Although the film screened 13 May 1974 at the Cannes Film Festival and was reviewed in the 15 May 1974 Var as a Warner Bros. Inc.-Columbia Pictures release, Columbia expressed “second thoughts” at that time about distributing the picture, according to a 24 May 1974 Var news item. As stated in a 23 Dec 1974 Newsweek article, Columbia awarded producer Bert Schneider a lucrative six-picture, “no strings attached” contract after the success of Easy Rider (1969, see entry) and Five Easy Pieces (1970, see entry). Schneider intended Hearts and Minds to be the fifth film under this agreement and allotted $950,000 of the Columbia funds to documentary filmmaker Peter Davis so he could produce and direct the picture through Schneider’s company, BBS. [Initials stood for Bert, Bob and Steve – Bert Schneider, Bob Rafelson and Steve Blauner.] According to a 21 Oct 1974 LAT review of an early San Francisco Film Festival screening of the documentary, Davis was “originally inspired” to make the film when former military analyst and RAND Corporation executive, Daniel Ellsberg, leaked classified “Pentagon Papers” to the NYT in 1971; these documents revealed that President Johnson and his administration lied about the purpose of the Vietnam War to both Congress and the American public. Interviews with Ellsberg are featured in the film. Newsweek added that Davis started the project with the intention of addressing three questions: What elements of U.S. history led to the war, what really happened during the war, and what effects the war had on both Americans and the Vietnamese people. It reportedly took Davis two years to conduct the interviews and to compile the footage.
       As stated by Davis in an 18 Aug 1974 L.B. Press-Telegram article, Columbia backed out of releasing the film because they were in debt at that time and feared the political and economic implications of representing a politically controversial documentary, but Columbia told L.B. Press-Telegram that distribution was delayed because BBS was suing the studio for “at least $250,000” in unpaid royalties from past productions, including Five Easy Pieces and The Last Picture Show (1971, see entry). Despite Columbia’s ambivalence about releasing the film, a 22 Jul 1974 HR news item announced that the film was scheduled for its U.S. premiere at the Atlanta Film Festival in GA on 15 Aug 1974 and was set for theatrical distribution through Columbia in late 1974. In addition to the 17 Oct 1974 San Francisco screening, Hearts and Minds was exhibited as a Columbia release at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on 15 Nov 1974 as part of the 13th International Critics Week, according to a LAHExam brief published the same day. However, Columbia remained reticent about a wide release and a 21 Oct 1974 DV article reported that Schneider threatened to take legal action against the studio if they did not set an opening date.
       As noted in various contemporary sources, including a 16 Dec 1974 LAT article, the documentary was booked to open at the UA Cinema Center in Los Angeles, CA, on 18 Dec 1974, to qualify for Academy Award consideration; however, the screening was postponed at the last minute due to complications in a deal between Columbia and Rainbow Pictures, according to an 18 Dec 1974 LAT news item. The 16 Dec 1974 LAT stated that Columbia had become “disenchanted with the project” and had made moves to withdraw its support as early as Apr 1974, announcing that it could not release the documentary unless BBS provided additional permission releases signed by various people interviewed in the picture. In response, filmmaker Henry Jaglom’s newly formed independent company, Rainbow, negotiated with Columbia to buy the film and a transfer of funds was expected to take place on 16 Dec 1974. Jaglom, who had worked with Schneider previously as a consultant and an uncredited editor of Easy Rider, and whose feature film directorial debut, A Safe Place (1971, see entry), was a BBS production, told LAT that Rainbow tapped into resources that were set aside for original productions because Hearts and Minds was “a terribly important film that Americans must have access to.” He also noted that Warner Bros. had provided guarantees to distribute the film and BBS and Columbia had ended their contract for future releases with Schneider having completed five of the six films stipulated in the deal. On 20 Dec 1974, DV announced that the delayed negotiations between Columbia and Rainbow were finalized and the film was set to open that day at the UA Cinema Center. According to DV, the deal was stalled when Rainbow was slow to procure the sale price, an estimated $1 million. Although the published version of the Library of Congress Copyright Catalog lists the film as a Columbia Pictures release, with the date 13 May 1974 and the number LP43928, the print viewed for this record contains a 1974 copyright for Rainbow Pictures Corp.
