The following things happened in 1970:
- An earthquake struck China, killing 14,621 people.
- The NFL was formed after the merger of the American Football League and the National Football League.
- The Chicago Seven were found not guilty of inciting a riot at the Democratic National Convention.
- The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty went into effect.
- Four students were killed by national guardsmen at Kent State University.
- 100,000 people demonstrated against the Vietnam War in Washington D.C.
- The Isle of Wight Festival took place in England.
- The Ford Pinto and the Chevrolet Vega were introduced.
- Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin died.
- The Khmer Republic was declared in Cambodia, leading to an escalation of the Cambodian Civil War.
Linked entries can be viewed in their entirety on YouTube.
Excellent
1. Performance
OK, David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth makes a lot more sense now. His buddy Mick Jagger had already been there in Performance.
And FUCK this movie's weird. Aside from the unconventional sound design, it starts off in a fairly formulaic manner, thereafter progressing into a bizarre cat and mouse game between a gangster (James Fox) and a worldly artist (Jagger). Mushrooms are consumed, roles are reversed, and chaos ensues. It's a disorienting mashup of gangster film and acid trip, and it works really well.
Fun Fact 1: James Fox look familiar? Let's just say 1970 was a long time ago. He's still in movies. He played Veruca Salt's father in 2005's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Fun Fact 2: Nicholas Roeg co-directed this with Donald Cammell. Roeg would go on to direct The Man Who Fell to Earth in 1976.
Fun Fact 3: Roeg's co-director Donald Cammell would go on to direct Demon Seed in 1977. Demon Seed is another movie that could have only come from the 70s.
2. Catch-22
Not only does this movie capture the tragic absurdity present in the novel, but it also expands upon it, fleshing out parts of the narrative that the author (understandably) didn't touch upon. Alan Arkin stars as Joseph Heller's conscientious objector, with Mike Nichols (who'd go on to helm Silkwood, Postcards from the Edge and The Birdcage) onboard as director.
Fun Fact: At the time Anthony Perkins, star of Psycho, was probably the best known of the cast members. Other cast members include Norman Fell, Art Garfunkel (!), Charles Grodin, Bob Newhart, Martin Sheen and Jon Voight. None of these actors were big names at the time, but as the 70s wore on they'd become much better known.
Hats off to Richard Benjamin for doing this movie. Dude is HATEFUL throughout.
But why is Carrie Snodgress billed below both Richard Benjamin and Frank Langella in the opening credits? Not cool, Hollywood. She's excellent in this story of a housewife pushed too far, and her name should have come first.
Fun Fact: That's Alice Cooper playing at the party.
A Fun Little Movie
I've never been a big believer in conspiracies. I have trouble believing that any group of people is smart enough, patient enough, and disciplined enough to carry off any conspiracy for long. Insider trading? Sure. Multinational conspiracies involving multiple branches of the U.S. government? It's a harder sell. Such a conspiracy might, given the average person's apathy, exist for a short time, but I have difficulty imagining how anything as formidable as the Brotherhood of the Bell could exist over the course of several generations.
If star Glenn Ford looks familiar, it's because he played Jonathan Kent in 1978's Superman. He had a very successful career in Hollywood up to that point, but once the 70s rolled around he'd faded into the background. This made-for-TV movie isn't the kind of production he would've considered in the 60s, but despite its occasional cheesiness it's well written and employs some interesting camera angles.
Some Good Ones
1. Mark of the Devil
Udo Kier (!) stars as a man on the wrong side of the Holy Inquisition. Mark of the Devil is definitely gratuitous, but I can't say it's bad. It reminded me a lot of The Devils, which I also saw recently.
Fun Fact: While not banned outright, this West German film was seized and confiscated in the UK.
2. Waterloo
If nothing else producer Dino De Laurentiis poured a lot of money into this movie: thousands of extras, thousands of costumes, cavalry engaged in complex maneuvers, explosions in the midst of troop movements. Some of the reenactments in this film are a wonder to behold. It's just too bad that the story's so thin.
Rod Steiger stars as Napoleon, with Christopher Plummer as Wellington. Both actors turn in great performances, but this movie doesn't go very far toward separating Napoleon the man from Napoleon the myth, and as a result he comes off as something just slightly removed from a comic book villain.
This, and there are two slightly embarrassing storytelling devices at work in this film. At about the halfway mark a "conscientious objector" emerges from Wellington's troops, just in case we missed out on the horrors of war. At about the same time we're treated to voiceovers from both Steiger and Plummer, indicating their thoughts at a certain key moments. Both devices feel very forced, and I wish the director had simply stepped back a bit, and shown more of what was going on away from the front lines.
