[6] Other winners included Star Wars with six awards, Julia with three, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Gravity Is My Enemy, I'll Find a Way, A Little Night Music, Madame Rosa, The Sand Castle, Who Are the DeBolts?

The following individuals (in order of appearance) presented awards or performed musical numbers:[16] In December 1977, the Academy announced that actor and comedian Bob Hope was chosen to host the 1978 ceremony.

[21] Prior to the ceremony, Vanessa Redgrave's Best Supporting Actress nomination was met with controversy due to her recent involvement with The Palestinian, a documentary chronicling the activities of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

[23] Outside of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on the day of the ceremony, Jewish Defense League protestors burned a statue of the actress, while counter-protestors waved Palestinian flags.

"[26] Columnist Aaron Gold of the Chicago Tribune remarked, "Howard Koch and Allan Carr deserve Oscars for the work they did in creating an exciting and glamorous show, as they promised.

"[27] The News & Observer entertainment columnist commented, "If the evening was never as nimble as a dance by Fred Astaire, it was jam-packed with nostalgia, suspense, laughter, a few tears, and production numbers as striking as anything in Oscar's history.

"[1] John Huddy of the Miami Herald observed, "The Redgrave-Chayevsky exchange enlivened a long Oscar night in which there were too many silly songs, too many special awards that nobody gave a hoot about, and too many dreary acceptance speeches by obscure if talented short-subject makers.

"[28] The Arizona Republic columnist Mike Petryni wrote, "Produced this year by Howard Koch, who incidentally co-wrote Casablanca, the show seemed, as usual, rather dull, draggy and sluggish.

He noted that the Best Original Song performance were longer and more ridiculous than in previous, and he lamented that winners Jason Robards and Woody Allen were absent to collect their awards.