The Top Movies of 1970
Popular movies released in 1970 include Love Story, Airport, M*A*S*H, Patton, Woodstock, Little Big Man, Tora! Tora! Tora!, Ryan's Daughter, Catch-22, The Owl and the Pussycat, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Scrooge, Downhill Racer, Tell Them Willie Boy is Here, Diary of a Mad Housewife, Women in Love, Kes, and They Shoot Horses Don't They?.
Popular Albums of 1970
Popular albums of the year include Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel, Abbey Road - the Beatles, Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin, Deja Vu - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, McCartney - Paul McCartney, Let It Be - the Beatles, The Woodstock Soundtrack, Blood, Sweat and Tears 3 - Blood, Sweat and Tears, Cosmo's Factory - Creedence Clearwater Revival, Abraxas - Santana, Led Zeppelin III - Led Zeppelin and Sunflower - The Beach Boys.
1970 Books Later Adapted Into Movies
Love Story by Erich Segal, The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles, The Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl and Play it as it Lays by Joan Didion.
Major Sporting Events of 1970
The Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl, legendary football coach Vince Lombardi died, the Baltimore Orioles won the World Series, the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup, Mark Spitz broke his own world record in swimming and Eddy Merckx continued to dominate the world of cycling.
Comic Books in 1970
Charlton Comics published its last comic book, the first San Diego Comic-Con was organized and Jack Kirby penciled his last issue of Fantastic Four.
Excellent
1. Five Easy Pieces
Jack Nicholson stars as an angry young man attempting to escape the life laid out for him. It was nominated for four Academy Awards and won none of them. It is however regarded as one of the first films in the "New Hollywood" movement.
Neither Nicholson nor his costar Karen Black were new to acting at the time. Nicholson had been in movies since 1958 and Black had been in movies since 1960. You could say that Black's career peaked with 1975's Nashville, while most of Nicholson's best work was still ahead of him.
2. The Ballad of Cable Hogue
Jason Robards finds an oasis in the Wild West, and Stella Stevens is a woman bent on a better life. Sam Peckinpah directed this one, and it might just be the best thing he ever did.
Fun Fact: Stella Stevens is the mother of Andrew Stevens, whom she give birth to when she was 16. Andrew Stevens played Kirk Douglas's son in The Fury.
3. Little Big Man
It's tempting to reassess Dancing With Wolves in the presence of this movie, but there are many stories of white men integrating into Native American tribes, some from the time period and some written later on. Needless to say Dustin Hoffman is excellent in this movie, and Little Big Man has aged like wine. The director, Arthur Penn, also helmed Bonnie and Clyde three years before.
Excellent but Depressing
1. Clickety Clack (a.k.a. Dodesukaden)
Life at the bottom of postwar Japanese society. Director Akira Kurosawa paints a vivid portrait of a world where small acts of forgiveness mean everything, and where people struggle to make amends for past mistakes. This was Kurosawa's first film shot in color, and the cast consists of relative unknowns.
Casts a Shadow
1. The Dunwich Horror
I have the feeling this movie was a huge influence on Sam Raimi. He would have been 11 years old when it hit theaters, and there are many, many parallels between this movie and Evil Dead.
In terms of atmosphere this movie is an admirable success. I just wish the two leads (Dean Stockwell and Sandra Dee) were better actors. If they'd had the budget for someone REALLY good, say Oliver Reed, this movie would have been so much better. I haven't read the Lovecraft story in decades, but I think the film does a good job or channeling Lovecraft's sense of existential threat.
Fun Fact: Talia Shire (billed here as Talia Coppola) is in this movie briefly. This was her second movie.
Some Good Ones
1. Patton
Can't beat that opening monologue. The word "iconic" is a bit overused now, but that opening monologue is one of the most iconic moments in the history of film. I used to work with a guy who could recite the entire thing from memory. We'd be standing in a UPS sorting hub, and when the mood struck him he'd rattle off that speech, sounding a lot like George C. Scott as he did so.
