When the nominations for the 45th Academy Awards were revealed on February 12 , 1973 , '' The Godfather '' was nominated for eleven awards . The nominations were for : Best Picture , Best Costume Design , Marlon Brando for Best Actor , Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola for Best Adapted Screenplay , Pacino , Caan , and Robert Duvall for Best Supporting Actor , Best Film Editing , Nino Rota for Best Original Score , Coppola for Best Director , and Best Sound . Upon further review of Rota 's love theme from '' The Godfather '' , the Academy found that Rota had used a similar score in Eduardo De Filippo 's 1958 comedy '' Fortunella '' . This led to re-balloting , where members of the music branch chose from six films : '' The Godfather '' and the five films that had been on the shortlist for best original dramatic score but did not get nominated . John Addison 's score for '' Sleuth '' won this new vote , and thus replaced Rota 's score on the official list of nominees . Going into the awards ceremony , '' The Godfather '' was seen as the favorite to take home the most awards . From the nominations that '' The Godfather '' had remaining , it only won three of the Academy Awards : Best Actor , Best Adapted Screenplay , and Best Picture
45th Academy Awards
45th Academy Awards
The Godfather