“Spiderman 3” will be hitting theaters in the U.S. on May 4th which officially marks the earliest opening for a summer movie in history. For many years popular movies for summer opened in June and July with a week or two of August available. These movies were normally family friendly or drive-in friendly with not a whole lot of attention paid to which movies hit and which missed. Each summer the formula was the same.
Everything changed on June 20, 1975 when “Jaws” opened and would become the highest grossing movie of all time before Labor Day weekend. Studio executives took note and soon plans were in the works for higher profile and bigger budget films to open in the warm months even though it was considered a risk since families tend to vacation or relax at home unwilling to spend a few hours in a dark theater.
Another change came on May 25, 1977 when “Star Wars” opened and would supplant “Jaws” as the highest grossing film of all time and play in some theaters all the way up until Christmas or longer. Once again studio executives took note that you could pack theaters with kids of all ages no matter what time of year as long as the product was something to draw them in.
From then on Memorial Day became the official start of the summer movie season that would stretch all the way until Labor Day weekend.
Over the last few years studios have been toying with opportunity by opening their summer movie a week or two before Memorial Day. This year, with “Spiderman 3” opening at the first of the month, suddenly summer becomes official in multiplexes all over the country.
I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the summer movie season of 30 years ago when “Star Wars” dominated.
In 1977 there were 20 other movies that would open in a 12-week period vying for your hard earned dollars. Some of them were hits and some were misses as is always the case. It is believed that some of these movies that missed may have hit bigger without “Star Wars” in release because it raised the bar of entertainment, especially for teenagers and young adults. Naturally some were good and some not so good. Some would be remembered at Academy Awards time while some were forgotten before kids went trick-or-treating.
Most interesting is how the younger audience was virtually ignored in June and totally ignored in August. Walt Disney released two films that summer but both were released within three weeks of one another. Perhaps studios saw the devastating effect “Star Wars” was having on many other films and chose to move their releases out of its path.
If you were old enough to attend movies back in 1977 this might bring back some nostalgic memories of a time that really doesn’t seem all that long ago. For those not old enough it might be an interesting journey into the movies that you may or may not know.
Perhaps you will come away from this article and see one or two of them or re-visit one of these films you haven’t seen in many a moon.
Here are the movies in order of their release by month listed alphabetically.
JUNE
A BRIDGE TOO FAR (United Artists; Director – Richard Attenborough) – This $26 million dollar, three hour epic was based on a popular novel by Cornelius Ryan about the disastrous 1944 Allied airdrop behind German lines in Holland. While there were some spectacular battle scenes, the film was marred by its running time and the odd choice to use an all-star cast of popular actors, many of whom have less then five minutes of screen time. The cast included Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Elliot Gould, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Ryan O’Neal, Robert Redford, Maximillian Schell and Liv Ullmann. The problem with most films with casts like these is that if the script doesn’t have you so caught up you don’t notice, you find yourself spying the famous faces and saying “Look there is…” Even when a script is that good it can detour from an otherwise good story as this film is. The film wound up earning $20 million that would have qualified it as a major hit if not for its inflated budget.
THE DEEP (Columbia; Director – Peter Yates) – After the smashing success of “Jaws” it was a no-brainer to adapt another of the novels by Peter Benchley. His follow up novel told the story of a young couple in Bermuda who go deep sea diving and happen upon treasure and drugs and soon enough find themselves targets from some very bad people. Robert Shaw, so terrific as Quint in “Jaws,” was wisely cast as Romer Treece, the man who takes the couple in and has greater knowledge of the drugs and treasure then he first lets on. Newcomer Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset played the young couple with Eli Wallach and Lou Gossett, Jr. in the bad guy roles. The film was punctuated by terrific underwater sequences but critics quickly revealed this film was no “Jaws.” Still, largely because Nolte had become the newest idol to teenage girls while Bisset became an idol to teenage boys with her opening scene in which she appears in just a wet t-shirt (and thus launched contests in bars all over the world), “The Deep” was a summer hit grossing over $31 million.
EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC (Warner Bros.; Director – John Boorman) – For months before its release this film was rumored to be a can’t miss hit. The director, John Boorman, had terrorized audiences five years earlier with “Deliverance.” Linda Blair was returning to the role that made her famous with support from such well-known actors as Richard Burton, Louise Fletcher, Ned Beatty, James Earl Jones and Paul Henreid. Kitty Wynn (as the nanny) and Max Von Sydow (returning as Father Merrin despite his death at the end of the original) were the others returning from the 1973 classic. So what went wrong? Plenty. Too describe this film as bad is an insult to bad movies. This is one of the worst major motion pictures ever released. A good portion of the movie found Blair and Burton wearing objects on their heads staring at one another. There are no thrills or chills in the least but there are moments of laughter at the embarrassment that is unfolding on the screen. Jones, playing Kokumo, is seen spitting a baby tomato (representing evil) out of his mouth just after Burton has spouted the immortal line, “Kokomu you must help me to find Pazuzu (the name of the demon).” It’s even worse if you say it out loud. Then there is the shot of the giant locust flying over the Capitol building in Washington D.C. that almost makes you think Godzilla will be rising for a big fight anytime now. The film was not screened for critics prior to its Friday opening that was highly unusual for such a major film in the day. Crowds overflowed theaters showing “Exorcist 2” not knowing of the stench they would inhale and most theaters reported no less then a 50% walkout from each showing. By the time Monday rolled around and the reviews hit newspapers, “Exorcist 2” had made a whopping $7 million. By then word of mouth was widespread and the film would only make another $7 million over the next 5 weeks it was in release going to show you that some people just have to see a movie to find out if it is as bad as they have heard.
FOR THE LOVE OF BENJI (Mulberry Square Pictures; Director – Joe Camp) In 1974 came the release of a kid’s movie called “Benji,” about a dog who helps to thwart the kidnapping of two small children that became an instant children’s classic and would gross almost $40 million. This sequel followed the four-legged superstar as he and his family go to Athens where a spy ring comes after our hero who has inadvertently had a tattoo on his foot for a secret formula. The film proved to be almost as entertaining as the original and would become a hit (despite grossing less then half the original) earning $18 million. The film was no doubt hurt by the fact that most kids were lining up to see Luke Skywalker and Han Solo instead of waiting to see a G-rated film about a cute dog.
THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT (20th Century Fox; Director – Charles Jarrott) This was a trashy 3-hour film based on a trashy novel by trashy novelist Sidney Sheldon and audiences ate it up despite its lengthy running time. In a nutshell, the film revolved around a would be starlet who sleeps her way to film stardom. Apparently audiences were primed for a good (or bad, as most critics noted) soap opera and turned this film into one of the biggest surprise hits of 1977 earning over $28 million.
ROLLERCOASTER (Universal; Director – James Goldstone) Universal Pictures dipped into its well of tricks and brought back the Sensurround sound system. If you don’t know or remember it (then please check out my article on it), Sensurround was basically 4 refrigerator sized speakers strategically located both on either side of the screen and on either side at the rear of the theater. At certain moments in the movie the speakers would cause a rumbling effect that you felt in your seat. In this routine but mildly entertaining thriller, the Sensurround usually was set off whenever a character road a rollercoaster. George Segal stars as a park ride inspector who soon discovers that certain accidents are related and that a madman is trying to extort millions from amusement park owners. Timothy Bottoms, Richard Widmark and Henry Fonda co-star in the film that was a mild hit but a critical failure.
SORCERER (Universal/Paramount; Director – William Friedkin) This was one of the most anticipated films of the year and one of its biggest bombs. Director Friedkin waited four years to follow up his smash hit “The Exorcist” with this ill advised remake of a 1955 classic French film “The Wages of Fear,” which tells the story of four fugitive men in a Latin American town who try to buy their freedom by driving two trucks filled with nitroglycerin over bumpy roads and bridges to help extinguish a fire. Friedkin provides several scenes that are astounding to look at a creepy musical score by Tangerine Dream, but the film flopped right out of the gate possibly due to the studios last minute decision to try and market the film as more horror then tense drama. The film made back only $6 million of its $22 million budget.
