28th British Academy Film Awards

Award honouring the best films of 1974

The 28th British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs, took place on 26 February 1975, honouring the best national and foreign films of 1974. Presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, accolades were handed out for the best feature-length film and documentaries of any nationality that were screened at British cinemas in 1974.^[1]

Louis Malle's Lacombe, Lucien won the award for Best Film. Jack Nicholson accepted the award for Best Actor for his performances in Chinatown and The Last Detail from the set of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.^[2] Joanne Woodward (Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams) received Best Actress, whilst John Gielgud and Ingrid Bergman won in the supporting categories for their performances in Murder on the Orient Express.

The ceremony was hosted by David Niven.^[3]

Winners and nominees

John Gielgud, Best Supporting Actor winner

BAFTA Fellowship

Jacques Cousteau

Awards

Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

Best Film Lacombe, Lucien – Louis Malle Chinatown – Roman Polanski The Last Detail – Hal Ashby Murder on the Orient Express – Sidney Lumet	Best Direction Roman Polanski – Chinatown Francis Ford Coppola – The Conversation Louis Malle – Lacombe, Lucien Sidney Lumet – Murder on the Orient Express Sidney Lumet – Serpico
Best Actor in a Leading Role *Jack Nicholson – Chinatown* as J.J. "Jake" Gittes Jack Nicholson – The Last Detail as Signalman 1st Class Billy "Badass" Buddusky** Albert Finney – Murder on the Orient Express as Hercule Poirot Al Pacino – Serpico as Frank Serpico Gene Hackman – The Conversation as Harry Caul	Best Actress in a Leading Role *Joanne Woodward – Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams* as Rita Walden** Barbra Streisand – The Way We Were as Katie Morosky Cicely Tyson – The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman as Jane Pittman Faye Dunaway – Chinatown as Evelyn Cross Mulwray
Best Actor in a Supporting Role *John Gielgud – Murder on the Orient Express* as Edward Beddoes** Adam Faith – Stardust as Mike Menary John Huston – Chinatown as Noah Cross Randy Quaid – The Last Detail as Seaman Larry Meadows	Best Actress in a Supporting Role *Ingrid Bergman – Murder on the Orient Express* as Greta Ohlsson** Cindy Williams – American Graffiti as Laurie Henderson Sylvia Sidney – Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams as Mrs. Pritchett Sylvia Syms – The Tamarind Seed as Margaret Stephenson
Best Screenplay Chinatown – Robert Towne The Last Detail – Robert Towne Blazing Saddles – Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor and Alan Uger The Conversation – Francis Ford Coppola Lacombe, Lucien – Louis Malle and Patrick Modiano	Best Cinematography The Great Gatsby – Douglas Slocombe Chinatown – John A. Alonzo Murder on the Orient Express – Geoffrey Unsworth The Three Musketeers – David Watkin Zardoz – Geoffrey Unsworth
Best Costume Design The Great Gatsby – Theoni V. Aldredge Chinatown – Anthea Sylbert Murder on the Orient Express – Tony Walton The Three Musketeers – Yvonne Blake	Best Editing The Conversation – Walter Murch and Richard Chew Chinatown – Sam O'Steen Murder on the Orient Express – Anne V. Coates The Three Musketeers – John Victor Smith
Best Original Music Murder on the Orient Express – Richard Rodney Bennett Chinatown – Jerry Goldsmith La bonne année – Francis Lai Serpico – Mikis Theodorakis The Three Musketeers – Michel Legrand	Best Production Design The Great Gatsby – John Box Chinatown – Richard Sylbert Murder on the Orient Express – Tony Walton The Three Musketeers – Brian Eatwell
Best Sound The Conversation – Art Rochester, Nat Boxer, Mike Ejve and Walter Murch Earthquake – Melvin Metcalfe Sr. and Ronald Pierce The Exorcist – Chris Newman, Jean-Louis Ducarme, Robert Knudson, Frederick Brown, Bob Fine, Ross Taylor, Ron Nagle, Doc Siegel, Gonzalo Gavira and Hal Landaker Gold – Alan Somes, Rydal Love, Michael Crouch, John W. Mitchell and Gordon McCallum	Best Short Animation Hunger (La Faim) Cat's Cradle
Best Documentary Cree Hunters of Mistassini Companero: Victor Jara of Chile Leprosy	Best Specialised Film Monet in London Adventure in Colour Child Part II Nobody's Fault
John Grierson Award Location North Sea Acting in Turn Facets of Glass The Quiet Land	United Nations Award Lacombe, Lucien – Louis Malle The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman – John Korty
Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles *Georgina Hale – Mahler* as Alma Mahler** Cleavon Little – Blazing Saddles as Sheriff Bart Sissy Spacek – Badlands as Holly Sargis

Statistics

Films that received multiple nominations
Nominations	Film
11	Chinatown
10	Murder on the Orient Express
5	The Conversation
5	The Three Musketeers
4	Lacombe, Lucien
4	The Last Detail
3	The Great Gatsby
3	Serpico
2	The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
	Blazing Saddles
	Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams

Films that received multiple awards
Awards	Film
3	Chinatown
	The Great Gatsby
	Murder on the Orient Express
2	The Conversation
	Lacombe, Lucien
	The Last Detail

References

^ "28th BAFTA Awards - Film". BAFTA.org. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
^ "Jack Nicholson's 1975 Bafta speech from the set of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – video". The Guardian. 4 February 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
^ "BBC One London – 26 February 1975". BBC Programme Index. Archived from the original on Oct 31, 2020.