The Good... of the 1970s
After creating my Best-Of-Lists for every decade I felt like some pretty good movies were still left out. To change that here is my The Good... of the 1970s list. Mind you, as the heading implies the movies on this list are not bad. I just do not feel that they belong on a Best-Of-List.
As ususal, don't hesitate to leave a comment if you feel up to it.
PS: The movies are sorted by year and not necessarily by my preference. This list is by no means complete as I will add new worthwhile films as I stumble across them.
As ususal, don't hesitate to leave a comment if you feel up to it.
PS: The movies are sorted by year and not necessarily by my preference. This list is by no means complete as I will add new worthwhile films as I stumble across them.
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- DirectorMartin RittStarsSean ConneryRichard HarrisSamantha EggarIn 1876 Pennsylvania, a group of Irish immigrant coal miners begin to retaliate against the cruelty of their work environment.
- DirectorLeonard KastleDonald VolkmanStarsShirley StolerTony Lo BiancoMary Jane HigbyAn obese, embittered nurse doesn't mind if her toupee-wearing boyfriend romances and fleeces other women, as long as he takes her along on his con jobs.
- DirectorStuart HagmannStarsBruce DavisonKim DarbyBud CortAn apolitical college student joins a group of campus protesters to meet girls but gets swept up in their cause and involved in a violent confrontation with police.
- DirectorArthur PennStarsDustin HoffmanFaye DunawayChief Dan GeorgeJack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Native Americans and fighting with General Custer.
- DirectorPierre Granier-DeferreStarsJean GabinDanièle AjoretMichel BarbeyNear the Baie de la Seine swamps, opposite the Port of Le Havre, Auguste Maroilleur, an elderly farmer, exploits 400 hectares of crop land with the help of his family, over which he rules with an iron hand. Things go awry the day he discovers one of his grandsons is involved in drug traffic. To make matters worse, the reckless youth has hidden the white powder in the Maroilleur farm. Without a moment's hesitation, Auguste gets rid of the toxic substance but, of course, the mob has different views...
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsCharles BronsonJames MasonLiv UllmannWith his wife and daughter being held hostage, a seasoned ex-military man is involved in a shady smuggling operation to save his family.
- DirectorYves BoissetStarsMichel BouquetFrançoise FabianGianni GarkoWhile investigating a drug case, an inspector is shot dead by a gangster. His colleague, Inspector Favenin, is assigned to solve this crime. He is ready to do anything to save his colleague's honor, even if it means going beyond the law.
- DirectorOtakar VávraStarsVladimír SmeralElo RomancikJosef KemrIn the 1600s, an overzealous clergy hauls innocent women in front of tribunals, forces them to confess to imaginary witchery, and engages in brutal torture and persecution of their subjects.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsJames Earl JonesJane AlexanderLou GilbertA Black champion boxer and his white female companion struggle to survive while the white boxing establishment looks for ways to knock him down.
- DirectorPeter HammondStarsJames MasonDiana CouplandHannah GordonA stern father and lenient mother try to deal with the ups and downs of their four children's lives in working-class Bolton.
- DirectorGeorges LautnerStarsMimsy FarmerRobert Walker Jr.Ed BegleyA hippie moves in with a cafe owner who acts like his mother, and her daughter who doesn't act like his sister.
- DirectorGilbert CatesStarsMelvyn DouglasGene HackmanDorothy StickneyA man living in the towering shadow of his aging father finds it difficult to start a new chapter in his life by marrying his girlfriend and moving to California.
- DirectorBernardo BertolucciStarsJean-Louis TrintignantStefania SandrelliGastone MoschinA weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.
- DirectorTed PostStarsJames FranciscusKim HunterMaurice EvansThe sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission searches for the only survivor of the previous expedition. He discovers a planet ruled by apes and an underground city run by telepathic humans.
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsJason RobardsStella StevensDavid WarnerA hobo accidentally stumbles onto a water spring, and creates a profitable way station in the middle of the desert.
