Category Archives: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Celine and Julie Go Boating (Céline et Julie vont en bateau: Phantom Ladies Over Paris)
Directed by Jacques Rivette
Rivette and female members of cast credited with writing the scenario; Eduardo de Gregorio (dialogue); stories in film within the film based on works by Henry James
1974/France
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Julie: It doesn’t hurt to fall off the moon.

Nothing exactly happens in this three-hour film within a film.  But somehow it kept me engaged.

Julie (Dominique Labourier) spots Celine (Juliet Berto) who is strewing a bunch of her possessions on the ground as she departs a park bench.  Julie chases down Celine to return them.  They become friends and go on all kinds of crazy adventures.

They form a unique bond that allows them to create a private film when they suck on hard candies.  The film is a melodrama involving a man whose dying wife extracts a promise never to remarry.  This story repeats itself and grows more bizarre as it progresses. Eventually Celine and Julie enter into the world of the melodrama and interact with the characters to change the outcome.  With Bulle Olgier, Marie-France Pisier, and Barbet Schroeder as characters in the film within a film.  Do not come expecting any boating.

Absent any coherent story, your enjoyment and mine will depend on how amusing you find the shenanigans of our two crazy young heroines. I found them moderately amusing. Perhaps not 3 hrs. 14 min. worth of amusing, but amusing.  It’s kind of like a late Buñuel film if all the principal characters were female.  No pretension involved.  I won’t be watching again but I’m glad I saw it once.

The Towering Inferno
Directed by John Guillerman
Written by Sterling Silliphant based on The Tower by Richard Martin Stern and The Glass Inferno by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson
1974/USA
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime purchase
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

James Duncan: Senator Parker is flying in for the dedication tonight. And he’s almost guaranteed to sign the Urban Renewal Contract. Now do you know what that means? Skyscrapers like this all over the country! You design ’em, I’ll build ’em.
Doug Roberts: Don’t you think you’re suffering from an edifice complex?

There was a day when you could make an explosive-filled summer blockbuster about a skyscraper that is rapidly going up in flames, the higher the body count the better.    That day passed for me on September 11, 2001

Although this is still early in the cycle of disaster movies, the genre seems to be settling on a few common tropes.  The disaster coincides with a major event that attracts the rich and famous, here a party celebrating the dedication of San Francisco’s latest landmark, the tallest skyscraper in the world.

The party is hosted by Jim Duncan (William Holden) who is the president of the huge construction firm that built the building.  Also attending are the architect for the project Doug Roberts (Paul Newman) and his fiancee Susan (Faye Dunaway).  Doug gets called away from the party by news that there is some suspicious electrical work.  Not long after this we see a small fire break out in a utility room.

Nobody but Doug wants to spoil the party and evacuate the building. Even the heroism of Fire Chief O’Halloran (Steve McQueen) can’t stop the fire from going completely out of control. Many risky tactics are tried to save lives.

We also explore a few sub-plots to heighten the melodrama.  One concerns Jim’s  daughter Patty and her contemptible cost-cutting husband Simmons (Richard Chamberlin).  One concerns a con-man (Fred Astaire) who tries to sell fake stocks to a painter (Jennifer Jones). Before their romance can blossom, however, Jennifer makes herself responsible for the rescue of a deaf woman and her children.  With OJ Simpson as a security guard; Robert Vaughn as a Senator; and Robert Wagner as a philanderer.

This is a special effects extravaganza and the effects and stirring music are the real reason to see what otherwise is a trite melodrama.  I had a very hard time watching the people on fire jumping from the building, etc.  It’s not a movie I will return to.

The Towering Inferno won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing and Best Music, Original Song (“We May Never Love Like This Again”).  The film was nominated for Best Picture; Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Fred Astaire); Best Art Decoration – Best Set Decoration; Best Sound; and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score (John Williams)

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Directed by Tobe Hooper
Written by Kim Hinkel and Tobe Hooper
1974/US
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Jerry: That’s the last goddamn hitchhiker I ever pick up.

