The 1971 Critics Consensus Awards

Gene Hackman in The French Connection

Installment #3 of the Critics Consensus awards moves onto 1971, and our first Best Picture match with Oscar. William Friedkin's The French Connection was the top choice among critics awards and polls according to my weighted calculations, though it's also the first title to take Picture with the critics but miss out on Director. That goes instead to Stanley Kubrick for A Clockwork Orange. Another first - although, three years into this thing, that's hardly surprising - is that all four acting prizes here match Oscar's four, though this actually does count as a mild surprise for these awards, as that won't happen often again. Jane Fonda claims a second Best Actress award in only three years, becoming our first double award winner for acting, and our first double winner across separate years, while Penelope Gilliatt becomes the first woman to win outside of the acting awards, taking Screenplay for Sunday Bloody Sunday. All the winners in all seven categories below.

Best Picture

The French Connection (Philip d'Antoni and William Friedkin)

Best Director

Stanley Kubrick (A Clockwork Orange)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Jane Fonda (Klute)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Gene Hackman (The French Connection)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Cloris Leachman (The Last Picture Show)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Ben Johnson (The Last Picture Show)

Best Screenplay

Penelope Gilliatt (Sunday Bloody Sunday)

Image Credit: MovieStillsDB