Was 1970 a big year for movies about famous generals? I don't know, but I can tell you this is the year that saw Patton, Cromwell and Waterloo released in theaters. Of the three Patton is the best by far, Cromwell is the worst, and Waterloo is somewhere between the two.
Fun Fact 1: This movie was filmed in Ukraine, under the direction of Russian Sergei Bondarchuk.
Fun Fact 2: This movie still holds the record for highest number of costumed extras in a film. Many of these extras were members of the Soviet Army.
3. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Dario Argento kicked off the 70s with this tale of an American in Italy who witnesses a murder. It was Argento's first movie as director. I guessed the ending early on, but I still enjoyed the film. It borrows (and then inverts) aspects of Psycho, and in terms of quality I'd rank it below Suspiria and Deep Red.
Fun Fact: Reggie Nalder, who appears briefly in this movie as "Needles," also appears in Mark of the Devil (above) as Albino.
4. Le Cercle Rouge ("The Red Circle")
Heist movie featuring Alain Delon. It's one of the most meticulously crafted movies I've ever seen, BUT it's really slow and also really dark in parts. Hollywood would've cut many of the scenes leading up to the heist, and also lit those rooms better, but I suppose the French director considered and then dismissed such an approach.
Alain Delon, by the way, tried to cross over into Hollywood movies. He appeared in a few, but never achieved the level of fame in America that he enjoyed in Europe. By the time Le Cercle Rouge hit theaters he'd given up on Hollywood and returned to France, where his accent wasn't a handicap.
5. They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!
Sidney Poitier stars as a detective out to catch a murderer in San Francisco. There are some definite plot holes in this movie, but it's WAY better than its sequel, The Organization, which was also reviewed here recently.
"Nautical film noir." Is that a valid subgenre? I can think of several movies that fit this category, some of them good, some of them quite awful.
Rod Taylor stars as a boat captain who rescues a mysterious woman, with William Smith as the one guy you don't want to cross. William Smith, by the way, is the leader of the biker gang in Angels Die Hard (below). He was in a lot of forgettable movies, but his career prospered as the 70s wore on.
Roger Ebert gave this movie 3.5 stars out of 4. It's good, but I wouldn't give it that many stars. I mean, what really happened to William Smith after he was arrested? Were charges pressed? Did anyone have evidence of what he'd done?
Two Hours of Dwarves Breaking Stuff and Making a Mess
1. Even Dwarfs Started Small
That smallest dwarf's chuckle is going to stay with me.
Don't ask me why the dwarves are so angry. Don't ask me why the "boss dwarf" is trapped in the house. Don't ask me why the strange silent dwarf is tied to the chair. Don't ask me why they all speak German even though they're obviously not in Germany.
This was Werner Herzog's second film, following Signs of Life and preceding Aguirre, the Wrath of God. It has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and I have no idea why. Maybe it's weird enough to make everybody happy?
Not Enough Weirdness for You? Try this One.
1. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
Czech movie about... vampires? A loss of innocence? Sex? I dunno, but this movie invites those kinds of interpretations.
Some Bad Ones
1. Kelly's Heroes
What? I didn't like Kelly's Heroes? No I didn't. It's a movie riddled with implausible happenings and marred by a jarring lack of military discipline. It's played for laughs, yes, but it's just not that funny. Clint Eastwood and Telly Savalas grimace their way through two hours of it, and Donald Sutherland does his best to provide countercultural commentary, but the whole thing feels bloated, slow and uninspired.
Fun Fact 1: Brian G. Hutton also directed Clint Eastwood in 1968's Where Eagles Dare.
Fun Fact 2: This movie was based on an actual robbery during WWII, but the details of this robbery only emerged after the movie's release.
I can't hate on it too much. It was obviously filmed for peanuts over a very brief period of time. A motorcycle gang butts heads with small town America while a young girl flirts with danger. The best thing about this movie is the soundtrack, which makes the whole thing much more bearable.
3. Bloodsuckers
"Show don't tell." But this movie sure does a lot of telling. Several pretentious people search for a lost pretentious friend in Greece... until (of course) the vampire shows up. The characters spend a lot of time saying things that would be obvious to other people in the room, all for the sake of explaining a plot that isn't particularly interesting.
This movie makes you feel sorry for Patrick Macnee. He's ostensibly the star, but it feels like he's playing a secondary character. Did something go wrong in the editing room? Is this why the director disowned the movie?
The best thing I can say about this movie is that the Greek girl (Imogen Hassall) is smokin' hot. Aside from that this movie has little to recommend it.
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NOTE: I need a break from the 70s. I've seen a lot of good movies, but it's been a deep dive for sure. I'm going to watch the movies of 2021 I missed, and after that I'll be delving into the late 60s.
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