Movies: 2833

Dirty Money (1972) is a crime thriller film, the final work of director Jean-Pierre Melville before his passing the following year. On a rainy winter day in Saint-Jean-de-Monts, France, Simon and his three accomplices carry out a bank heist. The team consists of Marc Albouis and Paul Weber, who enter the bank with Simon, and Louis Costa, their designated getaway driver who remains outside. As they prepare to leave the scene, a teller triggers the alarm and Marc is caught in the crossfire, ultimately causing him to shoot and fatally wound the teller. The group flees with only a portion of their intended loot and heads ...

Sisters (1972) is a psychological horror film by American director Brian De Palma. Advertising salesman Philip Woode earns a dinner for two at a Manhattan restaurant on a Candid Camera-style TV show. During the prank, he is charmed by Danielle Breton, a young French Canadian model and aspiring actress, who he agrees to take as his date. After their dinner, they head back to her Staten Island apartment for intimacy. The following morning, she reveals that her twin sister Dominique has arrived to celebrate their birthday. At her request, Philip runs to the drug store and picks up a birthday cake on his way back. However, ...

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) is a science fiction movie directed by J. Lee Thompson and written by Paul Dehn. Set in a future where a space-borne disease has wiped out all dogs and cats, the government has established police states modeled after the Schutzstaffel. These states have taken in chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans as pets and have built a culture around using them for slave labor. This was predicted in 1973 by two chimpanzee scientists known as Cornelius and Zira, who were unfortunately killed for their testimony. Although believed to be ...

The Godfather (1972) is an American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo’s best-selling 1969 novel of the same name. Set in 1945, it tells the story of Vito Corleone, the powerful don of the New York City Corleone family. During his daughter Connie’s wedding to Carlo, Vito receives requests from various guests. At the reception, his son Michael introduces his girlfriend Kay Adams to the family. Johnny Fontane, a popular singer and ...

Play It Again, Sam (1972) is a comedic film written and starring Woody Allen. The movie, based on Allen’s play of the same name, takes place in San Francisco and opens with the final scenes of Casablanca featuring legends Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Our main character, Allan Felix, is at the theater watching with his mouth agape as he longs to be like Rick. He is haunted by visions of Bogart and memories of his ex-wife Nancy, who constantly belittled him for his sexual inadequacy during their turbulent divorce. Trying to lift his spirits, Allan’s ...

The American sex comedy anthology film, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask (1972), was directed by Woody Allen. Its inspiration came from David Reuben’s book of the same name published in 1969. As the film opens and closes, a multitude of white rabbits appears behind the credits, accompanied by Cole Porter’s Let’s Misbehave. Overall, the film is made up of seven separate vignettes. 1. Do Aphrodisiacs Work? A ...

The American drama film Season of the Witch (1972), written and directed by George A. Romero, follows the story of Joan Mitchell, a dissatisfied 39-year-old housewife living in suburban Pittsburgh with her husband Jack and college student daughter Nikki. Despite being attractive, Joan is unhappy with her role as a homemaker while Jack is successful but often absent on business trips and displays domineering and occasionally violent behavior. To cope with her recurring dreams about her controlling husband, Joan seeks help from a psychotherapist. As Jack continues to make comments about needing to assert his dominance, he ...

The American disaster film, The Poseidon Adventure (1972), directed by Ronald Neame, follows the journey of the SS Poseidon, an ocean liner headed from New York to Athens in the Aegean Sea. Despite Captain Harrison’s concerns about safety, the new owner’s representative insists on traveling at full speed to cut costs, resulting in Poseidon being unable to take on ballast. Also onboard are Reverend Frank Scott, who believes in self-help and is being sent to Africa as punishment for his unorthodox views; Detective Lieutenant Mike Rogo and his wife Linda, who struggles with seasickness; siblings Susan Shelby ...

Based on the eponymous novel by Jim Thompson, The Getaway (1972) is an American action thriller film directed by Sam Peckinpah. Despite serving four years of his ten-year sentence for armed robbery, Carter ‘Doc’ McCoy is denied parole from a Texas prison. Desperate to gain his freedom, he urges his wife Carol to seek assistance from Jack Beynon – a corrupt businessman and member of the parole board in San Antonio. Thanks to Beynon’s intervention, Doc is released under the condition that he orchestrate a bank heist with two accomplices: Rudy Butler ...

Martin Scorsese’s film, Boxcar Bertha (1972), tells the story of a young southern girl, Bertha Thompson, who becomes orphaned after her father’s crop-dusting plane crashes. With the onset of the Great Depression, Bertha turns to freighthopping as a means of survival. It is during this time that she meets and falls in love with Big Bill Shelly, a union organizer. Along with Rake Brown and Von Morton, former employee of Bertha’s father, they unintentionally embark on a series of train and bank robberies. As their notoriety grows, they must face off against H. Buckram Sartoris, an influential railway boss ...

