Tag Archives: 1971 Films

#11 Favorite Film, #7 Most Disturbing Film, 1971 Films, Adrienne Corri, Favorite Film of the Year, John Clive, Malcolm McDowell, Michael Bates, Miriam Karlin, Patrick Magee, Philip Stone, Science Fiction, Stanley Kubrick, Top 10 Most Disturbing Films, Top 100 Films, Top 25 Films, Top 250 Films, Top 50 Films

A Clockwork Orange-1971

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A Clockwork Orange-1971

Director Stanley Kubrick

Starring Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee

Top 250 Films #11

Top 10 Most Disturbing Films #7

Scott’s Review #295

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Reviewed December 11, 2015

Grade: A

A Clockwork Orange (1971) is a groundbreaking Stanley Kubrick film, and my personal favorite in his collection, with his movies appearing on my Top 100 Favorite Films list.

Adapted from the 1962 Anthony Burgess novel, once thought unfilmable, it becomes a psychedelic, creative, and fascinating experience from start to finish.

Bizarre and thought-provoking, Kubrick tells the story of a London sociopath living in futuristic London, and the strange behavioral modifications performed on him after he is apprehended by the police, in an attempt to “reform” him and transition him into a valuable member of society.

The film explores profound social and psychological themes, posing thought-provoking questions about these weighty topics.

Interspersed with classical music and featuring excellent, colorful sets, A Clockwork Orange is a masterpiece in bizarre cinematic artistry.

Alex DeLarge loves classical music (specifically Beethoven), violence, and hanging out with friends. He constantly skips school, beats people up, and parties with his friends. His pet snake is his best friend, and his parents seem afraid of him.

Finally arrested after murdering an odd lady with dozens of cats, Alex is sent away to prison, where he volunteers for an experimental “Ludovico” technique, which Alex assumes is a “get out of jail free” card.

What follows is a freakish, uncomfortable experience for Alex.

The film contains startling and disturbing scenes throughout- when Alex and his team of “droogs” become inebriated from a concoction of milk laced with drugs and embark on an evening of self-proclaimed ultra-violence, they drive to the country where they break into wealthy author F. Alexander’s house and beat him, crippling him for life.

They rape his wife while forcing him to watch, all the while Alex happily sings “Singin’ in the Rain,” timing the beats of the song to acts of violence.

The brutality and creativity of this scene are mesmerizing and certainly unforgettable.

We, the audience, might despise a character like Alex; however, we feel sympathy for him as his “reformation” begins. A disturbing scene, which is forever embedded in my mind, involves the attachment of a contraption forcing Alex’s eyelids wide open.

At the same time, he watches violent scenes and is administered a drug to make him sick, thereby associating the violence with illness.

He becomes psychologically screwed up.

Alex (thanks to an excellent portrayal by Malcolm McDowell) is charismatic and humorous and, in some warped way, quite likable to the audience, despite his devious ways.

A Clockwork Orange continues to disturb me after multiple viewings – who can forget the sinister grin that Alex wears and the creepy eyelash with mascara that he sports?

The film sends an interesting message about human nature as Alex turns from predator to the hunted. We ask: “Are human beings naturally prone to violence?”

The direction of the film is breathtaking – the weird colors, the (as traditional with Stanley Kubrick) long-shot camera angles, and the intense musical crescendos.

The genre of classical music is a fantastic and ominous choice, almost adding a level of sophistication to Alex and the violence.

The weird supporting characters (Alex’s parents, the probation officer, and his parents’ roommate) and the suddenly fast-forwarded sex scenes were unheard of for their time.

Immensely creative and unconventional filmmaking, with a moral message and thought-provoking questions about humanity, A Clockwork Orange (1971) is a groundbreaking, fantastic, trippy experience.

A masterpiece from top to bottom.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director-Stanley Kubrick, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Best Film Editing

#29 Favorite Film, 1971 Films, Leonard Frey, Michele Marsh, Molly Picon, Musical, Neva Small, Norma Crane, Norman Jewison, Paul Mann, Paul Michael Glaser, Rosalind Harris, Top 100 Films, Top 250 Films, Top 50 Films, Topol

Fiddler on the Roof-1971

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Fiddler on the Roof-1971

Director Norman Jewison

Starring Topol, Norma Crane, Rosalind Harris

Top 250 Films #29

Scott’s Review #123

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Reviewed July 21, 2014

Grade: A

Fiddler on the Roof is a fantastic musical from 1971 based on the popular stage version. It tells the story of a Russian Jewish family living in tumultuous times, both before and during the Russian Revolution.

The film has everything and is very well made, truly doing justice to the stage version. It contains dancing, drinking, festive parties, love, and sing-alongs. It also includes politics, hardships, and tragedy.

Led by the patriarch of the family, Teyve, played fantastically by Topol, he explains (often narrating directly to the audience, which is a goldmine in style) life in his Russian village with five daughters and no sons and an overbearing wife. They are a low-income family and struggle to make ends meet.

They navigate life through song and dance, dealing with romance, focusing primarily on the three oldest girls, and the political upheaval surrounding their country.

It is tough for a film version of a famous musical to be top-notch and even compare to the stage version, but the film is excellent- “Tradition”, “Matchmaker”, and “If I Were a Rich Man” immediately stick in the viewer’s head.

The film has a rich, earthy feel, with a predominance of brown and grey colors. Russian history is explored, lending it complexity and an educational quality, rather than merely providing a simple, feel-good experience. To put it simply, the story is layered and not one-note.

Politics, progressive thinking versus conservatism, and the generation gap are explored, and the characters learn and adapt to a changing world, especially the parents.

One interesting aspect is the progressive onset of the Russian Revolution as it approached.

Fiddler on the Roof is quite lengthy (179 minutes), but it does not seem that long. This film (and play) is a marvel.

Oscar Nominations: 3 wins-Best Picture, Best Director-Norman Jewison, Best Actor-Chaim Topol, Best Supporting Actor-Leonard Frey, Best Scoring: Adaptation and Original Song Score (won), Best Sound (won), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography (won)

#35 Favorite Film, 1971 Films, Children, Denise Nickerson, Diana Sowle, Fantasy, Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Julie Dawn Cole, Leonard Stone, Mel Stuart, Musical, Nora Denney, Peter Ostrum, Roald Dahl, Roy Kinnear, Top 100 Films, Top 250 Films, Top 50 Films

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory-1971

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Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory-1971

Director Mel Stuart

Starring Gene Wilder, Peter Ostrum, Jack Albertson

Top 250 Films #35

Scott’s Review #206

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Reviewed December 18, 2014

Grade: A

More than just a children’s movie, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) is a terrific, imaginative, fantasy film that is timeless and meant for all ages to enjoy.

The mastery and creativity of the sets and art direction are astounding, and the story is sweet, whimsical, and captivating. Often, with children’s movies, we are treated to stories that are either dumb or contrived, which will entertain five-year-olds but bore or cringe adults.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is none of the above. It is intelligent, filled with magic, and has a heart.

Charlie Bucket (Paul Ostrum) is a poor child whose mother earns a living by washing clothes. Along with his four bedridden grandparents, they live a meager existence in a small cottage somewhere in Europe.

Particularly close with his Grandpa Joe, the two of them become obsessed with a contest held by mysterious Willy Wonka, the owner of an enormous chocolate factory nearby.

The contest consists of five Golden tickets being hidden in Wonka bars. The five lucky winners will receive a lifetime supply of candy and a tour inside the long-since-closed chocolate factory.

After a series of circumstances, Charlie obtains one of the tickets, and the adventure begins.

The build-up to the trip into WiWonka’s factory is gripping- mainly because the viewer knows that a magical treat is in store and is filled with curiosity- what will the chocolate factory look like? What is Mr. Wonka like?

The four other winners- Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, and Mike Teevee are all unique and creatively written characters- all spoiled brats in their way, so Charlie is the “normal” child and has an actual rooting value to him.

As the five children, along with a designated parent- or in Charlie’s case, Grandparent- begin their journey throughout the chocolate factory, the audience is treated to a psychedelic experience with fantastic sets- a river made of chocolate, an entirely edible garden, lickable wallpaper, a bubble room, and a frightening riverboat.

The film is bright and colorful within the factory walls, which perfectly contrasts Charlie’s dreary existence in the outside world.

