1972 — Year in Review
Fritz Golden Superlatives

1. The Godfather (dir: Francis Ford Coppola)

2. What's Up, Doc? (dir: Peter Bogdanovich)

3. Wake in Fright (dir: Ted Kotcheff; US Release Date)

4. Le Cercle Rouge (dir: Jean-Pierre Melville; UK Release Date)

5. Deliverance (dir: John Boorman)

6. Across 110th Street (dir: Barry Shear)

7. The Heartbreak Kid (dir: Elaine May)

8. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (dir: Luis Buñuel)

9. Love in the Afternoon (dir: Eric Rohmer)

10. Images (dir: Robert Altman)

Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order): Bay of Blood (dir: Mario Bava), Cabaret (dir: Bob Fosse), Cries and Whispers (dir: Ingmar Bergman), Fat City (dir: John Huston), Frenzy (dir: Alfred Hitchcock), The Getaway (dir: Sam Peckinpah), Last House on the Left (dir: Wes Craven), The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (dir: Paul Newman), Marjoe (dir: Sarah Kernochan and Howard Smith), Murmur of the Heart (dir: Louis Malle), The Ruling Class (dir: Peter Medak) and Sounder (dir: Martin Ritt)

Best Picture: The Godfather
Director: Francis Ford Coppola Producers: Al Ruddy
US Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Best Director:
Peter Bogdanovich, What's Up, Doc?
2. Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather
3. Jeanne-Pierre Melville, Le Cercle Rouge
4. Ted Kotcheff, Wake in Fright
5. John Boorman, Deliverance

Best Actor:
Donald Pleasence, Wake in Fright
2. Al Pacino, The Godfather
3. Charles Grodin, The Heartbreak Kid
4. Robert Duvall, Tomorrow
5. Stacy Keach, Fat City

Best Actress: 
Liza Minnelli, Cabaret
2. Joanne Woodward, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
3. Susannah York, Images
4. Cicely Tyson, Sounder
5. Lea Massari, Murmur of the Heart

Best Supporting Actor:
Marlon Brando, The Godfather
2. James Caan, The Godfather
3. Paul Benjamin, Across 110th Street
4. Yaphet Kotto, Across 110th Street
5. Ronny Cox, Deliverance

Best Supporting Actress:
Jeannie Berlin, The Heartbreak Kid
2. Susan Tyrrell, Fat City
3. Harriet Andersson, Cries and Whispers
4. Shelley Winters, The Poseidon Adventure
5. Madeline Kahn, What’s Up, Doc?

Best Original Screenplay: 
Le Cercle Rouge — Jean-Pierre Melville
2. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie — Luis Buñuel and Jean-Claude Carriere
3. Cries and Whispers — Ingmar Bergman
4. What's Up, Doc? — Robert Benton, Peter Bogdanovich, Buck Henry, David Newman
5. Chloe in the Afternoon — Éric Rohmer

Best Adapted Screenplay:
The Godfather — Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo
2. Across 110th Street — Luther Harris
3. The Heartbreak Kid — Neil Simon
4. Cabaret — Jay Presson Allen
5. Deliverance — James Dickey

Best Cinematography:
A Bay of Blood — Mario Bava
2. Wake in Fright — Brian West
3. The Godfather — Gordon Willis
4. Deliverance — Vilmos Zsigmond
5. Cries and Whispers — Sven Nykvist

Best Film Editing:
The Godfather — William Reynolds and Peter Zinner
2. Images — Graeme Clifford
3. What's Up, Doc? — Verna Fields
4. Deliverance — Tom Priestley
5. Le Cercle Rouge — Marie-Sophie Dubus and Jean-Pierre Melville

Best Original Score:
Images — John Williams
2. The Godfather — Nino Rota
3. Duck, You Sucker — Ennio Morricone
4. Super Fly — Curtis Mayfield
5. The Poseidon Adventure — John Williams

Best Production Design:
Cries & Whispers — Marik Vos-Lundh
2. Cabaret — Rolf Zehetbauer and Hans Jurgen Kiebach
3. The Godfather — Dean Tavoularis and Philip Smith
4. The Poseidon Adventure — William Creber and Raphael Bretton
5. Sleuth — Ken Adam and John Jarvis

Best Costume Design:
Cabaret — Charlotte Flemming
2. Cries & Whispers — Marik Vos-Lundh
3. The Godfather — Anthony Hill Johnson
4. The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds — Anna Hill Johnstone
5. The Poseidon Adventure — Paul Zastupnevich

Best Visual Effects:
Silent Running

Best Sound:
Cabaret

Best Documentary Feature: 
Sarah Kernochan and Howard Smith, Marjoe

Best Animated Feature:
Ralph Bakshi, Fritz the Cat

Best Ensemble Cast:
The Godfather

Orson Welles’ Best First Feature:
Larry Cohen, Bone

Best Ensemble Cast: The Godfather directed by Francis Ford Coppola; starring (in alphabetical order): Marlon Brando, James Caan (pictured), Richard S. Castellano, John Cazale, Richard Conte, Robert Duvall (pictured), Sterling Hayden, Diane Keaton, Al Lettieri, John Marley, Lenny Montana, Al Pacino (pictured), Gianni Russo, Alex Rocco, Talia Shire, and Abe Vigoda (pictured)

Orson Welles' Best First Feature:
Yaphet Kotto in Larry Cohen’s Bone

RECAP

W I N S :

The Godfather — 7,
Cabaret — 3, A Bay of Blood — 1, Bone— 1, Cries and Whispers — 1, Fritz the Cat — 1, Heartbreak Kid — 1, Images – 1, Le Cercle Rougue — 1, Marjoe — 1, Silent Running — 1, Wake In Fright — 1, What’s Up, Doc? — 1

M U L T I P L E
N O M I N A T I O N S :

The Godfather— 12,
Deliverance — 6, Cabaret — 5, Cries & Whispers – 5, Images — 5, Wake in Fright — 5, What’s Up, Doc? — 5, Across 110th Street — 4, The Poseidon Adventure — 4, Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie — 3, Fat City — 2, Le Cercle Rouge — 3, Heartbreak Kid — 2

the year-end project:
2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1982, 1981, 1980, 1979, 1978, 1977, 1976, 1975, 1974, 1973, 1972, 1971, 1970, 1969, 1968, 1967, 1966, 1965, 1964, 1963, 1962, 1961, 1960, 1959, 1958, 1957, 1956, 1955, 1954, 1953, 1952, 1951, 1950, 1940 - 1949, 1930 - 1939, 1920 - 1929 + Superlatives Index

Best of the Decade:
2010s, 2000s, 1990s, 1980s