1974--The Year in Review

The Francis Ford Coppola juggernaut continued in 1974 with two extremely notable works--sincerely, the charismatic writer/director was totally on fire this year, maybe as no other filmmaker has been before or since. This would have been an unprecedented one-man race were it not for Polanski and Towne's sublime Chinatown (dutifully noted here, though it still feels like I've slighted their magnificent work). Yet Coppola wasn't the only auteur to contribute two astounding pieces to his CV in 1974, as the most-unlikely Mel Brooks delivered a similar double-blow with Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. Still--let's face it: there was only one choice to be made here. I'm glad to give some leeway to Cassavetes and his muse, wife Gena Rowlands, and to Brooks' most valuable supporting player (in both movies) Madeline Kahn. If I had only one wish, it would be that there were more than one award to give to this stellar array of Best Actor possibilities. But Hackman, with his supremely conflicted Harry Caul, had to emerge above them all, as it's perhaps this fine artist's most acutely detailed performance. A really remarkable year of movies here. Also note the first appearance of true "Claymation" in the winner of the Best Animated Short category: the superb stop motion artisan Will Vinton, who'd go on to influence film and advertising culture for decades to come. NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and are only occasionally reflective of the selections made by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka The Oscars). When available, the nominee that actually won the Oscar will be highlighted in bold. 

PICTURE: THE GODFATHER PART II (US, Francis Ford Coppola)
(2nd: Chinatown (US, Roman Polanski)
followed by: The Conversation (US, Francis Ford Coppola)
A Woman Under the Influence (US, John Cassavetes)
The Parallax View (US, Alan J. Pakula)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (US, Tobe Hooper)
Young Frankenstein (US, Mel Brooks)
General Idi Amin Dada (France/Switzerland, Barbet Schroeder)
Céline and Julie Go Boating (France, Jacques Rivette)
Edvard Munch (Norway/Sweden, Peter Watkins)
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (West Germany, Werner Herzog)
Blazing Saddles (US, Mel Brooks)
Thieves Like Us (US, Robert Altman)
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (US, Martin Scorsese)
Harry and Tonto (US, Paul Mazursky)
Italianamerican (US, Martin Scorsese)
Mirror (USSR, Andrei Tarkovsky)
Cockfighter (US, Monte Hellman)
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (US, Joseph Sargent)
Daisy Miller (US, Peter Bogdanovich)
Dark Star (US, John Carpenter)
The Longest Yard (US, Robert Aldrich)
Lancelot du Lac (France, Robert Bresson)
Hearts and Minds (US, Peter Davis)
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (West Germany, Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
Female Trouble (US, John Waters)
Lenny (US, Bob Fosse)
Alice in the Cities (West Germany, Wim Wenders)
Xala (Senegal, Ousmane Sembene)
California Split (US, Robert Altman)
The Outfit (US, John Flynn)
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (US, John Korty)
The Sugarland Express (US, Steven Spielberg)
Black Christmas (US, Bob Clark)
Gone in 60 Seconds (US, H.B. Halicki)
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Canada, Ted Koecheff)
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (US, Sam Peckinpah)
Cousin, Cousine (France, Jean-Charles Tachella)
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (US, Michael Cimino)
Murder on the Orient Express (US, Sidney Lumet)
Dersu Uzala (Japan/USSR, Akira Kurosawa)
Eadweard Muybridge, Zoopraxographer (US, Thom Andersen)
Phantom of the Paradise (US, Brian de Palma)
Truck Turner (US, Jonathan Kaplan)
The Cars That Ate Paris (Australia, Peter Weir)
Caged Heat (US, Jonathan Demme)
Lacombe, Lucien (France, Louis Malle)
The Phantom of Liberty (France, Luis Buñuel)
Sandakan 8 (Japan, Kei Kumai)
Parade (France, Jacques Tati)
Zardoz (UK, John Boorman)
The Towering Inferno (US, John Guillermin)
Immoral Tales (France, Walerian Borowczyk)
Swept Away…by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August (Italy, Lina Wertmuller)
Phase IV (US, Saul Bass)
Conrack (US, Martin Ritt)
Freebie and the Bean (US, Richard Rush)
The Groove Tube (US, Ken Shapiro)
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (US, Gordon Hessler)
We All Loved Each Other So Much (Italy, Ettore Scola)
That's Entertainment! (US, Jack Haley Jr.)
Foxy Brown (US, Jack Hill)
Zandy's Bride (US, Jan Troell)
The Three Musketeers (US, Richard Lester)
Buster and Billie (US, Daniel Petrie)
Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (US, John Hough)
Macon County Line (US, Richard Compton)
Earthquake (US, Mark Robson)
Emmanuelle (France, Just Jaeckin)
Sweet Movie (Yugoslavia/France, Dusan Makavejev)
Benji (US, Joe Camp))