As the four bratty children meet their fates in joyfully imaginative ways- gum-chewer Violet blows up like a blueberry after chewing experimental Wonka gum that she is warned not to, Veruca is deemed rotten after throwing a fit and topples down a garbage chute.

The film is breathtaking and imaginative, filled with wonderment.

Gene Wilder plays Wonka as over-the-top, and it works tremendously.

All the child actors play their roles competently, and each character is distinguished from the others.

I love the scary riverboat tunnel scene as it is frightening, psychedelic, and magnificent. I also love the contrast between the enchanting, colorful second half and the bleakness of the first. The sets are among my favorites for their lavishness.

Specifically, the relationship between Charlie and Grandpa Joe is excellent. Grandpa Joe is a father figure to Charlie, but so is Willy Wonka in a completely different way.

The children’s greed is also interesting, and one hurrah as each one gets their comeuppance.

The songs from the film are remarkable and quite cutting edge- each time one of the lucky five golden ticket winners meets their doom, the Oompa Loompas sing a tune that visually has weird shapes and colors-psychedelic and very hippy, of the late 1960s-early 1970s era.

Other numbers such as “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket”, “Cheer up Charlie”, and “The Candy Man” are memorable.

A film for the ages, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) is a celebration of creative filmmaking, quite cerebral at times, and far superior to most children’s fantasy/musical films.

Skip the 2005 remake starring Johnny Depp and enjoy the original.

Oscar Nominations: Best Scoring: Adaptation and Original Song Score

#42 Favorite Film, 1971 Films, Action, Andrew Robinson, Clint Eastwood, Crime Drama, Don Siegel, Harry Guardino, John Vernon, Reni Santoni, Terrence Malick, Top 100 Films, Top 250 Films, Top 50 Films

Dirty Harry-1971

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Dirty Harry-1971

Director Don Siegel

Starring Clint Eastwood, Andrew Robinson, Reni Santoni

Top 250 Films #42

Scott’s Review #443

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Reviewed July 4, 2016

Grade: A

Dirty Harry (1971) is a classic crime drama that became a signature role for Clint Eastwood as the title character, a role he has played four more times.

Dirty Harry set the tone for the plethora of crime thrillers and police action films that filled theaters throughout the 1970s and 1980s. This film still holds up very well and is a masterpiece of the cat-and-mouse/detective genre.

Quiet and controlled, but filled with anger below the surface (we learn a drunk driver killed his wife), Harry Callahan is a tough cop in San Francisco who has seen it all. He is a red-blooded American good guy, though he is brooding and has a mind of his own, oftentimes disagreeing with his superiors and their rules.

He epitomizes good versus evil.

A vicious killer named Scorpio (based on the real-life Zodiac killer) is on the loose, having killed two people already. His motives are unclear, but that is relatively unimportant. What is important is that he threatens to kill one person per day unless his demands of $100,000 are met.

Harry is immediately assigned to the case despite his reputation for being difficult and violent. This leads to a cat-and-mouse game between Harry and Scorpio as Harry pursues the criminal.

Scorpio is played by Andy Robinson, who is a fantastic villain- perhaps one of the most frightening in film history. His dirty blonde locks and angelic face, combined with maniacal expressions, make his portrayal quite scary.

He is a sniper, so he is continually perched on rooftops seeking his next victim. As he watches a couple eating ice cream in the park or a woman swimming in a rooftop pool, we feel a sense of voyeurism and dread.

His disturbing sense of humor and sadistic personality make him quite scary.

The film succeeds in large part because of its grit and violence.  And it is a very masculine film. Harry is a take-no-prisoners kind of guy, and he is hell-bent on stopping Scorpio from killing- no matter what.

In a very effective scene, Harry chases Scorpio to a vast football field and uses torture to elicit a confession from Scorpio. It is a bloody and intense scene, but quite necessary for who Harry is.

Of course, this tactic backfires as Scorpio is released from the hospital and set free. This leads to a further feud between the two men.

A bonus of Dirty Harry, and one aspect that gives so much authenticity, is the on-location setting of San Francisco. From the Golden Gate Bridge to the illustrious mountains outside the city and the Pacific Ocean, these elements add a touch of realism to an already gritty film.

Chinatown and Dolores Park are also featured.

Highlighting all of this is a sequence where Scorpio forces Harry to go from locale to locale on foot in part of a wicked game to save a victim.

Harry’s famous lines as he points his gun at the perpetrators and mocks them by asking them if five or six bullets in his gun are now legendary, as is his “Do I feel lucky? Well, do you, punk?”

On the surface, these catchphrases are a bit silly and gimmicky, but they still work.

The school bus finale, as Harry and Scorpio once again square off, is grand. As Scorpio hijacks a bus filled with grammar school students, he tricks the students, unaware of his intentions, by engaging them in children’s song sing-alongs as the harried bus driver drives out of the city.

When one child catches wind of the situation, Scorpio turns nasty, scaring the children into a frenzy.

Dirty Harry (1971) is a classic cop film that I never tire of watching. For the genre, it is as good as it gets and holds up well. After all of these years, it is tough to disassociate Clint Eastwood from the role of “Dirty Harry”.

#70 Favorite Film, 1971 Films, Bud Cort, Charles Tyner, Comedy, Cyril Cusack, Dark Comedy, Ellen Geer, Hal Ashby, Romantic Comedy, Ruth Gordon, Tom Skerritt, Top 100 Films, Top 250 Films, Vivian Pickles

Harold and Maude-1971

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Harold and Maude-1971

Director Hal Ashby

Starring Bud Cort, Ruth Gordon

Top 250 Films #70

Scott’s Review #208

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Reviewed December 30, 2014

Grade: A

Harold and Maude (1971) is the bravest and most left-of-center film that I have ever had the pleasure of viewing. A subject matter so taboo that it had never before been explored in cinema and, to my knowledge, has not since.

The film challenges so many mainstream views of aging, sex, and relationships.

Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort give performances of a lifetime.

The film tells the story of an unhappy, wealthy teenager named Harold (Cort) whose mother- hilariously played by Vivian Pickles- is a cold socialite attempting to reform Harold from his rebellious adolescent behavior.

Harold frequently plays suicide pranks on her and the numerous females she tries to set him up with, reducing them to tearful exits from the family mansion in frightened hysterics.

Obsessed with attending funerals for fun, one day, Harold meets Maude (Gordon), an older woman, at a funeral, and it turns out that both share the same fascination, but for vastly different reasons, as the story shows.

They embark on a tender romance despite their age difference of over sixty years.

In many ways, Maude is the real adolescent of the film, which I love. It is a role reversal of sorts. On the cusp of age eighty, she has a pure zest for life, living each minute as if it were her last, unconcerned with the consequences of her actions- she is a true free spirit.

She gleefully steals cars parked on the street, and her erratic driving is comically brilliant.

Harold becomes the more responsible one despite being the tender age of only nineteen. He cares for Maude, and her shocking revelation towards the end of the film floors Harold.

It will also shock the audience.

Harold and Maude deal with death, but the film is not a downer. It is hilarious at times, brilliantly written, and Maude, a Nazi prison camp survivor, does not fear death- she has seen her share of it and almost embraces it.

Harold is just beginning his life, and the contrast of the characters and their growing bond is what works best in this film.

The aforementioned Vivian Pickles knocks it out of the park with her portrayal of Harold’s mother- her comic wit and timing are excellent- she callously hosts a dinner party. She boasts to the guests about her travels to France while Harold sits ignored, bored, and depressed, staring at his mother in disbelief.

He wants nothing to do with her or her trivial lifestyle. She makes an unimportant phone call while Harold dangles from the ceiling in a faux suicide attempt- clearly a cry for attention from his mother.

This is a total black comedy.

The implied intimacy between Harold and Maude was too much for many viewers in 1971. I find it sweet and quite tastefully done. They fall in love, and it feels wonderful for both of them.

I would be remiss not to mention the fantastic, lively soundtrack by Cat Stevens.

Edgy, laugh-out-loud, unusual, and witty are words to describe Harold and Maude (1971)- one of the most intelligent comedies in film history.

