Looking at Film from Every Angle

50th Academy Awards (1977): The Ceremony

Nominations Announcement

Nominations Announcement Date: Tuesday, February 21, 1978

Ceremony Details

Awards Ceremony Date/Time: Wednesday, March 29, 1978, 7:00pm
Location: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles
Televised On: ABC
Host: Bob Hope
Length: 3 hours, 30 minutes
Nielsen Ratings: 31.10 rating
Viewers: 39.73 million

Presenters

President’s Welcoming Remarks: Howard W. Koch
Voting Rules Explanation: Bette Davis, Gregory Peck
Supporting Actress: John Travolta
Sound Editing: Mark Hamill, C-3PO, R2-D2
Animated Short Film: Jodie Foster, Mickey Mouse, Paul Williams
Live Action Short Film: Jodie Foster, Paul Williams
Sound Mixing: Barbara Stanwyck, William Holden
Visual Effects: Joan Fontaine
Documentary Short Subject: Kirk Douglas, Raquel Welch
Documentary Feature: Kirk Douglas, Raquel Welch
Scientific & Technical Awards: Billy Dee Williams
Production Design: Greer Garson, Henry Winkler
Foreign Language Film: Eva Marie Saint, Jack Valenti
Supporting Actor: Maggie Smith, Michael Caine
Costume Design: Natalie Wood
Music: Original Score: Henry Mancini, John Green, Olivia Newton-John
Music: Original Song Score or Adaptation: Henry Mancini, John Green, Olivia Newton-John
Cinematography: Goldie Hawn, Jon Voight
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Charlton Heston: Bette Davis
Honorary Award: Margaret Booth: Olivia de Havilland
Film Editing: Farrah Fawcett-Majors, Marcello Mastroianni
Original Song: Fred Astaire
Irving G. Thalberg Award: Walter Mirisch: Stanley Kramer
Directing: Cicely Tyson, King Vidor
Writing: Adapted Screenplay: Paddy Chayefsky
Writing: Original Screenplay: Paddy Chayefsky
Actress: Janet Gaynor, Walter Matthau
Actor: Sylvester Stallone
Picture: Jack Nicholson

Previous Acting & Directing Winners

The tradition of prior acting winners returning the subsequent year to present the opposite-gender category is a long one. Each year, we look to see whether the prior winners returned. There was an intermittent tradition where the prior directing winner returned as well, but this was a rare occurrence.

Actor – Peter Finch: No
Actress – Faye Dunaway: No
Supporting Actor – Jason Robards: No
Supporting Actress – Beatrice Straight: No
Directing – John G. Avildsen: No

Song Performances

Candle on the Water: Gloria Loring
Nobody Does It Better: Aretha Franklin
The Slipper and the Rose Waltz: Jane Powell
Someone’s Waiting for You: Gloria Loring
You Light Up My Life: Debby Boone

Original Song Film Performers

Was the song performed at the Oscars by the same individuals who performed it in the film?

Candle on the Water: No (Performed in the Film by: Helen Reddy)
Nobody Does It Better: no (Performed in the Film by: Carly Simon)
The Slipper and the Rose Waltz: no (Performed in the Film by: Richard Chamberlain, Gemma Craven)
Someone’s Waiting for You: no (Performed in the Film by: Shelby Flint)
You Light Up My Life: no (Performed in the Film by: Didi Conn (dubbed by Kacey Cisyk), Kacey Cisyk (dubbing for Didi Conn))

Other Performances

Come Light the Candles: Sammy Davis Jr., Marvin Hamlisch
Look How Far We’ve Come: Debbie Reynolds
That’s Entertainment: Academy Awards Chorus

Ceremony Production Staff

Announcer: Hank Simms
Conductor / Musical Arranger: Nelson Riddle
Director: Marty Pasetta
Producer: Howard W. Koch
Writer: William Ludwig, Leonard Spiegelgass
Choreography: Robert Iscove