ACTOR: Gene Hackman, THE CONVERSATION (2nd: Jack Nicholson, Chinatown, followed by: Al Pacino, The Godfather Part II; Art Carney, Harry and Tonto; Peter Falk, A Woman Under the Influence; Bruno S., The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser; Warren Oates, Cockfighter; Dustin Hoffman, Lenny) 



ACTRESS: Gena Rowlands, A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE (2nd: Ellen Burstyn, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, followed by: Cicely Tyson, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman; Brigitte Mira, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul; Faye Dunaway, Chinatown; Marilyn Burns, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre; Diahann Carroll, Claudine)


 
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Robert De Niro, THE GODFATHER PART II (2nd: John Huston, Chinatown, followed by: Lee Strasberg, The Godfather Part II; Jeff Bridges, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot; Harvey Korman, Blazing Saddles; John Cazale, The Godfather Part II; Robert Shaw, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three; Alan Arkin, Freebie and the Bean) 



SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Madeline Kahn, BLAZING SADDLES (2nd: Valerie Perrine, Lenny, followed by: Cloris Leachman, Young Frankenstein; Jessica Harper, Phantom of the Paradise; Madeline Kahn, Young Frankenstein; Edith Massey, Female Trouble; Diane Ladd, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore; Talia Shire, The Godfather Part II)

DIRECTOR: Francis Ford Coppola, THE GODFATHER PART II (2nd: Roman Polanski, Chinatown, followed by: Francis Ford Coppola, The Conversation; John Cassavetes, A Woman Under the Influence; Alan J. Pakula, The Parallax View; Tobe Hooper, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre; Jacques Rivette, Celine and Julie Go Boating; Bob Fosse, Lenny)

NON-ENGLISH-LANGUAGE FILM: CELINE AND JULIE GO BOATING (France, Jacques Rivette) (2nd: Edvard Munch (Norway/Sweden, Peter Watkins), followed by: The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (West Germany, Werner Herzog); Mirror (USSR, Andrei Tarkovsky); Lancelot du Lac (France, Robert Bresson); Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (West Germany, Rainer Werner Fassbinder); Alice in the Cities (West Germany, Wim Wenders); Xala (Senegal, Ousmane Sembene); Cousin, Cousine (France, Jean-Charles Tachella); Dersu Uzala (Japan/USSR, Akira Kurosawa) (won in 1975); Lacombe, Lucien (France, Louis Malle); The Phantom of Liberty (France, Luis Buñuel))



LIVE ACTION SHORT: ONE-EYED MEN ARE KINGS (France, Edmond Sechan) (2nd: The Violin (Canada, Andrew Welsh and George Pastic), followed by: Planet Ocean (US, George Casey)) 



ANIMATED SHORT: CLOSED MONDAYS (US, Will Vinton) (2nd: The Family That Dwelt Apart (Canada, Yvon Mallette), followed by: Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (US, John Lounsbury); The Heron and the Crane (Yugoslavia, Yuri Norshteyn); Miracle of Flight (UK, Terry Gilliam))

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: GENERAL IDI AMIN DADA (Germany, Barbet Schroeder) (2nd: Hearts and Minds (US, Peter Davis), followed by: Italianamerican (US, Martin Scorsese); Janis (US, Howard Alk))



ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Robert Towne, CHINATOWN (2nd: Francis Ford Coppola, The Conversation, followed by John Cassavetes, A Woman Under the Influence; Paul Mazursky and Josh Greenfield, Harry and Tonto; Mel Brooks, Andrew Bergman, Norman Steinberg, Richard Pryor and Alan Uger, Blazing Saddles)



ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:  Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo, THE GODFATHER PART II (2nd: David Giler and Lorenzo Semple Jr., The Parallax View, followed by: Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder, Young Frankenstein; Peter Stone, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three; Frederic Raphael, Daisy Miller)


CINEMATOGRAPHY: Gordon Willis, THE GODFATHER PART II (2nd: John A. Alonzo, Chinatown, followed by: Gordon Willis, The Parallax View; Gerald Hirschfeld, Young Frankenstein; Bruce Surtees, Lenny)

ART DIRECTION: THE GODFATHER PART II, Chinatown, Young Frankenstein, Murder on the Orient Express, The Towering Inferno

