should this film have beaten "Rocky" at the Oscars?
After all, its director was Sidney Lumet, who - like other directors inside and outside Hollywood - was nominated several times, but never won. And it is worth arguing that it is more serious than "Rocky".
As for Lumet, his next film after this was "Equus", which should have earned Richard Burton his only Oscar (out of seven nominations) - but alas, the Welsh legend lost out to American Richard Dreyfuss for "The Goodbye Girl".