At The Movies---1971!

I apologize for the much longer than expected intermission since my last At The Movies posting. Between getting ready for next week's (March 25-26) Sing-Out Reunion and taking a little vacation, time has gotten away from me.

But now, I'm back and let's take a final look back at the Best Picture nominees during our years together with Sing-Out South. 1971 saw the first R-rated movie win the Best Picture Oscar, THE FRENCH CONNECTION. That came two years after the first X-rated film won, MIDNIGHT COWBOY. Seems a little odd but that's the way it happened in Hollywood.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION is a movie drama (based on reality) that follows the exploits of New York City Police Detective "Popeye" Doyle. It specifically follows efforts to stop a narcotics smuggling operation that brought in drugs from Marseille, France and NYC.

The film made Gene Hickman a superstar as he took Best Actor honors for his portrayal of "Popeye" Doyle. In addition to Best Picture and Actor, the film also garnered 3 other Oscars for a total of 5, after earning 8 nominations. The other Academy Awards it won include Best Director (which almost always goes to the Best Picture winner), Best Film Editing and Best Screenplay Adapted From Another Medium. The film has been added for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Here's a look back through a movie trailer promoting the picture....



Somewhat ironically, one of the movies THE FRENCH CONNECTION beat out for the Best Picture Oscar was another film rated both R (and in some versions X), A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, produced, written and directed by Stanley Kubrick (of 2001:A SPACE ODYSSEY fame).

A darkly satirical film with strong sexual violence themes and considered now both a horror and a science fiction movie, it was nominated for 4 Oscars but won none. Here's a trailer from the movie (which I never saw and have little desire to see even today)...



There were three other Best Picture nominees in 1971. One was one of my favorite musicals, the film adaptation of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF.

Based on the Broadway play, it won 3 Academy Awards for Best Score, Best Cinematography and Best Sound. The picture follows the life of Tevye and his Jewish family in a small village in Tsarist Russia in 1905. Here's an original movie trailer about the film and its wonderful, enduring musical score....



Another movie nominated for Best Picture in 1971 also has a Russian theme, NICHOLAS and ALEXANDRA. In fact, you might call the film, as compared to FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, the other part, or the rest of the story outlining the events leading up to the Russian Revolution in 1917. A biographical drama, it portrays the ill-fated lives of the last Czar of Russia, Nicholas, and his wife, Alexandria. Nominated for 6 Academy Awards it won 2, for Best Art Direction--Set Decoration and Best Costume Design. Here's the movie trailer from 1971...

The final Best Picture nominee for 1971 was THE LAST PICTURE SHOW.

A coming of age film set in a small Texas town during the early days of the Korean War in the 1950s, the drama, directed by Peter Bagdanovich, features a very strong cast, including, in the starring roles, Jeff Bridges and Timothy Bottoms. The picture also contains the debut performances of Cybil Sheperd (from Memphis, Tennessee)and Randy Quaid. Shot in black and white and using contemporary hit songs from the era, the movie was nominated for 8 Academy Awards and won 2 (Best Supporting Actor--Ben Johnson and Best Supporting Actress--Cloris Lechman). Other notable actors in the picture include Ellen Burstyn and Eileen Brennan. That's quite a cast.

Here's a movie trailer promoting the film in 1971...



This concludes our look back At The Movies for the years we were together in Sing-Out South and Up With People. I hope you have enjoyed it and that it brought back some nice memories. You may have also noticed how much the movies and our culture was changing back in those times.