COSTUME DESIGN: DAISY MILLER, Chinatown, The Great Gatsby, The Godfather Part II, Murder on the Orient Express 



FILM EDITING: THE GODFATHER PART II, The Longest Yard, Chinatown, The Conversation, The Parallax View



SOUND: THE CONVERSATION, Earthquake, The Longest Yard, The Godfather Part II, Young Frankenstein



ORIGINAL SCORE: Jerry Goldsmith, CHINATOWN (2nd: David Shire, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, followed by: Nino Rota and Carmine Coppola, The Godfather Part II; Michael Small, The Parallax View; John Morris, Young Frankenstein)



SCORING OF A MUSICAL/ADAPTATION SCORE: Paul Williams and George Allieson Tipton, PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (2nd: Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Lowe, The Little Prince, followed by: Nelson Riddle, The Great Gatsby)



ORIGINAL SONG: “Benson, Arizona“ from DARK STAR (Music by John Carpenter, lyrics by Bill Taylor) (2nd: “Special to Me“ from Phantom of the Paradise (Music and lyrics by Paul Williams), followed by “Blazing Saddles” from Blazing Saddles (Music by John Morris; lyrics by Mel Brooks); “Truck Turner” from Truck Turner (Music and lyrics by Isaac Hayes); “On and On“ from Claudine (Music and lyrics by Curtis Mayfield); "Where Do We Go From Here" from Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (Music and lyrics by Paul Williams); “I’m Tired” from Blazing Saddles (Music by John Morris; lyrics by Mel Brooks); "We May Never Love Like This Again" from The Towering Inferno (Music and lyrics by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschorn); "Benji's Theme (I Feel Love)" from Benji (Music by Euel Box, lyrics by Betty Box))

SPECIAL EFFECTS: EARTHQUAKE, The Towering Inferno, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad

MAKEUP: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MISS JANE PITTMAN, Young Frankenstein, The Godfather Part II

My Movie Poster Collection: C

As always, click on the poster for a larger image: 

THE CANDIDATE (Michael Richie, 72). Folded, F
Terrific image, with political newcomer Robert Redford having his face obscured by bubble gum. Still one of the most intelligent movies about politics around (perhaps even more relevant today), with an Oscar-winning script by Jeremy Larner. I love this poster, too, for its lack of a tagline, though its notation at the bottom is memorable enough: "This advertisement has been paid for by Warner Brothers, who would love for The Candidate to be a winner." Brilliant.

CANDY STRIPE NURSES (Alan Holleb, 74). Folded, G
A "sexy" movie I remember seeing at the drive-in as a kid. May have been my first glimpse of some tit. The crazy explosion between the woman's legs (with the guy on the motorcycle flying) makes me smile!

CAPE FEAR (Martin Scorsese, 91). Rolled, P
The artwork, by John Alvin, may be a tad overdone (something about those eyes, which are obviously not De Niro's), but still, I think this remake is one of the few that actually betters the original, because the conflict between Cady and the family he's terrorizing is made more primal and moralistic.

CAPRICORN ONE (Peter Hyams, 77). Folded, VG
A great poster for those moon landing deniers. Not a movie that holds up, though. My second poster with a boxed-in image of unusually self-satisfied co-star O.J. Simpson, who's now quite literally boxed in, thankfully.

CAREFUL, HE MIGHT HEAR YOU (Carl Schultz, 83). Folded, VG
A low-key little Australian movie that I have a little affection for. Great title, by the way.

CARNY (Robert Kaylor, 80). Folded, G
One of the most unfairly overlooked movies of the 1980s. Gary Busey's performance out of clown makeup is highly amusing, and IN the clown makeup, is radically frightening. Great supporting cast in this one--Elisha Cook, Meg Foster, Craig Wasson, Kenneth MacMillan, Tim Thomerson, Woodrow Parfrey, Burt Remsen, Teddy Wilson and George Emerson as the unforgettable Fat Man. Plus, this is probably the only time you'll get to see Jodie Foster in a corset, and Robbie Robertson in a lead role. The director has disappeared but, boy, does he have a handle on this grimy world.

CARRIE (Brian De Palma, 76). Rolled/folded, G
A classic poster, because it knew what the film's classic images would be. I like, too, that it mirrors the split screen in the equal-measures sweet and horrifying central prom sequence.

CASUALTIES OF WAR (Brian De Palma, 89). Rolled, VG
Not a classic, either as a poster or as a film. Sean Penn's face here is ridiculous.