#71 Favorite Film, 1971 Films, Action, Best Picture Oscar Winners, Crime Thriller, Fernando Rey, Gene Hackman, Marcel Bozzuffi, Roy Scheider, Thriller, Tony Lo Bianco, Top 100 Films, Top 250 Films, William Friedkin

The French Connection-1971

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The French Connection-1971

Director William Friedkin

Starring Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider

Top 250 Films #71

Scott’s Review #342

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Reviewed January 9, 2016

Grade: A

The French Connection was the first R-rated film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1971.

This praise, similar to The Silence of the Lambs being the first horror film to win Best Picture in 1991, is well worth noting and quite honorary.

The film succeeds, both for other critics and me, due to its unique camerawork style, shot in a documentary manner, and the use of quick edits.

It is much more intricate in every way than the traditional crime thriller.

Gene Hackman stars as the feisty detective, Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, who, along with his partner, Buddy “Cloudy” Russo (Scheider), is determined to crack the case of a massive heroin smuggling syndicate from France.

The narcotics are flowing into New York City, and the duo is determined to get to the bottom of the drug ring, figuring out who the mastermind is and defeating their foe.

The primary culprit is a suave French drug lord named Alain Charnier, brilliantly played by Fernando Rey.

Throughout the film, the action is nonstop, traversing Manhattan and Brooklyn by subway and car as Popeye becomes increasingly obsessed with the case.

Director William Friedkin, who also directed the legendary 1973 film, The Exorcist, deserves a heap of praise for creating a movie of this caliber. All can enjoy the French Connection, and it is well beyond the limitations of a “guy film”- it is much more than that.

The editing and frenetic pacing work wonders for the film, all the while not ruining the experience or overshadowing the good plot. Quite simply, the film is a chase across New York City.

Friedkin distinguishes the boroughs by making Manhattan seem sophisticated and stylish, while Brooklyn comes across as dirty, grizzled, and drug-laden.

The settings are perfect.

The best scene in the film is the well-known car chase throughout New York City. Popeye is determined not to lose his man, the man riding in a subway on an elevated platform. Popeye steals a car and proceeds to chase the subway, narrowly missing pedestrians, including a woman with a baby carriage, as he recklessly weaves in and out of traffic at a high speed to keep pace with the train.

This is a phenomenal scene as the excitement and tension continue to build.

The film’s conclusion and final scene are cynical and leave the audience perplexed and unsure of what has transpired.

The French Connection is open to reasonable discussion and even interpretation, a novel aspect of the action film.

Providing a tremendous glimpse into 1970s Manhattan and Brooklyn, The French Connection is an exciting film that oozes with thrills, car chases, and a good story.

The film is unique in style and still holds up incredibly well- one of my favorites in the action genre.

Oscar Nominations: 5 wins-Best Picture (won), Best Director-Richard Friedkin (won), Best Actor-Gene Hackman (won), Best Supporting Actor-Roy Scheider, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (won), Best Sound, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing (won)

#100 Favorite Film, 1971 Films, Action, Bernard Lee, Bruce Cabot, Bruce Glover, Charles Gray, Connie Mason, Desmond Llewelyn, Guy Hamilton, James Bond, Jill St. John, Jimmy Dean, Lana Wood, Laurence Naismith, Lois Maxwell, Putter Smith, Sean Connery, Top 100 Films, Top 250 Films

Diamonds Are Forever-1971

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Diamonds Are Forever-1971

Director Guy Hamilton

Starring Sean Connery, Jill St. John

Top 250 Films #100

Scott’s Review #328

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Reviewed January 6, 2016

Grade: A

Despite Diamonds Are Forever (1971) being one of the lower-rated James Bond films, this is actually one of my favorite films of all time, and many would disagree with me.

Some say Sean Connery phoned this performance in; others say there was little chemistry between him and Jill St. John, and the sets were tense, leading to a sub-par offering. But I think this is a great film.

I love the Las Vegas locale, the bright lights, flashy costumes, and a ritzy underbelly- and the Vegas car chase is incredible.

A bright, shiny Ford Mustang takes center stage throughout the sequence, and if one looks closely, one will realize that nearly all the cars are Ford- fun fact!

The title song by Shirley Bassey is great, sultry and stylish, only enhanced by the glitzy setting. One immediately imagines the film oozing with diamonds as it does.

The villains are fascinating, and Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd were the first openly gay Bond villains, which, in 1971, was groundbreaking.

Yes, they are evil and slightly silly, but what a risky, surprising, and blatant scene to see the gentlemen holding hands.

St. John is a sophisticated and intelligent Bond girl, and the action in this film is plenty.

Diamonds Are Forever (1971) contains all the elements for an enjoyable Bond experience.

Oscar Nominations: Best Sound

#121 Favorite Film, 1971 Films, Ben Johnson, Bob Rafelson, Cloris Leachman, Cybill Shepherd, Drama, Eileen Brennan, Ellen Burstyn, Jeff Bridges, John Hillerman, Peter Bogdanovich, Randy Quaid, Timothy Bottoms, Top 250 Films

The Last Picture Show-1971

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The Last Picture Show-1971

Director Peter Bogdanovich

Starring Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd

Top 250 Films #121

Scott’s Review #1,349

Reviewed March 9, 2023

Grade: A

1971 was a great year in American cinema, from The French Connection to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory to Fiddler on the Roof to Dirty Harry.

The list goes on and on.

The brilliantly filmed and directed The Last Picture Show is easily ensconced in the year’s top ten, featuring an embarrassment of riches across the board. An important thing to promote is the successful use of the dusty setting and time, which is the film’s secret sauce.

Peter Bogdanovich crafts a dreary coming-of-age tale set in landlocked Texas. The film is loosely based on a 1966 novel of the same name written by Larry McMurtry.

The film includes many songs by Hank Williams Sr. and other country & Western and 1950s popular music recording artists to reflect the era.

Most of the townsfolk are bored to tears in the windswept hamlet of Anarene, Texas. Their saving grace is a local cinema (the picture show) run by the popular Sam the Lion (Ben Johnson), which is about to close its doors forever.

Others frequent the café run by sultry waitress Genevieve (Eileen Brennan), who knows everyone’s business.

The gossip and scandals run wild throughout town, following several principal characters and their trials and tribulations. High school students Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) and Duane (Jeff Bridges) lust after flirty Jacy Farrow (Cybill Shepherd) while trying to figure out their futures.

Sonny also finds time for an affair with depressed housewife Ruth Popper (Cloris Leachman), twenty years his senior, who is married to the school gym teacher, Coach Popper (Bill Thurman), who may be gay.

The year is 1951, when the Korean War is raging, and the once-prosperous oil town is in significant decline.

Bogdanovich’s apt camerawork, shot in black and white, is central to the film and the winning recipe (well, one of them). If The Last Picture Show were shot in color or worse yet, colorized, it would detract from the proper mood of sadness.

The exterior scenes involve swirling dust and wide-angle shots of the main street, often enough to relay a comparison to a ghost town, especially as events go along. There are also some sequences featuring vehicles or highway scenes, evoking thoughts of escape or departure.

The other key ingredient is the ensemble of characters led by exceptional acting. Sonny is the handsome lead character with a lifetime ahead of him and the kindest of all the players. His all-American good looks infuse a vulnerability into the character with vulnerability, especially in scenes with his mentor, Sam, and his friend, Billy.

Other quiet scenes reveal much about the supporting characters. Ruth sadly hangs the wash on her clothesline, looking worn and weary, while Genevieve grills a cheeseburger in the café, cigarette dangling and her once youthful aspirations slipping away.

Leachman and Johnson, both Academy Award winners in the supporting categories, deserve their awards. They successfully portray their anger in quiet ways, and both have dignity and self-worth, making their characters complex and revered.

The heartiest scenes belong to the younger set as they deal with simmering sexuality and hopes for college. Jacy experiments with sex, even sleeping with the man who her mother Lois (Burstyn) is having an affair with.

Shepherd also presents Jacy as vulnerable as she awkwardly strips off her clothes during a pool party, encouraged by a handsome boy she hopes to impress. At times, she is childish, other times a selfish bitch. It’s mentioned that her family is wealthy, so it’s assumed she is spoiled.

The 1950s usually provide a level of nostalgia and good, old-fashioned, carefree Americana.

The Last Picture Show (1971), thanks to the flawless direction and screenwriting of Bogdanovich and McMurtry, instead paints a perfect portrait of misspent youth and shattered dreams.