I feel like this movie has two stars. One of them is George C. Scott, who in Patton won the role of a lifetime, and alongside him there's Francis Ford Coppola's script, which does an excellent job of shrinking a global conflict down to very human dimensions.
For fans of Coppola's The Godfather trilogy there's also an Italian connection in this movie, in that Patton's drive through Sicily introduces the island which Michael Corleone would escape to after killing the cop and the rival mob boss in The Godfather. Sicily was where the Corleones originated, and Coppola would also revisit the area in The Godfather Part II and III. The parts of Patton set in Sicily were actually shot in Spain, while those parts of The Godfather trilogy were actually shot in Sicily, but the connection is there regardless.
Patton won seven Academy Awards, including one for Best Actor, which George C. Scott declined. I'm not including it in the "Excellent" category because it really is a bit slow at times. I love the picture it paints of Patton and his time period, but I think some of the battle scenes - wonderfully staged as they are - could have been cut from the movie.
Fun Fact: There's a made-for-TV sequel to this, also starring George C. Scott, by the name of The Last Days of Patton.
2. A Swedish Love Story
I can't say it's bad, but it's not exactly riveting. Oh, and Swedish kids smoke (smoked?) A LOT. In A Swedish Love Story a young girl and a young boy fall in love while trying to cope with various family issues. It's not exactly fast-paced, but if you're in a more reflective mood you might like it.
Fun Fact: Actor Bjorn Andreson, who has a minor role in this movie, also played the object of the protagonist's desire in Death in Venice the following year. More recently he had a bit part in Midsommar.
3. Zabriskie Point
A young man takes up arms for the Revolution, finds love in the desert, and ultimately seeks his own destruction. It's very much in line with the Easy Rider school of filmmaking, but I'm not altogether sure what director Michelangelo Antonioni was trying to say with this movie. It was a financial disappointment for the studio, and is now better remembered for its soundtrack, which leans heavily on Pink Floyd.
Fun Fact: That jail scene in the beginning? Harrison Ford is in there somewhere.
4. Bed and Board (a.k.a. Domicile Conjugal)
Francois Truffaut directed this story of marital ups and downs. In some ways it reminded me of Bergman's Scenes From a Marriage, though it's certainly a lot less depressing.
Fun Fact: Hiroko Matsumoto, who plays a supporting role in Bed and Board, is considered the first Japanese supermodel. She died under mysterious circumstances in 2003. Despite a celebrated modeling career, Bed and Board is the only movie she ever appeared in.
5. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is....? No, not really, and instead of pursuing that more interesting idea this movie takes a detour into a derivative detective story full of oh-so-convenient clues. The Bible open to the story of Jonah and the whale? The birds placed inside the coffin? Scaling down Holmes' analytical prowess is one thing, but this movie makes the solution to the case seem almost accidental.
6. Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Rankin/Bass joint exploring Santa's origins. Did you enjoy the Will Ferrell movie Elf? If so, you'll probably enjoy this one, too.
7. Woodstock: The Director's Cut
3 Days of Peace & Music, man. Many refer to Woodstock as the defining moment of the late 1960s, but it casts a shadow over the early 70s as well. And where did all those self-described "freaks" wind up in the early 70s? Some of them wound up in Vietnam, others overdosed, others started communes, and still others went on to live relatively normal lives, untouched by the world-shattering events they sought to influence.
In my opinion the director's cut of Woodstock is far better than the theatrical version, in that it offers a larger perspective on the concert and what it meant to people at the time.
Fun Fact: Martin Scorsese was one of the editors on this movie.
Take a Breath, and Then, for a Harsh Jolt of Reality: Watch the Netflix documentaries Woodstock 99: Peace, Love and Rage or Trainwreck: Woodstock 99. I've seen the second of these documentaries, and yeah, I doubt that being at Woodstock 99 is something many parents are going to brag to their children about.
Some Bad Ones
1. Cromwell
Relentlessly melodramatic, while at the same time consistently uninteresting. There's NO WAY that conversation between Cromwell and the English king ever happened. If he'd said those things he would have been dead soon after. For what it's worth Richard Harris stars as Cromwell, with Alec Guinness as the king.
