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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 128
2 The Conformist Bernardo Bertolucci 169
3 Patton** Franklin J. Schaffner 241
4 Performance Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg 317
5 Five Easy Pieces* Bob Rafelson 352
6 Gimme Shelter Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin 741
7 Little Big Man Arthur Penn 742
8 Love Story* Arthur Hiller 777
9 Woodstock Michael Wadleigh 828
10 El Topo Alejandro Jodorowsky 1005
11 Beyond the Valley of the Dolls Russ Meyer 1011
12 The Railway Children Lionel Jeffries 1013
13 Le Boucher Claude Chabrol 1030
14 The Garden of the Finzi-Continis Vittorio De Sica 1082
15 Catch-22 Mike Nichols 1109
16 Tristana Luis Buñuel 1191
17 Claire's Knee Eric Rohmer 1304
18 Le Cercle rouge Jean-Pierre Melville 1335
19 The Wild Child François Truffaut 1636
20 The Rise of Louis XIV Roberto Rossellini 1679
21 Tora! Tora! Tora! Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku, and Toshio Masuda 1760
22 The Go-Between Joseph Losey 1843
23 Kelly's Heroes Brian G. Hutton 1886
24 Wanda Barbara Loden 1978
25 Airport* George Seaton 1979
26 Zabriskie Point Michelangelo Antonioni 2321
27 The Hour of the Furnaces Octavio Getino, Fernando E. Solanas, and Santiago Álvarez 2370

1971

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 A Clockwork Orange* Stanley Kubrick 36
2 The French Connection** William Friedkin 151
3 Dirty Harry Don Siegel 255
4 Harold and Maude Hal Ashby 256
5 McCabe & Mrs. Miller Robert Altman 290
6 The Last Picture Show* Peter Bogdanovich 325
7 Get Carter Mike Hodges 339
8 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Mel Stuart 348
9 Straw Dogs Sam Peckinpah 726
10 Shaft Gordon Parks 746
11 Klute Alan J. Pakula 767
12 Walkabout Nicolas Roeg 770
13 Death in Venice Luchino Visconti 821
14 Two-Lane Blacktop Monte Hellman 867
15 Fiddler on the Roof* Norman Jewison 881
16 Duel Steven Spielberg 918
17 Brian's Song Buzz Kulik 1006
18 Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song Melvin Van Peebles 1092
19 THX-1138 George Lucas 1182
20 A Touch of Zen King Hu 1206
21 W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism Dusan Makavejev 1458
22 Bananas Woody Allen 1600
23 The Omega Man Boris Sagal 1685
24 The Devils Ken Russell 1729
25 The Andromeda Strain Robert Wise 1750
26 Play Misty for Me Clint Eastwood 1759
27 Sunday Bloody Sunday John Schlesinger 1838
28 Carnal Knowledge Mike Nichols 1972
29 A New Leaf Elaine May 2206
30 Murmur of the Heart Louis Malle 2215
31 Two English Girls François Truffaut 2306

1972

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 The Godfather** Francis Ford Coppola 1
2 Cabaret* Bob Fosse 144
3 Aguirre: The Wrath of God Werner Herzog 188
4 The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie Luis Buñuel 312
5 Deliverance* John Boorman 326
6 Solaris Andrei Tarkovsky 377
7 Last Tango in Paris Bernardo Bertolucci 397
8 Cries and Whispers* Ingmar Bergman 443
9 Pink Flamingos John Waters 500
10 Fat City John Huston 761
11 The Harder They Come Perry Henzell 909
12 Silent Running Douglas Trumbull 913
13 The Poseidon Adventure Ronald Neame 1038
14 Sounder* Martin Ritt 1107
15 Sleuth Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1124
16 What's Up, Doc? Peter Bogdanovich 1188
17 The Last House on the Left Wes Craven 1591
18 Play It Again, Sam Herbert Ross 1622
19 The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1650
20 Fritz the Cat Ralph Bakshi 1693
21 The Getaway Sam Peckinpah 1694
22 Super Fly Gordon Parks Jr. 1763
23 Frenzy Alfred Hitchcock 1852
24 Junior Bonner Sam Peckinpah 1942
25 Deep Throat Gerard Damiano 2002
26 The Ruling Class Peter Medak 2008
27 Avanti! Billy Wilder 2028
28 Slaughterhouse-Five George Roy Hill 2131
29 The Heartbreak Kid Elaine May 2142
30 Ulzana's Raid Robert Aldrich 2260

