Apache Indian Sacheen Littlefeather declined Marlon Brando’s Best Actor Oscar for The Godfather on his behalf as a protest against government Indian policies.
The X-rated Deep Throat was the second hard-core pornography feature film widely released in the US. It came after the feature length X-rated Behind the Green Door by the Mitchell Brothers. Both films contributed to the explosion of the porn industry and ‘porn chic’ by being exhibited in many mainstream film theatres. Deep Throat was one of the most financially successful films ever made (grossing over $1,000,000, but costing only $24,000 to make). However, it was ruled obscene by a New York court in 1973 and prints of the film were seized when it was subsequently banned in 23 states, and the film’s exhibitors (and actor Harry Reems) were found guilty of promoting obscenity and fined. The publicity only fueled the worldwide box-office gross of the film.  It seems like a lifetime ago when I actually saw Deep Throat in the theater on original release as some kind of dare with office colleagues!
For the first time in 20 years, 82 year-old silent comedian/director/producer Charlie Chaplin returned from exile and set foot on US soil. Two decades earlier, he was denied a re-entry visa amid questions about his leftist politics and moral character. Â Chaplin accepted an honorary Academy Award “For the incalculable effect he has had in making motion The pictures the art form of this century”. His standing ovation lasted a record 12 minutes.
The world lost Maurice Chevalier, Brian Donleavy, George Sanders, Bruce Cabot, Margaret Rutherford, Brandon DeWilde, Oscar Levant, Akim Tamaroff, Miriam Hopkins, Edgar G. Ulmer, Leo G. Caroll, and William Dieterle. Â Ned Beatty, Jody Foster, Bob Hoskins, Isabelle Huppert, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Kingsley, Steve Martin, and Nick Nolte made their film debuts.
Richard M. Nixon won re-election by a landslide. Â The Watergate Scandal broke. Â Terrorists attacked the Munich Olympics killing eleven Israeli athletes. Â Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” spent six weeks atop the Billboard Charts and was the number one single of the year. Â The Pulitzer Prize for Literature was awarded to Wallace Stegner for Angle of Repose. Â No prize was awarded for Drama. Â Richard M. Nixon and Henry Kissinger were named Time Magazine’s Men of the Year.
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I’m enjoying cherry-picking these later years. Â Here is the list I will pick from.
Photo Montage of Oscar winners
Photo Montage of Major Oscar Nominees
