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The Seventies

Divided into twodistinct periods as

far as film historygoes

Saturday Night Fever, 1977

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The Seventies

The Vietnam-Watergate years

1970-1977

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The Seventies

And after Star Wars

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The Seventies

Vietnam continues

Invasion of Cambodia byNixon sparked more

numerous and more violentprotests on collegecampuses

Finally exited the mostunpopular war in history in

history in 1975

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The Seventies

Social gains eroded byeconomic recession

Foreign competition led to

first ever trade deficit OPEC oil embargo in 1973 -

lowered production & raisedprices - to $3.65 a barrel!(now its $78)

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The Seventies

The Civil Rightsmovement becamemore radicalized

Rise of African-American cinema

Positive images likeSounder

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The Seventies

Blaxploitation Employed a large

number of African

Americans in front of andbehind the camera

Attacked by NAACP fornegative images

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The Seventies

Paranoia anddisillusionment were

prominent ascinematic themes

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The Seventies

Watergate - Break-in atDemocratic NationalCommittee in the WatergateHotel -1972

Spiro Agnew, Vice president,resigns in 1973 because ofbribery charges

Resignation of RichardNixon in 1974

Gerald Ford becomes theonly president who wasnever elected

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The Seventies

Watergate Casualties andConvictions one presidential resignation

one vice-presidential resignation 40 government officials indicted

or jailed

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The Seventies

While the country was fallingapart, the American cinemaunderwent a renaissance

Film attendance began torise

Younger executives atstudios were more receptiveto new talent and ideas

Young directors to relate to

the youth market

Francis Ford Coppola,Steven Spielberg, GeorgeLucas, Roman Polanski &Martin Scorsese

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The Seventies

Even though production costsincreased 200% between 1968 and1976, studios were making money

Capital put into 6-8 large productionswith broad appeal

Offbeat/risky films were financedindependently and distributedthrough studios so they werentrisking too much money

Tax shelters allowed financiers towrite off failures easily

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The Seventies

Tight plots of Classicalcinema deemed oldfashioned & mass-

market Grand Hotel formula

Ensemble casts with lotsof characters (40 inNashville)

Loose episodic structures No clear resolution

Nashville, 1975

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The Seventies

Genre & Revisionism

Reverses or undercut

the classical idea

Cabaret, 1972

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The Seventies

Heroes were nolonger heroic

Chinatown, 1974

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The Seventies

Loosening of productioncode led to the most explicitsex ever put on screen

Porn was suddenly verypopular

Not a great period for lovestories - sex often fused withviolence

Only top ten female star of

the period was BarbraStreisand

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The Seventies

While movies became moremasculine, the Feministmovement was on the rise

Women, when they did get astarring, sympathetic part, wereoften helpless and dependant

While female stars became lessbankable, women lost power inHollywood

Were not welcomed intodirecting

A Woman Under

the Influence, 1974

Alice Doesnt Live

Here Anymore, 1974

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The Seventies

Joan Micklin Silvers HesterStreet, 1975

Elaine Mays The

Heartbreak Kid, 1972

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The Seventies

The rise of the BuddyFilm

Men only needed othermen

Midnight Cowboy&Butch Cassidy & TheSundance Kid, 1969

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The Seventies

Movies became muchmore technical andstylish

Scorsese, Lucas,Spielberg along withestablished directors likePeckinpah, Kubrick &Fosse

Jaws, 1975A Clockwork Orange, 1971

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The Seventies

Directors still comingfrom television Robert Altman

And from Europe John Schlesinger

Ridley Scott

John Boorman

Roman Polanski

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The Seventies

Acting

Peter Fonda

Warren Beatty Elaine May

Paul Newman

John Cassavetes

Mel Brooks Woody Allen

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The Seventies

and film school Francis Ford Coppola

George Lucas

Brian DePalma and Martin Scorsese

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The Seventies

The Landlord, 1970

Dir. By Hal Ashby With Beau Bridges, Lee

Grant, Diana Sands,Louis Gossett Jr., PearlBailey

Shot by GordonWillis(The Godfather

films, Annie Hall)

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The Seventies

Anti-establishmentvalues

Not optimistic

Deals with Race relations

Gentrification

Class

Youth vs Age

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The Seventies

Hal Ashby(1928-1988) Grew up Mormon

Began as an editor (Best

Editing Oscar in 1967 for Inthe Heat of the Night)

Edited for Norman Jewisonwho recommended him todirect The Landlord, his first

film His films are hard to classify

Use of music, biting humor &unusual camera placement

http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/04/ashby.htmlhttp://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/04/ashby.html

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The Seventies

After a string of offbeat hits,his career and personal lifewent into decline after theJaws/Star Warsyears noone wanted quirky,thoughtful films

Always difficult to work with,he made a string ofquestionable films afterBeing Therebefore he diedof cancer at 59

Cited by Judd Apatow &Wes Anderson as a majorinfluence

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The Seventies Beau Bridges (1941-)

Son of Lloyd, brother of Jeff

Numerous film & televisionfrom Norma Raeto My Nameis Earl

Lee Grant, (1927-) Acting since childhood, first

Oscar nomination in 1952

Blacklisted in the 1950s

Nominated for The Landlord,she won for another Ashbyfilm, Shampoo1976

Now a director (DirectorsGuild Award for NobodysChild& Oscar for Down & Out

in America)

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The Seventies

Louis Gossett Jr., (1936-) Career spans 50 years

Oscar for An Officer & A

Gentlemanalthough youmay know him from StargateSG-1

Diana Sands, (1934 -1973) Influential in breaking down

race barriers on stage

Most famous for the originalproduction & film of A Raisinin the Sun

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The Seventies Pearl Bailey, 1918-1990

Dancer & singer in Vaudevillealthough never formally trained

Numerous film & stage roles,

most famously, the all-AfricanAmerican version of HelloDolly

Graduated from GeorgetownUniversity at age 67

A Republican, she

campaigned for both the Nixonand Ford as well as attendingUN sessions as Fords specialambassador

A Met fan, she also sand thenational anthem in the 69World Series