Films of the 1970's on DVD (1 Viewer)

I'm starting this thread because I'm looking for folks to post news of upcoming dvds of films from this decade or films from this decade they hope to see on dvd. It's my favorite decade for film. You may also list the last film from this decade you purchased on dvd or favorite dvd of a film from the 1970s.

I know I can't be the only one here who loves this period in film.

I'm often surprised to find a dvd that has been released that I didn't even know was coming to dvd...as an example the last film I purchased from this decade was S*P*Y*S (1974) with the Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould. I was shocked to find it on the shelf in a local store. It was not a film I ever expected to see on dvd because it was generally poorly reviewed. I was thrilled to see such an oddball film on dvd!

Then you have something like The Kremlin Letter (1970) which was announced on dvd, had a release date, and vanished without a trace.

So, I'm looking for help here from fellow 70s film fans and the wonderful folks that visit these boards.

Hey, Reggie ~

Like you, I'm a huge fan of 70s films. I don't have any breaking info on upcoming releases right now, but I wanted to second your request for more 70s titles -- both major and obscure.

I'm partial to drive-in favorites, such as "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry," "Vanishing Point," "Macon County Line," "Racing with the Devil," etc. (Have all of 'em.)

I am still patiently waiting for such titles such as:

"Buster & Billie"

"Wake In Fright"

"Rolling Thunder"

"Baby Blue Marine"

"The Devils"

"Sorcerer"

"White Line Fever"

"92 in the Shade"

"The Reincarnation of Peter Proud"

I fear titles like the ones above will be neglected with finality in the studios' slow-but-steady transition to high definition discs. Hope not.

I'm still waiting for Universal to release Milos Forman's first American film 'Taking Off'. This was a hilarious look at the generation gap, and I really don't understand why it's never seen the light of day on DVD (in fact, I don't think it's ever been released on any home video format).

My favorite decade of film!

I have a partial list of the titles that I'm hoping will make their way to region 1 or 2:

$ (Dollars)
11 Harrowhouse
92 in the Shade
Abdication
Absolution
Adam at 6 AM
Agatha
Alambrista!
Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
Brewster McCloud
Busting
Class of 44
Cold Turkey
Come Back Charleston Blue
Conduct Unbecoming
Conrack
Day in the Death of Joe Egg
Deadhead Miles
Dealing
Deep End
Devils, The
Diary of a Mad Housewife
Dirty Little Billy
Drive He Said
Dusty and Sweets McGee
Effect of Gamma Rays…
End of the Road
England Made Me
Figures in a Landscape
Fortune, The
Fragment of Fear
Freebie and the Bean
Friends of Eddie Coyle
Getting Straight
Hireling, The
Husbands
Lady in the Car With Glasses and a Gun
Looking for Mr Goodbar
Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing
Man in the Wilderness
Man Who Loved Cat Dancing, The
Marriage of a Young Stockbroker
Mary Queen of Scots
Monte Walsh
New Leaf, A
O' Lucky Man
One is a Lonely Number
Panic in Needle Park
People Next Door, The
Pied Piper, The
Pursuit of Happiness
Puzzle of a Downfall Child
Rabbit Run
Red Sky at Morning
Rememember My Name
Report to the Commissioner
Revolutionary, The
Seduction of Joe Tynan
Sitting Target
Skin Game
Slither
Something for Everyone
Sometimes a Great Notion
Spring and Port Wine
Strawberry Statement
Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams
Super Cops, The
Taking Off
Tell Me That You Love me Junie Moon
Tick…tick…tick
Unman, Wittering and Zigo
Voices
Walking Stick, The
When the Legends Die
WUSA
Your Three Minutes Are Up
Z.P.G.
Zabriskie Point
Zeppelin
Zig Zag

This was released a couple of years ago by a Region 1 Canadian label called Somerville House. The transfer is anamorphic widescreen and it has some interesting extras, including two audio commentaries (Michael Anderson and Michael York, respectively) and trailers.

O' Lucky Man is supposed to be coming this year, and Zabriskie Point has also been rumoured AFAIK. I'm hoping Jonathan Livingston Seagull gets an R1 release as ther are already new releases in R2 and R4.

