Ferndale Public Library Staff Recommends: Ed's Essential Cinema of the '70s

This article was written by Jeff Milo and Ed Burns.

Ferndale Public Library Reference Librarian Ed Burns heads our Adult Services desk (and non-fiction collections). During my time working at the library, Ed has opened a window for me – a view back in time to a decade of films fired by nuanced experimentalism, the 1970s. What a decade for cinema – utterly edgy works, with all their grace and grit, daring and sometimes disturbing portrayals – but still oozing with an uncanny allure. Many of the films Ed unveiled for me are sparkling with style – a raw yet regal style that almost shoulder-checked you as a viewer, bracing as much as embracing!

Author David Thomson released an ambitious, expansive historical study of a century of cinema: The Big Screen – The Story of Film. He effectively characterizes the “era” that Ed will be highlighting with his personal picks, this week. Thomson says the 1970’s gave us “... challenging pictures that were well received by many critics; they altered the way we thought about ourselves and introduced new attitudes to the cinema and what it might be. They were not always cheerful experiences, but they left one excited about film.”

Let’s get Ed’s take.

Ed's picks

My young friend Jeff has developed an interest in 1970s cinema. It’s got me thinking about some of my favorite films from that era.  I was a teenager in the '70s and went to the movies a lot. And, thanks to cable, home video and Netflix, I’ve seen many that I didn’t get to see back then.  

I consider myself a '70s movie aficionado, and left to my own, I’d probably watch little else. If I didn’t have budget constraints, we’d have a much larger collection of '70s movies at the library. As it is, I think we have a pretty darn good one. Here are some that I think Jeff, and perhaps you, would enjoy.

Five Easy Pieces (1970)
(DVD DRAMA F)

Jack Nicholson gave luminous performances in a slew of great movies in the 70s. This one is my favorite. He plays a former piano prodigy from a privileged family who chucks it all and aimlessly goes to work on an oil rig. When he learns his father is dying, he goes back home where the dysfunction he tried to escape continues. It’s full of memorable scenes and wonderful acting. One hilarious bit involves Helena Kallianiotes as a hitchhiker bemoaning the “crap” in the world. The film was nominated for four Oscars, including best picture and screenplay, best actor for Nicholson, and supporting actress for Karen Black, who plays his hapless girlfriend.

Bonus video clip: Diner scene from Five Easy Pieces

Klute (1971)
(DVD DRAMA K)

Jane Fonda won a well-deserved Oscar as a New York City call girl in this mystery cum character study. Donald Sutherland also stars as a detective investigating the disappearance of a friend who may or may not have been a client of Fonda’s. It’s a stylish and gritty look at the underworld of New York in the 70s. I first saw it when I was 13. I was quite enamored of Fonda, but the rest of it was lost on me. Now it’s not.

The Last Picture Show (1971)
(DVD DRAMA L)

This beautiful black and white film, based on the novel by Larry McMurtry, follows a year in the life of the denizens of a dying Texas town in the early 1950s. The central character is a sensitive high-schooler played by Timothy Bottoms. He gives a lovely performance, and I don’t know why he didn’t become a bigger star. It also put 22-year old Jeff Bridges on the map, and garnered him his first Oscar nod. The entire cast is superb. It was co-written (with McMurtry) and directed by then 31-year old Peter Bogdanovich, who only had two B movies to his credit.  He went on to direct many other movies, but none that got the acclaim that this one did. It’s not a happy movie, but it’s really good, and gets better every time you watch it.

What’s Up Doc? (1972)
(DVD COMEDY W)

Bogdanovich displayed his lighter side in this homage to the screwball comedies of the 30s and 40s. The action takes place in a San Francisco hotel where four of the guests all have the same suitcase. They get mixed up, and hilarity ensues. When I was 17, I was an usher in a movie theater where this played. I’m sure I saw it at least a dozen times over the course of the run. I watched it again about a year ago, and I still laughed out loud.

Thieves Like Us (1974)
(DVD Drama T)

This lesser known Robert Altman film is about the life and loves of a group of bank robbers in Depression-era Mississippi. Keith Carradine and Shelly Duvall make a cute, if offbeat, screen couple. This was on my must-see list for about 25 years, but I never got the chance until it was released on DVD in 2007. It was worth the wait.

Sleeper (1973)
(DVD Comedy S)

Annie Hall (1977)
(DVD Comedy A)

As a director, Woody Allen has been pretty hit and miss over the decades.  But you can’t go wrong with any of his '70s films. We own all of them at the library, and I’ve selected three here. In Sleeper, Woody plays a nebbish who was cryogenically frozen in the '70s, and is thawed out 200 years later. It’s typical of his early work, a non-stop series of gags. Somebody really ought to invent an orgasmatron. Annie Hall is the one that established Allen as a serious filmmaker. It’s a romantic comedy and much more. Just about every scene is a classic. It won Oscars for best picture, screenplay, director and actress (Diane Keaton). Manhattan is Woody’s love letter to his city. With its sharp script, lush black and white cinematography, and sublime George Gershwin score, I think it might be his masterpiece.