Shaft (1971), an American blaxploitation crime action thriller film directed by Gordon Parks and written by Ernest Tidyman and John D. F. Black, is based on Tidyman’s novel of the same name and marks the first installment in the Shaft film series. In January of that year, private detective John Shaft receives word that a group of gangsters are after him. quickly taking action, he confronts one of them in his office building and forces him to lead him to their ...

In his directorial debut, Clint Eastwood brings us the American psychological thriller film, Play Misty for Me (1971). The story follows Dave Garver, a radio DJ at KRML who often incorporates poetry into his nightly broadcasts from Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. After a shift at the station, Dave heads to his favorite bar where he plays a game with the bartender involving corks and bottle caps. It is here that he catches the eye of Evelyn Draper, who reveals that she purposely sought him out after hearing about the bar on his show. As they drive back to her place, it becomes clear that Evelyn is the recurring caller who ...

Dirty Harry (1971), the first installment in the famous action-thriller Dirty Harry series, was produced and directed by Don Siegel. The film follows SFPD Inspector Harry Callahan as he investigates a murder committed by a psychopathic sniper known as ‘Scorpio’ on a San Francisco skyscraper rooftop pool. After discovering a threatening letter left behind by Scorpio demanding $100,000 to spare more lives, Callahan teams up with the mayor and the police to track down the killer. Despite objections from Callahan, the mayor agrees to meet Scorpio’s demand as a stalling tactic. During his lunch ...

Once Upon a Time in the Revolution (1971) is a sprawling Zapata Western film helmed by renowned director and co-writer, Sergio Leone. Set in revolution-torn 1913 Mexico, the story follows outlaw Juan Miranda as he leads his bandit family in a daring robbery of wealthy men, which also includes the assault of a female passenger who had insulted him. While on his motorcycle, Irish Republican explosives expert John H. Mallory happens to pass by and is drawn into Juan’s world as he poses as ‘Seán’. Despite initially refusing to join forces with Juan, he soon finds himself framed for murder and on the run ...

The film, Le Mans (1971), directed by Lee H. Katzin and starring Steve McQueen, revolves around a fictional 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race. Top-notch driver Michael Delaney comes across Lisa, the widow of his former rival Piero Belgetti, purchasing flowers before the big race. He takes a trip to the location where Belgetti tragically passed away in a car accident the previous year. As he recalls the moment when Belgetti lost control of his Ferrari, causing both their cars to crash, Lisa – like many others – blames Delaney for the tragedy. At the race, she is visibly upset ...

Get Carter (1971), a British gangster film and the directorial debut of Mike Hodges, follows the story of Jack Carter, a London-based gangster originally from Newcastle. He works for the notorious crime bosses Gerald and Sid Fletcher, but has been carrying on an affair with Gerald’s girlfriend Anna. Jack is planning to escape with her to South America, but first he must attend his brother Frank’s funeral in Newcastle, who supposedly died in a drunk driving accident. Despite warnings from his bosses to avoid trouble due to the friendship between Gerald and the Newcastle mob, Jack decides to investigate ...

Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), an American sci-fi film directed by Don Taylor and written by Paul Dehn, follows three chimpanzees (Cornelius, Zira, and Dr. Milo) who flee Earth before its destruction. Using Taylor’s ship, they travel through a time warp and end up on present-day Earth, specifically the Pacific coast of the United States. The apes are eventually taken to the Los Angeles Zoo and placed under the care of friendly scientists Dr. Stephanie Branton and Dr. Lewis Dixon. However, their stay is cut short when Milo is killed by a gorilla at the ...

The American musical fantasy film, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), was directed by Mel Stuart. The screenplay was written by Roald Dahl, based on his novel from 1964 titled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The protagonist of the story is Charlie Bucket, a poor paperboy who often gazes at the candy shop but lacks the means to make any purchases. One evening, as he’s walking home, he stumbles upon Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. A tinker informs him that no one ever goes in or out of the building. Charlie’s bedridden Grandpa Joe ...

The film, The Beguiled (1971), directed by Don Siegel and starring Clint Eastwood, is a Southern Gothic psychological thriller set during the American Civil War. In rural Mississippi, young Amy discovers a gravely injured Union soldier named John McBurney. Despite initial plans to turn him over to Confederate soldiers, headmistress Martha Farnsworth decides to nurse him back to health within the gated enclosure of her all-girls school. John is confined to the music room and closely monitored. However, he catches the eye of Edwina, an inexperienced teacher, and Carol, a ...

Woody Allen’s Bananas (1971) follows the story of Fielding Mellish, a neurotic blue-collar worker. His attempts to impress social activist Nancy lead him to the fictional ‘banana republic’ of San Marcos, which is undergoing a coup d’état led by Gen. Emilio Molina Vargas. Despite his efforts to show compassion for the local people, Mellish becomes entangled in the political turmoil when Vargas orders his own men to kill him as part of a plan to gain financial aid from the U.S. Although Mellish narrowly escapes these assassination attempts, he is eventually captured by the real rebels and declared ...