The 47th Academy Awards were presented Tuesday, April 8, 1975, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California, honoring the best films of 1974.

Prior to the ceremony, Dustin Hoffman, who was nominated for his performance in the film Lenny, described the awards as "ugly" and "grotesque" and likened the ceremony to a beauty pageant, causing host Hope to remark that "if Dustin Hoffman wins tonight, he's going to have a friend pick it up for him—George C.

"[1] Ingrid Bergman felt that she won her Academy Award out of a collective showbusiness guilt over her being ostracized from Hollywood in 1949 due to her affair with director Roberto Rossellini and that Valetina Cortese was worthy of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

[1] Upon winning the Best Documentary Feature Oscar for Hearts & Minds, co-producer Bert Schneider said, "It's ironic that we're here at a time just before Vietnam is about to be liberated," and then read a telegram containing "Greetings of Friendship to All American People" from Ambassador Dinh Ba Thi of the Provisional Revolutionary Government (Viet Cong)[2] delegation to the Paris Peace Accords.

'"[1][5] This speech infuriated a third co-host, Shirley MacLaine, and actor Warren Beatty, who sarcastically retorted "thank you, Frank, you old Republican".