       The documentary’s engagement at the UA Cinema Center was cut short on 31 Dec 1974, when it was once again withdrawn from release with a temporary restraining order filed by Walt Rostow, a former aide to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, who objected to the inclusion of his interview in the film. A 7 Jan 1975 LAT article stated that the documentary featured three clips from the 1973 interview and Rostow objected to the first two; one segment contained Rostow’s admission that the U.S. government had no evidence to prove that Vietnamese people favored Communism and exhibited his hostility toward Davis’ inquiry about the necessity of the war, and another section included Rostow’s comment that North Vietnam President Ho Chi Minh could not have been “elected dogcatcher” in 1956. Rostow’s request was initially denied on 17 Dec 1974, the day after the documentary’s first planned Los Angeles release date, and a hearing was scheduled for 17 Jan 1975 to determine the legality of Rostow’s appeal for a “permanent injunction against the film.” On 30 Dec 1974, a judge sided with Rostow and ordered Rainbow to either cut two minutes from the interview or remove the documentary from exhibition altogether; Rainbow chose the latter, according to a 20 Jan 1975 Box article.
       Several days later, on 23 Jan 1975, LAHExam announced that Rostow’s restraining order had been denied in court, but new opening dates were yet to be determined. The 20 Jan 1975 Box brief added that Warner Bros. had decided to stand behind the film and actively distribute it nationwide; the documentary had grossed $11,700 in its ten-day run at the UA Cinema Center, according to a 10 Jan 1975 DV news item, and its market potential looked promising. A 23 Jan 1975 Warner Bros. press release reported that the film was scheduled to return to exhibition with a 29 Jan 1975 premiere in Washington, D.C., at the Cerebus I and II theaters, hosted by Senators Mark Hatfield and Frank Church, as well as Warren Beatty, Candice Bergen, Frank Mankiewicz, and Mike Nichols. Wide release was expected to start the following day, on 30 Jan 1975. A 19 Feb 1975 LAHExam brief noted that South Dakota Senator George McGovern hosted a “special screening” of the film the week of 10 Feb 1975 in the Senate Office Building and later that month, on 26 Feb 1975, HR announced that Hearts and Minds was scheduled to return to the UA Cinema Center in Los Angeles on 28 Feb 1975.
       Hearts and Minds won an Academy Award in the category Documentary (Feature). During the ceremony’s acceptance speech on 8 Apr 1975, Schneider commented that Vietnam was on the eve of liberation and read a telegram from Viet Cong leader Dinh Ba Thi, who thanked Americans for protesting the war and expressed “greetings of friendship.” As noted in various contemporary sources, Schneider’s actions provoked an immediate outpouring of hostile telegrams to the Awards show and host Bob Hope drafted the following disclaimer that was read by Frank Sinatra onstage, despite protests from Shirley MacLaine: “I want to make an announcement from the Academy – we are not responsible for any political utterances on this program and we are sorry they had to take place.” A 28 Apr 1975 New Yorker review hailed the film but criticized Schneider’s acceptance speech, noting that the producer had nothing to do with Davis’ direction, which had been “careful to allow [the picture] to speak for itself.”
       As noted in a 17 Jun 2004 NYT article, a newly-restored print of the documentary was screened 14 Jun 2004 at the Academy Theater in New York City, with both Davis and Schneider in attendance. When the film concluded, the sold-out audience discussed the relationship between the Vietnam War and the war in Iraq, and Davis noted that the American people were “lied to” on both fronts. Hearts and Minds was re-released again for an “exclusive engagement” at the Cinema Village theater on 20 Mar 2009, according to an 18 Mar 2009 Village Voice advertisement.

      The end credits include the following acknowledgement: “Motion picture segments ‘This Is the Army,’ ‘Mask of Fu Manchu,’ ‘Objective Burma,’ ‘Road to Hong Kong,’ ‘Bataan,’ excerpt from ‘My Son John’ © copyright 1952, Paramount Pictures Corporation All Rights Reserved.”