Early 1970s: newspapers advertise pornography. 1972: over 30 dailies ban
reviews and ads of X films. Porno Chic: ex: Deep Throat (1972). – Gerard
Damiano.
Steven Spielberg and Jaws •
Cal State Long Beach > rejected from USC
•
TV work
•
The TV movie: Duel (1971) > suspense thriller very similar to Jaws in concept
Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975): •
Based on Peter Benchley's novel in 1973.
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Blockbuster strategy > Seasonal release.
•
Event Picture.
•
Saturation release > over 400 theaters
1st film to reach more than $100 million at box office $470 million worldwide Ancillary market / synergy Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
George Lucas and Star Wars USC Internship at Warner Bros. in 1968 Founded American Zoetrope with Coppola in 1969 THX 1138 (George Lucas, 1971) American Graffiti (George Lucas, 1973) Industrial Light and Magic in 1975 Star Wars (1977): $127 million in initial release Low salary to write and direct > but 40% of merchandising rights > 20th Century-Fox: worth $4 billion by 1999. Formed production company Lucasfilm, Ltd., 1979 Formed Pixar in 1979, sold to Steve Jobs in 1986, sold to Disney in 2006.
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Manufacturing a Blockbuster The Deep (Peter Yates, 1977 with Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset): $9M budget, over $30M box office / Columbia Pictures Peter Guber: – Pre-sold the film because of hard-back publication – Poster like that of Jaws – Behind-the-scenes in the Virgin Islands – Wet T-shirt – Product tie-ins (boat, watches, sportswear, cosmetic line) – Mass TV ads – Timed with paychecks of audiences Rising Cost of Production and Marketing (could be 3 times more than cost of making film) Tentpole films: companies needed one major blockbuster to survive Looking for a franchise
The X-rating and Sexuality X rating: 1968 > Valenti was initially against “adult only” ratings Convinced by theater owners > demand X rating: not copyrighted / pornographers could self-administer the rating: impression of MPAA approval. Difficult to distinguish between Adult films (Midnight Cowboy) and Pornography > 1990: NC-17 – A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971) – Last Tango in Paris (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1972) – Carnal Knowledge (Mike Nichols, 1971)
1969-1970: 1/3 of films submitted to MPAA cut their films to receive an R > stigma of X
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The X-rating and Sexuality Early 1970s: newspapers advertise pornography 1972: over 30 dailies ban reviews and ads of X films Porno Chic: ex: Deep Throat (1972) – Gerard Damiano – With Linda Lovelace – $24,000 – Box office: over $20 million – Highest grossing film of the year – Widely attended by middle-class audiences – Reviewed by major newspapers like the New York Times -The Devil in Miss Jones (1972) Created controversy > political and cultural debates
Blaxploitation
New demographic: the black urban audience First all-black film to be a crossover box-office hit: Cotton Comes to Harlem (Ossie Davis, 1970) Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (Melvin Van Peebles, 1971) – Fully independent / All black crew – Young criminal on the run / violent, sexual anti-hero / X rated – Aimed at urban black audiences – Designed to upset white audiences: militancy, sex, anti-white sentiment, revenge theme, violence Hollywood style Blaxploitation: – Shaft (Gordon Parks, 1971) – Superfly (Gordon Park, Jr., 1972)
Over 200 films made > mostly non-black crew Foxy Brown (Jack Hill, 1974) with Pam Grier > All female version
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Disaster Films Exploiting new possibilities in Special Effects Airport (George Seaton, 1970) and sequels/ franchise
Irwin Allen: producer The Poseidon Adventure (Ronald Neame, 1972) and sequel
The Towering Inferno (John Guillermin, Irwin Allen, 1974): with Paul Newman and Steve McQueen Earthquake (1974), Meteor (1979), and others
Horror New possibilities with content / violence and sexuality led to new Horror film Low-budget phenomenon: – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974): Leatherface – $83,000 budget > over $35M boxoffice Supernatural: – Carrie (Brian de Palma, 1976): first Stephen King novel – With Sissy Spacek Slasher: – Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978) with Jamie Lee Curtis (daughter of Janet Leigh)
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Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)
With: – Woody Allen – Diane Keaton Won 4 Academy Awards: – Best Actress – Best Director – Best Film – Best Screenplay
Week 6 Questions
• What is your reaction to Annie Hall? • What makes this film innovative? What conventions does Woody Allen break in this film? Explain. • Would you say this film is influenced by Art Cinema? Why or why not? • Compare this film to the other films we have seen in this class -what are the similarities, the differences? Are there consistencies in the 1970s films we’ve seen?
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New Markets: HBO and VCR Home Box Office (1972): first pay/premium TV channel 1975: satellites for transmission of programming 1983: original programming VCR: • 1963: Ampex > $30,000 • 1972: AVCO CartriVision system > films • 1976: Sony’s Betamax > $2,000 • 1976: JVC’s VHS > lower quality • Studios began authorizing releases of films for video > Paramount, then 20th Century Fox • 1977: RCA sells first VHS machine in U.S. • 1977: Video Station in LA • 1984: Supreme Court > not illegal to copy films for personal use • Pornography on tape • Independent films direct to video • Theater attendance decreases
Vietnam on Film During Vietnam War 1959-1975 > few films about the war – The Green Berets (John Wayne, 1968) with government support – First TV war / difficult to find the reasons / villain Focus on War Veterans return to the U.S.: – Chrome and Hot Leather (Lee Frost, 1971): Exploitation films / Biker films – Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin, 1971): Violent vets > $60 million in box office – Returned home veteran turned violent vigilantes After the War: emotional responses > lacks realism: – Coming Home (Hal Ashby, 1978) – The Deerhunter (Michael Cimino, 1978) – Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979) – Praised, but also criticized for their lack of specificity
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Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
With: – – – –
Marlon Brando Martin Sheen Robert Duvall Dennis Hopper
Produced by: Zoetrope Studios 8 Oscar Nominations -- won 2 for Cinematography and for Sound A “surreal” depiction of the war in Vietnam.
Week 7 Questions
• What is your reaction to Apocalypse Now ? • How does this film represent the Vietnam War? Give specific examples. • Do you consider this a realistic depiction of the Vietnam War or perhaps a mythic/fantasy representation? Or perhaps both? Describe scenes that support your argument. • Describe the impact the Vietnam war has on the men in Vietnam. Why do you think Colonel Walter Kurtz (Marlon Brando) has secluded himself within the Vietnamese jungle? What does his action represent? • Do you see any relation between this film and other 1970’s films we have watched? In terms of story, style, and/or theme?
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