A New Leaf (1971)

A New Leaf (1971)

starring Walter Matthau, Elaine May

written and directed by Elaine May

Henry (Walter Matthau) has gone broke. Desperate for money he casts about for rich woman to marry. He winds up with Henrietta Lowell (Elaine May). He is attracted to her money and the fact that she looks like the perfect wife for him. She accepts his marriage proposal and they get married just in time for him to pay off all his debts. He plans to murder her but at the last minute he has a change of heart.

Thoughts

I think I caught the tail end of this movie once on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon in 1980s. I'm pretty sure that this was the first time I have watched it from beginning to end.

The Godfather Part 2 (1974)

The Godfather Part 2 (1974)

starring Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, John Cazale

directed by Francis Ford Coppola

202 minutes

I still don't like this one as much as The Godfather (1972). It is much more ambitious that the first movie but it also feels overly full. One thing that I was surprised by was how fast some things happened in this film considering how long it is.

See my notes from the last time I watched The Godfather Part 2 (1974) in Aug 2025 for a summary and more of my thoughts about this movie.

The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather (1972)

starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall

directed by Francis Ford Coppola

175 minutes

This was my second time watching this film in the theater in less than nine months. I saw it both time at the AFI Silver Theater. Last summer I went to see it by myself. This time I saw it with family. I thought I remembered there being an intermission but there wasn't, even though the movie is almost three hours long.

I enjoyed it once again. Such a good movie although I can see cracks in the foundation. It isn't perfect but there are a lot of really good moments. I wouldn't want to watch it every week or month but seeing it again was not onerous in the least bit. It helped that I had people with whom to discuss the film after we watched it.

See also: The Godfather (1972) for my summary and thoughts about the movie after viewing it in July 2025.

The Night Strangler (1973)

The Night Strangler (1973)

starring Darren McGavin, Jo Ann Pflug, Simon Oakland

directed by Dan Curtis

Reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) moves to Seattle where he runs a familiar face from Las Vegas, Tony Vincenzo (Simon Oakland). Tony is now working as an editor for a Seattle newspaper. He hires Kolchak and assigns him to cover a recent murder. The killer strangled an exotic dancer while she walking home late at night.

Researcher Titus Berry helps Kolchak establish a supernatural angle to the crime. Vincenzo refuses to buy the angle so Kolchak digs deeper (with a lot of help from Berry) and finds a pattern: every 21 years (going back to at least 1889) six women have been murdered in the same way (strangulation) within an eighteen day period. Vincenzo refuses to accept that the murders from decades ago have anything to do with the current string of murders.

The Making of 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' (1970)

The Making of 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' (1970)

narrated by George Roy Hill

directed by Robert Crawford Jr.

42 minutes

George Roy Hill, director of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, goes over the process of making the movie. Paul Newman and Paul Newman were also interviewed for this feature but for the most part it is Hill that does the talking. All of the images in the film are either taken from the movie or footage show on location of the while someone is talking over it. There are no shots of people talking directly into the camera.

Hill talks about the casting, the music, the cinematography, the stunts, and other challenges that he, the cast, and the crew encountered while making the movie. It isn't as polished as documentaries are today but I found it to be very informative. I really enjoyed getting to see how some of the scenes and stunts were shot.

Blacula (1972)

Blacula (1972)

starring William Marshall, Vonetta McKee, Denise Nicholas, Thalmus Rasulala

directed by William Crain

93 minutes

Prince Mamuwalde (William Marshall) and Luva (Vonetta McKee), his wife, travel to Transylvania in 1780. They ask Count Dracula for help in stopping the slave trade. He rejects their appeal and bites Mamuwalde and then locks him in a coffin deep in his castle.

Almost two centuries later, in 1972, the coffin is locked up is bought by Billy and Bobby, two interior decorators. They transport the coffin back to Los Angeles. They break it open, thus freeing Blacula who repays them by biting them. The investigation into the deaths of Billy and Bobby by Dr. Gordon Thomas (Thalmus Rasulala) leads him to believe that the killer might be a vampire.

El Topo (1970)

El Topo (1970)

starring Alexander Jodorowsky

directed by Alexander Jodorowsky

125 minutes

in Spanish with English subtitles

A man, El Topo (Alexander Jodorowsky), goes on a journey of discovery. He goes on a mission of revenge. His young son is with him. He kills bandits and soldiers who have raped and pillaged, men, women, and priests.

The first act ends with him leaving his son behind and leaving with a woman who tells him that he needs to defeat the four masters. One by one he finds the four masters and defeats them. Each of the masters is different. The woman, who insisted that he needed to defeat them all, shoots him and leaves him for dead.

The Night Stalker (1972)

The Night Stalker (1972)

starting Darren McGavin

directed by John Llewellyn Moxey

74 minutes

Freelance reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) starts to work on a story in Las Vegas, NV about a series of impossible seeming murders. The victims are all women and are all found drained of their blood.

The district attorney, the chief of police, and sheriff hold a press conference. Kolchak asks if the killer might be a vampire. The D.A. and the sheriff tell him not to start spreading rumors. The editor of the local newspaper tells Kolchak to drop the story but he continues to see what he can find. Another women is killed in a similar manner to the others and fifth one disappears. 

Red Sun (1971)

Red Sun (1971)

starring Charles Bronson, Toshirō Mifune, Alain Delon, Ursula Andress

directed by Terence Young

114 minutes

Link (Charles Bronson) and Gauche (Alain Delon) rob a train together. The Japanese ambassador to the United States is aboard the train. Gauche kills one of the ambassador's bodyguards and takes a sword that was intended as a gift for the President of the United States. Gauche double crosses Link and mistakenly thinks that he has killed him.

