The 40th Academy Awards honored film achievements of 1967. Originally scheduled for 8 April 1968, the awards were postponed to two days later, 10 April 1968, because of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr..
Due to the increasing rarity of black and white feature films, the awards for cinematography, art direction and costume design were combined into single categories rather than a distinction between color and monochrome. The Best Picture nominees were an eclectic group of films reflecting the chaos of their era.
Bob Hope was once again the host of the ceremony. The winner in the Best Picture category was director Norman Jewison's thriller/mystery film, In the Heat of the Night (with seven nominations and five wins – Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound).
The Graduate became the last film to ever take home best director and no other Oscar.
Due to an all-out push by Academy President Gregory Peck, 18 of the 20 acting nominees were present at the ceremony. Only Katharine Hepburn and the late Spencer Tracy, who was nominated posthumously, were missing.
Read more about 40th Academy Awards: Winners and Nominees, Trivia
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—Harold Bloom (b. 1930)