70's Decade of Paranoia
by Camoo | created - 29 Mar 2014 | updated - 03 Aug 2014 | PublicLingering cold war paranoia, espionage, crime and political thrillers dominated the 70's, as well as a rash of startlingly dark films coming out of the new Hollywood.
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1. All the President's Men (1976)
PG | 138 min | Drama, History, Thriller
"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.
Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam
Votes: 126,097 | Gross: $70.60M
2. The Conversation (1974)
PG | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Frederic Forrest
Votes: 121,923 | Gross: $4.42M
3. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979)
TV-14 | 45 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced out of semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons.
Stars: Alec Guinness, Michael Jayston, Anthony Bate, George Sewell
Votes: 9,626
4. The Serpent (1973)
PG | 113 min | Drama, Thriller
A Soviet diplomat hatches a complicated plan to enable him to defect to the West.
Director: Henri Verneuil | Stars: Yul Brynner, Henry Fonda, Dirk Bogarde, Philippe Noiret
Votes: 1,204
5. Three Days of the Condor (1975)
R | 117 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A bookish CIA researcher in Manhattan finds all his co-workers dead, and must outwit those responsible until he figures out who he can really trust.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, Max von Sydow
Votes: 62,601 | Gross: $41.51M
6. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
PG | 125 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
James Bond investigates the hijacking of British and Russian submarines carrying nuclear warheads, with the help of a K.G.B. agent whose lover he killed.
Director: Lewis Gilbert | Stars: Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, Curd Jürgens, Richard Kiel
Votes: 116,298 | Gross: $46.80M
7. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
R | 104 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Four armed men hijack a New York City subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers. The city's police are faced with a conundrum: Even if it's paid, how could they get away?
Director: Joseph Sargent | Stars: Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo
Votes: 35,837 | Gross: $2.49M
8. Night Moves (1975)
R | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Los Angeles private investigator Harry Moseby is hired by a client to find her runaway teenage daughter. Moseby tracks the daughter down, only to stumble upon something much more intriguing and sinister.
Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Gene Hackman, Jennifer Warren, Edward Binns, Harris Yulin
Votes: 17,723
9. Army of Shadows (1969)
Not Rated | 145 min | Drama, War
An account of underground resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied France.
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville | Stars: Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret
Votes: 25,862 | Gross: $0.74M
okay.. late 60's..
10. The French Connection (1971)
R | 104 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A pair of NYPD detectives in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a heroin smuggling ring based in Marseilles, but stopping them and capturing their leaders proves an elusive goal.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey, Tony Lo Bianco
Votes: 135,749 | Gross: $15.63M
11. Marathon Man (1976)
R | 125 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After the shocking murder of his older brother, a New York history student finds himself inexplicably hounded by shadowy government agents on the trail of a Nazi war criminal who is trying to retrieve smuggled diamonds.
Director: John Schlesinger | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, William Devane
Votes: 70,248 | Gross: $21.71M
12. Taxi Driver (1976)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama
A mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Albert Brooks
Votes: 921,171 | Gross: $28.26M
13. The Kremlin Letter (1970)
M/PG | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
During 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.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Bibi Andersson, Richard Boone, Nigel Green, Dean Jagger
Votes: 2,312 | Gross: $0.24M
14. The Parallax View (1974)
R | 102 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
An ambitious reporter gets in way-over-his-head trouble while investigating a senator's assassination which leads to a vast conspiracy involving a multinational corporation behind every event in the world's headlines.
Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Warren Beatty, Paula Prentiss, William Daniels, Walter McGinn
Votes: 21,789 | Gross: $2.15M
15. Taxi Driver (1976)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama
A mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Albert Brooks
Votes: 921,171 | Gross: $28.26M
16. Charley Varrick (1973)
PG | 111 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A man, his wife and their friend stage a bloody bank robbery without realizing they are stealing from the Mob.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Walter Matthau, Joe Don Baker, Felicia Farr, Andrew Robinson
Votes: 14,125
17. The Sting (1973)
PG | 129 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Two grifters team up to pull off the ultimate con.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning
Votes: 279,999 | Gross: $159.60M
18. The Day of the Jackal (1973)
PG | 143 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In the aftermath of France allowing Algeria's independence, a group of resentful military veterans hire a professional assassin codenamed "Jackal" to kill President Charles de Gaulle.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Edward Fox, Terence Alexander, Michel Auclair, Alan Badel
Votes: 44,949 | Gross: $16.06M
19. Serpico (1973)
R | 130 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
An honest New York cop named Frank Serpico blows the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire
Votes: 134,865 | Gross: $29.80M
20. The Laughing Policeman (1973)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In San Francisco, California, one victim in a mass murder is a police detective. His partner and a new partner investigate in the city's seamy side.