That Marilyn Burns may be the best screamer in the history of movie screamers.

Five teenagers travel to back-of-beyond rural Texas to look into the reported desecration of a grandfather’s grave. They find the grave is intact and go looking for the old family place.  Before they find it they pick up a Hitchhiker.  Shortly thereafter they learn he is a homicidal maniac.  They are able to eject the Hitchhiker from the van but catch up with him at the gas station, which just so happens to be out of gasoline.  We learn that the Hitchhiker’s family are all in the meat businesses from the slaughter house to the diner near the gas station.  Furthermore, they occupy grampa’s house.

The teens are lured to the place, which is disgustingly dirty and decorated with furnishings made with animal hides and bones.  Closer examination reveals that some of these objects are from human remains. Then the teenagers are introduced to Leatherface and his chainsaw.

I can definitely understand why this film is on The List.  It challenges the formerly unspoken limits of horror in so many different ways, blending disgust with effective scares. Actually, it may be the most horrifying movie I have ever seen. There’s also a nice grisly wit to it.  It did exactly what it set out to do, so I guess it’s a 10/10 in that regard.  But on my “do I want to see more of this kind of thing” scale it get’s a “not really”.

Young Frankenstein
Directed by Mel Brooks
Written by Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder based on characters in the novel by Mary Shelley
1974/USA
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/my DVD collection
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Igor, help me with the bags.
Igor: [Imitating Groucho Marx] Soitenly. You take the blonde, I’ll take the one in the toiben.

1974 was quite a year for movies and an unbelievable year for Mel Brooks.  This horror spoof is my favorite of his movies and the humor holds up beautifully.

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder), grandson of the original Dr. Frankenstein, is a professor of neuroscience in America.  He denounces his famous ancestor.  However, he can’t resist an invitation to Transylvania to claim his inheritance.  He must part from Elizabeth (Madeline Kahn), his standoffish fiancee.

He is greeted by Igor (Marty Feldman), his hunchbacked assistant, and by Inga (Teri Garr) who looks most suitable for a more intimate kind of “assistance”.  Creepy housekeeper Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman), whose very name makes the horses whinny completes the household.  The townspeople are suspicious of Frederick’s intentions and put Inspector Kemp (Kenneth Mars) on the case.

Once in the castle, Frederick is lured to its famous laboratory and can’t help replicating his ancestor’s experiment.  It works remarkably well as the Monster (Peter Boyle) proves to be quite trainable.  With Gene Hackman as a blind hermit.

This movie is a laugh a minute, maybe more than that.  I prefer it to Blazing Saddles (1974) because the concept is kept so pure.  There is a real love and understanding of the old Universal monster movies here.  The jokes are hilarious but suitable to the theme.  I’ve always loved this movie and I probably always will.  Highly recommended.

Young Frankenstein was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Writing, Screenplay Adapted From Other Material and Best Sound.

Blazing Saddles
Directed by Mel Brooks
Written by Mel Brooks, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor etc. etc.
1974/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Jim: [consoling Bart, who is upset that his attempts to be cordial with the citizens of Rock Ridge led to him being racially insulted] What did you expect? “Welcome, sonny”? “Make yourself at home”? “Marry my daughter”? You’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know… morons.

Not politically correct, but very funny.

The tale takes place in 1874.  Bart (Cleavon Little) is working on a chain gang laying railroad tracks.  He is sent to investigate some quicksand up ahead, of course falling into it with a buddy.  Soon he is standing in line to be hung.  The railroad will have to be shifted and is now slated to go through the town of Rock Ridge.  Evil political hack Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman) decides the best way to lower property values in Rock Ridge would be to send the town a Black sheriff.  Thus Bart is spared and heads to Rock Ridge.

