The Best But Also Forgotten Movies of the ’70s

I was little in the ‘70s, so I have fond memories of children’s movies, but I missed many others. There’s an extensive list of movies I’d classify as forgotten movies of the ’70s. Over the years, my husband, a ‘60s kid, has helped me catch up on many that he felt were the absolute best in terms of acting or storyline.

The 1970s were turbulent times with young men still being drafted to fight in a war they didn’t necessarily believe in. Increasing numbers of women stopped being housewives and entered the workforce. Gas shortages caused frustratingly long lines at stations. People needed an escape, and movies provided it.

The movies of the 1970s covered so many themes and eras. Some movies focused on the inner battles soldiers faced. You had coming-of-age movies, comedies, dramas, horror and sci-fi. The ’70s introduced “Star Wars” to the world. 

One of the first ‘70s movies I watched with him was “Deliverance.” The storyline was disturbing and more horror than suspense, but the acting was incredible. “Fiddler on the Roof” inspired my love of musicals. Movies cover so many themes and tell so many stories. However, a lot of them have become lost in the abundance of newer films.

To build my list of movies from the 1970s that nobody remembers, I’ve gone through the list of movies nominated for or won major awards, like the Academy Award, aka Oscar. I’ve sorted them in alphabetical order. Let’s get started going through my list of the 22 best but also forgotten movies of the ‘70s that you should watch. (Also, learn more about popular characters in “The Most Likeable Movie Characters of the ’70s.”)

Barry Lyndon (1975)

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

• Director: Stanley Kubrick
• Stars: Ryan O’Neal, Marisa Berenson, and Patrick Magee

After Lady Honoria Lyndon’s husband dies, an Irishman with a shady past marries her to become a nobleman and gain wealth. Nominated for seven Oscar awards, it won “Best Cinematography,” “Best Costume Design,” “Best Music” and “Best Art Direction.”

Bound for Glory (1976)

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

• Director: Hal Ashby
• Stars: David Carradine, Ronny Cox, and Melinda Dillon

Folk singer Woody Guthrie’s story comes to life in this biographical account of his life. This forgotten ’70s movie was nominated for six Oscar awards, including “Best Picture.” Instead, it won “Best Cinematography” and “Best Music.”

Coming Home (1978)

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

• Director: Hal Ashby
• Stars: Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, and Bruce Dern

While he’s in Vietnam, a Marine officer’s wife falls in love with her former schoolmate, who suffered a paralyzing injury in the Vietnam War. Nominated for eight Oscars, it won “Best Writing,” Best Actress in a Leading Role” and “Best Actor in a Leading Role.”

Cries and Whispers (1972)

Source: Courtesy of New World Pictures

• Director: Ingmar Bergman
• Stars: Harriet Andersson, Liv Ullmann, and Kari Sylwan

Up next in my list of forgotten movies of the ‘70s is a powerful drama about sisters who find themselves reunited by a terminal cancer diagnosis. Nominated for five Oscar awards, the movie won “Best Cinematography.”

The Deer Hunter (1978)

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

• Director: Michael Cimino
• Stars: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and John Cazale

I talked earlier about the effects of the Vietnam War on men and how that led to many ’70s films touching on that subject matter. This movie dives into the emotional impact the war had on young men in a Pennsylvania steel mill town. With nine Oscar nominations, the movie won “Best Director,” “Best Actor in a Supporting Role,” “Best Sound,” “Best Film Editing” and “Best Picture.”

The Emigrants (1971)

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

• Director: Jan Troell
• Stars: Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, and Eddie Axberg

Tired of struggling with poor farmland, a young Swedish couple decides to start a new life in America after one of their children dies from starvation. Instead, the journey to America is even more challenging. It was nominated for five Oscars. The movie was remade in 2021, but it grossed less than $600,000.

The Great White Hope (1970)

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

• Director: Martin Ritt
• Stars: James Earl Jones, Jane Alexander, and Lou Gilbert

James Earl Jones plays a reigning heavyweight championship boxer who’s subject to constant racism due to his skin color. As a result, he’s arrested while crossing state lines with his fiancée, a white woman, a violation of the Mann Act. Consequently, the couple flees to Europe to avoid his prison sentence, but that doesn’t end the problems they encounter. The film earned two Oscar nominations. Jones won the Golden Globes’ “Most Promising Newcomer” award.

I Never Sang For My Father (1970)

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

• Director: Gilbert Cates
• Stars: Melvyn Douglas, Gene Hackman, and Dorothy Stickney

Regrets fill a man who plans to move out of state after marrying his girlfriend, especially when his mother dies, leaving his father alone. The guilt he feels for leaving his controlling father behind eats at him, but he also can’t ignore his desire to start a new life. Nominated for three Oscars, the movie didn’t win those awards, but it did get a National Board of Review “Top Ten Films” award in 1971.

Julia (1977)

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

• Director: Fred Zinnemann
• Stars: Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, and Jason Robards

A playwright agrees to help a friend by smuggling money into Nazi Germany. That money is earmarked to help fund the anti-Nazi movement, which puts her life at risk. Nominated for 11 Oscars, Robards won “Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Redgrave won “Best Actress in a  Supporting Role.” In addition, the movie received an Oscar for “Best Writing.”

