Oscar Alert
Oscar Nominations: 10
Best Picture, produced by William Peter Blatty
Director: William Friedkin
Screenplay (Adapted): William Peter Blatty
Actress: Ellen Burstyn
Supporting Actress: Linda Blair
Supporting Actor: Jason Miller
Cinematography: Owen Roizman
Art Direction-Set Decoration: Bill Malley; Jerry Wunderlich
Editing: Jordan Leondopoulos, Bud Smith, Evan Lothman, Norman Gray
Sound: Robert Knudson, Chris Newman
Oscar Awards: 2
Screenplay
Sound
Oscar Context
Over the years very few horror films were nominated for Best Picture, and even fewer won, such as “The Silence of the Lamb,” in 1991. No doubt the Academy voters were impressed by the blockbuster status of “The Exorcist,” which in 1973 competed for the top Oscar with George Lucas' “American Graffiti,” the comedy “Touch of Class,” with Glenda Jackson, Ingmar Bergman's brilliant “Cries and Whispers,” and George Roy Hill's “The Sting,” starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman, which won.