Bart sets himself up in the jail and meets ex-sharpshooter “Waco Kid” Jim (Gene Wilder) who is now a common drunk.  But the two become friends and allies and Jim sobers up. It’s the two of them against the whole racist town.  But Bart has unusual smarts and is determined to do his job and protect the town.  Hedley hires saloon singer Lili von Shtupp (Madeline Kahn) to seduce Bart and find out what he’s up to.  This has the opposite effect and now Hedley has three foes instead of two.

Bart and Jim cook up an elaborate plan to build a replica of Rock Creek and lure the bad guys to the wrong town.  After an epic brawl, the fourth wall is breached and the fight takes over the Warner Bros. lot.  With Slim Pickins as the railroad foreman and Mel Brooks in a double role as randy Governor Le Petomane and another as an Indian Chief.

This movie seems to have grown on me over the years.  It is chock full of bad puns, fart jokes, double entendres, and physical humor.  Brooks got the final cut on the picture and left every outrageous bit in.  For example, the movie ends with a huge pie fight.  Some of it is kind of juvenile but mostly it’s a laugh a minute.  Recommended

The Conversation
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Written by Francis Ford Coppola
1974/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Harry Caul: If there’s one sure fire rule that I have learned in this business is… I don’t know anything about human nature. I don’t know anything about curiousity. That’s not part of what I do.

Sadly, this film is more relevant than ever.  It’s my favorite film by Coppola and my favorite performance by Gene Hackman

Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) is one of the best surveillance men in the business.  He has been hired by the director of a powerful company (Robert Duvall) to find out what his young wife Ann (Cindy Williams) is up to.  We watch as Harry and his colleagues try to capture a conversation Ann has with Mark (Frederic Forrest at lunchtime in a busy park in San Francisco.  The sound quality isn’t too great but Harry has the conversation recorded from multiple devices in various locations and by carefully splicing tapes together and cleaning up the sound, the conversation comes together.  He tries to deliver this to the director but he is out of the office.  He refuses to give the tape to creepy executive Martin Stett (Harrison Ford).

We learn that Harry, the ultimate eavesdropper, guards his own privacy zealously.  He won’t even tell Amy (Terri Garr) the most basic details of his life.  He always drops in on her without previous announcement.  Amy tries and fails to get Harry to open up on his birthday. She tells him she is not going to wait for him any more.  This gets under his skin but does not disturb his stoic exterior.

Harry goes to a trade convention and brings a few colleagues back to his office for a little party that allows the one of the guests to steal his tape.  Harry can put this back together. After listening to the tape over and over, Harry becomes convinced that the couple are in great danger of being murdered.  I will stop here.  With John Cazale as one of Harry’s employees

Hackman is fantastic in this movie.  His character forced him to restrain his performance and he is believable the whole way through.  I felt so sorry for him by the end.  He wasn’t even nominated for an Oscar. The winner was Art Carney who prevailed over Albert Finney, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman.   The script is  really clever and engaging.  The time flew by.  I love David Shire’ jazz piano score.  Another movie that is extremely rewatchable even though you know the whole story.  Highly recommended.

The Conversation was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Picture, Best Writing, Original Screenplay and, fittingly, Best Sound

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974) (Angst essen Seele Auf)
Directed by Ranier Werner Fassbinder
Written by Ranier Werner Fassbinder
1974/West Germany
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Emmi Kurowski: But when we’re together, we must be nice to each other. Otheriwse, life’s not worth living.

I love Fassbinder’s melodramatic take on prejudice and racism.

Emmi Kurowski (Brigitte Mira) is a homely middle-aged widow who works as a cleaning lady.  One day she steps into a convenient barroom to get out of the rain.  It turns out the bar caters to foreign workers, mostly Arabs.  Arabs are all called “Ali” by the Germans. One of the girls dares an Ali (El Hedi ben Salem) to dance with Emmi.  He does.  They find they can share their troubles with each other and fall in love.  Emmi invites Ali to move in.