- DirectorGordon DouglasStarsLee Van CleefWarren OatesForrest TuckerAt a river crossing, a stand-off between a gang of outlaws and local townsfolk ensues when the ferry barge operator refuses to ferry the gang across the river.
- DirectorSergio CorbucciStarsFranco NeroTomas MilianFernando ReyA Swedish arms dealer and a Mexican peon team up to rescue the intellectual leader of the Revolutionary cause, while taking part in numerous misadventures along the way.
- DirectorDon SiegelStarsClint EastwoodShirley MacLaineManolo FábregasWhen a former Civil War soldier saves a nun from a gang of bandits, they team up to help the Mexicans in their war against the French.
- DirectorSergey BondarchukStarsRod SteigerChristopher PlummerOrson WellesFacing the decline of everything he has worked to obtain, conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte and his army confront the British at the Battle of Waterloo.
- DirectorBarney Platts-MillsStarsDel WalkerAnne GoodingSam ShepherdDel and his friends agree to take part in a robbery with a boy fresh from the borstal. When Del falls in love with Irene they decide to run away from their nagging parents - and the law.
- DirectorFrancesco RosiStarsMark FrechetteAlain CunyGian Maria VolontèOn the Italian/Austrian front during World War I, a disastrous Italian attack upon the Austrian positions leads to a mutiny among the Italian troops.
- DirectorEnzo BarboniStarsTerence HillBud SpencerSteffen ZachariasA lazy, unorthodox gunfighter and his portly, horse-thieving brother defend a Mormon settlement from a land-grabbing Major, a Mexican bandit, and their henchmen.
- DirectorMel BrooksStarsMel BrooksRon MoodyFrank LangellaIn 1920s Soviet Russia, a fallen aristocrat, a priest and a con artist search for a treasure of jewels hidden inside one of twelve dining chairs, lost during the revolution.
- DirectorClaude ChabrolStarsStéphane AudranJean-Pierre CasselMichel BouquetA father injures his son. He moves in with parents who blame the child's mother. They hire someone to find info about her for an upcoming custody hearing. He and girlfriend secretly lodge at her boarding home to undermine her life.
- DirectorArthur HillerStarsJack LemmonSandy DennisSandy BaronAn Ohio sales executive accepts a higher position within the company and travels to New York City with his wife for his job interview but things go wrong from the start.
- DirectorHal AshbyStarsBeau BridgesLee GrantDiana SandsAt the age of 29, Elgar Enders (Beau Bridges) "runs away" from home. This running away consists of buying a building in a black ghetto in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. Initially, his intention is to evict the black tenants and convert it into a posh flat. But Elgar is not one to be bound by yesterday's urges, and soon he has other thoughts on his mind. He's grown fond of the black tenants and particularly of Fanny (Diana Sands), the wife of a black radical; he's maybe fallen in love with Lanie (Marki Bey), a mixed race girl; he's lost interest in redecorating his home. Joyce (Lee Grant), his mother has not relinquished this interest and in one of the film's most hilarious sequences gives her MasterCharge card to Marge (Pearl Bailey), a black tenant and appoints her decorator.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsBibi AnderssonRichard BooneNigel GreenDuring the Cold War a Naval Intelligence officer endowed with a powerful photographic memory is transferred to the CIA to participate in a covert operation in Moscow.
- DirectorJanusz MajewskiStarsJózef DuriaszEdmund FettingGustaw LutkiewiczA pastor studying folklore in remote parts of 19th century Lithuania is invited to stay with a young nobleman. His mother is sequestered and mad. It seems she has been attacked by a bear as a young wife and local peasants whisper the young man may be the son of a bear. A doctor, who treats the mother with old-fashioned remedies, reveals this to the pastor. Young nobleman's wife is found with a bite and the man has disappeared into the woods.
- DirectorRobert FuestStarsAnna Calder-MarshallTimothy DaltonHarry AndrewsDoomed lovers Catherine and Heathcliff are torn apart by their own selfishness and hate.