Oscar Nominations: 2 wins-Best Picture, Best Director-Peter Bogdanovich, Best Supporting Actor-Ben Johnson (won), Jeff Bridges, Best Supporting Actress-Cloris Leachman (won), Ellen Burstyn, Best Screenplay-Based on Material from Another Medium, Best Cinematography

#182 Favorite Film, 1971 Films, Daniel Day-Lewis, Drama, Glenda Jackson, John Schlesinger, Jon Finch, LGBTQ+ Drama, LGBTQ+ Films, Maurice Denham, Murray Head, Peggy Ashcroft, Peter Finch, Tony Britton, Top 250 Films, Vivian Pickles

Sunday Bloody Sunday-1971

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Sunday Bloody Sunday-1971

Director John Schlesinger

Starring Glenda Jackson, Peter Finch, Murray Head

Top 250 Films #182

Scott’s Review #1,062

Reviewed September 15, 2020

Grade: A

Whether it’s the late 1960s style with British sophistication or the ahead-of-its-time subject matter, John Schlesinger’s Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) is a brazen and mature piece of filmmaking.

With fantastic acting mostly from Glenda Jackson and Peter Finch, the film is subdued enough to contain the drama while letting the underlying plot marinate and flourish rather than being forced or overdone.

That’s not to say Sunday Bloody Sunday is an easy watch. The main characters stew and simmer rather than explode as the audience comes to grips with their feelings, emotions, and motivations, as painful as they can be.

Schlesinger offers the complexities of the characters as we get inside their heads across multiple scenes, with cameras carefully panning in on their facial expressions. The intention is to read their minds or think we know what they are thinking.

The three characters featured are Alex (Glenda Jackson), a divorced, restless recruitment worker; a young, free-spirited artist, Bob (Murray Head); and a gay, Jewish doctor, Daniel (Peter Finch).

Bob openly dates both Alex and Daniel, who are aware of each other and even have common friends. Instead of scheming against the other in hopes of poisoning their character with Bob, they deal with acceptance and a host of different emotions.

A triangle ensues, though not one with a clear couple to root for, nor is it clear who we want to root for. Sunday Bloody Sunday is not that trite or simplistic, and this is the beauty of the film.

Each character can be analyzed for individual motivations, peculiarities, and desires that sometimes overlap. The added perk of one character being straight, one character being bisexual, and one character being gay only adds flavor and lustful desire.

Sunday Bloody Sunday is a character study if ever there was one.

Screenwriter Penelope Gilliatt writes a piece so bristling with unpredictability that the characters and situations are deep and troubling. My favorite character is Daniel, the most adjusted of the three, but a character who would typically be written as the most maladjusted.

Schlesinger had directed the brilliant Midnight Cowboy (1969) two mere years earlier, a film that depicted gay characters as troubled and self-hating. Gilliatt crafts Daniel as confident, booming, and masculine, avoiding all stereotypes.

I immediately had thoughts of Ken Russell’s masterpiece, Women in Love, made only one year earlier in 1970, and starring Jackson. Both films, featuring four characters rather than only three, are British and explore the complexities of sexual orientation, jealousy, and loneliness.

Women in Love is a slightly better film, but only by a small margin, probably because it adds one additional character. Both explore and barely touch territory when it was still taboo to explore homosexuality in film.

Adorable is a scene at a Bar Mitzvah given to Daniel’s nephew. As the merriment commences, several women are bound to be interested in Daniel, what with him being a successful doctor. He doesn’t have any interest in it naturally, but he politely makes small talk with one woman.

The scene is so natural and at ease that it is terrific and reaffirming to see a gay character treated with such dignity and richness, his problems not being a result of being gay but of being a human being.

Daniel and Alex compete for Bob’s affection, but in a polite way. Instead of hating each other, they hate the situation. Bob is not the nicest guy in the world, so the question arises as to why they both feel the way they do about him.

But this hardly matters when the heart wants what it wants.

The most interesting and realistic scenes occur when each couple lies in bed together or when they make small talk over a meal. This offers a glimpse of the day-to-day treasures they could each enjoy.

Those in the mood for a film rife with emotion and psychologically complex feelings, wrapped in a good drama, will find Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) a pure treat. Trimmings like glimpses of the gorgeous city of London lend added nuance.

Each time this film is viewed, it could easily be watched from the perspective of either Alex, Bob, or Daniel.

Oscar Nominations: Best Director-John Schlesinger, Best Actor-Peter Finch, Best Actress-Glenda Jackson, Best Original Screenplay

#215 Favorite Film, 1971 Films, Chloe Franks, Del Henney, Dustin Hoffman, Peter Vaughan, Roger Spottiswoode, Sam Peckinpah, Susan George, Thriller, Top 250 Films

Straw Dogs-1971

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Straw Dogs-1971

Director Sam Peckinpah

Starring Dustin Hoffman, Susan George

Top 250 Films #215

Scott’s Review #733

Reviewed March 19, 2018

Grade: A

Straw Dogs (1971) is famed director Sam Peckinpah’s most startling and most controversial film.  Hardly an easy watch, it will provoke disturbing and uneasy reactions, but it is a work of art, teetering on the edge of being an all-out art film.

Viewers will cringe during intense scenes but will also marvel at the film’s mastery of this classic, bringing on a whirlwind roller coaster ride as story elements spiral out of control to a frenetic, powerful climax.

Intellectual American mathematician, David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman), moves with his sexy British wife, Amy (Susan George), to a Cornish countryside, the town in which she grew up, where they proceed to encounter problems, both within their marriage, and external factors, as an angry mob of blue-collar workmen, threaten their home life.

When non-violent David is pushed to the limit, questions of morality are brought to light, as Amy faces her demons and bouts with brutality and victimization.

The film, made in 1971, pushes the envelope significantly in its display of violence.

Several years earlier, 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde and Peckinpah’s own The Wild Bunch (1969) were the films that really got the ball rolling. Still, Straw Dogs continues the trend of the brutal violence that overtook American cinema at the time.

While watching the film for the second time, I was struck hard by the feeling that I was watching something important.

Amy’s rape scene is the most brutal scene of all to watch for the sheer way in which it can be interpreted. Later, when Amy replays the scene in her mind, the audience is forced to relive the experience.

Not content to only include the rape scene, Peckinpah wants the viewer to dissect the scene- the fact that Amy is assaulted by not one, but two men, and reacts differently to each of them, is the key here.

The scene is complex in that Venner, the first assailant, is hunky and presumed to be a former beau, and she eventually relents to his advances, but does she enjoy the act? When Scutt enters the picture, however, things turn from tender and ambiguous to violent and dirty.

Undoubtedly, an influence on director Quentin Tarantino is the final sequence of the film- a scene fraught with tension, violence, and grit.

Now trapped in their house amid a mob of angry, drunk men, hell-bent on revenge, David and Amy must both bond with each other and match antics with the men.

I experienced visions of 2015’s The Hateful Eight through the claustrophobic, cabin-like setting and the quick edits that Peckinpah uses throughout the film.

A sad scene, and at least a portion of the reason for the townsfolk’s rage, is a scene reminiscent of Frankenstein when a hulking and mentally challenged man accidentally harms a young girl. Not knowing his strength and meaning to protect the girl instead of killing her, the menfolk of the town respond in a nightmarish and witch-hunt manner.

Suddenly, David becomes the defender and protector of this man.

David’s character change is interesting, and the great Hoffman adds layer upon layer of complexity to the role. At first, a peaceful man, due to circumstances, he soon becomes the assailant, creating traps and weapons, intent on maiming his prey.

Hardly a violent man, this change of character is evident in our earlier scene, where David nurses a wounded bird.

In addition to Hoffman’s traditionally outstanding performance, Susan George delivers the perfect blend of bitchiness, spoiled-brat tantrums, and, later, guilt-ridden angst and fear.

The villains are perfectly cast and believable as bored, simple-minded, and horny, small-town boys just itching for trouble.

Lush is the gorgeous United Kingdom countryside featured in Straw Dogs, as frequent exterior scenes are shot, revealing lavish and plush mountainous areas- the sweeping beauty of the landscape counterbalancing the brutality shown in other sections of the film.

Mixing super quick editing with a dark, compelling screenplay, with underlying themes of questioning one’s manhood, Straw Dogs is a provocative and edgy tale of violence and revenge in a small town, that gives new meaning to the fear of “home invasion” and feeling vulnerable.

