The Academy Awards Year 1971 was held at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, L.A. County Music Center, Los Angeles, California, USA on 15 April 1971.

BEST PICTURE 1971 WINNER

PATTON (1970)

Director : Franklin J. Schaffner

Writer : Ladislas Farago (book), Omar N. Bradley (book)

Genre : Biography, Drama, War

Main Cast : George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Stephen Young, Michael Strong, Carey Loftin

Plot : “Patton” tells the tale of General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. The film begins with patton’s career in North Africa and progresses through the invasion of Germany and the fall of the Third Reich. Side plots also speak of Patton’s numerous faults such his temper and habit towards insubordination. Faults which would, eventually, lead to his being relieved as Occupation Commander of Germany.

OTHER NOMINEES

AIRPORT (1970)

Director : George Seaton

Writer : Arthur Hailey (novel), George Seaton (written for the screen by)

Genre : Drama, Thriller

Main Cast : Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, Jacqueline Bisset, George Kennedy

Plot : A midwestern U.S. hub airport struggles to remain open despite the worst snowstorm in 25 years, angry homeowners from a nearby housing tract and pilots refusing to obey noise abatement rules during the storm. Mel Bakersfield is the airport manager who must not only fight the weather and the home owners but his pilot/playboy brother-in-law, his divorce seeking wife, a deranged man with a bomb, a plane stuck in the mud and blocking the main runway, a little old lady stowaway and the airport commissioners. A very accurate, for its time, depiction of the day-to-day goings on at a busy airport– with some extra high drama thrown in for seasoning.

FIVE EASY PIECES (1970)

Director : Bob Rafelson

Writer : Carole Eastman (screenplay), Carole Eastman (story)

Genre : Drama

Main Cast : Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Billy Green Bush, Fannie Flagg, Sally Struthers

Plot : Robert Dupea has given up his promising career as a concert pianist and is now working in oil fields. He lives together with Rayette, who’s a waitress in a diner. When Robert hears from his sister that his father isn’t well, he drives up to Washington to see him, taking Rayette with him. There he gets confronted with his rich, cultured family that he had left behind.

LOVE STORY (1970)

Director : Arthur Hiller

Writer : Erich Segal (written by)

Genre : Romance, Drama

Main Cast : Ali MacGraw, Ryan O’Neal, John Marley, Ray Milland, Russell Nype

Plot : Harvard Law student/hockey jock (Oliver Barrett IV) meets Radcliffe music wonk (Jennifer Cavalleri), and the couple soon enter into a relationship. When the couple decide to get married, Oliver’s father (Oliver Barrett III) threatens to disinherit him from the family will, leaving Oliver and Jennifer to start their marriage at rock-bottom. Jennifer and her dad (Phil Cavalleri) do what they can to bring father and son back together, but the two prefer to remain at war with one another. Years go by, and the young couple attempt to have children, only to discover that she is malfunctioning.

MASH (1970)

Director : Robert Altman

Writer : Richard Hooker (novel), Ring Lardner Jr. (screenplay)

Genre : Comedy,War, Drama

Main Cast : Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman, Robert Duvall, Roger Bowen

Plot : November, 1951. The 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital is shaken up by the arrival of Captains “Hawkeye” Pierce and “Duke” Forrest…crack surgeons but lousy soldiers. Joined by renowned chest-cutter “Trapper” John McIntyre, the surgeons set about dealing with the daily carnage of the war by raising hell. From getting rid of the idiotic Major Burns to helping the camp dentist commit “suicide”, there’s no lengths the Swampmen won’t go to to distract themselves from the horrors of war.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM 1970

WINNER
INDAGINE SU UN CITTADINO AL DI SOPRA DI OGNI SOSPETTO (1970)

Also Known As : Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion
Country : Italy
Director : Elio Petri
Writer : Elio Petri (writer) and Ugo Pirro (writer)
Genre : Crime, Drama
Main Cast : Gian Maria Volontè, Florinda Bolkan, Gianni Santuccio, Orazio Orlando, Sergio Tramonti, Arturo Dominici

Plot : A chief of detectives, homicide section, kills his mistress and deliberately leaves clues to prove his own responsibility for the crime.

OTHER NOMINEES
TRISTANA (1970)

Country : Spain
Director : Luis Buñuel
Writer : Julio Alejandro (writer), Luis Buñuel (screen story)
Genre : Drama
Main Cast : Catherine Deneuve, Fernando Rey, Franco Nero, Lola Gaos, Antonio Casas, Jesús Fernández

Plot : When the young woman Tristana’s mother dies, she is entrusted to the guardianship of the well-respected though old Don Lope. Don Lope is well-liked and well-known because of his honorable nature, despite his socialistic views about business and religion. But Don Lope’s one weakness is women, and he falls for the innocent girl in his charge, seduces her, makes her his lover, though all the while explaining to her that she is as free as he. But when she acts on this freedom, Don Lope must deal with the consequences of his world-view.

PAIX SUR LES CHAMPS (1970)

Also Known As : Peace in the Fields
Country : Belgium
Director : Jacques Boigelot
Writer : Jacques Boigelot (dialogue), Marie Gevers (novel)

Genre : Drama
Main Cast : Christian Barbier, Georges Poujouly, Claire Wauthion, Héléna Manson, Arlette Schreiber, Nicole Valberg

Plot : This is a film which was made in Belgium in the early ’60s and was never released. However, it somehow got included in the American Oscar category for “Best Foreign Film,” and was finally released in its home country in 1971. It explores the issues of prejudice and superstition in the Belgian countryside through the troubles of a middle-aged farmer whose mother has been accused of being a witch. In French, this picture is based on a true story which took place in the late 1920s and early ’30s.

ERSTE LIEBE (1970)

Also Known As : First Love
Country : Switzerland
Director : Maximilian Schell
Writer : John Gould (writer), Maximilian Schell (writer)
Genre : Drama, History, Romance
Main Cast : John Moulder-Brown, Dominique Sanda, Maximilian Schell, Valentina Cortese, Marius Goring, Dandy Nichols

Plot : Producer/director Maximillian Schell adapted the screenplay of First Love from a story by Ivan Turgenev. John Moulder Brown plays Alexander, a 16-year-old boy who falls in love with 21-year-old Sinaida (Dominique Sanda). Despite a great deal of emotional turmoil, exacerbated by the fact that Sinaida has been sleeping with Alexander’s father, Alexander insists upon pursuing the relationship. His sexual coming-of-age is played out against the ominous backdrop of pre-World War II Europe. The film was originally released as Ein Leibe.

HOA-BINH (1970)

Also Known As : The Bamboo Incident
Country : France
Director : Raoul Coutard
Writer : Raoul Coutard (writer), Françoise Lorrain (novel)

Genre : Drama
Main Cast : Phi Lan, Huynh Cazenas, Le Quynh, Marcel Lan Phuong, Bui Thi Thanh, Tran Van Lich

Plot : A young Vietnamese boy’s life is thrown into turmoil by the war raging in his country. The ten year old remains with his mother and baby sister as his father goes off to fight for the Viet Cong. During his father’s absence, his mother dies from overwork and the inability to find proper medical care for her illness. He cares for his baby sister and struggles to earn a living by shining shoes and doing other odd jobs before his father returns. Both an American soldier and a Viet Cong regular are shown defending their country’s political agenda. Also shown are guerilla tactics and bombings in this feature directed by veteran combat photographer Raoul Coutard.