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| 50th Academy Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Monday, April 3, 1978 | |||
| Site | Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles | |||
| Host | Bob Hope | |||
| Producer | Howard W. Koch | |||
| Director | Marty Pasetta | |||
| Highlights | ||||
| Best Picture | Annie Hall | |||
| TV in the United States | ||||
| Network | ABC | |||
| Duration | 3 hours, 30 minutes | |||
| Viewership | 39.73 million 31.1% (Nielsen ratings)[1] |
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The 50th Academy Awards were held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California on April 3, 1978. The ceremonies were presided over by Bob Hope, who hosted the awards for the eighteenth and last time.
Two of the year's biggest winners were Star Wars, which swept the technical categories by winning 6 out of its 10 nominations, and Annie Hall, winning 4 out of 5 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Director. This incarnation of the awards show was also notable for a very politically-charged acceptance speech by Vanessa Redgrave.
During the ceremony, Vanessa Redgrave won the Best Supporting Actress award for Julia, and, aware of members of the Jewish Defense League (JDL) protesting outside, made the following comments:
| “ | My dear colleagues, I thank you very much for this tribute to my work. I think that Jane Fonda, and I have done the best work of our lives and I think this is in part due to our director, Fred Zinnemann. [Audience applause.]
And I also think it's in part because we believed and we believe in what we were expressing--two out of millions who gave their lives and were prepared to sacrifice everything in the fight against fascist and racist Nazi Germany. And I salute you, and I pay tribute to you, and I think you should be very proud that in the last few weeks you've stood firm, and you have refused to be intimidated by the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums [gasps from the audience, followed by a smattering of boos and clapping] whose behavior is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world and their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression. [General applause] And I salute that record and I salute all of you for having stood firm and dealt a final blow against that period when Nixon and McCarthy launched a worldwide witch-hunt against those who tried to express in their lives and their work the truth that they believe in [some boos and hissing]. I salute you and I thank you and I pledge to you that I will continue to fight against anti-Semitism and fascism. |
” |
Two hours later,[2] when it came his turn to announce an award winner (for Best Writing), Paddy Chayefsky, perturbed by what he perceived as "cracks about Jews"[2] at the Academy Awards, replied:
| “ | Before I get on to the writing awards, there's a little matter I'd like to tidy up--at least if I expect to live with myself tomorrow morning. I would like to say, personal opinion, of course, that I'm sick and tired of people exploiting the Academy Awards [loud applause] for the propagation of their own personal propaganda.
I would like to suggest to Miss Redgrave that her winning an Academy Award is not a pivotal moment in history, does not require a proclamation and a simple 'thank you' would have sufficed. [Loud applause.] |
” |
The Goodbye Girl - Richard Dreyfuss
Annie Hall - Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman
Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Vilmos Zsigmond
Star Wars - John Barry, Norman Reynolds, Leslie Dilley and Roger Christian
Star Wars - John Mollo
Star Wars - Don MacDougall, Ray West, Bob Minkler and Derek Ball
Star Wars - Paul Hirsch, Marcia Lucas and Richard Chew
Star Wars - John Stears, John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Grant McCune and Robert Blalack
You Light Up My Life - Joseph Brooks for the song You Light Up My Life
Star Wars - John Williams
A Little Night Music - Jonathan Tunick
Who Are the DeBolts?
Madame Rosa - France
The Academy gave the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to Walter Mirisch and The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Charlton Heston.
   | Redgrave's 'Zionist Hoodlums' Speech Shocks Hollywood - Redgrave's 'Zionist Hoodlums' Speech Shocks Hollywood |
| | E! Online - 75 Years of Oscar - 1978 - Oscars 2009, Academy Awards | E! Online |
| | IMDb: Academy Awards, USA: 1978 - IMDb: Academy Awards, USA: 1978 |
| | filmsite.org: 1977 Academy Awards® Winners and History - 1977 Academy Awards® Winners and History |
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