Thanks to a great cast and lots of other facets, Straw Dogs (1971) is a timeless (and brutal) treasure.

Oscar Nominations: Best Original Dramatic Score

#234 Favorite Film, 1971 Films, Alan J. Pakula, Charles Cioffi, Donald Sutherland, Jane Fonda, Jean Stapleton, Rosalind Cash, Roy Scheider, Sylvester Stallone, Thriller, Top 250 Films

Klute-1971

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Klute-1971

Director Alan J. Pakula

Starring Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland

Top 250 Films #234

Scott’s Review #1,351

Reviewed March 12, 2023

Grade: A-

I’ll gladly watch any film Jane Fonda appears in, especially early treats like They Shoot Horses, Don’t They (1969), Coming Home (1978), and On Golden Pond (1981), but Klute (1971) trumps them all.

Fonda plays a prostitute, one with intelligence, manipulation skills, and deep introspective thought. Teamed with Donald Sutherland, who is quite extraordinary, the duo sink their teeth into a taut psychological thriller chasing a serial killer.

The inventive part is that the film is hardly a whodunit, yet it uses long sequences of calm dialogue and few editing breaks, making it stand out with great style and substance.

Bree Daniel (Fonda) is a New York City call girl who becomes absorbed in an investigation into the disappearance of a business executive. Detective John Klute (Sutherland) is hired to follow Bree and eventually begins a romance with her.

Klute is not the only one on Bree’s trail. A killer is on the loose, having killed two prostitutes with whom Bree is friendly. They must figure out the deadly puzzle before it’s too late.

Fonda plays Bree wonderfully. Gorgeous and well-dressed, Bree is aching to leave the business and launch an acting or modeling career, but she keeps striking out on both fronts. Fonda assures the audience that Bree is brilliant and uses her smarts to get the best of the men she beds.

Throughout several scenes in which she chats with her shrink, we learn a great deal about Bree and the workings of her mind. While she cringes at a dull life of being married and darning socks, she also craves stability and self-worth.

She aptly embraces her lifestyle, but on her terms. When briefly jaded by a pimp played by Roy Scheider, I cringed because Bree is better than that.

I only wanted to learn a bit more about Bree’s childhood and how she wound up as a call girl, but at the same time, the mystique works well. The ambiguity only makes Bree more complex.

Pre-conceived notions or sub-par writing might have had the character dubbed the overdone ‘hooker with the heart of gold’ title, but there are no cliches to be found.

Written by Andy and Dave Lewis and directed by Alan J. Pakula, they construct a complex film with equal focus on the intriguing serial-killer pursuit and the workings of its lead female character.

Surprisingly, the men achieve both goals. In later years, the screenplay might have been written by a female, but it’s impressive how boldly they write Bree.

The character of Klute is also well-written. Similarly shrouded in mystery, we know that the investigator is the strong, silent type and falls for Bree hook, line, and sinker. Has he been married? Does he have kids? Why the fascination with Bree?

He only mirrors the audience as we become equally smitten with her. The fact that he knows the killer is icing on the cake, adding rich texture to the storytelling.

The other facets of Klute are strong from a technical and location perspective.

The interior sequences, mostly of Bree’s apartment building, are superior, with dull lighting and an eerie musical score to set the proper mood. Downsizing from Park Avenue, Bree has a decent Manhattan apartment, but with dated appliances and unflattering lighting.

The exterior New York City location shots are fun to look at and help a native tri-state area resident identify various neighborhoods.

Early 1970s New York City was not a pretty sight, and the Wall Street area and garment district, where the riveting action culminates, are terrific.

Delightful is the scene involving Jean Stapleton as a no-nonsense secretary. Forever remembered as Edith Bunker on the television series All in the Family, it’s great fun seeing her in Klute and remembering that she appeared in films before her television success.

Klute (1971) is a taut, superior thriller that sometimes is a bit too complex, but it scores a winning run with its marriage of a character study and intelligent writing.

Thanks to Fonda and Sutherland, and a screenplay that bravely goes left of center when it easily could have gone straightforward, Klute is a memorable piece of cinema.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Actress-Jane Fonda (won), Best Original Screenplay

#248 Favorite Film, 1971 Films, Björn Andrésen, Dirk Bogarde, Drama, Historical Drama, International, International Drama, Italian, LGBTQ+ Drama, LGBTQ+ Films, LGBTQ+ International, Luchino Visconti, Marisa Berenson, Mark Burns, Silvana Mangano, Top 250 Films

Death in Venice-1971

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Death in Venice-1971

Director Luchino Visconti

Starring Dirk Bogarde, Björn Andrésen

Top 250 Films #248

Scott’s Review #1,014

Reviewed April 22, 2020

Grade: A

Death in Venice (1971) is a haunting and tragic story of a depressed middle-aged man who becomes obsessed with a fourteen-year-old Polish boy while on holiday in Venice.

The story, on the surface, is dark and dour, not for the judgmental or the closed-minded. With a deeper dive and a haunting musical score, the film provides beauty and impressionism.

The film is based on the novella Death in Venice by German author Thomas Mann, published in 1912 as Der Tod in Venedig.

Gustav von Aschenbach (Dirk Bogarde) is a lonely composer who travels to Venice for health reasons and a recipe for recovery. His maladies are unclear at the start, but are assumed to be sent to the picturesque city as a form of therapy.

While enjoying a tranquil holiday, he spots Tadzio (Björn Andrésen), a stunning, youthful beauty staying with his family at the luxurious Grand Hôtel des Bains, just as Gustav is.

Their encounters run rampant as they are viewed by the audience from afar, but never speak to each other.

This is the brilliance of Death in Venice. A more standard approach may have been to make the story more forceful.

If Gustav had approached, harassed, or even molested Tadzio, the direction of the film would have vastly changed, and he would have been deemed a pervert.

Suddenly, the film would have been about a pedophile preying on a youngster, rather than incorporating a beautiful subtext of longing and unfulfilled passion.

The masterful classical numbers that open and close the film help to achieve this mindset.

The controversial subject matter, still taboo by today’s progressive standards, is not gratuitous but is quite obsessive. Worthy of mention is that Gustav’s plight begins harmless enough as he appreciates a beautiful image, almost like gazing at a sculpture- think Michelangelo’s David- since we are in Italy.

But when he begins to follow Tadzio and see him more and more, his desperation increases as his health deteriorates. For a while, it is unclear whether the boy even realizes he is an object of affection. It is Gustav’s feelings and emotions that are most explored.

As a side story, the city of Venice is gripped by a cholera epidemic, and the city authorities do not inform the holiday-makers of the problem for fear that they will flee the vital city.

In 2020, amid the vicious COVID-19 pandemic gripping the world, this classic film takes on a whole new importance. As Venice officials downplay the epidemic while tourists increasingly fall ill, a modern realism is conjured for the audience.

Death in Venice, as the title should make clear, is not a love story; otherwise, it would be called Love in Venice. Gustav’s lust for Tadzio is unrequited. Neither is Gustav’s sexuality clear, though he is assumed to be bisexual.

In one of the film’s saddest scenes, also the finale, Gustav lounges on the sandy beach in ill health, dressed in an improper white suit. He sees Tadzio playfully frolicking with an older boy, and afterward walks away and turns back to look at Gustavo.

As Tadzio outstretched his arms toward the water, Gustav did the same as if he was enveloping the boy. The moment is breathtaking.

Many symbolic and meaningful scenes occur, like when Gustav visits a barber who insists he will return his customer to his youth. The results are ghastly.

Dyeing his grey hair black, whitening his face, and reddening his lips to make him look younger leaves a macabre, somber image of a man feebly attempting to turn back the hands of time, something we can all relate to. His heavily made-up face is meant to hide his insecurities.

Incorporating an ingenious mix of beauty, tragedy, obsession, and loneliness, Italian director Luchino Visconti crafts a brilliant and painful dissection of human emotion.

The subject matter of Death in Venice (1971) will not appeal to all viewers. Still, those brave enough to traverse the sometimes-rocky waters will find an underlying treasure and a meaningful cinematic experience.