The Landlord (1970)

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

• Director: Hal Ashby
• Stars: Beau Bridges, Lee Grant, and Diana Sands

A 29-year-old runs away from his home and family and purchases a building in Brooklyn. His original goal of evicting all of the Black residents changes as he gets to know them. Grant earned an Oscar nomination for “Best Actress in a Supporting Role.”

The Last Picture Show (1971)

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

• Director: Peter Bogdanovich
• Stars: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, and Cybill Shepherd

This coming-of-age story shows how a struggling town poses problems for the teens trying to make the most of their lives as they reach graduation. It was nominated for eight Oscar awards and won “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” and “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” for Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman.

Lenny (1974)

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

• Director: Bob Fosse
• Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Valerie Perrine, and Jan Miner

Hoffman plays Lenny Bruce, the 1960s comic deemed unfit due to his language and subjects. It shares his story of growing up to his popularity and honestly talking about politics and society. It was nominated for six Oscars and three Golden Globes but failed to win anything.

M*A*S*H (1970)

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

• Director: Robert Altman
• Stars: Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, and Tom Skerritt

Many consider this to be at the top of the list of best forgotten movies of the ‘70s. People know of the TV show, but before that award-winning show, there was a movie about the medical unit tasked with helping victims on the battlefield of the Korean War. Nominated for five Oscars, it won “Best Writing.”

Midnight Express (1978)

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

• Director: Alan Parker
• Stars: Brad Davis, Irene Miracle, and Bo Hopkins

Oliver Stone wrote the screenplay for this movie about a college student caught smuggling drugs from Turkey and placed in a brutal prison. It’s there that fellow prisoners tell him the only way out is by escaping. Up for six Oscar awards, Stone won for “Best Writing” and Giorgio Moroder won for “Best Music.”

Nashville (1975)

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

• Director: Robert Altman
• Stars: Keith Carradine, Karen Black, and Ronee Blakley

This comedy about preparing for a political convention in the heart of Nashville won the Oscar for “Best Music.” It also won the BAFTA for “Best Soundtrack” and Golden Globe for “Best Original Song.”

Network (1976)

Source: Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

• Director: Sidney Lumet
• Stars: Faye Dunaway, William Holden, and Peter Finch

Four Oscars went to this movie about an aging news anchor who responds to news of his upcoming termination by saying he’s going to kill himself on air. It won awards for “Best Actor in a Leading Role,” “Best Actress in a Leading Role,” “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” and “Best Writing.”

Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

• Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
• Stars: Michael Jayston, Janet Suzman, and Roderic Noble

Sometimes, actors win awards and seemingly vanish from the industry. That’s the first thing I noticed with the stars in this Oscar-winning ’70s movie about the Russian Revolution. It won “Best Art Direction” and “Best Costume Design,” but the main actors aren’t household names.

Ryan’s Daughter (1970)

Source: Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

• Director: David Lean
• Stars: Robert Mitchum, Trevor Howard, and John Mills

In 1916 Ireland, a married woman has an affair with a British officer who enters her father’s pub. When she learns something from a group of Irish revolutionaries, she must decide if she should tell her British lover or keep her townspeople’s secret. Mills won “Best Actor in a Supporting Role,” and Freddie Young won “Best Cinematography” in this forgotten ‘70s movie.

Sounder (1972)

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

• Director: Martin Ritt
• Stars: Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, and Kevin Hooks

In the heart of the Great Depression, the eldest son of a family of black sharecroppers must grow up quickly when his father goes to prison for stealing food. Nominated for four Oscars, the movie didn’t win those, but Tyson won the National Board of Review “Best Actress” award.

The Sunshine Boys (1975)

Source: MGM Studios / Moviepix via Getty Images

• Director: Herbert Ross
• Stars: Walter Matthau, George Burns, and Richard Benjamin

Walter Matthau and George Burns play a retired vaudeville duo who agree to a TV reunion. There’s a problem, however: they despise each other. The Neil Simon comedy received four Oscar nominations, and Burns won “Best Actor in a Supporting Role.”

The Turning Point (1977)

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

• Director: Herbert Ross
• Stars: Anne Bancroft, Shirley MacLaine, and Mikhail Baryshnikov

Shirley MacLaine plays a woman who left her promising dance career to raise a family. Anne Bancroft dedicated her life to dancing and wishes she’d made different choices. MacLaine’s daughter joins a ballet company, which reunites them. It was nominated for 11 Oscars.

An Unmarried Woman (1978)

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

• Director: Paul Mazursky
• Stars: Jill Clayburgh, Alan Bates, and Michael Murphy

The final movie on my list of forgotten movies of the ‘70s is a romantic comedy. When her husband leaves her for a younger woman, a wealthy Manhattanite must start anew. Nominated for three Oscars, including “Best Picture,” it didn’t win any of its nominations.

Those are my choices for the forgotten movies of the ’70s. Also, explore the most underrated movies of the 1970s you should see.