All in the Family

It was a recession Oscar ceremony, shorn of the usual garish production numbers. There was some acrimony, when Bert Schneider, co-winner with Peter Davis of the Best Feature-length Documentary award for Hearts and Minds (TIME, March 17), made a gratuitous and baiting reference to the imminent "liberation" of Viet Nam and read a message from the Viet Cong. That provoked Host Bob Hope and Oscar Producer Howard W. Koch to scribble a rebuke backstage, which was read on the air by Host Frank Sinatra. The Academy declined to comment.

Three-time Nominee Ellen Burstyn finally won as Best Actress for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. But four-time Nominee Jack Nicholson, who was favored to win as Best Actor for Chinatown, was bypassed in favor of Art Carney (see following story).

The rest of the evening might be described as a family party out of one of the Godfather pictures, only this time the family in question was not Corleone but Coppola. When Director Francis Ford Coppola, 36, was not jogging onto the stage to accept a statue, he was bouncing up and down in his seat, hooting with glee as Godfather Part II swept seven major awards. In addition to Best Director and Best Picture awards, Coppola shared the Best Screenplay prize with Novelist Mario Puzo. He also accepted Robert De Niro's Supporting Actor Oscar, for his portrayal of the Godfather as a young man.

There were two more family members in the proceedings. Sister Talia Shire lost the Best Supporting Actress award to Ingrid Bergman (Murder on the Orient Express). But Papa Carmine Coppola, 63, had perhaps the most satisfying night of all. He shared with Composer Nino Rota the Oscar for Best Original Dramatic Score; the music included lyrics by Mama Italia Coppola and a Neapolitan aria written years ago by Maternal Grandfather Francesco Pennine. Carmine took the honor in stride. "I want to thank my son Francis, because without him I wouldn't be here," he said on accepting. "But then if I weren't here, he wouldn't be either."

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