“Ghost,” the most commercially successful of the five nominated films, won two Oscars: Original Screenplay and Supporting Actress for Whoopi Goldberg.

In 1970, the Oscar winner “Patton” competed for the Best Picture with the schlocky disaster flick “Airport,” which inexplicably received 10 nominations but won only one (Supporting Actress to Helen Hayes); “Five Easy Pieces,” which was nominated for 4 but didn't win any Oscars; the blockbuster “Love Story,” which won one out of its 6 nominations; and Robert Altman's military satire “M-A-S-H,” that later became a popular TV series.

All five Best Picture nominees benefited from the nominations as far as global commercial appeal is concerned (measured by box-office gross). The following represents the gain in terms of the difference between box-office by January 22 and February 23 (the night before the Oscar telecast).

“No Country for Old Men” won the largest number of Oscars this year: Picture, Directors, Supporting Actor, and Adapted Screenplay.
Paul Greengrass' “The Bourne Ultimatum” received three: Film Editing, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing. See list of the rest of the pictures per number of wins.

In his acceptance speech, “Ratatouille” director Brad Bird, who won the Best Animated Feature Oscar, thanked the junior high school guidance counselor who tried to talk him out of a career in movies. Backstage he emphasized that that conversation really did help him. “It seemed impossible,” Bird said, “and life has a way of smacking you down. If you get up enough times, things happen.”