The 1972 Academy Awards were presented March 27, 1973 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles.
| Best Picture | Cabaret, Cy Feuer, producer (Allied Artists) |
| Deliverance, John Boorman, producer (Warner Bros.) |
| The Emigrants, Bengt Forslund, producer (Warner Bros.) |
| The Godfather, Albert S. Ruddy, producer (Paramount) |
| Sounder, Robert B. Radnitz, producer (Twentieth Century-Fox) |
| Best Actor | Marlon Brando, The Godfather |
| Michael Caine, Sleuth |
| Laurence Olivier, Sleuth |
| Peter O'Toole, The Ruling Class |
| Paul Winfield, Sounder |
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| Best Actress | Liza Minelli, Cabaret |
| Diana Ross, Lady Sings the Blues |
| Maggie Smith, Travels With My Aunt |
| Cicely Tyson, Sounder |
| Liv Ullman, The Emigrants |
| Actor in a Supporting Role | Eddie Albert, The Heartbreak Kid |
| James Caan, The Godfather |
| Robert Duvall, The Godfather |
| Joel Grey, Cabaret |
| Al Pacino, The Godfather |
| Actress in a Supporting Role | Jeannie Berlin, The Heartbreak Kid |
| Eileen Heckart, Butterflies Are Free |
| Geraldine Page, Pete 'n' Tillie |
| Susan Tyrrell, Fat City |
| Shelley Winters, The Poseidon Adventure |
| Directing | John Boorman, Deliverance |
| Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather |
| Bob Fosse, Cabaret |
| Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Sleuth |
| Jan Troell, The Emigrants |
| Writing | | Screenplay Based on Material From Another Medium | Jay Allen, Cabaret | | Lonne Elder, III, Sounder | | Julius J. Epstein, Pete 'n' Tillie | | Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather | | Jan Troell and Bengt Forslund, The Emigrants | | Original Screenplay | Luis Buñuel, story and screenplay in collaboration with Jean-Claude Carrière, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie | | Carl Foreman, Young Winston | | Jeremy Larner, The Candidate | | Louis Malle, Murmur of the Heart | | Terence McCloy, Chris Clark and Suzanne de Passe, Lady Sings the Blues |
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| Cinematography | Charles B. Lang, Butterflies Are Free |
| Douglas Slocombe, Travels With My Aunt |
| Harold E. Stine, The Poseidon Adventure |
| Harry Stradling, Jr., 1776 |
| Geoffrey Unsworth, Cabaret |
| Art Direction | Carl Anderson, art direction; Reg Allen, set decoration, Lady Sings the Blues |
| Don Ashton, Geoffrey Drake, John Graysmark and William Hutchinson, art direction; Peter James, set decoration, Young Winston |
| John Box, Gil Parrondo and Robert W. Laing, art direction and set decoration, Travels With My Aunt |
| William Creber, art direction; Raphael Bretton, set decoration, The Poseidon Adventure |
| Rolf Zehetbauer and Jurgen Kiebach, art direction; Herbert Strabel, set decoration, Cabaret |
| Sound | Bud Grenzbach, Richard Portman and Christopher Newman, The Godfather |
| Robert Knudson and David Hildyard, Cabaret |
| Arthur Piantadosi and Charles Knight, Butterflies Are Free |
| Richard Portman and Gene Cantamessa, The Candidate |
| Theodore Soderberg and Herman Lewis, The Poseidon Adventure |
| Music | | Song | “Ben,” Ben, Walter Scharf, music; Don Black, lyrics | | “Come Follow, Follow Me,” The Little Ark, Fred Karlin, music; Marsha Karlin, lyrics | | “Marmalade, Molasses & Honey,” The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, Maurice Jarre, music; Marilyn and Alan Bergman, lyrics | | “The Morning After,” The Poseidon Adventure, Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, music and lyrics | | “Strange Are the Ways of Love,” The Stepmother, Sammy Fain, music; Paul Francis Webster, lyrics | | Original Dramatic Score | John Addison, Sleuth | | Buddy Baker, Napoleon and Samantha | | Charles Chaplin, Raymond Rasch and Larry Russell, Limelight | | John Williams, Images | | John Williams, The Poseidon Adventure | | Scoring: Adaptation and Original Score | Gil Askey, Lady Sings the Blues | | Ralph Burns, Cabaret | | Laurence Rosenthal, Man of La Mancha |
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| Film Editing | David Bretherton, Cabaret |
| Frank P. Keller and Fred W. Berger, The Hot Rock |
| Harold F. Kress, The Poseidon Adventure |
| Tom Priestley, Deliverance |
| William Reynolds and Peter Zinner, The Godfather |
| Costume Design | Anna Hill Johnstone, The Godfather |
| Bob Mackie, Ray Aghayan and Norma Koch, Lady Sings the Blues |
| Anthony Mendleson, Young Winston |
| Anthony Powell, Travels With My Aunt |
| Paul Zastupnevich, The Poseidon Adventure |
| Short Subjects | | Animated | A Christmas Carol (Richard Williams Production; American Broadcasting Company Film Services) | | Kama Sutra Rides Again (Bob Godfrey Films, Ltd.; Lion International Films) | | Tup Tup (Zagreb Film-Corona Cinematografica Production; Manson Distributing) | | Live Action | Frog Story (Gidron Productions; Lester A. Schoenfeld Films) | | Norman Rockwell's World…An American Dream (Concepts Unlimited; Columbia) | | Solo (Pyramid Films; United Artists) |
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| Documentary | | Short Subject | Hundertwasser's Rainy Day (Argos Films-Peter Schamoni Film Production) | | K-Z (Giorgio Treves, producer; Nexus Film S.r.l. Production) | | Selling Out (Tadeusz Jaworski, producer; Unit Productions Film) | | This Tiny World (Charles Huguenot van der Linden and Martina Huguenot van der Linden, producers; Charles Huguenot van der Linden Production) | | The Tide of Traffic (Humphrey Swingler, producer; BP-Greenpark Production) | | Feature | Ape and Super-Ape (Bert Haanstra Film Production; Netherlands Ministry of Culture, Recreation and Social Welfare) | | Malcolm X (Marvin Worth Production; Warner Bros.) | | Manson (Robert Hendrickson and Laurence Merrick, producers; Merrick International Pictures) | | Marjoe (Cinema X Production; Cinema 5, Ltd.) | | The Silent Revolution (Eckehard Munck, producer; Leonaris Film Production) |
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| Foreign Language Film | The Dawns Here Are Quiet, U.S.S.R. |
| The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, France |
| I Love You Rosa, Israel |
| My Dearest Señorita, Spain |
| The New Land, Sweden |
| Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award | Rosalind Russell |
| Honorary Awards | To Charles S. Boren, leader for 38 years of the industry's enlightened labor relations and architect of its policy of nondiscrimination |
| To Edward G. Robinson who achieved greatness as a player, a patron of the arts and a dedicated citizen…in sum, a Renaissance man |
| Special Achievement Award | (Not necessarily given each year) |
| | Visual Effects | L. B. Abbott and A. D. Flowers, The Poseidon Adventure |
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