Gary Wells

Cinema 74

The start of any new year can be challenging. Depression is common in January; first off is the knowledge that the holidays are over and also we seem to be living in darkness. All many of us may see ahead is two solid months of no sun and no warmth and just another cold, cold winter. This may not bother you skiers but I think you catch my (snow) drift. Life is hard; movies are better.

Maybe you retro types will understand this. Living in the past has many benefits and I recall the time when one of the biggest ones dawned on me in a new and crystalline way. I was watching one of my favourite shows from the 1970s, Emergency!, and I was seeing the lawns and living rooms of my childhood. As usual, I longed to go back there but this time I asked myself why. I realized it was because of safety. Back to the “life is hard” idea; living in the present in 2024, you never know what lays ahead and that can be – though it really shouldn’t be – scary. We can’t know the future. But going back to the 50s, 60s or 70s – attempting to even live your life there – you do know the future. You know that after the Sixties came the Seventies and you know what they were like. Even if some bad things were on the horizon then – and they surely were – you know when they are due to arrive. By living in the past, you can know the future and there is a comfort in that.

Wow, I didn’t really mean to go there. All I wanna talk about today is the rolling out of my Cinema 74 Film Festival (i.e.; living in the past). Every year, I make a list of 50-year-old movies I’d like to watch for the first time throughout the year and I try to make the list going strictly on film title and stars and directors and I have found it highly rewarding. I have reported on the success of last year’s Cinema 73 fest and the fact that many of my favourite viewings of 2023 came from 1973. I hope for the same success this year and again this time the list is long.

I’m so ready for this – the remake, too
Directed by Saul Bass!

The “disaster” film was in full vigour in ’74 and the highest-grossing movie of the year was The Towering Inferno. Coming in at Number Four was the excellent Earthquake and the seventh highest-grossing movie of 1974 was Airport 1975. These are fun if notoriously bad or overwrought films that are always studded with stars. Mel Brooks scored two major hits with films that are revered today. Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein were Number 2 and 3 on the highest-grossing list. Another list you can add these two films to is my list of Classic Films I’ve Never Seen and Have Zero Desire To. The Trial of Billy Jack was a freak smash – watch for an article on Tom Laughlin and his bonkers films in these pages this year. The greatest sequel of all-time, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part II, Burt’s The Longest Yard, the original 70s vigilante film, Death Wish and The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams round out the list. How about this last one? Little, wee Sunn Classic Pictures scored this family adventure hit that lead to a popular TV series. The movie was so popular in ’74 that it is on this list with Coppola’s Godfather film.

I’m ready to finally see some Sonny Chiba
Never even heard of Madhouse – can’t wait for Halloween

Golden Globes went to Chinatown – and to its director, Roman Polanski and its star, Jack Nicholson – to The Longest Yard and to Fred Astaire for The Towering Inferno. Imagine if Fred had won the Oscar? It went to De Niro for Godfather Part II. Francis also won the Academy Award for Best Picture and for directing his gangster epic; which is as it should be. It was also a banner year for Art Carney. Always seemingly in the shadow of Jackie Gleason during the run of The Honeymooners, Art added this year’s Oscar for Harry and Tonto to his many Emmy Awards; Gleason went award-less throughout his career. Robert Towne won for the script for Chinatown, called one of the greatest ever, and Best Song went to “We May Never Love Like This Again” by Maureen McGovern from The Towering Inferno.

Here’s some highlights from my list of films I want to discover this year. Part of the adventure is finding these movies to watch. Netflix? Not likely. Sometimes I find them on YouTube or Tubi, some I have found and now own on VHS or DVD and have waited for this year to watch them. For most others I will utilize my favoured pirate site. Come on – you have one, too. Longest list yet – at 39 movies, it’s one up from last year. Watch for reports and #Cinema74 to track my progress.

  • Black Christmas – finally an excuse to watch a Christmas horror film
  • Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia – Warren Oates
  • The Conversation – I’m overdue to see this from Coppola
  • Daisy Miller – Bogdanovich and Cybill Shepherd
  • Dark Star – thanks Video Archives Podcast
  • Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry – road crime film with Peter Fonda and pretty Susan George
  • The Gambler – the last Jimmy Caan film I think I should see
  • Gold – Roger Moore not being Bond
  • The Longest Yard – I must see all the Burts; even this film’s remake
  • The Lords of Flatbush – actually embarrassed I haven’t seen this
  • Phantom of the Paradise – Brian De Palma’s rock musical
  • The Sugarland Express – Spielberg’s theatrical debut
  • The Swinging Cheerdleaders – because drive-in movies
  • Three Tough Guys – stupid to have not seen this “other” Isaac Hayes film

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