Oscar Nominations: Best Costume Design

1971 Films, British, Crime Thriller, John Hurt, Judy Geeson, Pat Heywood, Richard Attenborough, Richard Fleischer, Robert Hardy, Thriller

10 Rillington Place-1971

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10 Rillington Place-1971

Director Richard Fleischer

Starring Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, John Hurt

Scott’s Review #1,424

Reviewed March 22, 2024

Grade: A

Richard Fleischer has directed films such as Dr. Doolittle (1967) and Soylent Green (1973) that are remembered better than 10 Rillington Place (1971).

That’s a shame, because the film is one I hadn’t seen or heard of, yet it’s chilling, macabre, and masterful in its bleakness and atmosphere.

It’s also wonderfully acted.

One can’t help but notice the stark similarities to Frenzy, an equally disturbing and great 1972 film by Alfred Hitchcock.  Did this film influence the master of suspense to create that one? Only he knows the answer to that question.

Primarily set in one dreary apartment building in London named 10 Rillington Place, it tells the true story of the British serial killer John Christie (Richard Attenborough), who committed many of his crimes in the tall terraced house, and the miscarriage of justice involving his neighbor, the simple-minded Timothy Evans (John Hurt).

John used Timothy as a scapegoat for the murders.

John is a seemingly model citizen but a killer, as the audience witnesses in the first scene. He poses as a kindly doctor who convinces naive women that he can cure whatever ails them, whether it’s aches and pains or a pesky pregnancy.

He usually strangles them to death and buries them in a makeshift graveyard in the pretty garden in front of his residence.

The main story in 10 Rillington Place follows John as he cons a pregnant bride (Judy Geeson) who is struggling financially to use his help and medical methods. John’s dutiful, clueless wife, Ethel (Pat Heywood), slowly discovers her husband’s shenanigans, but will she fall victim as his next target?

Of course, Richard Attenborough steals the show as the demented killer with a calm, cool, and collected exterior. As an average-looking Joe type, he can use his trusting appearance to his advantage.

I’d trust him.

Attenborough became an Academy Award-winning director for 1982’s Gandhi, so he knows his craft well. He also directed Cry Freedom in 1987 and Chaplin in 1992.

In actor mode, he is phenomenal as a crazed killer. His most excellent skill is his demeanor. Thoughtful and pondering, he never plays the psycho or the nut. He is careful, but that’s part of his creepiness. With every noise, he peers out the window, drawing the living room curtain ever so slightly, revealing his face.

Hurt and Geeson are terrific as the young couple with the cards stacked against them. They are simply looking for tranquility and the means to raise their child.

Simplicity is a winning formula, and most of the film is subdued thanks to Fleischer’s laid-back direction techniques.

The look of 10 Rillington Place is perfection. The colors are muted and faded, giving a dank and depressing look. Even a bright red velvet sofa appears dark and dreary.

As Timothy and Beryl agree to lease the top-floor flat, it will not bode well for them, and we can sense it.

Towards the end of the film, it is almost too much to bear with the knowledge that John strangles a toddler to death and unceremoniously stuffs the child, wrapped in a blanket, in a washroom.

Brilliantly, the murders rarely happen on screen and involve none of the principal characters. That’s what’s so haunting about the film and reminds me of Hitchcock’s Frenzy.

Remember the scene where the necktie killer lures a female victim upstairs to her death? There is silence and a shot of the staircase for seemingly an eternity until the killer descends the stairs.

We know what’s happened.

What we don’t see is sometimes much more frightening than what we do see.

The ghastly reveal at the end of 10 Rillington Place that the story is based on real-life events packed a punch since I didn’t have this knowledge going into the film.

Thankfully, 10 Rillington Place (1971) has received its just desserts in recent years, with praise and recognition. This proves that great films are like cream and rise to the top…..eventually.

1971 Films, British, British Horror, Chloe Franks, Christopher Lee, Denholm Elliott, Geoffrey Bayldon, Horror, Horror Anthologies, Ingrid Pitt, Joanna Dunham, John Bennett, Jon Pertwee, Joss Ackland, Nyree Dawn Porter, Peter Cushing, Peter Duffell

The House That Dripped Blood-1971

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The House That Dripped Blood-1971

Director Peter Duffell

Starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing

Scott’s Review #1,408

Reviewed October 31, 2023

Grade: B+

Any horror project featuring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing is worth a watch, and The House That Dripped Blood (1971) includes both actors, though, sadly, not in any scenes together.

The British horror anthology is spooky and perfect for the Halloween season. The action surrounds a hulking house where bad events occur regardless of who inhabits it.

The film is divided into four short stories explaining the circumstances surrounding the individual inhabitants.

The production is low budget, which is perfect for a film like this, but the title makes it seem bloodier and gorier than it is.

All of the stories were initially written and later adapted into scripts by Robert Bloch.

Below is a summary, review, and rating of each vignette.

Framework: B+

Shortly after renting an old country house, a well-known film star, Paul Henderson, mysteriously disappears, and a local Sergeant calls Inspector Holloway (John Bennett) from Scotland Yard to investigate.

When he inquires at the local police station, he is told some of the house’s history.

He soon learns how four tenants met macabre fates.

The ‘Framework’ sequence sits between the vignettes and provides good context, but it’s largely just the interplay between Inspector and Sergeant.

This serves as an introduction to each chapter and ties the events together.

Method for Murder: A-

Charles Hillyer (Denholm Elliott) is a struggling writer who specializes in horror stories. He and his wife Alice (Joanna Dunham), move into the house thinking it will serve as inspiration. Charles creates a devious character named ‘Dominic’ after he ‘imagines’ seeing him outside a window.

Charles soon starts to see Dominic, who begins stalking and tormenting him.

My second favorite of the four chapters, I all but guessed the ‘twist’ from the get-go, but I was surprised by the ‘twist on top of a twist,’ which pleased me.

It’s great when a villain thinks they’ve gotten away with murder, only to be murdered themselves.

Waxworks: B+

Retired stockbroker Philip Grayson (Cushing) moves into the house with plans to read, garden, and relax. Though initially he occupies himself with his hobbies, he quickly becomes lonely. One day, while wandering around town, he happens upon a wax museum.

Grayson explores the museum and finds a sculpture of a dead woman he had loved. The museum’s proprietor explains that he based the likeness of the sculpture on his late wife, who had been executed after murdering his best friend.

Despite featuring Cushing, it’s a moderately good story but lacks the compelling nature of a couple of the other vignettes.

It’s less about the house itself and more about the wax museum and obsession as the subject matter.

While decent, Waxworks didn’t blow me away either.

Sweets to the Sweet: A

Widower John Reid (Lee) moves into the house next door along with his odd young daughter Jane (Chloe Franks). John hires former teacher Ann Norton (Nyree Dawn Porter) to tutor Jane. Ann bonds with Jane and helps her overcome a fear of fire.

Ann suspects John of abusing Jane, but is there more to the story? Why doesn’t he let Jane play with other children or with toys, and why does he do his best to keep her isolated?

Is there something wrong with Jane?

This is the best installment and has a resemblance to The Innocents (1961), featuring a governess and a spooky child. Viewers will find themselves switching allegiances to the characters as the story moves quickly.

The Cloak: B+

Finally, horror film actor Paul Henderson (Jon Pertwee) moves into the house while starring in a vampire film being shot nearby.

Irritated by the cast and crew’s lack of maturity or talent, he decides to buy a realistic cloak for his character (who happens to be a vampire). The shop he makes his purchase from is run by the enigmatic Theo von Hartmann (Geoffrey Bayldon), who eerily offers him a black cloak.

This one plays like a Hammer Horror Dracula installment and is good but not great. Less happens within the confines of the house than I’d like, and Paul is an unlikable character.

The action on the movie set and in the shop are the best parts.

1971 Films, British, Christopher Gable, Georgina Hale, Glenda Jackson, Ken Russell, Max Adrian, Murray Melvin, Musical, Musical Comedy, Tommy Tune, Twiggy

The Boy Friend-1971

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The Boy Friend-1971

Director Ken Russell

Starring Twiggy, Christopher Gable

Scott’s Review #1,407

Reviewed October 27, 2023

Grade: B+

With each Ken Russell film, I expect something wacky, and I sit back for a schizophrenic roller coaster ride.

His finest efforts, such as Women in Love (1970), The Devils (1971), and Tommy (1975), offer bombast and weirdness in their own way.

The British director decided to take on The Boy Friend (1971), a reworking of a 1953 traditional musical of the same name by Sandy Wilson, and turn it upside down on its ass. Those expecting a conventional affair with cheery sing-along numbers in perfect symmetry will be disappointed.

