Friday, January 5, 2024

January 5, 2024: 2024 Anniversaries: 1974 Films

[As I’ve done for each of the last few years, this week I’ll start 2024 by AmericanStudying a few anniversaries for the new year. Leading up to a special post on the 200th anniversary of a frustratingly familiar election.]

On quick AmericanStudies contexts for five films from one of the best years in cinematic history.

1)      The Godfather Part II: Check out that post!

2)      Chinatown: And check out that one!

3)      The Longest Yard: And also out that one!

4)      Blazing Saddles: Okay, I haven’t written about every one of these 1974 films on the blog already! I was pretty shocked to learn that Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles was the top-grossing film of 1974; not because it’s not one of the legendary director and comedian’s best films (it certainly is), but because I expected a more conventional blockbuster to take that title. Saddles is a particularly interesting comedy to occupy that spot, because it’s quite openly critical of the general American public, as illustrated by one of its best quotes: “You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know...morons.” One of many moments and ways in which Brooks’ film not only parodies the genre of the Western, but satirizes overarching American narratives and images of the West, making it an excellent AmericanStudies film.

5)      The Parallax View: Full disclosure, I don’t believe I’ve seen this Alan J. Pakula film (I watched a lot of 70s movies with my Mom growing up, often before I was old enough to quite get it all, but I don’t think this one was on the list). But a Watergate-era thriller about an organization devoted to political assassination (and implied to have assassinated both John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald) that uses the catchphrase “As American as apple lie” definitely has to be on a list of AmericanStudies-worthy 1974 films, no? I thought about putting another phenomenal 1974 film, The Conversation, on this list, and I think it would make an excellent double-feature with Parallax, revealing a great deal about political conspiracies, real and imagined, believable and fantastic, and all, yes, as American as apple pie.

Special post this weekend,

Ben

PS. What do you think?

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