During his Oscar acceptance speech producer Bert Schneider read a letter from the head of the Viet Cong lauding his film. Bob Hope prompted Oscar host Frank Sinatra to disclaim any political statements that had been made during the show.
It is interesting to note that the Vietnam War ended (4/30/1975) approximately four months following the film's qualifying week long run, the same month Hearts And Minds won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature (4/8/1975).
In a Moviefone interview, Michael Moore cites this as one of his inspirations to begin making films.
Columbia Pictures refused to distribute the film, and the production company could not pay the million dollars the studio demanded for its return. Therefore, producer Bert Schneider went to Henry Jaglom and Zack Norman (a/k/a Howard Zuker) to buy back the film. It was Howard Zuker who financed the purchase from Columbia, negotiated the new distribution deal with Warner Brothers and arranged with Marshall Naify at the United Artists Theater Circuit for a last minute awards-qualifying run in Los Angeles. Thereafter, the movie became a Howard Zuker/Henry Jaglom presentation.
Was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2018, by the Library of Congress for being, "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."