Director: Stuart Rosenberg | Stars: Walter Matthau, Bruce Dern, Louis Gossett Jr., Albert Paulsen
Votes: 3,229 | Gross: $1.36M
21. Z (1969)
M/PG | 127 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The public murder of a prominent politician and doctor amid a violent demonstration is covered up by military and government officials. A tenacious magistrate is determined not to let them get away with it.
Director: Costa-Gavras | Stars: Yves Montand, Irene Papas, Jean-Louis Trintignant, François Périer
Votes: 31,359 | Gross: $0.08M
22. Klute (1971)
R | 114 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A small-town detective searching for a missing man has only one lead: a connection with a New York prostitute.
Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi, Roy Scheider
Votes: 29,638 | Gross: $17.44M
23. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
R | 125 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Three amateur bank robbers plan to hold up a bank. A nice simple robbery: Walk in, take the money, and run. Unfortunately, the supposedly uncomplicated heist suddenly becomes a bizarre nightmare as everything that could go wrong does.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Penelope Allen, Sully Boyar
Votes: 273,148 | Gross: $50.00M
24. The Anderson Tapes (1971)
GP | 99 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
After 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.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Sean Connery, Dyan Cannon, Martin Balsam, Ralph Meeker
Votes: 8,847 | Gross: $10.90M
25. The Internecine Project (1974)
PG | 89 min | Action, Thriller
A retired intelligence agent devises a cunning plan to eliminate those who know too much about his past.
Director: Ken Hughes | Stars: James Coburn, Lee Grant, Harry Andrews, Ian Hendry
Votes: 1,089
26. The Seven-Ups (1973)
PG | 103 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A tough detective who is part of an elite New York City unit is trying to find out who killed his partner, but uncovers a plot to kidnap mobsters for money.
Director: Philip D'Antoni | Stars: Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco, Victor Arnold, Jerry Leon
Votes: 6,649 | Gross: $2.32M
27. The Terminal Man (1974)
PG | 104 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Hoping to cure his violent seizures, a man agrees to a series of experimental microcomputers inserted into his brain but inadvertently discovers that violence now triggers a pleasurable response to his brain.
Director: Mike Hodges | Stars: George Segal, Joan Hackett, Richard Dysart, Donald Moffat
Votes: 2,554 | Gross: $0.22M
28. The French Conspiracy (1972)
PG | 120 min | Thriller
Sadiel, a Leftist leader in a North African state, takes refuge in Switzerland in the aftermath of a coup. Aware of the threat Sadiel poses, ruthless Colonel Kassar contacts the French ... See full summary »
Director: Yves Boisset | Stars: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Michel Piccoli, Jean Seberg, Gian Maria Volontè
Votes: 886
29. The Offence (1973)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A burnt-out British police detective finally snaps whilst interrogating a suspected child molester.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Sean Connery, Trevor Howard, Vivien Merchant, Ian Bannen
Votes: 7,990
30. The Day of the Dolphin (1973)
PG | 104 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A marine biologist teaches his dolphins to communicate in English but shady characters plan to kidnap the trained mammals for a more sinister purpose.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Paul Sorvino, John Dehner
Votes: 3,531 | Gross: $2.30M
31. Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977)
R | 146 min | Drama, Thriller
An imprisoned rogue USAF general with a secret personal agenda, escapes the brig and takes over an ICBM silo, threatening to start WW3.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Roscoe Lee Browne, Joseph Cotten
Votes: 3,726
32. The Killer Elite (1975)
PG | 122 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Mike Locken, who works for a private security firm affiliated with the C.I.A., is betrayed by his partner and left apparently crippled for life.