THE CELEBRATION (Thomas Vinterberg, 98). Rolled, VG
I usually don't like these faces-only posters, but somehow this one works (maybe because of its jagged quality). Or maybe it's because I love this movie beyond words.

CHANDLER (Paul Magwood, 71). Folded, VG
Warren Oates looks like a donkey here, and that's why I bought it.

THE CHANGELING (Peter Medak, 79). Folded, G
A terrific horror film, with a memorable tagline. I only wish the art was a little sharper, but it'll do.

CHILLY SCENES OF WINTER (Joan Micklin Silver, 81). Folded, VG
You can really feel United Artists, nearing Heaven's Gate bankruptcy, scrambling to get this poster out there. The inset photo of Charles and Laura together looks sloppily pasted on. In reality, the poster doesn't look as bad as it does here. But, as this is one of my top 20 movies of all time (and the first one I chose to review on this blog), I have to love, love, love it.

CISCO PIKE (Bill L. Norton, 72). Folded, VG
This is a prime example of great 70s graphic design. The colors, the layout, the type, the writing, and the movie itself (nearly) are all perfect.

CITIZEN'S BAND (A.K.A. HANDLE WITH CARE) (Jonathan Demme, 77). Folded, VG
All-type posters are extremely rare and extremely strange, and attractive, to me. This is one of the strangest out there, particularly since the movie has an incredible cast (Paul Le Mat, Candy Clark, Charles Napier, Ann Wedgeworth, Roberts Blossom, Bruce Magill, Marcia Rodd, and Harry Northup) and an equally terrific Altman-esque sweep. Another forgotten movie I wish more people would see. How ANYONE went to see it, with this poster, is a mystery.

THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN (Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 95). Rolled, VG
Absolutely gorgeous one-sheet for an absolutely stunning film. No complaints here.

CLAIRE'S KNEE (Eric Rohmer, 70). Folded, VG
A treasure. Not only is this my second favorite Rohmer (after The Green Ray/Summer), the one-sheet perfectly illustrates its subject's premise better than any other poster I can think of, at least at this moment.

THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR (Michael Chapman, 86). Folded, P
Perhaps the best poster ever for the worst movie ever. My copy has a tiny imperfection in it, but I love it just the same. When I look at it, no thoughts of the movie come into my head; it's just simply a fine work of art.

CLUELESS (Amy Heckerling, 95). Rolled, VG
I feel so wistful now, thinking of the relative innocence of this movie. Really, when it came out, I thought Alicia Silverstone was going to be a great movie star. Still, when I look at Heckerling's movie, I wonder why it never happened, cause Alicia is so vibrant in it. Seeing the plumper, cuter Brittany Murphy there makes me sad. I really liked her. RIP.

COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER (Michael Apted, 80). Rolled/folded, G
Perhaps the very best musical biopic ever produced, with Sissy Spacek transformed into Loretta Lynn right before our eyes. As much as I love Tommy Lee Jones in this film, I'm glad he's only slightly included here (even though it's almost as much his movie as it is hers).

THE COLLECTOR (William Wyler, 65). Folded, VG
Creepy poster, creepy film. I admire the simple tagline, and the inventive slicing of the main image.

THE COLOR PURPLE (Steven Spielberg, 85) Rolled, NM
Great poster art by John Alvin! Excellent condition. Wish I loved the movie more! 

COMA (Michael Crichton, 78). Folded, G
I bought this poster simply because I love that shot of Genvieve Bujold wandering amongst all those strung-up coma patients. I do have a deep affection for the film, too--it's Crichton's most suspenseful production. By the way, excellent logo!

CONRACK (Martin Ritt, 74). Folded, G
The young Jon Voight. I still can't understand his genetic connection to Angelina Jolie, beyond those lips. Superb movie, by the way, based on the teaching career of its Georgia-born author, Pat Conroy, as you can discover reading the type on the poster.

CONTACT (Robert Zemeckis, 97). Rolled, G
Not a poster I like--too plain--but I do cherish this brave film...at least, most of it (I dislike the visual treatment of the ending).

THE CONVERSATION (Francis Ford Coppola, 74). Folded, F
Excellent on all counts. I don't think I could ever give this poster up, even if it does have a small tear in it. 

COOKIE'S FORTUNE (Robert Altman, 99). Rolled, VG
Another late-career lamo one-sheet for Robert Altman. Still, it's Altman, and I have to have it. I do like that the late, lamented Patricia Neal is featured on here, though. That might be a first in her career.

