Film in the 70s: A Golden Age

As the Vietnam war comes to a close, I want to look back on to the decade of the 70s and explore some of the American culture at the time in the form of film. Earlier decades may have surprised us with films and been heavily influenced by events like World War II, but the 70s holds many familiar films we all know and love. The 70s brought us blockbusters and action flicks and famous movies that are still must-sees today. Let’s look at some of the movies and stars of the 70s.

Some of the more famous movies you may know are: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in 1971, The Godfather in 1972, The Exorcist in 1973, Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 1974, Jaws in 1975, Rocky in 1976, Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977, Superman and Grease in 1978, and Apocalypse now and Alien in 1979. These are some of the most famous movies in cinema history. Now let’s get into some fun facts and general info about the decade.

In 1972, a 1971 trend called “Black Movies” picked up steam. These were movies that were directed by black directors. This was likely because there was also an increased emphasis on the director as the artist behind the film, the creator and the most important person. There was also more emphasis on aesthetics, which is why we still enjoy a lot of films from the 70s: They are similar to our focus on aesthetics today, and so still look good and are watchable.

1971 marked a pretty big win for Isaac Hayes and the black community, as he was the first black person to win an Oscar that wasn’t for acting (He won for best original song). Today, we still haven’t even had a black person win best director, and only 6 black men ever nominated in that category.

In 1970, a movie called Patton came out, which was one of Richard Nixon’s favorite movies. It was about general Patton. At the oscars that year, Patton won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Leading Actor.

Jaws in 1975 was a pretty interesting film. It was one of the first summer blockbusters, but production was horrifying and it was never meant to be the hit it was. The production went over time, over budget, had new actors who hadn’t made it big, and had a director who hadn’t made it big either. The shark barely even worked! However, it became a hit and created the summer blockbuster, topping the $100 million record in box-office business in North America. It also

Star Wars is another important movie. It was one of the first films to effectively use CGI and have technologically advanced film tactics. It had a huge cultural impact that can still be felt today, as we continue to see new Star Wars media being made. It also created the famous Industrial Light and Magic, or ILM, which is still around today and has become the industry standard. After Jaws and Star Wars, the summer, which was typically the slow movie season, became a much bigger draw.

The movie Carrie came out in 1976, which came from the 1974 book of the same name by Stephen King. This was the first of many Stephen King films to be adapted into movies, with later hits like The Shining and Shawshank Redemption. The adaptation of his books still continues today with IT part II coming out soon.

Rocky came out in 1976, and despite being a low budget film, it was a smash success. It grossed over $100 million at the box office. It turned Sylvester Stallone, the writer and star of Rocky, into a major Hollywood star. It was awarded 3 oscars out of 10 nominations, including Best Picture, and is still a must-see today.

A lot of other movies came out, all with famous stories and people behind their creation. But this blog post would be way too long if I named all the amazingly famous movies that happened in this Golden Age. The 70s, in my opinion, was the start of the movies we know and love today. The 60s had some, like West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Psycho, and Mary Poppins, but the 70s really took off and created the blockbusters we all know and watch over and over again today. Despite the wars and anguish around them, Hollywood didn’t only reflect the bad things. Movies became even more escapist and creative, technology began to get better and move dynamic, and movies became far more similar to the modern films we watch today.

Sources:
https://www.filmsite.org/1970-filmhistory.html
https://www.retrowaste.com/1970s/movies-in-the-1970s/
https://www.filmsite.org/70sintro.html
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