Director: Sam Peckinpah | Stars: James Caan, Robert Duvall, Arthur Hill, Bo Hopkins
Votes: 7,226
33. Badge 373 (1973)
R | 116 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After a suspended New York City cop's ex-partner is murdered, he vows to clean up the streets.
Director: Howard W. Koch | Stars: Robert Duvall, Verna Bloom, Henry Darrow, Eddie Egan
Votes: 907
34. The Odessa File (1974)
PG | 130 min | Drama, Thriller
Following the suicide of an elderly Jewish man, a journalist in possession of the man's diary investigates the alleged sighting of a former S.S. Captain, who commanded a concentration camp during World War II.
Director: Ronald Neame | Stars: Jon Voight, Maximilian Schell, Maria Schell, Mary Tamm
Votes: 12,079 | Gross: $1.11M
35. Black Sunday (1977)
R | 143 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
When a Black September terrorist group begins a plot to carry out a massive terrorist attack in the United States, an Israeli commando works with the FBI to identify the target and conspirators, and prevent the plan from succeeding.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern, Marthe Keller, Fritz Weaver
Votes: 9,087 | Gross: $15.77M
36. Executive Action (1973)
PG | 91 min | Crime, Drama, History
Rogue intelligence agents, right-wing politicians, greedy capitalists, and free-lance assassins plot and carry out the JFK assassination.
Director: David Miller | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Will Geer, Gilbert Green
Votes: 3,246
37. The Outfit (1973)
PG | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Earl Macklin robs a bank owned by the mob, serves his prison time and is released, only to start a private war against the crime outfit that owned the bank.
Director: John Flynn | Stars: Robert Duvall, Karen Black, Joe Don Baker, Robert Ryan
Votes: 4,804
38. Juggernaut (1974)
PG | 109 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A blackmailer demands a huge ransom in exchange for information on how to disarm the seven bombs he placed aboard the transatlantic liner Britannic.
Director: Richard Lester | Stars: Richard Harris, Omar Sharif, David Hemmings, Anthony Hopkins
Votes: 6,326 | Gross: $1.56M
39. The Boys from Brazil (1978)
R | 125 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A Nazi hunter in Paraguay discovers a sinister and bizarre plot to rekindle the Third Reich.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier, James Mason, Lilli Palmer
Votes: 30,586 | Gross: $19.00M
40. The Domino Principle (1977)
R | 100 min | Drama, Thriller
A Vietnam War veteran who's been imprisoned for murder is offered freedom if he agrees to commit a contract killing for a shady organization.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen, Richard Widmark, Mickey Rooney
Votes: 2,967
41. The Eagle Has Landed (1976)
PG | 123 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
A German plot to kidnap Sir Winston Churchill unfolds at the height of World War II.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, Robert Duvall, Jenny Agutter
Votes: 24,521
42. Two-Minute Warning (1976)
Approved | 115 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A crazed sniper is set to kill spectators at an L.A. Coliseum football championship game and the police race against time to eliminate him.
Director: Larry Peerce | Stars: Charlton Heston, John Cassavetes, Martin Balsam, Beau Bridges
Votes: 4,384
43. Prime Cut (1972)
R | 88 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A vicious Kansas City slaughterhouse owner and his hick family are having a bloody "beef" with the Chicago crime syndicate over profits from their joint illegal operations. Top enforcer Nick Devlin is sent to straighten things out.
Director: Michael Ritchie | Stars: Lee Marvin, Gene Hackman, Sissy Spacek, Angel Tompkins
Votes: 5,865 | Gross: $0.52M
44. The China Syndrome (1979)
PG | 122 min | Drama, Thriller
A reporter finds what appears to be a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant.
Director: James Bridges | Stars: Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas, Scott Brady
Votes: 33,049 | Gross: $51.72M
45. Pursuit (1972 TV Movie)
73 min | Drama, Thriller
A political extremist plans to spread stolen nerve gas in a city where a political convention is being held. Government agents are sent to catch him.
Director: Michael Crichton | Stars: Ben Gazzara, E.G. Marshall, William Windom, Joseph Wiseman
Votes: 535
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