- DirectorPeter HallStarsUrsula AndressStanley BakerDavid WarnerThe deputy manager of a London bank has worked out a way to rob the branch of £200,000. When he becomes involved with the attractive Lady Dorset he decides to go ahead with his plan. He needs her help and that of her philandering spendthrift husband. It all comes down to a matter of trust.
- DirectorDamiano DamianiStarsAlessio OranoOrnella MutiTano CimarosaA young poor girl receives a marriage proposal from a mafia novice. She's going to refuse, but he's going to insist - at all cost.
- DirectorRoddy McDowallStarsAva GardnerIan McShaneRichard WattisAn older woman uses witchcraft to keep her young jet-set friends. Based on an ancient Scottish folk song.
- DirectorJacques DemyStarsCatherine DeneuveJean MaraisJacques PerrinA fairy godmother helps a princess disguise and flee the kingdom so she won't have to marry the king who happens to be her father.
- DirectorMichael VerhoevenStarsGustl BayrhammerHartmut BeckerRolf CastellA four-man US fire-team on patrol seizes a dying young Vietnamese girl and continue to torture, rape and kill her. One soldier refuses to take part and reports the incident.
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsJulie ChristieAlan BatesDominic GuardA tale of torrid and forbidden love between a couple in the English countryside.
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsJane FondaDonald SutherlandCharles CioffiA small-town detective searching for a missing man has only one lead: a connection with a New York prostitute.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsSean ConneryJill St. JohnCharles GrayA diamond smuggling investigation leads James Bond to Las Vegas where he uncovers an evil plot involving a rich business tycoon.
- DirectorRichard C. SarafianStarsBarry NewmanCleavon LittleCharlotte RamplingDuring the 1970s, car-delivery driver Kowalski delivers hot rods in record time, but always runs into trouble.
- DirectorRichard FleischerJohn HustonStarsGeorge C. ScottTony MusanteTrish Van DevereA getaway driver comes out of retirement to pull off one last run - one that could send him to an early grave instead.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsMia FarrowDorothy AlisonRobin BaileyA young blind woman is pursued by a maniac while staying with family in their country manor.
- DirectorRichard C. SarafianStarsRichard HarrisJohn HustonHenry WilcoxonLeft for dead after a bear attack, a fur-trapper recuperates and pursues his former companions through dangerous Indian territory.
- DirectorGiorgio FerroniStarsGiuliano GemmaMark DamonLuis DávilaA fun film with stylish costumes that has Gemma as the heir to the Nottingham dukedom who is robbed of his heritage. He joins the already-established 'Merrie Men' and becomes their leader.
- DirectorClaude SautetStarsDanielle DurouAlain BelartMichel PiccoliA detective decides to go undercover and set up a group of robbers, but he may be getting too caught up in the task at hand.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsKim DarbyScott WilsonTony MusanteSet in the Depression, a gang of half-witted small-time hoods led by Slim Grissom kidnap heiress Barbara Blandish and Slim proceeds to fall in love with her. Remake of the British film No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1948).
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsSean ConneryDyan CannonMartin BalsamAfter ten years in prison to protect a mafia family, Duke Anderson is released and he cashes in a debt of honor with the mob to bankroll a caper.
- DirectorDon TaylorStarsRoddy McDowallKim HunterBradford DillmanThe world is shocked by the appearance of three talking chimpanzees, who arrived mysteriously in a U.S. spacecraft. They become the toast of society, but one man believes them to be a threat to the human race.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsJack NicholsonCandice BergenArt GarfunkelChronicling the lifelong sexual development of two men who meet and become friends in college.
- DirectorBurt KennedyStarsRaquel WelchRobert CulpErnest BorgnineAfter she is raped and her husband murdered, a woman hires a bounty hunter to instruct her in the use of a gun so she can get her revenge on the three outlaws responsible.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsCharles BronsonToshirô MifuneAlain DelonIn 1870, a gang robs a train and steals a ceremonial Japanese sword meant as a gift for the U.S. President, prompting a manhunt to retrieve it.