Lion's Gate is releasing the 1971 Michael Winner/Marlon Brando film The Nightcomers next month. Lion's Gate has rights to some of the titles released by Avco Embassy (now Studio Canal) during the 1970s. I'm hoping they (or somebody) get around to releasing some of the following obscurities from the Embassy catalog:


Two Women
Robbery
Road to Salina
Macho Callahan
The Steagle
Permission to Kill
Homebodies
Deadly Hero
Pipe Dreams
Shoot
Scalpel
Rabbit Test
The Baltimore Bullet

Duddy is available from Alliance Atlantis as a Canadian release (I found it on Amazon.)

Panic In Needle Park is pre-orderable on Amazon for 19 June. (Yeah, I don't believe it either, but that's what they say. Hey, "Becket" finally came out so hope springs eternal!)

1970s films I'd like to see on R1 DVD:

BAD RONALD (1974, TV-movie)
BIRDS OF PREY (1973, TV-movie)
THE BLACK WINDMILL (1974)
BROTHERHOOD OF THE BELL (1970, TV-movie)
THE CAREY TREATMENT (1972)
CHARLEY VARRICK (1973, widescreen version!)
CHOSEN SURVIVORS (1974) now available in R1
DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (1973, TV-movie)
DYING ROOM ONLY (1973, TV-movie)
FEAR IS THE KEY (1972)
THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE (1973)
GOLD (1974-British)
HANDS OF THE RIPPER (1971-British)
HARRY IN YOUR POCKET (1973)
THE INTERNECINE PROJECT (1974-British)
KILLDOZER (1974, TV-movie)
THE LAST DAYS OF PLANET EARTH (1974-Japanese, aka PROPHECIES OF NOSTRADAMUS)
THE LAST DINOSAUR (1977-U.S./Japanese, TV-movie)
THE MAN FROM HONG KONG (1975-Australian/Hong Kong, aka THE DRAGON FLIES)
MELODY (1971-British)
THE MEPHISTO WALTZ (1971) now available in R1
THE MIND OF MR. SOAMES (1970-British)
MONTE WALSH (1970)
NO BLADE OF GRASS (1970)
THE OUTFIT (1973)
PERFECT FRIDAY (1970-British)
PHASE IV (1974) now available in R1
THE POSSESSED (1977, TV-movie)
THE POSSESSION OF JOEL DELANEY (1972) now available in R1
RIDER ON THE RAIN (1970-French)
ROLLING THUNDER (1977)
THE SAVAGE BEES (1976, TV-movie)
SHARKS' TREASURE (1975)
SHOUT AT THE DEVIL (1976-British)
SITTING TARGET (1972-British)
SKY RIDERS (1976)
SOLE SURVIVOR (1970, TV-movie)
SOMEONE'S WATCHING ME! (1978, TV-movie) now available in R1
SPECTRE (1977, TV-movie)
THE SPIKES GANG (1974)
STONER (1972-Hong Kong)
THE STRANGER & THE GUNFIGHTER (1974-Italian/Hong Kong)
THE STRANGER WITHIN (1974, TV-movie)
TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972-British) now available in R1
TELEFON (1977)
10 RILLINGTON PLACE (1971)
TWINS OF EVIL (1971-British)
UNIVERSAL SOLDIER (1971-British)
UNMAN, WITTERING, ZIGO (1971-British)
UP IN THE CELLAR (1970, aka THREE IN THE CELLAR)
VAMPIRE CIRCUS (1972-British)
VAULT OF HORROR (1973-British) now available in R1
WHERE HAVE ALL THE PEOPLE GONE? (1974, TV-movie)

Thanks for the info everyone!

Just remembered another 70's film I would desperately like on DVD - Billy Wilder's 'Fedora'. IMHO, it's been almost criminally underrated. Warners released it on laserdisc, but apparently they no longer own it. Does anyone know whom we should be pestering for the DVD?

Thank you everybody!

I'm reading through your lists and of course we all share a lot of titles we are searching for. Rolling Thunder is a 70s film that's mentioned again and again for release and is certainly a cult classic...so that's odd that has never come out.

92 in the Shade is a title I was happy to see listed here. It came out in 1975 the same year as Rancho Deluxe (which I have on dvd). Both films were written by Tom McGuane but the interesting thing about 92 in the Shade is that it's the only film McGuane ever directed of his own work. The film has an excellent cast featuring Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Harry Dean Stanton, Burgess Meredith, and Margot Kidder. I thought when Rancho Deluxe came out on dvd (MGM 2000) that 92 in the Shade would soon follow. 7 years have passed and nothing.

