Review of The 48th Annual Academy Awards

The 48th Annual Academy Awards took place on Mar. 29, 1976 on ABC, an evening when "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" became the first film since 1934's "It Happened One Night" to capture the top five Oscars, Best Picture (to producer Michael Douglas), Director (Milos Forman), Actor (Jack Nicholson), Actress (Louise Fletcher), and Adapted Screenplay (Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman). The year's biggest blockbuster, Steven Spielberg's "Jaws," deservedly won Oscars for Best Score (John Williams), Best Film Editing (Verna Fields), and Best Sound, losing out on Best Picture. Perhaps the evening's most surprising winner was actor Keith Carradine, not for a performance in front of the camera but for Best Original Song, "I'm Easy," from Robert Altman's "Nashville," for which the actors and actresses were encouraged to put forth their own material for consideration (this was its only win despite five nominations). Up against professional songwriters with a sterling history of film scores behind them (Charles Fox, Norman Gimbel, Gerry Goffin), it must have come as a shock for a heretofore unknown to win the award on his first recorded composition. Keith was already a musician, having learned guitar from his illustrious father John Carradine, already with a nice backlog of songs dating back to his teenage days. Once "I'm Easy" was rerecorded with strings to become a #17 hit on the Billboard charts, the actor was signed by Asylum Records for two albums, I'M EASY in 1976 then LOST AND FOUND in 1978, almost entirely made up of strong self penned material that some compared favorably to the voice and work of the late Jim Croce. Keith would often return to his musical roots on stage but not so often in film, and his brief, poignant acceptance speech this evening concluded with a nod to father John, shown waving from his seat in the audience. Eventually, John would be joined by sons Keith, David, Robert, and Chris for a 1979 documentary titled "Carradines in Concert" or "The Carradines Together," sadly still unreleased to this day although at least one photo exists to commemorate the memorable gathering of this remarkable clan.