- DirectorEdwin SherinStarsBurt LancasterSusan ClarkFrank SilveraA Mexican-American sheriff (Burt Lancaster) must resort to violence against a powerful rancher (Frank Tanner, played by Jon Cypher) in order to get just compensation for the pregnant Indian widow of a wrongly killed black man.
- DirectorHenri VerneuilStarsJean-Paul BelmondoOmar SharifDyan CannonIn 1970s Athens a group of professional burglars plans an emerald heist from the home of a gem collector, but corrupt Greek police inspector Abel Zacharia is on their trail.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsWarren BeattyJulie ChristieRene AuberjonoisA gambler and a prostitute become business partners in a remote Old West mining town, and their enterprise thrives until a large corporation arrives on the scene.
- DirectorPaul BogartGordon DouglasStarsJames GarnerLouis Gossett Jr.Susan ClarkIn 1857, con man Quincy Drew and his black friend Jason O'Rourke swindle slave owners into buying Jason, who's a free man, and later share the profits when Jason escapes captivity.
- DirectorPeter YatesStarsPeter O'TooleSiân PhillipsPhilippe NoiretA lone survivor from a British naval ship is obsessed with getting revenge on a German U-boat crew that massacred his shipmates in the water.
- DirectorDon MedfordStarsOliver ReedCandice BergenGene HackmanA ruthless rancher and his gang use extremely long range rifles to kill the men who kidnapped his infidel wife.
- DirectorCharles JarrottStarsVanessa RedgraveGlenda JacksonPatrick McGoohanDuring the sixteenth century, the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots engages in over two decades of religious and political conflict with her cousin, the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I of England, amidst political intrigue in her native land.
- DirectorGeorge LucasStarsRobert DuvallDonald PleasenceDon Pedro ColleyIn the 25th century, a time when people have designations instead of names, a man, THX 1138, and a woman, LUH 3417, rebel against their rigidly controlled society.
- DirectorJohn MackenzieStarsDavid HemmingsCarolyn SeymourDouglas WilmerA new school teacher learns that the previous teacher was killed by his pupils, and he fears the same will happen to him.
- DirectorCurtis HarringtonStarsDebbie ReynoldsShelley WintersDennis WeaverTwo middle-aged women move to Hollywood, California after their sons are convicted of a notorious murder and open a dance school for children eager to tap their way to stardom.
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsTimothy BottomsJeff BridgesCybill ShepherdIn 1951, a group of high schoolers come of age in a bleak, isolated, atrophied North Texas town that is slowly dying, both culturally and economically.
- DirectorNorman CohenStarsArthur LoweJohn Le MesurierClive DunnThe misadventures of a ragtag group of elderly Home Guard local defense volunteers at the onset of WW2.
- DirectorDalton TrumboStarsTimothy BottomsKathy FieldsMarsha HuntDuring World War I, a patriotic young American is rendered blind, deaf, limbless, and mute by a horrific artillery shell attack. Trapped in what's left of his body, he desperately looks for a way to end his life.
- DirectorJohn CassavetesStarsGena RowlandsSeymour CasselVal AveryA museum curator falls in love with a crazy parking attendant.
- DirectorPierre Granier-DeferreStarsJean GabinSimone SignoretAnnie CordyIn 1971 Courbevoie (France), former typographist Julien Bouin and his wife Clemence, who used to perform in a circus, hardly talk to each other in their small house, which is soon to be demolished. To Clemence's anger, Julien's cat Greffier is the only one who gets his attention, let alone love.
- DirectorPierre Granier-DeferreStarsAlain DelonSimone SignoretOttavia PiccoloJohn, an escaped convict, takes refuge on the farm of Widow Couderc. He becomes the older woman's lover and admits that he's on the run. The widow's in-laws, who despise her,
- DirectorFernando ArrabalStarsAnouk FerjacNúria EspertMahdi ChaouchDuring Spanish Civil War, young Fando navigates parents' clashing ideologies after father's arrest. Explores his imagination, friendships, views on sex and death amid family upheaval. Questions mother, seeks father's fate.