1973

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 The Exorcist* William Friedkin 76
2 Don't Look Now Nicolas Roeg 162
3 Mean Streets Martin Scorsese 190
4 American Graffiti* George Lucas 198
5 The Wicker Man Robin Hardy 218
6 Badlands Terrence Malick 249
7 The Sting** George Roy Hill 281
8 Amarcord Federico Fellini 365
9 Day for Night François Truffaut 414
10 Enter the Dragon Robert Clouse 490
11 The Spirit of the Beehive Víctor Erice 543
12 Sleeper Woody Allen 553
13 The Long Goodbye Robert Altman 721
14 F for Fake Orson Welles 799
15 The Way We Were Sydney Pollack 842
16 Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid Sam Peckinpah 885
17 Scenes from a Marriage Ingmar Bergman 979
18 Serpico Sidney Lumet 1057
19 The Mother and the Whore Jean Eustache 1087
20 Bang the Drum Slowly John D. Hancock 1225
21 Soylent Green Richard Fleischer 1257
22 Papillon Franklin J. Schaffner 1292
23 O Lucky Man! Lindsay Anderson 1354
24 The Day of the Jackal Fred Zinnemann 1373
25 The Last Detail Hal Ashby 1442
26 High Plains Drifter Clint Eastwood 1542
27 Westworld Michael Crichton 1568
28 Paper Moon Peter Bogdanovich 1579
29 Fantastic Planet René Laloux 1641
30 Robin Hood Wolfgang Reitherman 1977
31 The Holy Mountain Alejandro Jodorowsky 2193
32 The Three Musketeers Richard Lester 2216
33 Sisters Brian De Palma 2299
34 Jesus Christ Superstar Norman Jewison 2353

1974

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 The Godfather: Part II** Francis Ford Coppola 14
2 Chinatown* Roman Polanski 20
3 The Conversation* Francis Ford Coppola 155
4 Blazing Saddles Mel Brooks 224
5 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Tobe Hooper 233
6 Young Frankenstein Mel Brooks 260
7 A Woman under the Influence John Cassavetes 557
8 Ali: Fear Eats the Soul Rainer Werner Fassbinder 572
9 Celine & Julie Go Boating Jacques Rivette 727
10 The Longest Yard Robert Aldrich 854
11 The Parallax View Alan J. Pakula 953
12 Dark Star John Carpenter 1000
13 The Mystery of Kaspar Hausar Werner Herzog 1025
14 Lacombe Lucien Louis Malle 1151
15 The Taking of Pelham One Two Three Joseph Sargent 1186
16 The Towering Inferno* John Guillermin and Irwin Allen 1267
17 Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore Martin Scorsese 1268
18 Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia Sam Peckinpah 1367
19 Swept Away ... by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August Lina Wertmüller 1522
20 Lancelot of the Lake Robert Bresson 1607
21 Female Trouble John Waters 1649
22 Alice in the Cities Wim Wenders 1732
23 Hearts and Minds Peter Davis 1774
24 Black Christmas Bob Clark 1782
25 Lenny* Bob Fosse 1816
26 Phantom of the Paradise Brian De Palma 2045
27 Murder on the Orient Express Sidney Lumet 2105
28 The Phantom of Liberty Luis Buñuel 2145

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

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This page was last modified on June 14, 2011