# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/61 "2021-02-07T15:48:39Z")
What about “Last Tango In Paris”? It might be stylish, but it still fits the criteria of “gritty, natural, and realistic” for its time. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/62 "2021-02-08T20:25:13Z")
I get what you’re saying. For me, though, every single frame of a Malick film is so gorgeous, such a Vermeer painting, it’s hard to think of any of his films as “gritty.” Still, I see your point. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/63 "2021-02-08T20:26:47Z")
> [@cormac262](#): > > I’ve always liked this movie, although it always seemed a little disjointed. Jennifer Warren in her prime ! Same. It might have benefited from better editing, but still, a good movie, punching above its weight, entirely because of Hackman and Warren. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/64 "2021-02-08T20:32:52Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 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. Absolutely. Directed by Sidney Lumet. Brilliant. > [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Jerry Schatzberg’s _The Panic in Needle Park_ , which introduced Al Pacino. I keep coming back to this one. Not to blow my own horn, but I think this film is the champion. Filmed in '71, so it’s the start of an era. A magnificent performance from a then-unknown Al Pacino, and a great performance from an equally unknown Kitty Winn. It’s certainly gritty, shot in the parks and cheap hotels of New York’s upper west side, before the upper west side was completely gentrified. And realistic. I was there, I know. It’s realistic. And the performances were natural, and just beautifu. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/65 "2021-02-08T21:00:53Z")
I thought for sure that “Once Upon A Time In America” fit the OP but was surprised to see it was from 1984. The film just has the look of the 70’s to me. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/66 "2021-02-08T23:07:37Z")
“Joe” was released in 1970. Have you seen it? It’s a good movie and I’m sure it influenced “Taxi Driver” ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/67 "2021-05-21T20:41:14Z")
The Honeymoon Killers (1970) ---
**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:** [May 21, 2021, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/68 "2021-05-21T21:11:00Z")
That has Doris Roberts in it, later to become very well known on TV from Remington Steele and Everybody Loves Raymond. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/69 "2021-05-21T21:25:13Z")
‘The Friends of Eddie Coyle’ 1973. Shot on location in the Boston area. Robert Mitchum, Peter Boyle, and a young Richard Jordan among others in a gritty, often depressing drama of a man facing jail time hoping to avoid it by giving the authorities info without having the hoods he works for finding out. A gem. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/70 "2021-05-21T21:49:43Z")
Yeah, I recognized her, and had to look at the cast. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/71 "2021-05-21T22:38:32Z")
I’ve never been a big Don Johnson fan, but **A Boy And His Dog** , despite the low budget, was a lot of fun. Another vote for **The Taking Of Pelham 123** , one of the best movies ever; one of the few movies better than the book. ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/72 "2021-05-21T23:38:39Z")
[The Incident](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061814/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) from 1967. Beau Bridges, Martin Sheen, and a few other faces. Most of it (all of it?) takes place in a single subway car. This movie always makes me tense up at several points, but I love watching it. I just don’t seek it out. Don’t know if this one fits, but [Billy Jack](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066832/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) from 1971. Was probably one of the very first movies to start the kung fu wave. Haven’t seen it myself since maybe the '70s. And weren’t there a few sequels? ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/73 "2021-05-22T01:20:57Z")
I don’t think anyone has mentioned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. It has Kris Kristofferson getting mean, waitresses dealing with the creepy restaurant customers, or a single mother and her son living in a motel room, all very realistic and make me cringe. But it’s still a great move. ---
**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:** [May 22, 2021, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/74 "2021-05-22T01:40:14Z")
She’s also in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. I just rewatched that, and it’s really quite good. [side note: one of the bad guys is Earl Hindman, who would later gain fame standing on the other side of Tim Allen’s fence in “Home Improvement”] ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167/75 "2021-05-22T14:12:11Z")
“The Incident” is a great, symbolic movie of America… I think its still on YouTube in full (for free) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gritty-natural-realistic-movies-of-the-1970s/932167.md?page=3)