It was a year packed with some of the most beloved films of all time. It’s hard to believe that these top-billing movies from 1974 are turning 50 years old. Dramatic options like “Towering Inferno” and “The Great Gatsby” and cult classics like “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” — all released in 1974 — are forever etched in film archives as some of the most memorable.
From “Benji” to “Blazing Saddles,” here are the well-known movies and the sleeper hits that took the Top 20 spots on the box-office billing list from that year.
‘The Man With the Golden Gun’
- Earnings: $21,000,000
- Genre: Action
- Cast: Bernard Lee, Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Maud Adams, Hervé Villechaize, Clifton James, Richard Loo, Soon-Tek Oh, Marc Lawrence
‘Death Wish’
- Earnings: $22,000,000
- Genre: Action
- Cast: Fred J. Scollay, Charles Bronson, Hope Lange, Vincent Gardenia, Steven Keats, William Redfield, Stuart Margolin, Stephen Elliott, Kathleen Tolan, Jack Wallace
‘Chinatown’
- Earnings: $23,169,837
- Genre: Drama
- Cast: Richard Bakalyan, Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez, John Hillerman, Darrell Zwerling, Diane Ladd, Roy Jenson, Roman Polanski
‘Thunderbolt and Lightfoot’
- Earnings: $25,000,000
- Genre: Action
- Cast: Roy Jenson, Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, George Kennedy, Geoffrey Lewis, Catherine Bach, Gary Busey, Jack Dodson, Eugene Elman, Burton Gilliam
‘The Great Gatsby’
- Earnings: $26,533,200
- Genre: Drama
- Cast: Edward Herrmann, Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Bruce Dern, Karen Black, Scott Wilson, Sam Waterston, Lois Chiles, Howard Da Silva, Roberts Blossom
‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’
- Earnings: $26,572,439
- Genre: Horror
- Cast: Robert Courtin, Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain, William Vail, Teri McMinn, Jim Siedow, Gunnar Hansen, John Dugan
‘Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry’
- Earnings: $28,401,735
- Genre: Adventure
- Cast: T.J. Castronovo, Peter Fonda (pictured), Susan George, Adam Roarke, Kenneth Tobey, Eugene Daniels, Lynn Borden, Janear Hines, Elizabeth James, Adrianne Herman
‘Freebie and the Bean’
- Earnings: $30,000,000
- Genre: Comedy/Action
- Cast: Valerie Harper, Alan Arkin, James Caan, Loretta Swit, Jack Kruschen, Mike Kellin, Paul Koslo, Linda Marsh, John Garwood, Alex Rocco
‘Benji’
- Earnings: $31,559,560
- Genre: Adventure
- Cast: Christopher Connelly, Peter Breck, Deborah Walley, Patsy Garrett, Allen Fiuzat, Cynthia Smith, Frances Bavier, Terry Carter, Edgar Buchanan, Tom Lester
‘Herbie Rides Again’
- Earnings: $31,765,098
- Genre: Comedy
- Cast: Raymond Bailey, Helen Hayes, Ken Berry, Stefanie Powers, John McIntire, Keenan Wynn, Huntz Hall, Ivor Barry, Dan Tobin, Vito Scotti
‘Murder on the Orient Express’
- Earnings: $35,733,867
- Genre: Drama
- Cast: Anthony Perkins, Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery (pictured), Martin Balsam, Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Pierre Cassel, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller
‘The Longest Yard’
- Earnings: $43,008,075
- Genre: Drama
- Cast: Jim Nicholson, Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert, Ed Lauter, Michael Conrad, James Hampton, Harry Caesar, John Steadman, Charles Tyner, Mike Henry
‘The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams’
- Earnings: $45,411,063
- Genre: Western
- Cast: Dan Haggerty (pictured), Don Shanks, Marjorie Harper, Lisa Jones, William Woodson
‘Airport 1975’
- Earnings: $47,285,152
- Genre: Thriller/Suspense
- Cast: Sid Caesar (pictured with Imogene Coca), Charlton Heston, Karen Black, George Kennedy, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Susan Clark, Helen Reddy, Linda Blair, Dana Andrews, Roy Thinnes
‘The Godfather: Part II’
- Earnings: $57,300,000
- Genre: Drama
- Cast: Richard Bright, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, John Cazale, Talia Shire, Lee Strasberg, Michael V. Gazzo, G.D. Spradlin
‘Earthquake’
- Earnings: $79,700,000
- Genre: Drama
- Cast: Victoria Principal, Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene, Geneviève Bujold, Richard Roundtree, Marjoe Gortner, Barry Sullivan, Lloyd Nolan
‘Young Frankenstein’
- Earnings: $86,300,000
- Genre: Comedy
- Cast: Danny Goldman, Gene Wilder (pictured), Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Cloris Leachman, Teri Garr, Kenneth Mars, Richard Haydn, Liam Dunn
‘The Trial of Billy Jack’
- Earnings: $89,000,000
- Genre: Action
- Cast: Gus Greymountain, Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor, Victor Izay, Teresa Kelly, Sara Lane, Geo Anne Sosa, Lynn Baker, Riley Hill, Sparky Watt
‘The Towering Inferno’
- Earnings: $116,000,000
- Genre: Action
- Cast: Robert Vaughn, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Susan Blakely, Richard Chamberlain, Jennifer Jones, O.J. Simpson
‘Blazing Saddles’
- Earnings: $119,500,000
- Genre: Comedy
- Cast: David Huddleston, Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn, Mel Brooks, Mel Brooks, Burton Gilliam, Alex Karras, Liam Dunn