American Cinema of the 1970S SCREEN AMERICAN CULTURE / AMERICAN CINEMA DECADES
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American Cinema of the 1970s SCREEN AMERICAN CULTURE / AMERICAN CINEMA DECADES Each volume in the Screen Decades: American Culture/American Cinema series is an anthology of original essays exploring the impact of cultural issues on film and the impact of film on American society. Because every chapter presents a discussion of particularly significant motion pictures and the broad range of historical events in one year, readers will gain a systematic and progressive sense of the decade as it came to be depicted on movie screens across North America. We know that our series represents just one approach to the growth of the American cinema: to organ- ize by decades establishes somewhat artificial borders and boundaries, and each author’s thematic choices are but one way to understand the culture of a particular year. Despite such limitations, this structure contextualizes the sprawling progres- sion of American cinema, especially as it relates to historical and cultural events. We hope that these books, aimed at scholars and general readers, students and teachers, will shed valuable new light on, and will provide a better understanding of, Ameri- can culture and film history during the twentieth century. LESTER D. FRIEDMAN AND MURRAY POMERANCE SERIES EDITORS Ina Rae Hark, editor, American Cinema of the 1930s: Themes and Variations Wheeler Winston Dixon, editor, American Cinema of the 1940s: Themes and Variations Murray Pomerance, editor, American Cinema of the 1950s: Themes and Variations Lester D. Friedman, editor, American Cinema of the 1970s: Themes and Variations Stephen Prince, editor, American Cinema of the 1980s: Themes and Variations American Cinema of the 1970s Themes and Variations EDITED BY LESTER D. FRIEDMAN RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA American cinema of the 1970s : themes and variations / edited by Lester D. Friedman. p. cm. — (Screen decades) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN–13: 978–0–8135–4022–1 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN–13: 978–0–8135–4023–8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Motion pictures—United States—History. 2. Motion pictures—United States—Plots, themes, etc. I. Friedman, Lester D. II. Series. PN1993.5.U6A8577 2007 791.430973’09047—dc22 2006021859 This collection copyright © 2007 by Rutgers, The State University Individual chapters copyright © 2007 in the names of their authors All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permis- sion from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 100 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854–8099. The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined by U.S. copyright law. Manufactured in the United States of America For Marc, Jessica, Ethan, and Gabriel Unto the succeeding generations CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Timeline:The 1970s xi Introduction: Movies and the 1970s 1 LESTER D. FRIEDMAN 1970 Movies and the Movement 24 MIMI WHITE 1971 Movies and the Exploitation of Excess 48 MIA MASK 1972 Movies and Confession 71 MICHAEL DeANGELIS 1973 Movies and the Legacies of War and Corruption 95 FRANCES GATEWARD 1974 Movies and Political Trauma 116 DAVID COOK 1975 Movies and Conflicting Ideologies 135 GLENN MAN 1976 Movies and Cultural Contradictions 157 FRANK P.TOMASULO 1977 Movies and a Nation in Transformation 182 PAULA J. MASSOOD 1978 Movies and Changing Times 205 CHARLES J. MALAND 1979 Movies and the End of an Era 228 PETER LEV Select Academy Awards, 1970 –1979 251 Works Cited and Consulted 257 Contributors 267 Index 271 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The book you hold in your hands was an intensely collabo- rative endeavor crafted over a span of years. To the contributors who toiled over their essays with diligence, good humor, and patience, I owe a debt of gratitude for their professional expertise, thoughtful writing, and personal generosity. It is a daunting task to attempt to capture the spirit of a decade as expressed in its culture, politics, and visual art, but all the contributors brought an amazing array of energy, enthusiasm, and engagement to this process that made working with them a pleasure. It was truly wonderful to have them as partners on this sometimes bumpy, often illuminating, always fascinating trip through ten tumultuous years of American history. This book started its life in Chicago and came into the world while I was in Geneva (New York). During this gestation period, I benefited from the able assistance and backing of many colleagues at both Northwestern Uni- versity and Hobart and William Smith Colleges, particularly Ellen Levee (Program Administrator), Teresa Amott (Provost), and Linda Robertson (Program in Media and Society). As always, I was fortunate to have the support of my friends and family, most importantly Eugene and Eva Fried- man, Rachel and Marc and Jessica Friedman, Delia and Sandy Temes, Anthony and Lee Bucci, and Allison