1972 in film

Top grossing films

1. The Godfather
2. Fiddler on the Roof
3. Diamonds Are Forever
4. What's Up, Doc?, starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal
5. Dirty Harry
6. The Last Picture Show
7. A Clockwork Orange
8. Cabaret, starring Liza Minnelli
9. The Hospital
10. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex

Academy Awards

• Best Picture: The Godfather – Ruddy, Paramount
• Best Director : Bob Fosse – Cabaret
• Best Actor: Marlon Brando – The Godfather (declined)
• Best Actress: Liza Minnelli – Cabaret
• Best Supporting Actor ; Joel Grey – Cabaret
• Best Supporting Actress : Eileen Heckart – Butterflies Are Free

Births

• March 23 – Judith Godrèche, actress
• September 28 – Gwyneth Paltrow, actress
• November 1 – Jenny McCarthy,actress
• December 7 – Jennifer Syme, entertainment industry employee (d. 2001)

Deaths

• January 1 – Maurice Chevalier, French actor/singer
• January 8 – Wesley Ruggles, movie director, producer
• January 17 – Rochelle Hudson, actress
• February 2 – Jessie Royce Landis, actress
• February 7 – Walter Lang, director
• March 20 – Marilyn Maxwell, actress
• April 5 – Isabel Jewell, actress
• April 5 – Brian Donlevy, actor
• April 30 – Gia Scala, actress
• May 3 – Bruce Cabot, actor
• May 15 – Nigel Green, actor
• May 21 – Margaret Rutherford, actress
• July 6 – Brandon De Wilde, actor
• August 7 – Joi Lansing, actress
• October 9 – Miriam Hopkins, actress
• November 23 – Marie Wilson, actress
• December 9 – Louella Parsons, Hollywood columnist
• December 26 – Harry S. Truman, president/actor

Other movies released

• Deliverance
• Prime Cut, starring Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman
• Slaughterhouse-Five
• Solaris, Russian version, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
• Sounder, starring Cicely Tyson
• They Call Me Trinity, spaghetti western with Terence Hill
• Une belle fille comme moi, directed by Francois Truffaut
• Young Winston, starring Anthony Hopkins
• The Poseidon Adventure
• Superfly
• Ultimo tango a Parigi
• The Getaway
• Fritz the Cat
• Shaft's Big Score!
• Lady Sings the Blues
• Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
• The Cowboys
• Blacula
• The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
• The Canterbury Tales, Golden Bear winner
• The Working Class Goes to Heaven, Palme d'Or winner
• The Mattei Affair, Palme d'Or winner
• Sleuth, with Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine
• Cries and Whispers
• The Emigrants
• The Candidate
• The Heartbreak Kid
• The Adventures Of Barry Mackenzie (a)