The 1973 Academy Awards were presented April 2, 1974 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles.
| Best Picture | American Graffiti, Francis Ford Coppola, producer; Gary Kurtz, co-producer (Universal) |
| Cries and Whispers, Ingmar Bergman, producer (New World Pictures) |
| The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty, producer (Warner Bros.) |
| The Sting, Tony Bill, Michael Phillips and Julia Phillips, producers (Universal) |
| A Touch of Class, Melvin Frank, producer (Avco Embassy) |
| Best Actor | Marlon Brando, Last Tango in Paris |
| Jack Lemmon, Save the Tiger |
| Jack Nicholson, The Last Detail |
| Al Pacino, Serpico |
| Robert Redford, The Sting |
| Best Actress | Ellen Burstyn, The Exorcist |
| Glenda Jackson, A Touch of Class |
| Marsha Mason, Cinderella Liberty |
| Barbra Streisand, The Way We Were |
| Joanne Woodward, Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams |
| Actor in a Supporting Role | Vincent Gardenia, Bang the Drum Slowly |
| Jack Gilford, Save the Tiger |
| John Houseman, The Paper Chase |
| Jason Miller, The Exorcist |
| Randy Quaid, The Last Detail |
| Actress in a Supporting Role | Linda Blair, The Exorcist |
| Candy Clark, American Graffiti |
| Madeline Kahn, Paper Moon |
| Tatum O'Neal, Paper Moon |
| Sylvia Sidney, Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams |
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 Tatum O'Neal, Paper Moon Archive Photos |
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| Directing | Ingmar Bergman, Cries and Whispers |
| Bernardo Bertolucci, Last Tango in Paris |
| William Friedkin, The Exorcist |
| George Roy Hill, The Sting |
| George Lucas, American Graffiti |
| Writing | | Screenplay Based on Material From Another Medium | William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist | | James Bridges, The Paper Chase | | Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler, Serpico | | Alvin Sargent, Paper Moon | | Robert Towne, The Last Detail | | Original Screenplay | Ingmar Bergman, Cries and Whispers | | Melvin Frank and Jack Rose, A Touch of Class | | George Lucas, Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck, American Grafitti | | Steve Shagan, Save the Tiger | | David S. Ward, The Sting |
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| Cinematography | Jack Couffer, Jonathan Livingston Seagull |
| Sven Nykvist, Cries and Whispers |
| Owen Roizman, The Exorcist |
| Harry Stradling, Jr., The Way We Were |
| Robert Surtees, The Sting |
| Art Direction | Henry Bumstead, art direction; James Payne, set decoration, The Sting |
| Stephen Grimes, art direction; William Kiernan, set decoration, The Way We Were |
| Philip Jefferies, art direction; Robert de Vestel, set decoration, Tom Sawyer |
| Bill Malley, art direction; Jerry Wunderlich, set decoration, The Exorcist |
| Lorenzo Mongiardino and Gianni Quaranta, art direction; Carmelo Patrono, set decoration, Brother Sun Sister Moon |
| Sound | Robert Knudson and Chris Newman, The Exorcist |
| Donald O. Mitchell and Lawrence O. Jost, The Paper Chase |
| Ronald K. Pierce and Robert Bertrand, The Sting |
| Richard Portman and Les Fresholtz, Paper Moon |
| Richard Portman and Lawrence O. Jost, The Day of the Dolphin |
| Music | | Song | “All That Love Went to Waste,” A Touch of Class, George Barrie, music; Sammy Cahn, lyrics | | “Live and Let Die,” Live and Let Die, Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney, music and lyrics | | “Love,” Robin Hood, George Bruns, music; Floyd Huddleston, lyrics | | “Nice to Be Around,” Cinderella Liberty, John Williams, music; Paul Williams, lyrics | | “The Way We Were,” The Way We Were, Marvin Hamlisch, music; Alan and Marilyn Bergman, lyrics | | Original Dramatic Score | John Cameron, A Touch of Class | | Georges Delerue, The Day of the Dolphin | | Jerry Goldsmith, Papillon | | Marvin Hamlisch, The Way We Were | | John Williams, Cinderella Liberty | | Scoring: Original Song Score and Adaptation or Scoring: Adaptation | Marvin Hamlisch, The Sting | | André Previn, Herbert Spencer and Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jesus Christ Superstar | | Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, song; John Williams, adaptation, Tom Sawyer |
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| Film Editing | Verna Fields and Marcia Lucas, American Graffiti |
| Frank P. Keller and James Galloway, Jonathan Livingston Seagull |
| Ralph Kemplen, The Day of the Jackal |
| Jordan Leondopoulos, Bud Smith, Evan Lottman and Norman Gay, The Exorcist |
| William Reynolds, The Sting |
| Costume Design | Donfeld, Tom Sawyer |
| Edith Head, The Sting |
| Dorothy Jeakins and Moss Mabry, The Way We Were |
| Piero Tosi, Ludwig |
| Marik Vos, Cries and Whispers |
| Short Subjects | | Animated | Frank Film (Frank Mouris, producer; Frank Mouris Production) | | The Legend of John Henry (Nick Bosustow and David Adams, producers; Bosustow-Pyramid Films Production) | | Pulcinella (Emanuele Luzzati and Guilio Gianini, producers; Luzzati-Gianini Production) | | Live Action | The Bolero (Allan Miller and William Fertik, producers; Allan Miller Production) | | Clockmaker (Richard Gayer, producer; James Street Productions) | | Life Times Nine (Pen Densham and John Watson, producers; Insight Productions) |
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| Documentary | | Short Subject | Background (Carmen D'Avino, producer; D'Avino and Fucci-Stone Productions) | | Children at Work (Paisti Ag Obair) (Louis Marcus, producer; Gael-Linn Films) | | Christo's Valley Curtain (Albert Maysles and David Maysles, producers; Maysles Films Production) | | Four Stones for Kanemitsu (Terry Sanders and June Wayne, producers; Tamarind Production) | | Princeton: A Search for Answers (Julian Krainin and DeWitt L. Sage, Jr., producers; Krainin-Sage Productions) | | Feature | Always a New Beginning (John D. Goodell, producer; Goodell Motion Pictures) | | Battle of Berlin (Bengt von zur Muehlen, producer; Chronos Film GmbH) | | The Great American Cowboy (Keith Merrill, producer; Keith Merrill Associates-Rodeo Film Productions) | | Journey to the Outer Limits (Alex Grasshoff, producer; National Geographic Society and Wolper Productions) | | Walls of Fire (Gertrude Ross Marks and Edmund F. Penney, producers; Mentor Productions) |
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| Foreign Language Film | Day for Night, France |
| The House of Chelouche Street, Israel |
| L'Invitation, Switzerland |
| The Pedestrian, Federal Republic of Germany—West |
| Turkish Delight, Netherlands |
| Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award | Lawrence Weingarten |
| Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award | Lew Wasserman |
| Honorary Awards | To Henri Langlois for his devotion to the art of film, his massive contributions in preserving its past and his unswerving faith in its future |
| To Groucho Marx in recognition of his brilliant creativity and for the unequalled acheivements of the Marx Brothers in the art of motion picture comedy |