The relationship is condemned and mocked by virtually everyone including: Emmi’s neighbors, her co-workers, her children, local shopkeepers, and Ali’s co-workers.  Emmi is frequently referred to an an “old whore”.  The landlord threatens to evict Emmi for “subletting” her apartment.  So the couple marries.  Emmi’s children disown their mother. Things get so bad that the couple takes an out of town trip.  When they return they find that attitudes have changed.  Can this relationship survive?  With director Fassbinder as Emmi’s son-in-law, Irm Hermann as her daughter, and Barbara Valentin as the bar owner.

This is sort of Fassbinder’s take on Douglas Sirk’s All That Heaven Allows (1955) with an interracial relationship adding more social condemnation to the intergenerational one in that film.  We even get a scene of the children smashing the TV they bought to help relieve their mother’s loneliness The images are stunning and the story is still very relevant. Fassbinder also takes on Germany’s Nazi past and current German prejudice against its much needed foreign work force, highlighting the stress faced by these workers.   The acting is fantastic, though El Hedi ben Salem is clearly an amateur.  His performance works though.  Recommended.

Chinatown
Directed by Roman Polanski
Written by Robert Towne
1974/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime (free to Members)
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Ida Sessions: Are you alone?
Jake Gittes: Isn’t everybody?

This is one of those classics that you can pull out on any occasion, even with non-classic movie fanatics, and be assured that everyone in the room will love it.  That is because it is perfect.

The setting is 1937 Los Angeles.  Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is a private investigator who seems to specialize in messy divorces.  We will learn that he has the instincts of a crack detective.  A woman pays Jake a visit and tells him she, Evelyn Mulwray, wants Jake to tail her husband Hollis and get a picture of him with his paramour.

Hollis is Chief Engineer for the Los Angeles Water and Power Department, a position that gives him a lot of power over how the scarce city water supply is allocated.  He is under enormous pressure to approve a dam that he opposes.  Jake’s “operatives” follow him around but he appears to have water on the brain 24 hours a day.  Finally, Jake is able to photograph him at a bungalow being affectionate to a young blonde.  He provides his report to Mrs. Mulwray.  The next day the photo is in the paper along with a lurid headline.

Noah Cross: You may think you know what you’re dealing with, but, believe me, you don’t.
[Gittes grins]
Noah Cross: Why is that funny?
Jake Gittes: That’s what the District Attorney used to tell me in Chinatown.

Shortly thereafter a mysterious woman introduces herself as Mrs. Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway).  She is not at all happy with the publicity and. of course, did not ask for her husband to be followed. She says she will sue.  With John Huston in an incredible performance as Noah Cross, Burt Young as a client, Diane Ladd as Ida Sessions, and Roman Polanski as a hoodlum.

This movie is a murder mystery and has many unforgettable twists and turns and it would be criminal for me to go any further on the off chance one of my readers has not seen it.

This is a movie I can and have watched over and over.  It’s hard to say whether I prefer the direction, the script, the cinematography, the acting or the music.  That is because they are all perfect. Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway were on fire at this exact time.  The plot gives you both an entertaining mystery and something to think about afterwards.  Polanski draws you in and makes the time fly.  This will probably still be a classic 50 years from now.  Unreservedly recommended.

Robert Towne won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.  Chinatown was nominated in the categories of Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score.  I can’t understand how John Huston was not nominated and I would have voted for Jerry Goldsmith’s jazzy score over Nino Rota’s copy of a copy of a copy of his own work, beautiful as that music is.

A Woman Under the Influence
Directed by John Cassavetes
Written by John Cassavetes
1974/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel

Nick Longhetti: Mabel is not crazy, she’s unusual. She’s not crazy, so don’t say she’s crazy.

Almost too intense to bear, this domestic psychodrama is a must-see for its performances.

Nick Longhetti (Peter Falk) holds a blue collar job on a highway maintenance crew.  His wife Mabel (Gena Rowlands) stays home and cares for their three young children.  The couple clearly love each other very much.  The problem is that Mabel keeps kind of slipping and sliding into a world of her own.  She is also painfully socially inept.  Nick is the kind of guy that is never happier than when staging a big party and these are torture for her.

