played a ruthless country singer in the 1972 film “Payday”
’70s MOVIE THEMES $1600: Andy Williams had a 1972 hit with “Speak Softly Love”, the theme from this epic film
MOVIE VILLAINS $1600: Bill McKinney, one of the mountain men who went after Ned Beatty in this 1972 film, has a CD of love songs out
PADRES $1000: Gene Hackman’s Rev. Frank Scott leads a band of survivors to safety aboard a capsized ship in this 1972 film
PUT ON YOUR JAMIES $400: Thaddaeus in the 1965 film “The Greatest Story Ever Told”, he got his greatest role ever in 1972 as Max Klinger
ANIMATED CATS $300: The 1972 adventures of this risque cat became the first animated film ever to get an “X” rating
“B” MOVIES $1,000 (Daily Double): What a pain in the neck! An African prince is turned into a vampire in this 1972 blaxploitation film
ROBERT REDFORD $1000: One of Redford’s favorites among his films is this 1972 story of a solitary trapper in the wilds of 19th century Utah
FILMS OF THE ’70s $200: This 1972 Woody Allen film included clips & music from “Casablanca”, sweetheart
THE CINEMA $500: 1972 film that ends with “Here life is beautiful.” The girls are beautiful. Even the orchestra is beautiful”
5 MOVIES $600: George Roy Hill directed the 1972 film adaptation of this Kurt Vonnegut war novel
ALL THAT JAZZ $800: Eleanora Fagan was the real name of this singer whom Diana Ross played in a 1972 film
HISTORY ON THE SCREEN $600: Scenes from a 1972 film in which Simon Ward played this British prime minister include one in a Boer prison
FEMALE COUNTRY $200: In 1972, the same year her “Delta Dawn” charted, she had a cameo role in the film “Jeremiah Johnson”
ACTOR-DIRECTORS $100: When his 1972 film “Beware! The Blob” was reissued, it was subtitled “The Movie J.R. Shot”
WHEN-THEY-WERE-YOUNG FILMS $300: In a 1972 film Simon Ward played this prime minister from ages 19 to 26
BURT REYNOLDS $400 (Daily Double): This 1972 film set in the South is considered Burt’s dramatic breakthrough film
MOVIE DEBUTS $600: Ned Beatty made a memorable debut in this 1972 film about a nightmarish canoe trip
MOVIE DEBUTS $200: Born Alicia Foster, she made her movie debut as a child in the 1972 Disney film “Napoleon and Samantha”
ELIZABETH TAYLOR FILMS $1000: In this 1972 film she was Zee
“NORTH” $500: Robert Duvall portrayed Jesse James in this 1972 film about an 1876 bank robbery
CELEBRITY ALMA MATERS $400: Child star who appeared in her 1st film in 1972 & graduated magna cum laude from Yale in 1985
’70s CINEMA $600 (Daily Double): 3 of the 4 actors who sought “Deliverance” in that 1972 film