Jaws (1975)

Jaws (1975)

starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss

directed by Steven Spielberg

124 minutes

A great white shark kills a swimmer off the coast of Amity. Sheriff Brody (Roy Scheider) wants to shut down the beaches but the mayor won't let him. The town depends on beachgoers for its economic livelihood and July is just around the corner.

Another swimmer is killed. This time it is a young boy. The mother of the dead boy posts a reward for the capture of the shark. Lots of men in boats go out to find the shark. One of the boats comes back with a dead tiger shark. Almost everyone rejoices but Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), a marine biologist, quickly determines that dead shark isn't big enough to be the killer shark.

The Godfather Part 2 (1974)

The Godfather Part 2 (1974)

starring Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, John Cazale

directed by Francis Ford Coppola

202 minutes

Young Vito Andolini (Robert De Niro) flees Sicily in 1900, soon after the rest of his family is murdered. His name is changed to Vito Corleone when he immigrates to the United States. He makes a life for himself in New York City with the help of others. He grows up, gets married, and starts a family.

The Mystery of Chess Boxing (1979)

The Mystery of Chess Boxing (1979)

starring Yi-Min Li, Jack Long, and Kwan-Wu Lung

directed by Joseph Kuo

90 minutes

in Chinese with English subtitles

Ah Pao (Yi-Min Li) wants to improve his kung fu so that he can get revenge on the Ghost Face Killer (Kwan-Wu Lung), who killed his father. He gets into a Kung Fu school where one of the top students treats him badly. Ah Pao learns more from the school's cook about Kung Fu than he does from the other training he receives.

The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather (1972)

starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall

directed by Francis Ford Coppola

175 minutes

Things turn sideways for the Corleone family after Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) decides not to get involved in the drug trade. The Corelone family's would be partners in the drug trade don't take kindly to Don Corleone's decision. They try to kill him but he survives the attempt on his life.

Sollozzo, who previously came to Don Corleone looking to form a partnership, leans on Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), the Corleone consigliere, to convince Sonny (James Caan), Don Corleone's oldest son, to make the deal that his father would not. Sollozzo makes plans for a second attempt on Don Corleone's life that gets foiled when Michael (Al Pacino), Don Corleone's youngest son, visits his father in the hospital.

Prime Cut (1972)

Prime Cut (1972)

starring Lee Marvin, Gene Hackman, Sissy Spacek

directed by Michael Ritchie

88 minutes

Nick Devlin (Lee Marvin) leads four men from Chicago to Kansas City to recover half a million dollars that is owed to the Chicago mobster who hired Nick. Slaughterhouse owner Mary Ann (Gene Hackman), pushes back at Nick's heavy handed approach. 

Thoughts

This was Sissy Spacek's first film. She played Poppy, a young woman that Nick saved from Mary Ann's sex slave business. Spacek was about 23 years old at the time but could have easily passed for five years younger.

The Silent Partner (1978)

The Silent Partner (1978)

starring Elliott Gould, Christopher Plummer, Susannah York

directed by Daryl Duke

102 minutes

Miles Cullen (Elliott Gould), the vault manager at a bank in Toronto, gets wise to the fact that a mall Santa is getting ready to rob the bank. It gives him an idea to steal some money and let the mall Santa take the blame. It seems like a good idea. Everything goes smoothly except that the mall Santa gets away and discovers that the amount he took is considerably less than what he is accused to stealing.

The Rockford Files (1974)

The Rockford Files (1974)

starring James Garner, Lindsay Wagner, William Smith

directed by Richard T. Heffron

90 minutes

Sara Butler (Lindsay Wagner) hires ex-con and private investigator Jim Rockford (James Garner) to figure out who killed her father, after the police abandon the case. Rockford turns to Angel, another ex-con, and LAPD Detective Dennis Becker for some help with digging up some information on Sara's father and Mildred Elias. a woman who seems to have taken a curious interest in Sara's brother.

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

starring Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning

directed by Sidney Lumet

125 minutes

Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino) and Sal Naturile (John Cazale) attempt to rob a bank in Brooklyn, NY on Aug 22, 1972. Everything does not go according to plan. They had a third accomplice but he chickened out just as the heist was beginning and left. The bank had considerably less money than Sonny and Sal expected it to have. The police arrived on the scene sooner than Sonny and Sal expected them.

Annie Hall (1977)

Annie Hall (1977)

starring Woody Allen, Diane Keaton

directed by Woody Allen

93 minutes

Twice married, stand-up comedian Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) meets and falls in love with Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). They aren't as compatible as they would like to be but for a time they are together. She tries her hand at singing in nightclubs and after a rough start she has some success and moves from New York City to Los Angeles.

Junior Bonner (1972)

Junior Bonner (1972)

starring Steve McQueen, Robert Preston, Ida Lupino

directed by Sam Peckinpah

100 minutes

Junior Bonner (Steve McQueen), a rodeo star and the son of rodeo legend Ace Bonner (Robert Preston), returns to his hometown of Prescott, AZ to take part in the local rodeo. He finds that some things have changed but others have not. His father is still lousy with money. He brother has become successful in the real estate racket and is getting ready to move their mother (Ida Lupino) into a mobile home.

Uptown Saturday Night (1974)

Uptown Saturday Night (1974)

starring Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, Harry Belafonte, Calvin Lockhart

directed by Sidney Poitier

104 minutes

Steve Jackson (Sidney Poitier) and Wardell Franklin (Bill Cosby) are held up at gun point at Madame Zenobia's, an after hours club, along with the rest of the patrons. The next day Steve discovers that the lottery ticket that he bought earlier than week and had in his wallet is worth $50,000.

Steve and Wardell look for the masked men who held up the after hours joint. Their search leads them to cross paths with a few crime bosses including Little Seymour, Geechie Dan Beauford (Harry Belafonte), and Silky Slim (Calvin Lockhart).