Nick lets her down on a date night and Mabel is not in a good state when she decides to host a little party for her children and their friends.  Her idea of fun includes dancing to imaginary music and playing dress-up and make-up as the kids ransack the house.  The father of one arrives and is appalled by what he sees.

Somehow Mabel’s mother-in-law (Katherine Cassavetes) gets involved. Imagine the worst most insensitive mother-in-law on the planet and multiply by two.  She convinces Nick that Mabel needs to be hospitalized.  Her psychiatrist arrives.  A pitched battle ensues as Mabel resists being taken away with all her strength.

Six months later, Mabel has just been released from the hospital.  Nick’s idea for a homecoming is to invite all of his friends and all of their extended family for a surprise celebration and feast.  This does not work out well either and another donnybrook ensues. Lady Rowlands played Mabel’s mother.

Gena Rowlands gives an absolutely incredible performance as Mabel.  She was so vulnerable it hurt.  And Peter Falk is fantastic as her clueless but faithful spouse.  The entire cast lets everything hang out.  There is a lot of chaotic shouting and even physical violence.   The screenplay is raw and real.  As far as I am concerned this is a must-see, albeit an exhausting one.  I can equally see why some people might hate it.

Gena Rowlands was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar.  John Cassavetes was nominated for Best Director.

The Godfather: Part II
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Written by Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo from Puzo’s novel
1974/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Tom Hagen: It would be like trying to kill the President; there’s no way we can get to him.
Michael Corleone: Tom, you know you surprise me. If anything in this life is certain – if history has taught us anything – it’s that you can kill *anybody*.

I think I prefer the first film’s story line but certainly this second film is at least its equal in beautiful images and music and powerful acting.

The film traces young immigrant Vito Corleone’s (Robert De Niro) journey from grocery clerk to neighborhood bigman in the first decades of the Twentieth century and the gradual descent of the Corleone family after Michael (Al Pacino) takes over as godfather.  The movie kind of toggles back and forth in time.

The story starts in Corleone, Sicily where Vito’s entire family is wiped out in a local feud.  He sets out for America, seemingly alone.  After a few years, he has a growing family.  He loses his job as a grocery clerk because neighborhood boss Fanucci has a nephew who needs it.  Vito soon meets Clemenza and the two become partners in crime.  Eventually, when Fanucci comes around demanding protection money, Vito takes him out of the picture entirely and Vito is soon the respected man about town.  We see his close bond with his wife and children.

The action in Michael’s story takes place in the 1950’s. It begins with an outdoor party on Lake Tahoe honoring Michael’s son’s First Communion which serves a similar purpose to the wedding reception that begins the first film.  The family is big in the casino business as well as it’s more obviously criminal enterprises.  We see Michael’s eyes slowly grow dead as family is replaced by business interests and the death count needed to maintain power mounts.  With Diane Keaton as Michael’s wife Kay, Talia Shire as Connie Corleone and John Casale as his brother Fredo as well as a huge cast of fine character actors including Lee Strasberg as investor Hyman Roth and Michael V. Gazzo as turncoat Frankie Pantangeli.

I enjoy the Robert De Niro parts of this movie more than the Al Pacino parts.  For Vito, family is everything.  But Michael puts business first. Since all the characters, including the establishment ones, are corrupt or criminals or both, it was hard for me to care what happened to anyone.  But make no mistake, the film makes good use of its three hours, the visuals and music are gorgeous, and this cast cannot be beat.  Recommended.

The Godfather: Part II won Academy Awards for Best Picture; Best Director; Best Supporting Actor (De Niro); Best Writing, Screenplay Adapted From Other Material; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration; and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score.  It was nominated in the categories of: Best Actor (Pacino); Best Actor (Michael V. Gazzo); Best Supporting Actor (Strasberg); Best Supporting Actress (Talia Shire); and Best Costume Design.