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Top Films by Year (1970-1974)

**--Won Academy Award for Best Picture.
*--Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

1970

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 M*A*S*H* Robert Altman 122
2 The Conformist Bernardo Bertolucci 179
3 Patton** Franklin J. Schaffner 200
4 Five Easy Pieces* Bob Rafelson 337
5 Performance Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg 341
6 Kes Ken Loach 475
7 Love Story* Arthur Hiller 703
8 Little Big Man Arthur Penn 727
9 Gimme Shelter Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin 769
10 Woodstock Michael Wadleigh 914
11 Le Boucher Claude Chabrol 943
12 El Topo Alejandro Jodorowsky 1040
13 Beyond the Valley of the Dolls Russ Meyer 1041
14 The Garden of the Finzi-Continis Vittorio De Sica 1049
15 Catch-22 Mike Nichols 1063
16 Tristana Luis Buñuel 1153
17 Claire's Knee Eric Rohmer 1154
18 The Railway Children Lionel Jeffries 1170
19 Le Cercle rouge Jean-Pierre Melville 1402
20 The Wild Child François Truffaut 1406
21 Kelly's Heroes Brian G. Hutton 1590
22 The Go-Between Joseph Losey 1780
23 Tora! Tora! Tora! Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku, and Toshio Masuda 1801
24 Wanda Barbara Loden 1907
25 Airport* George Seaton 2212
26 The Spider's Stratagem Bernardo Bertolucci 2247

1971

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 A Clockwork Orange* Stanley Kubrick 41
2 The French Connection** William Friedkin 147
3 Dirty Harry Don Siegel 265
4 Harold and Maude Hal Ashby 270
5 The Last Picture Show* Peter Bogdanovich 271
6 McCabe & Mrs. Miller Robert Altman 276
7 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Mel Stuart 397
8 Get Carter Mike Hodges 422
9 Shaft Gordon Parks 664
10 Klute Alan J. Pakula 682
11 Walkabout Nicolas Roeg 805
12 Straw Dogs Sam Peckinpah 808
13 Fiddler on the Roof* Norman Jewison 842
14 Death in Venice Luchino Visconti 862
15 Two-Lane Blacktop Monte Hellman 1027
16 Brian's Song Buzz Kulik 1048
17 Duel Steven Spielberg 1104
18 Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song Melvin Van Peebles 1233
19 THX-1138 George Lucas 1282
20 W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism Dusan Makavejev 1407
21 Bananas Woody Allen 1450
22 The Andromeda Strain Robert Wise 1717
23 Sunday Bloody Sunday John Schlesinger 1777
24 Play Misty for Me Clint Eastwood 1810
25 The Devils Ken Russell 2036
26 Two English Girls François Truffaut 2078
27 The Omega Man Boris Sagal 2131
28 A New Leaf Elaine May 2138
29 Murmur of the Heart Louis Malle 2151
30 Carnal Knowledge Mike Nichols 2155

1972

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 The Godfather** Francis Ford Coppola 1
2 Cabaret* Bob Fosse 146
3 Aguirre: The Wrath of God Werner Herzog 221
4 The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie Luis Buñuel 326
5 Deliverance* John Boorman 335
6 Last Tango in Paris Bernardo Bertolucci 346
7 Cries and Whispers* Ingmar Bergman 379
8 Solaris Andrei Tarkovsky 439
9 Pink Flamingos John Waters 551
10 Fat City John Huston 828
11 Silent Running Douglas Trumbull 925
12 Sounder* Martin Ritt 947
13 The Harder They Come Perry Henzell 960
14 Sleuth Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1057
15 What's Up, Doc? Peter Bogdanovich 1107
16 The Poseidon Adventure Ronald Neame 1125
17 Play It Again, Sam Herbert Ross 1554
18 The Getaway Sam Peckinpah 1632
19 Frenzy Alfred Hitchcock 1691
20 The Ruling Class Peter Medak 1735
21 Fritz the Cat Ralph Bakshi 1761
22 The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1834
23 The Last House on the Left Wes Craven 1929
24 Superfly Gordon Parks Jr. 1947
25 The Heartbreak Kid Elaine May 1971
26 Slaughterhouse-Five George Roy Hill 2039
27 The Candidate Michael Ritchie 2083
28 Ulzana's Raid Robert Aldrich 2108

1973

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 The Exorcist* William Friedkin 87
2 Mean Streets Martin Scorsese 168
3 Don't Look Now Nicolas Roeg 172
4 American Graffiti* George Lucas 177
5 Badlands Terrence Malick 251
6 The Sting** George Roy Hill 261
7 The Wicker Man Robin Hardy 268
8 Amarcord Federico Fellini 333
9 Day for Night François Truffaut 362
10 Enter the Dragon Robert Clouse 544
11 Sleeper Woody Allen 578
12 The Spirit of the Beehive Víctor Erice 604
13 The Long Goodbye Robert Altman 763
14 The Way We Were Sydney Pollack 834
15 Scenes from a Marriage Ingmar Bergman 875
16 Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid Sam Peckinpah 896
17 F for Fake Orson Welles 912
18 The Mother and the Whore Jean Eustache 984
19 Serpico Sidney Lumet 1068
20 Soylent Green Richard Fleischer 1141
21 The Last Detail Hal Ashby 1283
22 Papillon Franklin J. Schaffner 1292
23 O Lucky Man! Lindsay Anderson 1366
24 Westworld Michael Crichton 1423
25 Bang the Drum Slowly John D. Hancock 1434
26 The Day of the Jackal Fred Zinnemann 1461
27 High Plains Drifter Clint Eastwood 1471
28 Fantastic Planet René Laloux 1569
29 Paper Moon Peter Bogdanovich 1689
30 Robin Hood Wolfgang Reitherman 1906
31 The Holy Mountain Alejandro Jodorowsky 2124
32 Jesus Christ Superstar Norman Jewison 2125
33 The Three Musketeers Richard Lester 2150

1974

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 The Godfather: Part II** Francis Ford Coppola 13
2 Chinatown* Roman Polanski 20
3 The Conversation* Francis Ford Coppola 151
4 Blazing Saddles Mel Brooks 208
5 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Tobe Hooper 252
6 Young Frankenstein Mel Brooks 255
7 A Woman under the Influence John Cassavetes 573
8 Ali: Fear Eats the Soul Rainer Werner Fassbinder 646
9 Celine & Julie Go Boating Jacques Rivette 700
10 The Longest Yard Robert Aldrich 832
11 The Mystery of Kaspar Hausar Werner Herzog 917
12 The Parallax View Alan J. Pakula 1025
13 Dark Star John Carpenter 1034
14 Lacombe Lucien Louis Malle 1110
15 The Towering Inferno* John Guillermin and Irwin Allen 1307
16 Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore Martin Scorsese 1320
17 Swept Away ... by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August Lina Wertmüller 1328
18 Alice in the Cities Wim Wenders 1532
19 Lancelot of the Lake Robert Bresson 1537
20 Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia Sam Peckinpah 1540
21 The Taking of Pelham One Two Three Joseph Sargent 1556
22 Black Christmas Bob Clark 1695
23 Female Trouble John Waters 1807
24 Hearts and Minds Peter Davis 1884
25 Lenny* Bob Fosse 1915
26 The Phantom of Liberty Luis Buñuel 2069

**--Won Academy Award for Best Picture.
*--Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

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This page was last modified on July 14, 2010