Kavey. My co-editor in this series, Murray Pomerance, was a perpetual source of amazement, guidance, energy, and intelligence. To my wife, Rae-Ellen Kavey, I owe a constant debt for her guidance, patience, encouragement, and love. The professionals at Rutgers University Press made the often tedious tasks of bringing a manuscript to the light of day a labor of joy. My thanks to Marilyn Campbell, Adi Hovav, and Eric Schramm. Leslie Mitchner, in particular, was a valued partner, an astute editor, and a good friend. For all of us who came of age in the seventies and fell in love with its cinema of anti-heroes and art films, of budding auteurs and passionate crit- ics, of exuberant style and gritty substance, I hope this book will rekindle the excitement of those heady days when movies challenged, excited, and inspired us. For those not yet born during the seventies, I hope this book encourages you to study the era and to seek out the movies of a decade overflowing with promise, excitement, sadness, and elation. ix TIMELINE The 1970s ■■■■■■■■■■ 1970 7 JANUARY Egypt, Libya, Algeria, and Iraq sign agreement prefiguring OPEC. 10 APRIL Paul McCartney leaves the Beatles. 22 APRIL Celebration of the first Earth Day. 4MAY Four students are killed by National Guardsmen at Kent State University. 15 MAY Two students are killed by police at Jackson State University. 3 NOVEMBER President Richard Nixon coins the term “silent majority.” ■■■■■■■■■■ 1971 12 JANUARY “All in the Family” debuts on CBS. 29 MARCH Lt. William Calley is found guilty of murdering twenty-two civilians at My Lai, Vietnam. 20 APRIL The U.S. Supreme Court in Swann v. Charlotte Mecklenburg Board of Education establishes that the preservation of neighborhood schools no longer justifies racial imbalance. 13 JUNE The Pentagon Papers are published by the New York Times. 25 JULY The Twenty-sixth Amendment is ratified, lowering the voting age to eighteen. 9 SEPTEMBER A prison riot at Attica State Correctional facility in New York results in forty-two deaths. 20 DECEMBER The feminist magazine Ms. premieres. ■■■■■■■■■■ 1972 1 JANUARY All cigarette advertising is banned from television. 7 FEBRUARY President Richard Nixon visits China. 15 MARCH Alabama governor George Wallace is shot while campaigning in Maryland’s presidential primary. 17 JUNE Five men are arrested at the Watergate Office Building for breaking into Democratic National Committee headquarters. 5 SEPTEMBER At the Summer Olympics in Munich, eleven Israeli athletes and coaches are killed by terrorists. xi xii TIMELINE — THE 1970s 7 NOVEMBER Richard Nixon is reelected to a second term in a landslide victory over the Democratic challenger, Senator George McGovern. ■■■■■■■■■■ 1973 22 JANUARY The U.S. Supreme Court legalizes abortion in Roe v. Wade. 27 JANUARY The United States, South Vietnam, and North Vietnam sign the Paris Peace Accords, ending America’s combat role in Vietnam. 27 FEBRUARY Native Americans occupy Wounded Knee in South Dakota. 29 MARCH The last U.S. combat troops leave Vietnam. 6 OCTOBER Egypt and Syria attack Israel in the Yom Kippur War. 10 OCTOBER Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns following his plea of “no contest” against charges of tax evasion. ■■■■■■■■■■ 1974 4 FEBRUARY Heiress Patricia Hearst is kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army. 8 APRIL Hank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth’s record with his 715th home run. 27 JULY The House Judiciary Committee votes to approve articles of impeachment against President Nixon. 9 AUGUST Nixon resigns; Vice President Gerald Ford takes the oath of office. 8 SEPTEMBER President Ford grants former President Nixon a pardon for any crimes “he committed or may have committed” as president. ■■■■■■■■■■ 1975 18 JANUARY “The Jeffersons” debuts on CBS. 16 APRIL The videocassette recorder is invented. 30 APRIL Saigon falls. The U.S. Navy evacuates U.S. personnel and South Vietnamese refugees. South Vietnam surrenders to North Vietnam, reunifying the country under Communist control. 31 JULY Former Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa is reported missing. He is never found. 5 SEPTEMBER Jaws becomes the top-grossing film of all time. 11 OCTOBER “Saturday Night Live” premieres on NBC. 20 NOVEMBER President Francisco Franco dies in Spain. TIMELINE — THE 1970s xiii ■■■■■■■■■■ 1976 31 MARCH The New Jersey Supreme Court grants the parents of Karen Ann Quinlan the right to end life support during her continued vegetative state. 1 APRIL Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak design the Apple personal computer. 4 JULY Celebration of the American Bicentennial. 9 SEPTEMBER Chairman Mao Tse-tung of China dies. 2 NOVEMBER Jimmy Carter is elected president over Gerald Ford. ■■■■■■■■■■ 1977 23–30 JANUARY ABC broadcasts the miniseries “Roots” (based on Alex Haley’s book). 25 MAY Star Wars opens. 13 JULY New York City power blackout. 12 AUGUST NASA flies the first space shuttle. 16 AUGUST Elvis Presley dies. 19 NOVEMBER Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader officially to visit Israel.