The Hollywood Renaissance

Recession 1969-71, production moratorium, National General Corp for CBS, Cinema Releasing Corp. for ABC;

"Hollywood's New Sensationalism," - Bonny and Clyde 1967 helped establish new Code and Rating Administration (CARA) in 1968 under Jack Valenti created ratings G, M, PG, R, X. The Wild Bunch, 1969; The Exorcist, 1974, by William Friedkin cost $9m and grossed $89m

Auteurism - Arthur Penn and Little Big Man, 1970; Stanley Kubrick and A Clockwork Orange, 1971; Sam Peckinpah and Straw Dogs, 1971; Robert Altman and M*A*S*H, 1970

Blockbuster syndrome - Love Story, 1972 by Robert Evans, 1st novelization by Erich Segal sold 30m copies; The Godfather, 1972 by Robert Evans with saturation booking in 350 first-run theaters at $4 tickets; King Kong, 1976, The Deep, 1977; romantic symphonic scoring

Disaster genre - Airport, 1970 in 70mm Todd-AO with special effects cost $10m and grossed $45m; The Poseidon Adventure, 1972 grossed $42m;

Youth-Cult genre - Easy Rider, 1969,

Western genre - A Man Called Horse, 1970; Soldeir Blue, 1970; Billy Jack, 1971; Blazzing Saddles, 1974

Gangster genre - The Godfather 1972, 1974; Dillinger, 1973 from AIP; Dog Day Afternoon, 1975

Detective genre - Dirty Harry, 1971, Magnum Force, 1973, The Enforcer, 1976, The Gauntlet, 1977 all with Clint Eastwood; The French Connection, 1971

Vigilante genre - Death Wish, 1974, with Charles Bronson; Walking Tall, 1973 with Joe Don Baker from AIP

Conspiracy genre - The Parallax View, 1974 with Warren Beatty, by Alan Pakula; The Conversation, 1974, with Gene Hackman, by Francis Ford Coppola; All the President's Men, 1976, with Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, by Alan Pakula; Three Days of the Condor, 1975, with Robert Redford, by Sydney Pollock

Horror genre - Last House on the Left, 1972, by Wes Craven; The Other, 1972, by Robert Mulligan;Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 1974; Dawn of the Dead, 1978, by George Romero; Halloween, 1978, by John Carpenter.

Science Fiction genre - Silent Running, 1971, with special effects by Douglas Trumbull and John Dykstra; The Andromeda Strain, 1971, by Robert Wise; THX-1138, 1971 by George Lucas; Soylent Green, 1973, by Robert Fleischer; Westworld, 1973, by Michael Crichton; Stepford Wives, 1975, by Bryan forbes; Rollerball, 1975; Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1977; Star Wars, 1977 began the film franchise, as did Superman, 1978 and Star Trek, 1979;

"high concept" films began with Jaws, 1975 by 26-year old Steven Spielberg, a return to early film's pre-narrative spectacle

records and films - A Star Is Born, 1976, grossed $37m; Saturday Night Fever, 1977, released album 6 weeks before film, sold 35m copies; Grease, 1978 grossed $96m and sold 24m albums


revised 12/1/05 by Steven Schoenherr at the University of San Diego | Filmnotes