The messy project has its ups and downs and meanders off course on more than one occasion. With jagged storytelling and dragging sequences, it makes up for ground with sizzling visuals and costumes. It offers the audience a glimpse of theatrical drama and shenanigans both onstage and offstage.

On its own merits and given that the director is Russell, it gets a marginal thumbs-up, but it is nowhere near as fantastic as his other works.

The plot is a bit confusing, divided into three levels. Level one tells the main story: in the 1920s, in the south of England, a struggling theatrical troupe is performing a musical about romantic intrigues at a finishing school for young women in the south of France.

The cast awkwardly strives to impress a visiting, famous movie director, hoping for fame and fortune. They giggle, improvise, and scheme to get noticed, risking upstaging the other cast members.

Next, there is the musical itself. Four of the girls at the school are very forward and have boyfriends, but Polly, played by 1960s supermodel Twiggy, is shy and has no one to take her to the carnival masked ball that night.

Tony (Christopher Gable), a messenger boy from a dress shop, brings her a costume, and they fall in love.

Finally, the film features extensive fantasy sequences in which the characters’ dreams and hopes are enacted through music and dance, without dialogue.

Glenda Jackson, who won an Oscar for Russell’s Women in Love, returns in an uncredited appearance as the theatre star whom Polly must fill in for when she breaks her leg.

The crux of the film is the romance between Polly and Tony. While there is some chemistry between the duo, they never fully take off as the centerpiece.

The cleverness lies in the reveal of the twist on stage, cementing the pair’s connection as characters in the play.

Nonetheless, there are too many other things going on to care about the lovebirds for very long.

The musical numbers got my attention, especially towards the end of the film. My personal favorite, ‘It’s Nicer in Nice’, kicks off with high-caliber energy and shout-outs to other cities compared to Nice, France. It’s a fun regional experience with great culture and an upbeat rhythm.

The chirpy ‘It’s Never Too Late to Fall in Love’ follows soon after, offering a gleeful ending.

The fantasy sequences waste the story’s potential and offer no plot direction, yet are fun to watch anyway. Dripping with colors and razzle-dazzle, the chaotic events are dreamlike and foot-stomping.

Twiggy, with little to no prior film experience, is quite impressive in the lead role. Her voice is strong, and her acting skills are more than adequate. What might have been a disaster is not, thanks to her talents.

Although other Ken Russell films are tighter and more linear, The Boy Friend (1971) is worth watching, especially for his die-hard fans.

Oscar Nominations: Best Music, Adaptation, and Original Song Score

1971 Films, British, Christopher Logue, Drama, Dudley Sutton, Gemma Jones, Georgina Hale, Horror, Ken Russell, Max Adrian, Michael Gothard, Murray Melvin, Oliver Reed, Religious, Vanessa Redgrave

The Devils-1971

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The Devils-1971

Director Ken Russell

Starring Oliver Reed, Vanessa Redgrave

Scott’s Review #1,403

Reviewed October 4, 2023

Grade: A

Ken Russell, best known for directing the outstanding Women in Love (1970) and The Who’s Tommy (1975), creates a disturbing opus about perversion and scandal within the Roman Catholic Church in medieval times.

The film’s graphic portrayal of violence, sexuality, and religious blasphemy ignited shocked reactions from censors, and it initially received an X rating in both the United Kingdom and the United States. It was banned in several countries and heavily edited for exhibition in others.

This alone will pique the interest of open-minded, curious viewers. It sure did mine.

The film is ironically entitled The Devils (1971) and stars Russell Stalwart Oliver Reed, who also appeared in the aforementioned films.  Reed leads the charge as a sexy, rugged man who beds many women and is the center of a convent full of nuns’ nasty and naughty thoughts.

Vanessa Redgrave also appears as a lustful and evil nun with a hunchback.

During the period of seventeenth-century France, Father Grandier (Reed) was a priest whose unorthodox views on sex and religion influenced a passionate following of nuns, including the sexually obsessed Sister Jeanne (Redgrave).

When the power-hungry Cardinal Richelieu (Christopher Logue) realizes he must eliminate Grandier to gain control of France, Richelieu vows to destroy the man. He portrays Grandier as a Satanist and spearheads a public outcry to destroy the once-loved priest’s reputation.

The Devils is outrageous and bizarre in only the best of possible ways. Who doesn’t love a healthy dose of nun orgies and simulating fellatio on a large candlestick? One nun violently masturbates as another looks on, giggling sadistically.

The camera loves Reed and Redgrave, who, interestingly, are not a couple in the film. These British actors were at the height of their careers in 1971, and both portrayed roles that must have been tremendously challenging.

Despite being set in France, the film opens in a naughty way with a nearly nude dance performed by skinny Louis XIII (played with wacky delight by Graham Armitage). Rumored to be gay, the king traipses around in colorful costumes and later shoots protestants dressed as gorillas for sport.

There are themes of exorcising and burning at the stake, and mentions of the warring Catholics and Protestants, so there is a seriousness amid the antics and shenanigans.

It took me a little while to become fully immersed in the chaotic land of Loudon, a town in western France where the film is set. In truth, a second viewing really helped me settle in and have a sense of what was going on.

The best films really are like fine wines.

Russell’s attempts to irritate and incite the overly religious are quite satisfying in a wicked way. As much as he mocks religion by making the traditionally sexually conservative filled with lust and animalistic sexual prowess, there is much more going on.

Beneath the surface, he challenges the ridiculousness of religion, which cinema lovers will embrace and delight in. There are history lessons to be had, though, and the film provides exceptional details of the political upheavals and tyranny that occurred.

The thunderous musical score by Peter Maxwell Davies is fabulous, especially during The Devil’s final act, when a central character endures a broiling on a wooden stake.

Those who own the wonderful Blu-Ray version of the film can enjoy various outtakes, cast interviews, and behind-the-scenes information.

An added delight for knowledgeable film fans is the inclusion of character actor Murray Melvin, famous for playing Reverend Runt in the classic Barry Lyndon (1975). He plays Father Pierre Barre.

The Devils (1971) is a perverse and operatic extravaganza of lunacy. It’s caked with sex and nudity and blasphemy that I loved every bit of. The dangerous tone can be studied and thought about long after the film ends.

1971 Films, Arthur Hiller, Barnard Hughes, Christopher Guest, Comedy, Dark Comedy, Diana Rigg, Frances Sternhagen, George C. Scott, Katherine Helmond, Nancy Marchand, Richard Dysart, Robert Walden, Satire, Stephen Elliott, Stockard Channing

The Hospital-1971

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The Hospital-1971

Director Arthur Hiller

Starring George C. Scott, Diana Rigg

Scott’s Review #1,369

Reviewed June 11, 2023

Grade: A

An example of the freedom to craft one’s vision in cinematic works during the first half of the 1970s, The Hospital (1971) is a testament to creativity and exceptional writing, and to what can happen when studios and producers leave the creatives alone to make the film they want to make.

One can dismiss any preconceived notions of the classic medical dramas that flooded television networks during the 1970s and 1980s. The Hospital is not formulaic or contrived.

No, The Hospital is a dark work drooling with satirical examples of the politics and shenanigans within the medical community. Oftentimes, secondary activities come at the cost of reasonable care and quality medicines.

Before you imagine a doctor and nurse cavorting in a janitor’s closet, it’s a deeper film than it appears on the surface, despite the inclusion of witty comedy.

Lax patient care, staff deaths, and the dismissal of nearby residents because of a new drug rehabilitation project are explored in this fascinating film.

At a rundown Manhattan teaching hospital, chief of staff Herb Bock (George C. Scott) is riddled with multiple personal and professional problems after two doctors and one nurse are found dead almost simultaneously.

He assumes the rash of deaths is due to dimwitted staff who are overworked amid the chaos.

Suicidal, he meets the intelligent daughter of a patient who knocks him off his feet with her studious personality and reflections on the world. Diana Rigg plays Barbara Drummond.

The immediately noticeable, clever, well-paced screenplay is by Paddy Chayefsky, who won the Oscar for writing the film. Immediately, the chaos of a city hospital is exposed, but not in a cliched way like a series like ER or Grey’s Anatomy might show.

Nobody is going into cardiac arrest on the operating table or having convulsions in the waiting room amid lame dramatic music.