COUNTDOWN (Robert Altman, 68). Folded, VG
Still one of the few Altman movies I haven't seen. The poster is extra two-tinted cool, though, and printed on non-glossy paper, which I always find to be a plus. And I love anything to do with astronauts...

CRASH (David Cronenberg, 96). Rolled, G
Again, red and black--always a winner. This very well may be the best Cronenberg poster out there (his one-sheets tend to be on the dull side). That bizarrely censored image of the nude Deborah Kara Unger is enough to take your mind off the less creative four-red-faces design at the top.

CRIES AND WHISPERS (Ingmar Bergman, 73). Folded, review sheet, VG
Unlike many poster collectors, I think review sheets are fun to have, because they can provide you with lots of reading as they're hanging on your wall. And who wouldn't want to read about a great movie like this?

CRY FREEDOM (Richard Attenbourough, 87). Folded, G
I don't care for this film, but somehow the poster's artwork keeps me hanging on.

CUJO (Lewis Teague, 83). Folded, G
Dull coloring for an intermittently effective horror semi-classic.

CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION (Woody Allen, 2001). Rolled, VG
Ugh. I have this only because I'm a Scorpio.

CUTTER AND BONE (A.K.A. CUTTER'S WAY) (Ivan Passer, 81). Folded, VG
This might be one of the rarest pieces in my collection, since it's for a movie that has a cult following under the title of Cutter's Way. This is a BETTER poster than the Cutter's Way version, which should tell you how much the then-beleaguered United Artists screwed up in promoting this wonderful modern noir title. See this film immediately, if you haven't already.

Film #66: The Conversation

Gene Hackman and Francis Ford Coppola were white-hot in 1974. Hackman had already delivered Jan Troell's underrated Zandy's Bride with Liv Ullmann, and Coppola was finishing up The Godfather Part II when they quietly eked out The Conversation, one of the most unexpected masterpieces of the 1970s, which landed Coppola the International Grand prize at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival. The film follows brooding surveillance expert Harry Caul (Hackman) as he obsesses over a recording he believes is of two people (Cindy Williams and Fredric Forrest) fretting over their affair and fearing violent repercussions from the woman's husband (Robert Duvall), who's the CEO of the imposing corporation who hired Caul to spy on the couple in the first place. His conscience starting to eat away at him, Caul makes attempts to withhold the surveillance results from Duvall and his plain-talking toady (Harrison Ford), but his moral stance backfires quite harshly on him.

With its bugging technology and crushing sense of paranoia, Coppola's original screenplay for The Conversation was quite timely in 1974, since Watergate fever was sweeping the populace (the script was written by FFC years earlier, however). This potent resemblance of life to art probably explains how the great film still managed a Best Picture nod while winning only two other nominations (for its screenplay and another for its sound). Hackman mysteriously escaped a nod for his about-to-blow portrayal of a man consumed with mistrust; it's one of the five best showings of his career (I love that see-thru raincoat he wears---it's yet another murky layer for us to peer through in this movie).

Also of special note is the fine editing and inventive sound design by post-production master Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now, The English Patient). The film might seem to creep along, but that's a result its possessing almost no musical score (what a relief) and a very spare plot--The Conversation is quite a bit more about its socially-withered lead character than it is about his latest case. In fact, the case is dropped as a focus about halfway through and picked up again twenty minutes after that. I think Coppola's film is all about a man who, by virtue of his stressful job, has a best friend (John Cazele) who isn't a confidant; a girlfriend (Teri Garr) who isn't a lover; and a rival (an excellent, irritating Allen Garfield) who isn't even an enemy. All the humanity in Harry Caul was long ago decimated by his snooping; he's now just a mere organic extension of his mechanical toys. (The fantastic final shot proves this, though it gives a strange sense of hope that Harry's gonna find another line of work to get into.)

This is a little-known fact, but The Conversation is based on the experiences of one of San Francisco's leading 1970s-era private eyes--the same P.I. who invented the-microphone-in-the-martini-olive. How do I know this? I live here in Brooklyn with one of his San Fran P.I. students, who told her he was interviewed by his close friend Coppola in connection with the movie!

I love The Conversation. It's a paranoia-steeped, post-Kennedy-assassination 1970s touchstone, just like Executive Action, The Parallax View and Targets, just to name a few in the subgenre. Finally, can I mention that The Conversation was advertised in 1974 newspapers with one of my favorite ad photos:And to think....you couldn't even show a toilet in a MOVIE until Psycho came along!!!! Fifteen years later, they'd be in the newpaper ads. Ahhh, sweet progress.