# Any other 40 somethings nostalgic when you see 70s movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 11, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481 "2009-06-11T20:21:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![constantine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@constantine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constantine)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/1 "2009-06-11T20:21:12Z")
This question is partly inspired by watching Elliot Gould in Robert Altman’s “The Last Goodbye.” I was born in the last 60s and was a child in the 70s. When I watch movies from the 60s or before, I guess I feel like I’m just learning about a new and unfamiliar place. But when I watch movies from the 70s, e.g. Bad News Bears, or Dog Day Afternoon, or Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, I guess I think a few things at once (1) wow, I remember when cars looked like that, and haircuts looked like that, and (2) wow that looks really funny to me now, that looks like it was FOREVER ago. And then I think wow, it’s been a long time since I was a kid. Any other forty something types have this feeling? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/2 "2009-06-11T20:39:31Z")
Sure. I like some old series because of the what I think are still neat styles of the time. It’s always a nice surprise when you see somebody you used to think hot and have written off over the years as they couldn’t have looked that good. You see them in an old movie and think my memory wasn’t wrong they were super hot. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/3 "2009-06-11T20:59:47Z")
You should buy yourself a season or two of _The Rockford Files_ and _Hawaii Five-O_. They’re like little visits back to when ties were wide and shirts were ribbed and princess phones plugged into the wall. I get all misty, too. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/4 "2009-06-11T21:20:11Z")
Same here, born in 68 and watching Brady Bunch reruns I always end up thinking “I used to have a shirt exactly like that”. ---
**Author:** ![constantine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@constantine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constantine)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/5 "2009-06-11T21:24:42Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > You should buy yourself a season or two of _The Rockford Files_ and _Hawaii Five-O_. They’re like little visits back to when ties were wide and shirts were ribbed and princess phones plugged into the wall. I get all misty, too. Yes, Rockford Files. It’s funny as someone who lives in Los Angeles–but who did not grow up in LA–to see how LA looked back then. And yes, those phones. Princess phones plugged into the wall. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/6 "2009-06-11T22:20:41Z")
Definitely. I always notice how thin everyone is. Was it because we didn’t have high fructose corn syrup in everything then, or because we didn’t have easily-microwaveable convenience food, or was it because all actors were on drugs and the drugs took their minds off eating? I know that many of the actresses were anorexic. It’s a kick to see people riding bikes without helmets, rolling around in the backs of stations wagons, hitchhiking. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/7 "2009-06-12T00:16:24Z")
Does this mean that we 60-somethings are nostalgic for 50s movies? You bet! ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/8 "2009-06-12T09:08:07Z")
Great movies without one special effect, no explosions, not based on a comic book character, not a sequel to some other movie. \<_sigh_\> ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/9 "2009-06-12T11:40:58Z")
> [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](#): > > Definitely. I always notice how thin everyone is. Was it because we didn’t have high fructose corn syrup in everything then, or because we didn’t have easily-microwaveable convenience food, or was it because all actors were on drugs and the drugs took their minds off eating? I know that many of the actresses were anorexic. I’m thinking it’s the latter, but it’s also because kids in the 70s didn’t have much in the way of video games or computers or TV stations to keep them inside all day, so a lot of them were playing outside and not sitting around getting fat. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/10 "2009-06-12T12:13:01Z")
Nah. Kids sat around and watched TV in the 60s, too. The actors may be thin, but the actors on TV today are rarely overweight, either. And, of course, it’s **The Long Goodbye** ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/11 "2009-06-12T12:15:49Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Nah. Kids sat around and watched TV in the 60s, too. I lived in the 60s, I know what kids did then. You were lucky if there was an hour’s worth of anything to watch on broadcast television at night, much less in the afternoon when you were out playing. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/12 "2009-06-12T12:23:40Z")
My very first real date we went to see Every Which Way But Loose. I still get nostalgic when I see it. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/13 "2009-06-12T12:42:19Z")
I get nostalgic when I watch B&W Universal or color Hammer and AIP horror films. It was a family activity to gather round the TV on Friday nights or go to the drive-in for those. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/14 "2009-06-12T13:17:41Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > \ not a sequel to some other movie. \<_sigh_\> Perhaps you are unfamiliar with the _Rocky_ franchise, launched in 1976? ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/15 "2009-06-12T16:27:42Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Perhaps you are unfamiliar with the _Rocky_ franchise, launched in 1976? Or the Dirty Harry movies? Or the Pink Panther movies? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/16 "2009-06-12T16:37:46Z")
Notice that I said “great movies”. _Obviously_, there were movies in the '70s that had special effects, explosions, were based on comic book characters, or were sequels to other movies. I am talking about a subset of great movies that _didn’t_ fit any of those criteria. Go to your multiplex today and see how many movies do. ---
**Author:** ![Pazu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pazu/32/15522_2.png) [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/17 "2009-06-12T16:50:33Z")
[Linking to my recent nostalgia trip for a particular '70s movie.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=520810) > [@Walloon](#): > > Great movies without one special effect, no explosions, not based on a comic book character, not a sequel to some other movie. \<_sigh_\> No kidding. _The Five Deadly Venoms, Thirty-Six Chambers of Death, The Savage Five_…I could go on and on. True classics, no wirework involved. That’s what you meant, right? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/18 "2009-06-12T17:05:50Z")
It’s amusing to see people getting shot but there’s no visible wounding. They guy grabs his chest or stomach, bends over and falls to the ground dead… but there’s no blood, no entry or exit, nothing. Were we really that naive? Also quite dating to see someone make an anonymous phone call from their house. “If you want to see your kid alive, bring $10,000 (woooo!) to the Midtown Bridge at noon”, then they hang up the phone on their bedside table. Movie criminals had it pretty easy back then. Every country sherriff was on a pie diet and drove a squad car with abysmal steering. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/19 "2009-06-12T17:19:54Z")
> [@Pazu](#): > > No kidding. _The Five Deadly Venoms, Thirty-Six Chambers of Death, The Savage Five_…I could go on and on. True classics, no wirework involved. I remember all those. I think it was channel 5 in NY that played those on Saturdays. ---
**Author:** ![Pazu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pazu/32/15522_2.png) [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481/20 "2009-06-12T18:04:47Z")
> [@Sir\_Prize](#): > > I remember all those. I think it was channel 5 in NY that played those on Saturdays. Yep, Saturday afternoon at 3 pm. Great times. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-40-somethings-nostalgic-when-you-see-70s-movies/499481.md?page=2)