The Hospital is more cerebral than that.

Unknown patients and little-known hospital staff go about their everyday business like clockwork until confusion with daily tasks causes events to go awry.

Like real-life.

The brilliance is how director Arthur Hiller casts regular-looking actors in almost all the roles. They look and act like everyday hospital staff to set the proper tone. This is even before we meet and get to know Herb and Barbara. They answer phones, walk around with charts, and hustle after emergencies.

Chayefsky and Hiller mirror director Robert Altman in many ways, mostly in their dialogue and in how seemingly unimportant scenes can mean a whole lot.

In robust soliloquy-style scenes between Herb and Barbara, the audience ‘gets them’. They are both desperate, wounded, and unhappy yet possess the sophistication and awareness to realize how similar they are.

They immediately connect, fall in love, and nearly run off together. It’s that simple. They are willing to flee their lives after meeting for five minutes. But will they ultimately take that plunge?

A key character is revealed to be Barbara’s father, and a whodunit begins after it comes to light that the deaths are not accidents. Who is responsible and what their motivation is is the key to the story.

Scott does terrific work with his character, rivaling his excellent performance a year earlier in Patton (1970). Herb is more introspective with the world on his shoulders.

The Hospital has more than one daring scene. Herb, though impotent, basically throws Barbara down on the table and rapes her. The shocker is that she makes light of it the next day and almost seems to have enjoyed it.

Barbara and Herb are both complex characters that the audience needs to ruminate over.

My favorite part of The Hospital (1971) is the setting. That Hiller puts you inside what a real urban hospital was like in 1971 is brilliance. The satire comes into play with the writing, which questions decision-making and incompetence within the hospital walls.

The result is a scathing look at hospital practices that will resonate with anyone terrified of entering a hospital, only never to come out again.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Actor-George C. Scott, Best Original Screenplay (won)

1971 Films, Anthony Zerbe, Boris Sagal, Brian Tochi, Charlton Heston, Rosalind Cash, Science Fiction

The Omega Man-1971

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The Omega Man-1971

Director Boris Sagal

Starring Charlton Heston, Rosalind Cash

Scott’s Review #1,168

Reviewed August 2, 2021

Grade: B

Watching in 2021, a film about a global pandemic, made in 1971, conjures many interesting nuances and comparisons, and brings fresh relevance to the story.

Throw in the vaccinated versus non-vaccinated debate, and the similarities are downright eerie.

Given its relevance, I wish I had found The Omega Man (1971) more engaging. It’s not a bad watch; it delivers a very progressive interracial romance and incredible exterior scenes of downtown Los Angeles, but the story doesn’t live up to the potential the premise suggests.

I kept thinking of Charlton Heston, who stars in two of his other science fiction roles- Planet of the Apes (1968) and Soylent Green (1973).

Planet is, of course, a classic.

In the first scene, Robert Neville (Heston) wanders the streets of Los Angeles. We quickly surmise that he is the last man left on earth. Armed with an experimental vaccine for the disease that’s turned everyone into light-averse zombies, he fights a biological war, roaming the empty streets by day and fighting off the mutated creatures at night.

The premise immediately reminded me of a famous Twilight Zone episode.

On paper, the storyline sounds fascinating, with many possible directions and nuances to explore. Sadly, the direction Sagal chooses feels lackluster and dull.

Neville hunts and kills as many members of “the Family”, a cult of plague victims who were turned into nocturnal albino mutants, as he can. The Family, in turn, seeks to destroy all technology and kill Neville, who has become a symbol of the science they blame for humanity’s downfall.

They try to kill each other, but “the Family’s” motivations and reasoning make little sense. If they destroy technology, what will they do? And why not just get the vaccination? These bits may have been explained, but I didn’t take notice.

The parallels between the film and the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020-2021 and perhaps onward are uncanny. Maybe the unvaccinated of today will turn into creepy-looking creatures with pale, glowing eyes? One can only hope.

There is also a hokey idea that Neville believes he can extend his immunity to others by creating a serum from his blood.

I didn’t feel very engaged by the story, but I was very interested in the romance between Neville and Lisa, played by Rosalind Cash. Lisa is a black woman who arrives on the scene with her infected and dying brother.

In 1971, a mainstream interracial romance was a huge win for diversity and inclusion, though the film stops short of showing the pair consummating their relationship. This is quite conspicuous. There is also not a whole lot of chemistry between Heston and Cash, but I was rooting for them anyway.

It is considered one of the first interracial kisses in cinematic history.

Suffice it to say the conclusion isn’t very satisfying, but I’ll leave it right there to avoid spoilers.

The science fiction genre is a tough one to tackle.

The bar is set pretty high with 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), the greatest science fiction film ever made. Too many times, the story is hokey or not imaginative enough, and that’s what makes The Omega Man lose some points.

Parts are inspiring, and parts are goofy, but the progressive slant makes The Omega Man (1971) an above-par cinema experience. The unexpected parallels to a global situation some fifty years later are remarkable in themselves.

1971 Films, Barry Andrews, British, British Horror, Geoffrey Hughes, Horror, Linda Hayden, Patrick Wymark, Piers Haggard

The Blood on Satan’s Claw-1971

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The Blood on Satan’s Claw-1971

Director Piers Haggard

Starring Patrick Wymark, Linda Hayden

Scott’s Review #1,050

Reviewed August 7, 2020

Grade: B

I am always up for a good British horror film, with a creepy musical score, satanic elements, and eclectic, good actors. Especially embraceable are offerings from the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971), also released as Satan’s Skin, is very reminiscent of both Witchfinder General (1968) and The Wicker Man (1973), the three often lumped together in a small, brief sub-genre termed folk horror.

The film is not high art, nor is it intended to be. Taking itself too seriously would ruin the experience.

Instead, a gruesome, low-budget offering is just what the doctor ordered for late-night sipping, cocktails, or your preferred enlightenment or sedative.

The elements are all there- thunder and lightning, a perfect score, and the English countryside.

The Blood on Satan’s Claw would have been dynamite if the choice to cast horror legend Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee had come to fruition, but Cushing’s wife was dying of cancer, and Lee wanted too high a salary, or so the story goes.

Anyway, Patrick Wymark was awarded the lead role of a village judge. The actor had a penchant for booze and had to be watched closely.

Sadly, he died soon after filming wrapped.

Those expecting a concise plot will be disappointed. Reportedly, the script was changed repeatedly in a dizzying fashion before filming commenced. Some plot points and characters are introduced only to be unceremoniously dropped or forgotten.

Little wonder why the story confused me to no end.

Many characters have strange reaction shots as if they are reacting to different scenes. No matter, though, the film is a good time despite the inconsistencies.

In a nutshell, a cute plowman Ralph (Barry Andrews) uncovers a hideously deformed skull with one gouging eye and strange fur. When he reports his findings to the local judge (Wymark), the judge is skeptical, especially when the skull disappears before he lays eyes on it.

The village and its inhabitants quickly succumb to a group of teenage devil-worshipers led by beautiful but fiendish Angel Blake (Linda Hayden), who begins to perform blood sacrifices to bring the skull back to life.

Director Piers Haggard, who also wrote some of the script with Robert Wynne-Simmons, does a great job of adding the right elements to create a satisfactory mood.

The ancient setting of early-eighteenth-century England is always a juicy horror add-on, since the unfamiliar time lends it mystique.

The cinematography is gorgeous with lavish fields and stone buildings. I could have done without the laughably bad wigs the male actors were forced to wear, though.

Hayden is the standout for me.

A dead ringer for The Brady Bunch’s Maureen McCormick, only British, mixes deadly with beautiful in an underappreciated role. The actress was at the time a sex symbol, appearing in other horror films such as Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) and Vampira (1974).

As the teenage ringleader, her best scene is when she serves as a temptress to the local Reverend (Anthony Ainley). She seductively disrobes and confidently walks over to the intimidated man, offering full-frontal nudity and the obvious daydreams of schoolboys everywhere.

Those not turned off by witch hunts, devil fur shavings, or characters sawing off their limbs will find The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971) a real treat.

The film will please those classic horror fans expecting what the expected is in British horror which is a good thing. The demonic and religious trimmings mix well with a cast that is classically trained with most appearing in similarly themed horror films.

The story is weak and haphazard but the film is recommended to just enjoy the moment with.