- DirectorJoël SériaStarsJeanne GoupilCatherine WagenerBernard DhéranTwo bored Catholic schoolgirls spending summer in the countryside decide to become Satanists, and begin committing a series of morbid and increasingly dangerous crimes.
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsNatalya BondarchukDonatas BanionisJüri JärvetA psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsJennifer O'NeillGary GrimesJerry HouserDuring his summer vacation on Nantucket Island in 1942, a youth eagerly awaiting his first sexual encounter finds himself developing an innocent love for a young woman awaiting news on her soldier husband's fate in WWII.
- DirectorClaude ChabrolStarsCeliaMarina NinchiMichel BouquetCharles Masson, an advertising executive, is having an affair with Laura, the wife of his best friend, the architect François Tellier. Charles strangles Laura when one of their S&M games goes too far. Dazed, Charles walks out of the borrowed apartment in Paris and soon bumps into François in a nearby bistro. They drive back together to Versailles, where they have beautiful neighboring houses designed by François. The owner of the apartment had seen Laura and Charles together two months earlier, but she does not tell the police on the advice of François. Even though the police do not seem to have any clues to the crime, Charles has a difficult time coping with the situation, and trying to live a normal life with his two children and loving wife Hélène.
- DirectorHarvey HartJules SchwerinStarsWendell BurtonMichael GreerZooey HallThe young, naive Smitty is sent to prison for six months; Cathy, his girlfriend, watches as he disappears behind the bars and barbed wire. He's assigned a cell with Queenie, a balls-out drag queen, Rocky, a quiet but cocky con, and Mona, a young gay man who ministers to Rocky. Smitty watches in horror as gangs of inmates brutalize prisoners who lack protection. Those who complain risk beatings or murder at the hands of unsympathetic guards: all cries are bootless. Mona offers poetry - Shakespeare's sonnet XXIX; Queenie and Rocky offer Smitty advice, and Rocky offers protection for a price. Smitty's choices and their consequences are the film's main subjects.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsSandy RatcliffBill DeanGrace CaveA family is shattered over the daughter's forced abortion. As she rebels against her family and their traditional, authoritarian, typical-of-the-time norms, she is hospitalized and otherwise mistreated.
- DirectorFranklin J. SchaffnerStarsMichael JaystonJanet SuzmanRoderic NobleTsar Nicholas II, the inept last monarch of Russia, insensitive to the needs of his people, is overthrown and exiled to Siberia with his family.
- DirectorMervyn NelsonStarsTom BadeJames MurdockPaul BlakeA dramatic expose of the lives of a group of gays who meet in a New York City bar on Christmas Eve.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsLynn CarlinBuck HenryGeorgia EngelWhile searching for their runaway teenage daughter, the parents rediscover the pleasures of life as they get acquainted with a self-help group for parents of vanished children.
- DirectorJames ClavellStarsMichael CaineOmar SharifFlorinda BolkanDuring the Thirty Years' War of 1600s, a band of Protestant mercenaries peacefully coexist with German Catholic villagers in a hidden idyllic mountain valley untouched by war.
- DirectorBo WiderbergStarsThommy BerggrenAnja SchmidtKelvin MalaveAbout the life and death of the legendary Swedish/American agitator Joe Hill.
- DirectorBostjan HladnikStarsVida JermanIgor GaloMiha BalohA married woman becomes romantically involved with a basketball player, and decides to get him just for herself.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsBill MumyBarry RobinsMiles ChapinA group of social misfits at a summer camp for boys run away to save penned-in buffaloes from a rifle club's slaughter.
- DirectorElaine MayStarsWalter MatthauElaine MayJack WestonHenry Graham lives the life of a playboy. When his lawyer tells him one day that his lifestyle has consumed all his funds, he needs an idea to avoid climbing down the social ladder. So he intends to marry a rich woman and - murder her.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenLouise LasserCarlos MontalbánWhen a bumbling New Yorker is dumped by his activist girlfriend, he travels to a tiny Latin American nation and becomes involved in its latest rebellion.
