# Gritty, Natural, Realistic Movies of the 1970s **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [February 3, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167 "2021-02-03T23:10:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/1 "2021-02-03T23:10:06Z")
From all the ones I’ve checked out, they’ve all been really good and would love to find more. I know a few below are on YouTube, too. -Fat City -Minnie And Moskowitz -The Visitors -The Blue Motel -Wanda and “Les Chat” (The Cat) from France, featuring Jean Gabin and Simona Signoret Some are very low-budget (maybe all), but it features some fine acting, script, and the general story… Some don’t have much movement, some take place in one setting. By the mid-70s, it got stylized with “Taxi Driver” and seemed to have died down since in favor of blockbusters, instead of the more personal movie. Does anyone have any favorites or recommendations? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/2 "2021-02-03T23:51:34Z")
I don’t know any of the films you listed, but I do know Taxi Driver, and I think that French Connection is a very gritty predecessor. I can’t judge how realistic it was. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/3 "2021-02-04T00:09:11Z")
Would **The Friends of Eddie Coyle** fit? ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/4 "2021-02-04T00:28:03Z")
Not sure if these are what you’re looking for, but what comes to mind: **Bless the Beasts and Children** not really a “feel good” kids adventure movie. **Vanishing Point** (original, not the remake). Yes, essentially a cross-country chase movie, but nothing like “Smokey and the Bandit” **Hard Times** Charles Bronson as a badass, but not really a “hero”. Survival during the depression. **Chato’s Land** Bronson again, but as an indian badass. Quite a twist on the typical western. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/5 "2021-02-04T02:21:37Z")
_ **Busting** _, the movie that put me off wanting to be a cop forever. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/6 "2021-02-04T02:27:57Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > Would **The Friends of Eddie Coyle** fit? Great choice. I’d also include Mean Streets and Thief (even though it’s from 1981). ---
**Author:** ![FriendlyCurmudgeon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friendlycurmudgeon/32/5786_2.png) [@FriendlyCurmudgeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriendlyCurmudgeon)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/7 "2021-02-04T02:33:37Z")
Papillion , obviously the 1973 version and not the 2017 remake. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/8 "2021-02-04T02:54:13Z")
_Vanishing Point_ (1971) ETA I see **cormac262** beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/9 "2021-02-04T03:20:20Z")
_Get Carter_, 1971, the ugliest movie ever made? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/10 "2021-02-04T03:31:14Z")
[Cops and Robbers (1973)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069919/) - I had to settle for a TV-frame copy on DVD but that’s better than nothing. Fantastic buddy cop/caper movie. Big budget and very well known but IMO it’s hard to beat [Dog Day Afternoon (1975)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072890/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) for gritty, natural, realistic mid-70s excellence. [Kill the Moonlight (1994)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497630/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) is just something completely in it’s own era. It’s from 1994 but somehow manages to look, sound and feel as tho it were shot in a bizarre alternate-futuristic 1971 and sat in a can in someone’s closet for 20+ years. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/11 "2021-02-04T03:45:40Z")
> [@MortSahlFan](#): > > Minnie And Moskowitz You should check out John Cassavetes’ other movies from this period: _Faces_ (1968), _Husbands_ (1970), _A Woman Under the Influence_ (1974), and _The Killing of a Chinese Bookie_ (1976). ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/12 "2021-02-04T05:30:54Z")
THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (1974). Gritty New York City drama, a similar feel to THE FRENCH CONNECTION, in which a New York train is taken hostage. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/13 "2021-02-04T05:38:51Z")
[Electra Glide in Blue (1973)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electra_Glide_in_Blue) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/14 "2021-02-04T05:45:51Z")
ooooh good one ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/15 "2021-02-04T05:48:43Z")
The Last Detail is full of grit. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/16 "2021-02-04T06:31:52Z")
[Short Eyes,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Eyes_(film)) an adaptation of a play by Miguel Piñero, taking place entirely in the notorious Manhattan jail known as “The Tombs.” It doesn’t get more “70s hard” than _Short Eyes._ It has a phenomenal soundtrack by Curtis Mayfield (who also appears in it as one of the prisoners) and some remarkable acting performances full of swaggering menace. Just know, there are some exceptionally disturbing scenes in it. You’ve been duly warned. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/17 "2021-02-04T06:32:28Z")
[_Killer of Sheep_ (1978)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM479CeJ9JU) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/18 "2021-02-04T06:38:52Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > > [@lost4life](#): > > > > Would **The Friends of Eddie Coyle** fit? > > Great choice. I once said that _The Friends of Eddie Coyle_ was the last un-self-consciously film noir. After that, we have neo-noir movies that are aware of being part of the noir genre. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/19 "2021-02-04T11:29:37Z")
Oh I have, thank you, and every other Cassavetes’ movie 🙂 “Payday” is on YouTube in full, as is one of my favorite movies, “MIkey and Nicky”… “Stroszek” is a fine movie, too. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/l12ZoYDTkMg/maxresdefault.jpg "Mikey and Nicky") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l12ZoYDTkMg) ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/20 "2021-02-04T11:31:13Z")
Definitely… It’s real cool to see a star from the 1940s in Robert Mitchum able to transition to the 70s… If only guys like Bogart could have also made it to the 70s… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167.md?page=2)