2. Start the Revolution Without Me
Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland star as two pairs of identical twins separated at birth on the eve of the French Revolution. Wilder is very much in his element, but Sutherland was miscast and most of the humor (if you can call it that) hasn't aged well.
3. The Vampire Lovers (a.k.a. The Kiss of the Vampire)
An incredibly slow witted couple encounter vampires during their honeymoon. For me the most maddening part of this movie was the doctor, or professor, or whatever he is. Why couldn't he just warn them away from the beginning? Why was he so obscure about what was going on? This is a Hammer film, and also features Ingrid Pitt from Countess Dracula, but in 1970 they had yet to ramp up the sex and the result is a talky, uneventful movie that promises little and offers even less.
Well, Woodstock is Over, On to the Boobies I Guess...
1. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Auteur director par excellance Russ Meyer flawlessly executes this tale of an all-girl rock group seeking fame in Los Angeles. And who wrote the script? Could it be noted film critic Roger Ebert? Why, yes it could be!
The "hip" dialogue in this movie is hilarious. That, and everyone in this thinly veiled morality tale is ridiculously easy to look at. If I had to pick one to fall in love with, I'd choose the drummer in Kelly's band. She's adorable.
Fun Fact: Pam Grier is in this for a second.
Personal Reflection: I knew a woman like the "porn actress" in this film, and yeah, after a while you'd rather just do it in a bed.
Grainy, Grainy Porn
1. Mona the Virgin Nymph
Let's see if I can remember the plot:
- Mona and her husband-to-be are on a picnic. They start fooling around, but Mona refuses to go all the way before they're married.
- Mona goes home to meet her mother, who goes on to explain that Mona's vow to remain chaste until her wedding day has something to do with Mona's father, who died three years ago.
- Mona blows some guy in an alley. She then asks for his phone number, stating that she only wants to meet at a later date so that she can blow him again.
- Mona meets another woman in the same alley. They have a lesbian encounter at an undisclosed location.
- Mona goes back home and talks to her mother. Mona, frustrated with her husband-to-be working overtime for the third day in a row, decides to go see a movie.
- Mona's mother starts reading a racy novel after Mona leaves, and begins masturbating in the living room.
- Mona's boyfriend arrives at Mona's house, looking for his fiancé. He runs into Mona's mother instead, who insists that they fuck.
- Mona blows another guy at the movie theater. Her boyfriend later shows up and catches her in the act.
- Mona's fiancé ties her up in a bedroom, and uses her address book to call the guy Mona blew in the alley, the woman she had a lesbian encounter with, and the other guy she blew in the movie theater.
- An orgy ensues. The camera then pans across the length of Mona's mother's dildo. On the other end of this dildo are written the words "The End."
Mona the Virgin Nymph is a harmless trifle of a movie, much like other pornographic films from the early 70s. It's not worth seeking out on its own merits, but if you're bored some of the dialogue will bring a smile to your face. Is it sexy? No, but it'll remind you that the early 70s were a more innocent time, when people in porn didn't go from "Hello" to double anal penetration in 60 seconds or less.
Fun Fact 1: This movie had a theatrical release. Plot elements from this movie were later borrowed for Deep Throat.
Fun Fact 2: This movie cost about $7,000 to make and went on to earn $2 million.
WTF in Cinematic Terms
1. Twinky (a.k.a. Lola or London Affair)
Charles Bronson stars as a 38 year old man WHO MARRIES A 16 YEAR OLD GIRL. And it's played like a romantic comedy. I "kid" you not. In 1970 someone was cool with this. Charles Bronson, 16-year old girl... yep.
Oh, and I almost forgot. This movie was directed by Richard Donner. Yes, that Richard Donner. Superman. The Goonies. That Richard Donner.
I'm only thankful that actress Susan George was 19 at the time of filming. Not 16, mind you, 19 years old. She sure did look 16 though.
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