Veteran actress-screenwriter-playwright Ruth Gordon enjoyed a major film career renaissance following her Oscar-winning devilish turn in Rosemary’s Baby in 1968. In Harold and Maude, the 75-year-old Gordon had her first starring role in a motion picture. Her offbeat performance as the free-spirited Maude helped turn this quirky, anti-establishment comedy into one of the major cult films of the 1970s. Bud Cort (Brewster McCloud) plays Harold, the death-obsessed young man who learns to appreciate life with Maude’s help. With the perfect black-humorous touch, Hal Ashby directed Colin Higginss’ poignantly funny screenplay.
Best Film
The Boy Friend, dir. & scr.: Ken Russell.
A Clockwork Orange, dir. & scr.: Stanley Kubrick.
Duel, dir.: Steven Spielberg; scr.: Richard Matheson.
Harold and Maude, dir.: Hal Ashby; scr.: Colin Higgins.
Johnny Got His Gun, dir. & scr.: Dalton Trumbo.
The Last Picture Show, dir.: Peter Bogdanovich; scr.: Peter Bogdanovich & Larry McMurtry.
Summer of ‘42, dir.: Robert Mulligan; scr.: Herman Raucher.
Sunday, Bloody Sunday, dir.: John Schlesinger; scr.: Penelope Gilliatt.
The Emigrants / Utvandrarna, dir.: Jan Troell; scr.: Jan Troell & Bengt Forslund.
Best Actor
Richard Attenborough, 10 Rillington Place.
Dirk Bogarde, Death in Venice / Morte a Venezia.
Timothy Bottoms, Johnny Got His Gun & The Last Picture Show.
Bud Cort, Harold and Maude.
Peter Finch, Sunday, Bloody Sunday.
Roberto Gucciola, Sacco & Vanzetti / Sacco e Vanzetti.
Michael Jayston, Nicholas and Alexandra.
Malcolm McDowell, A Clockwork Orange.
Max von Sydow, The Emigrants.
Best Actress
Mia Farrow, See No Evil / Blind Terror.
Ruth Gordon, Harold and Maude.
Goldie Hawn, $ / Dollars.
Glenda Jackson, The Music Lovers & Sunday, Bloody Sunday.
Anna Magnani, The Automobile / Tre Donne – L’Automobile.
Mildred Natwick, Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate.
Debbie Reynolds, What’s the Matter with Helen?.
Liv Ullmann, The Emigrants.
Best Supporting Actor
Eddie Axberg & Pierre Lindstedt, The Emigrants.
Cyrill Cusack, Sacco & Vanzetti.
John Hurt, 10 Rillington Place.
Best Supporting Actress
Ellen Geer & Vivian Pickles, Harold and Maude.
Georgiana Hale & Glenda Jackson, The Boy Friend.
Cloris Leachman, The Last Picture Show.
Lea Massari, Murmur of the Heart / Le souffle au coeur.
Agneta Prytz, Ulla Smidje & Monica Zetterlund, The Emigrants.
Irene Worth, Nicholas and Alexandra.
Best Cinematography
John Alcott, A Clockwork Orange.
Nestor Almendros, Two English Girls / Deux anglaises et le continent.
John A. Alonzo, Harold and Maude.
Lucien Ballard, What’s the Matter with Helen?.
Pasqualino De Santis, Death in Venice.
Oswald Morris, Fiddler on the Roof.
Robert Surtees, The Last Picture Show & Summer of ‘42.
David Watkin, The Boy Friend.
Frederick A. Young, Nicholas and Alexandra.
Best Original Score
Michel Legrand, Summer of ‘42.
Richard Rodney Bennett, Nicholas and Alexandra.
Georges Delerue, Two English Girls.