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1971 Movies

Take a nostalgic look back at the top movies of 1971, celebrating the films, directors and actors that defined the year and left a lasting legacy in the world of entertainment.

1971 Academy Awards

A Clockwork Orange
Written by: Stanley Kubrick
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke, John Clive
Country: United States of America
Outline: In a dystopian future, a delinquent undergoes controversial aversion therapy to curb his violent tendencies.
source: imdb.com
The Last Picture Show
Written by: Larry McMurtry
Directed by: Peter Bogdanovich
Starring: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Ellen Burstyn, Cloris Leachman
Country: United States of America
Outline: A group of friends in a small Texas town navigate love, loss, and the end of an era in the early 1950s.
source: imdb.com
Fiddler on the Roof
Written by: Joseph Stein
Directed by: Norman Jewison
Starring: Topol, Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, Molly Picon, Paul Mann
Country: United States of America
Outline: A Jewish milkman in Tsarist Russia struggles to maintain his traditions amidst changing times and family dynamics.
source: imdb.com
The French Connection
Written by: Ernest Tidyman, Robin Moore, William Friedkin
Directed by: William Friedkin
Starring: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey, Tony Lo Bianco, Marcel Bozzuffi
Country: United States of America
Outline: A pair of NYPD detectives in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a heroin smuggling ring based in Marseilles, but stopping them and capturing their leaders proves an elusive goal.
source: imdb.com
Dirty Harry
Written by: Harry Julian Fink, Rita M. Fink, Dean Riesner
Directed by: Don Siegel
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni, John Vernon, Andrew Robinson
Country: United States of America
Outline: San Francisco Inspector 'Dirty' Harry Callahan is on the trail of a psychotic serial killer who is terrorizing the city.
source: imdb.com
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Written by: Roald Dahl
Directed by: Mel Stuart
Starring: Gene Wilder, Peter Ostrum, Roy Kinnear, Julie Dawn Cole, Leonard Stone
Country: United States of America
Outline: A poor boy wins the opportunity to tour the most eccentric and wonderful candy factory of all.
source: imdb.com
Walkabout
Written by: Edward Bond, Nicolas Roeg
Directed by: Nicolas Roeg
Starring: Jenny Agutter, Luc Roeg, David Gulpilil, John Meillon, John Illingsworth
Country: Australia
Outline: An English girl and her brother are stranded in the Australian outback and are rescued by an Aboriginal boy on his 'walkabout'.
source: imdb.com
Macbeth
Written by: William Shakespeare, Roman Polanski
Directed by: Roman Polanski
Starring: Jon Finch, Francesca Annis, Nicholas Selby, John Stride, Terence Bayler
Country: United States of America
Outline: A ruthlessly ambitious Scottish lord seizes the throne with the help of his wife and a trio of witches.
source: imdb.com
The Last Valley
Written by: James Clavell
Directed by: James Clavell
Starring: Michael Caine, Omar Sharif, Florinda Bolkan, Nigel Davenport, Per Oscarsson
Country: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Outline: During the Thirty Years' War, a German mercenary and a teacher discover a peaceful valley untouched by conflict. They decide to shelter there, leading to complex interactions with the local villagers.
source: en.wikipedia.org
A New Leaf
Written by: Elaine May
Directed by: Elaine May
Starring: Walter Matthau, Elaine May, Jack Weston, George Rose, James Coco
Country: United States of America
Outline: A wealthy New York playboy, having squandered his inheritance, plans to marry a rich woman and then kill her to inherit her wealth. However, his plans are complicated when he falls in love with his intended victim.
source: en.wikipedia.org
Summer of '42
Written by: Herman Raucher
Directed by: Robert Mulligan
Starring: Jennifer O'Neill, Gary Grimes, Jerry Houser, Oliver Conant, Catherine Burns
Country: United States of America
Outline: A young man experiences love and loss during the summer of 1942 on Nantucket Island, as he befriends a widow whose husband is away at war.
source: imdb.com
Two-Lane Blacktop
Written by: Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz
Directed by: Monte Hellman
Starring: James Taylor, Dennis Wilson, Laurie Bird, Warren Oates, Harry Dean Stanton
Country: United States of America
Outline: Two drifters, a mechanic and a driver, travel across the American Southwest in their customized car, challenging a man to a cross-country race.
source: imdb.com
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Written by: Penelope Gilliatt
Directed by: John Schlesinger
Starring: Glenda Jackson, Peter Finch, Murray Head, Paul Copley, John Quentin
Country: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Outline: A London doctor and a married man share a lover, leading to complex emotional dynamics and a reevaluation of their relationships.
source: imdb.com
The Panic in Needle Park