WUSA (1970) is another title that I can't believe has not been released yet. The cast alone should have caused this to surface on dvd by now. The film stars Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Tony Perkins, Laurence Harvey, Cloris Leachman, and Diane Ladd.

And doesn't the plot sound sort of relevant to our times:

Rheinhardt, a cynical drifter, gets a job as an announcer for right-wing radio station WUSA in New Orleans. Rheinhardt is content to parrot WUSA's reactionary editorial stance on the air, even if he doesn't agree with it. Rheinhardt finds his cynical detachment challenged by a lady friend, Geraldine, and by Rainey, a neighbor and troubled idealist who becomes aware of WUSA's sinister, hidden purpose. And when events start spinning out of control, even Rheinhardt finds he must take a stand. Written by Eugene Kim {[email protected]}



The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) is another film that I just can't believe is not on dvd. (I did find a place on the internet where it was being sold but was unsure if I should buy from them) It features what many think is one of Robert Mitchum's great performances and also stars Peter Boyle. This is certainly a film well worth rescuing to dvd.

I'm going to keep reading through these lists and commenting and I'll help in the search for these titles on dvd.

One of the big 1970s dvd releases this month for me is Straight Time (1978) starring Dustin Hoffman. Based on the book and written for the screen by Eddie Bunker, this is a great 70s film that was long overdue for release. Fantastic cast in this as well.

This was just shown on the Sundance Channel, so there may be some hope of a release. There was one change. When I saw it in college the "F song" was censored:the "f word" was bleeped out and since it is used in every line of the song it was pretty funny to hear a succession of bleeps. The version shown on Sundance had all of the f-words intact--and it just wasn't as funny.

I'm looking for all the 70's Blaxploitation films to be released. I know that there are a few titles out there but with Tarrantino's Grindhouse film, and BCI's Grindhouse DVD collections, I hope the studios take notice and begin to release the obscure titles. See list below. If I forgot any, please add on.

Hitman (72) Bernie Casey
Cool Breeze
Mean Johnny Barrows
Death Journey
Boss Nigger
The Legend of Nigger Charley
The Soul of Nigger Charley
Abby
Superfly TNT
The Hitter
Final Comedown
The Candy Tangerine Man
The Six Thousand Dollar Nigger
Black Belt Jones
Comeback Charleston Blue
Sounder
No Way Back (76) Fred Williamson
Three The Hardway (74)
The Slams
Youngblood (78) Lawrence Hilton Jacobs
Johnny Tough
Dr. Black Mr. Hyde
The Black Bunch
Black Alley Cats
Savage
Zebra Killer
The Liberation of LB Jones
Sweet Jesus Preacher Man

I'm still waiting for Digby: The Biggest Dog in the World.

I was going to mention the same title. Admittedly, I'm not a very big 70s cinema fan, but this is one that I could desperately use to replace one of my last LDs.

Warner released it on Laserdisc? That's odd, since UA handled the theatrical release. Mind you, I suppose it's no more odd than the fact that Paramount holds the video rights to both versions of Apocalypse Now, even though the original and Redux were handled theatrically by UA and Miramax respectively. Here's the theatrical poster, in case anyone gets any ideas for cover art.

Warner owned the LD/VHS rights for this was a Lorimar production, like FISH THAT SAVED PITTSBURGH, AMERICATHON, AVALANCHE EXPRESS, LOVE AND MONEY, CRUISING, NIGHT SCHOOL , SEA WOLVES etc, even if Paramount, Fox, UA had the theatrical rights.

Lorimar theatrical titles were first handled by MGM/CBS on early days of video, then CBS/FOX, then their own video label Lorimar video, then later (currently) by Warner. They also sublicensed a bunch of their TV films to USA videos (AFRAID OF THE DARK, BAD RONALD, etc).

Many great titles already mentioned so I'd like to add just one more...
Play It As It Lays.

I'd like to second (or third) Taking Off as this is one I've mentioned here before. It would be great to see Universal dust off the remaining titles in of their short-lived "youth unit" pictures of which Taking Off and Diary of a Mad Housewife to.

And, thank you again WB for finally releasing Straight Time and Cruising (a 1980 release, for the record).