- DirectorIan MacNaughtonStarsJohn CleeseMichael PalinGraham ChapmanAn anthology of the best sketches from the first and second seasons of Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969).
- DirectorRobert StevensonWard KimballStarsAngela LansburyDavid TomlinsonRoddy McDowallAn apprentice witch, three kids and a cynical magician conman search for the missing component to a magic spell to be used in the defense of Britain in World War II.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJon FinchBarry FosterBarbara Leigh-HuntA serial murderer is strangling women with a necktie. The London police have a suspect, but he is the wrong man.
- DirectorDouglas TrumbullStarsBruce DernCliff PottsRon RifkinIn a future where all flora is extinct on Earth, an astronaut is given orders to destroy the last of Earth's botany, kept in a greenhouse aboard a spacecraft.
- DirectorMichael CampusStarsOliver ReedGeraldine ChaplinDon GordonConcerned with population over-growth, the Earth government bans, under the penalty of death, all pregnancies but one couple decides to risk having a real baby rather than legally adopt a cyborg child.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsJames MasonRobert PrestonBeau BridgesAt an exclusive boys' school, a new gym teacher is drawn into a feud between two older instructors, and he discovers that everything at the school is not quite as staid, tranquil and harmless as it seems.
- DirectorCurtis HarringtonStarsShelley WintersMark LesterChloe FranksA demented widow lures unsuspecting children into her mansion in a bizarre "Hansel and Gretel" twist.
- DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsRichard BurtonRaquel WelchVirna LisiA World War I pilot whom everybody envies as a "ladykiller" actually is one. After he beds a woman he's after, he murders her.
- DirectorRobert FuestStarsVincent PriceRobert QuarryValli KempThe vengeful doctor rises again, seeking the Scrolls of Life in an attempt to resurrect his deceased wife.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsSusannah YorkRene AuberjonoisMarcel BozzuffiWhilst writing a children's book, a woman interrupted by images unsure if they may, or may not be real
- DirectorMichael WinnerStarsCharles BronsonJan-Michael VincentKeenan WynnAn aging hitman befriends a young man who wants to be a professional killer. Eventually it becomes clear that someone has betrayed them.
- DirectorGeorge C. ScottStarsGeorge C. ScottRichard BasehartMartin SheenAn accidental nerve gas leak by the military kills not only a rancher's livestock, but also his son. When he tries to hold the military accountable for their actions, he runs up against a wall of silence.
- DirectorDouglas HickoxStarsOliver ReedJill St. JohnIan McShaneImprisoned Harry Lomart is a vicious, brute of a man and yet he is prepared to do his long jail term as he is confident that on his release his beautiful wife Pat will be waiting for him, but a visit from Pat brings him his worst nightmare.
- DirectorRené ClémentStarsJean-Louis TrintignantRobert RyanLea MassariA crook on the run hooks up with a criminal gang to commit a kidnapping. However, things don't go quite as planned.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsBurt LancasterBruce DavisonJorge LukeAfter fierce war chief Ulzana and a small war party jump the reservation bent on murder and terror, an inexperienced young lieutenant is assigned to track him down.
- DirectorMike HodgesStarsMichael CaineMickey RooneyLionel StanderA seedy writer of sleazy pulp novels is recruited by a quirky, reclusive ex-actor to help him write his biography at his house in Malta.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsStacy KeachJeff BridgesSusan TyrrellTwo men, working as professional boxers, come to blows when their careers each begin to take different directions.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsClint EastwoodRobert DuvallJohn SaxonAn ex-bounty hunter reluctantly helps a wealthy landowner and his henchmen track down a Mexican revolutionary leader.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsPaul NewmanAva GardnerRoy JensonIn Vinegaroon, Texas, former outlaw Roy Bean appoints himself the judge for the region and dispenses his brand of justice as he sees fit.