The cinematic renaissance that began in the 1960s with theAmerican New Wavecontinued into the 1970s, as a new generation of young maverick filmmakers upended the Hollywood studio system and brought a new era of creativity to the big screen. Movies began moving away from grand spectacles and romanticized epics, and films were now defined by the grittiness, realism, and cynicism that reflected the political and social unrest the 1960s introduced. And legendary movie criticsGene SiskelandRoger Ebertwere there to cover it all.
Siskel began covering film for The Chicago Tribune in 1969, and Roger Ebert joined The Chicago Sun Times as a movie critic in 1975, so they both covered the release of some iconic films during the 1970s. In fact, Siskel holds the decade in such high regard, he called the 1970s the last golden era of movie making, criticizing modern film as defined by studio marketing departments, and not auteurs.
In a 1979 episode of theirPBS seriesSneak Previews, Siskel and Ebert each named their top ten films of the 1970s. They did not rank them, so we did, from ten to one for each critic.
Gene Siskel’s Top 10 Movies of the 1970s
10. Saturday Night Fever (1977)
John Badham’s disco blockbusterSaturday Night Fevermay seem like an odd choice for a “Best of the 1970s” list, but the film was Gene Siskel’s favorite movie, and he went so far as to buy John Travolta’s famous white suit in 1978 for $2,000, andsold it at auction 17 years laterfor $145,000. The film now stands as a snapshot of American pop culture during its brief obsession with the disco dance craze.
The film, admittedly, isn’t quite in the same league as other films on the list, but Siskel loved the mix of the gritty life in Brooklyn and the clubs that offered an escape. “They captured a world we’ve never seen before,” Siskel said of the film in a 1977 episode ofSneak Previews. “It’s a very real kind of picture, and I like it just for that.”
9. The Emigrants (1972) and The New Land (1973)
Director Jan Troell’s two-part epic follows a Swedish family as they leave their failing farm for a better life in America.The Emigrantsfeatures fantasticperformances from Max von Sydowand Liv Ullmann as a husband and wife who are barely surviving on their rocky Swedish farm, and board a boat for a dangerous trip to America.
In a rare occurrence, the film earned a 1972 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination, but after a wide release in America the following year, the film earned four more nominations in 1973, for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress (Ullmann). That same year, the sequelThe New Land,which followed the family’s attempt to build a home in Minnesota, earned a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination.
Related:Greatest ’80s Movies According to Siskel and Ebert, Ranked
8. Last Tango in Paris (1972)
Director Bernardo Bertolucci’sLast Tango in Parisremains a strikingly provocative romantic drama, more than 50 years after its release. Marlon Brando plays a widower who begins a “no-strings-attached” relationship with a Frenchwoman (Maria Schneider), only to discover their attempts to keep things purely sexual has only caused them to yearn for something more substantial.
Released a year after his triumph inThe Godfather, Brando picked up the seventh of his eight Best Actor Oscar nominations, although he didn’t win, likely due to his infamous protest at the previous award ceremony.Bertolucci earned a Best Director nominationbut didn’t win either, although he would finally win one forThe Last Emperor.
7. Le Boucher (1970)
InLe Boucher (The Butcher), Claude Chabrol directs his wife Stéphane Audran, who plays a schoolteacher who befriends a butcher (Jean Yanne) in a small French village. When people start dropping dead in a series of grisly murders, the teacher begins to suspect her new friend is behind it. The film is a slow burn, but the tension builds deliberately as love, murder, and betrayal all intersect.
6. The Last Detail (1973)
The Last Detailis a hilarious story about two Navy petty officers (Jack Nicholson and Otis Young) escorting a prisoner (Randy Quaid) to serve out an eight-year sentence for stealing $40 from an admiral’s wife.
Director Hal Ashby (Being There) and screenwriter Robert Towne adapted Darryl Ponicsan’s novel into a dramedy so profane, Columbia actually considered shelving the picture from wide release, until Nicholson won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival. Nicholson, Quaid, and Towne earned Oscar nominations. Siskel said years later the film features arguablyJack Nicholson’s best performance, “which is saying a lot,” he admitted.
5. The Sorrow and the Pity (1972)
The landmark documentaryThe Sorrow and the Pitywas first released in West Germany in late 1969, but finally saw a U.S. release in 1972, earning rave reviews and a Best Documentary Oscar nomination. Considered by Siskel as one of the greatest films ever made, the film is exquisitely directed by Marcel Ophüls (an Oscar winner for the documentaryHotel Terminus), who interviewed former Nazi officers and French citizens about their experiences.
While there are some heroic stories of resistance, in one chilling scene after another, a number of Frenchmen recount how they collaborated with the Nazis and turned Jews in, in an effort to save themselves from the wrath of German soldiers. It’s one ofthe most powerful Holocause documentaries ever made.
4. Annie Hall (1977)
Woody Allen’s personal scandals have cast a pall over many of his films, butAnnie Hallshould be appreciated for the effervescent performance by Diane Keaton, who won an Oscar for her iconic role. Siskel called it the decade’s funniest film, in which Woody Allen explores “New Yorkers who he (Allen) thinks think too much, and […] Southern Californians who he thinks don’t think enough.” He praised the film as “sweet, painful, and always very funny.“Woody Allen won the Best Director Oscar, and the film was named Best Picture.
3. Mean Streets (1973)
Martin Scorsese’s breakthrough film,Mean Streets, featured Harvey Keitel as a hoodlum trying to make a life in New York City’s Little Italy. His love life is on the rocks, and his trouble-making best friend (Robert De Niro, in his first film with Scorsese) is putting their lives at risk with the mob. In discussing the film, Siskel credited Warner Bros. (the studio who financed the film) for taking a chance with an unproven director and a downer script, a risk which paid off for all of us.
2. The Conversation (1974)
Francis Ford Coppola’sThe Conversationis a slow-burn paranoia thriller featuring Gene Hackman as a surveillance specialist who uncovers a conspiracy after he is hired to record a meeting between a couple. He breaks his own rule about getting personally involved with cases he works on, sending him into a personal spiral that threatens his life.
Even better than the conspiracy at the heart of the story is Coppola’s focus on Hackman’s Harry, an odd man who is unable to have a meaningful relationship because he doesn’t trust anyone. Siskel considersHackman’s performance the finest of his career, and after the final scene, it’s hard to argue against that.
1. The Godfather Parts I & II (1972 and 1974)
Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece adaptationsof Mario Puzo’s best-selling novel were not just the best films of the decade, they are arguably the finest films ever made. While 1972’sThe Godfatherwon three major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Actor for Marlon Brando, and Best Adapted Screenplay), it lost in five other categories, with Oscar voters often preferringCabaret, including Bob Fosse swiping the Best Director award from Coppola.
The Godfather Part IIfared better with Academy voters, winning six Oscars, including Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro). It also became the first sequel to win Best Picture, but incredibly, Al Pacino was again denied an Oscar for his role as Michael. Despite the star power in both films, Pacino’s Michael is the emotional core of this saga, and his descent into darkness is perfectly captured in the final scene. Siskel called it “as beautiful, as harrowing, and as exciting as the original.”