Written by: Joan Didion, John Gregory Dunne
Directed by: Jerry Schatzberg
Starring: Al Pacino, Kitty Winn, Alan Vint
Country: United States of America
Outline: A fragile romance unfolds against the backdrop of 1970s New York in this unsparing look at heroin addiction, scripted by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne and directed by Jerry Schatzberg. Taking its title from a nickname for the Upper West Side park where heroin users once congregated, The Panic in Needle Park stars Al Pacino in his first major film role as a junkie who falls in love with a young homeless woman (Kitty Winn, winner of the best actress award at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival)—leading them both down a dangerous path of addiction, crime, and desperation.
source: imdb.com
Carnal Knowledge
Written by: Jules Feiffer
Directed by: Mike Nichols
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, Art Garfunkel, Ann-Margret, Rita Moreno, Cynthia O'Neal
Country: United States of America
Outline: Carnal Knowledge is a 1971 American comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Jules Feiffer. It stars Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, Art Garfunkel, and Ann-Margret, with Rita Moreno and Cynthia O'Neal.
source: en.wikipedia.org
They Might Be Giants
Written by: James Goldman
Directed by: Anthony Harvey
Starring: George C. Scott, Joanne Woodward, Jack Gilford, John Houseman, Jack Warden
Country: United States of America
Outline: They Might Be Giants is a 1971 American comedy film directed by Anthony Harvey and written by James Goldman. It stars George C. Scott and Joanne Woodward.
source: en.wikipedia.org
Play Misty for Me
Written by: Jo Heims
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter, Donna Mills
Country: United States of America
Outline: Play Misty for Me is a 1971 American psychological thriller film directed by Clint Eastwood, who also stars in the film. The screenplay was written by Jo Heims, and the film also stars Jessica Walter and Donna Mills.
source: en.wikipedia.org
Sometimes a Great Notion
Written by: Ken Kesey
Directed by: Paul Newman
Starring: Paul Newman, Henry Fonda, Michael Sarrazin, Lee Remick, Richard Jaeckel
Country: United States of America
Outline: Sometimes a Great Notion is a 1971 American drama film directed by Paul Newman, who also stars in the film. The screenplay was adapted from Ken Kesey's novel of the same name.
source: en.wikipedia.org
Valdez Is Coming
Written by: Roland Kibbee, David Rayfiel
Directed by: Edwin Sherin
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Susan Clark, Jon Cypher, Frank Silvera, Richard Jordan, Phil Brown, Barton Heyman, Héctor Elizondo, Ralph Brown, Werner Hasselmann, Lex Monson, Sylvia Poggioli
Country: United States of America
Outline: A Mexican-American sheriff, Bob Valdez, seeks justice after being tricked into killing an innocent man by a powerful rancher, Frank Tanner.
source: imdb.com
Support Your Local Gunfighter
Written by: William Bowers
Directed by: Burt Kennedy
Starring: James Garner, Suzanne Pleshette, Jack Elam, Harry Morgan, John Dehner, Walter Brennan, Henry Jones, Bruce Dern, Gene Evans, John Milford, Royal Dano, John Qualen
Country: United States of America
Outline: A con artist arrives in a small Western town and is mistaken for a famous gunfighter, leading to comedic situations.
source: imdb.com
The Grissom Gang
Written by: Lorenzo Semple Jr.
Directed by: Robert Aldrich
Starring: Kim Darby, Scott Wilson, Tony Musante, Paul Koslo, John Savage, John Houseman, William Smith, John Marley, John Larch, John McGiver, John Hoyt, John Dehner
Country: United States of America
Outline: A young woman becomes involved with a gang of criminals, leading to a series of violent events.
source: imdb.com
Man in the Wilderness
Written by: Jack DeWitt
Directed by: Richard C. Sarafian
Starring: Richard Harris, John Huston, Henry Wilcoxon, Prunella Ransome, Percy Herbert, Dennis Waterman, Norman Rossington, James Doohan, Bryan Marshall, Ben Carruthers, John Bindon, Robert Russell
Country: United States of America
Outline: In 1820, a fur trapper named Zachary Bass is mauled by a bear and left for dead by his companions. He survives and seeks revenge against those who abandoned him.
source: imdb.com
THX 1138
Written by: George Lucas
Directed by: George Lucas
Starring: Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence, Maggie McOmie, Don Pedro Colley, Sid Haig, Michael Sacks, Ian Wolfe, Bob Falfa, Alan Gelfant, Alan Oppenheimer, Alan Sues, Alan Gelfant
Country: United States of America
Outline: In a dystopian future, a man named THX 1138 attempts to escape a totalitarian society that controls every aspect of human life.
source: imdb.com
Diamonds Are Forever
Written by: Richard Maibaum, Tom Mankiewicz, Ian Fleming
Directed by: Guy Hamilton
Starring: Sean Connery, Jill St. John, Charles Gray
Country: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Outline: James Bond investigates a diamond smuggling operation that leads him to Las Vegas, where he uncovers a plot involving a wealthy business tycoon.
source: imdb.com