JULY
THE BAD NEWS BEARS IN BREAKING TRAINING (Paramount; Director – Michael Pressman) One year after the surprise hit that was “The Bad News Bears” came this inferior but still fairly entertaining sequel which found the team inexplicably chosen to represent their state in an exhibition game at the Houston Astrodome. The film follows the adventures of our misfits as they make their way to Houston from California and, when they arrive, how team leader Kelly Leak (Jackie Earle Haley) enlists the aid of his estranged father (William Devane) to coach the team through the week leading up to the game. Once again audiences ate up the foul mouthed youngsters enough to become another hit and spawn a final sequel the next summer called “The Bad News Bears Go To Japan,” which showed that too much of something was not a good thing. It was a huge bomb and ended the popular series with a thud.
GREASED LIGHTNING (Warner Bros; Director – Michael Schultz) Richard Pryor stars in this ill-conceived comedy/drama that tells the true story of the first black stock car racer. Pryor had just become a comedy sensation six months earlier with the smash hit “Silver Streak” but Pryor’s first attempt at a leading role unwisely tries to expand his acting talent with more serious moments then funny ones. After a strong start at the box office it became quickly apparent audiences were not responding to the film and it went on to disappointing box office and soon disappeared into oblivion.
HERBIE GOES TO MONTE CARLO (Walt Disney; Director – Vincent McEveety) Walt Disney’s only live action foray into the summer of 1977 was the third (after “The Love Bug” and “Herbie Rides Again”) in the hugely successful series about the Volkswagen that has a mind of its own. This time a spy ring has placed a diamond in Herbie’s gas tank while the car is racing in Europe. Disney regulars Dean Jones and Don Knotts star in this simple and mild comedy that proved that little kids need their entertainment too. The film went on to gross an astounding $29 million and provided the movie world with one more sequel (not counting 2004’s “Herbie: Fully Loaded) in 1980 called “Herbie Goes Bananas,” which flopped at the box office.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK (United Artists; Director – Martin Scorsese) Scorsese’s Big Band era musical was a notorious flop at the time of its release but is seen today as an interesting curio from the man who made “Taxi Driver” prior to this and “Raging Bull” just after this. Critics were divided then and are equally divided now as some called it a “masterpiece” while others dismissed it. Even movie fans are sharply divided with many seeing this as another of Scorsese’s brilliant works while others see it as the nadir of his filmmaking career thus far. The paper-thin story told of a saxophonist (Robert DeNiro) falling in love with a vocalist (Liza Minnelli) for USO shows and spending the next 137 minutes winning her and then losing her and winning her and losing her. “New York, New York” cost $14 million to make but only made $6 million. The film was reissued on video with 16 additional minutes several years later and is reportedly the version you want to see if you choose to see it.
ORCA, THE KILLER WHALE (Paramount; Director – Michael Anderson) One of the many “Jaws” rip-offs to inundate moviegoers was this laughably bad thriller about a killer whale who “witnesses” the death of his pregnant mate (we even get to witness the aborted fetus pop out to make the whale’s vengeful actions more justifiable) and take revenge on the bounty hunter and his crew. It’s even worse then it sounds. Richard Harris, Charlotte Rampling, Keenan Wynn and the very young Bo Derek waste their wide range of talent on this dreck. Audiences were not fooled and the film flopped at the box office.
OUTLAW BLUES (Warner Bros; Director – Richard T Heffron) This was one of those silly action B movies made specifically for drive-ins on a shoe string budget that, no doubt, made back its money within the two to three weeks it was in first run release. 70’s B movie king Peter Fonda stars as an ex-con who is suddenly thrusted into the limelight as a country star when he sings a song written by a local band’s backup singer (Susan Saint James) that has been stolen by her unscrupulous manager. The film gets no points for originality but provides some fun and is a good time waster.
THE RESCUERS (Walt Disney) Disney’s first animated film in four years (Robin Hood) was this wonderfully told adventure about two mice who belong to a Rescue Aid Society and go out to rescue a little girl who has been kidnapped. Children and adults alike welcomed back an original Disney animated film and made it one of Disney’s highest grossing films of all time as it grossed $30 million.
SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT (Universal; Director – Hal Needham) Burt Reynolds cemented his superstardom with this one long chase of a movie featuring Reynolds and Jerry Reed as bootleggers trying to outrun sheriff Jackie Gleason, who is chasing Reynolds because he has picked up runaway bride Sally Field who was supposed to marry Gleason’s dim-witted son. The film is filled with great stunts and juvenile humor but it all gels into a very entertaining film. Universal opened it only in the southern part of the country and then opened it wider when it became a smash hit. The film would end up clogging drive-in screens the entire summer and played well into the fall on indoor screens and grossed a whopping $59 million making it the second highest grossing film of the year and spawning two very inferior sequels.
AUGUST
THE LAST REMAKE OF BEAU GESTE (Universal; Director – Marty Feldman) Feldman took a page out of Gene Wilder’s book and elected, after successfully appearing in Mel Brooks’s films, to venture out on his own and direct (along with co-writing) his own comedy. Much like Wilder, Feldman only partially succeeded but not enough for fans to not wish that he would have returned to working with Brooks. Here Feldman spoofs Foreign Legion movies while forgetting that Foreign Legion movies (see the review right below) had not been in vogue for 30 years and wasn’t exacly ripe for spoofing. Still Feldman almost pulls it off as his film is quite uproarious for its first 30 minutes before settling into silliness and boredom over much of its last hour. The film has enough belly laughs at the start to almost recommend that while skipping the last hour would do little harm. Feldman co-starred with Michael York and Ann-Margret in the film which received mixed critical response and disappointed at the box office.
MARCH OR DIE (Columbia; Director – Dick Richards) This was an homage to French Foreign Legion adventures that had a grand epic scale, a terrific cast headed by Gene Hackman, Max Von Sydow, Ian Holm and Catherine Deneuve and beautiful production values but is saddled with a plodding script that goes nowhere. As stated in the review above, Foreign Legion films were not in vogue in the 70’s (or since) and the decision to release it in the summer seems quite odd. Perhaps a release in the fall may have benefited the outcome better but critics seemed to agree the film was a giant wasted opportunity. The film’s budget was $9 million and barely grossed $1 million.
ONE ON ONE (Warner Bros.; Director – Lamont Johnston) The surprise hit of the summer of 1977 starred then teen throb Robby Benson (who co-wrote the film with his father) as a naïve basketball player who heads to a small college and is confronted with a sadistic head coach and a sports world filled with corruption and deceit. Benson created a sweet and old fashioned film complete with a nice romance subplot involving Benson and a tutor (Annette O’Toole). Critics and audiences responded to the film’s charm and gentle attitude and the film went on to gross over $20 million.
THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (United Artists; Director – Lewis Gilbert) It wouldn’t have been summer without James Bond in the 1970’s (nowadays 007 movies come out in November) and this is roundly thought to be the best in the series with Roger Moore as Bond. The film is the usual Bond fare with our hero trying to stop an arch villain from world destruction and features the best bad guy sidekick (Richard Kiel’s Jaws) since Oddjob. Terrific chases and a very popular title song, Carly Simon’s Nobody Does It Better, punctuate a very entertaining movie that was a major step up in quality and box office from Moore’s previous Bond film “The Man With The Golden Gun.” The film would gross $24.3 million.
SUSPIRIA (International Classic Films; Director – Dario Argento) Italian filmmaker Argento is regarded as a master of horror films and this was one of the few to get a wide release in the United States in its original run. The film tells of an American woman who joins a European ballet school that turns out to be a witches’ coven. The film has Argento’s magic touch with atmospheric camerawork and creepy music (also by Argento) and is now considered a cult classic. In 1977 the film was regarded as a major failure by everyone including its original studio, 20th Century Fox, that was still riding high from its “Star Wars” success and removed its company name from the film and replaced it with International Classic Films. It was also widely rumored that the studio feared bad press with actress Grace Kelly who was a major stockholder in the company.
YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE (Columbia; Director – Joe Brooks) Based on the enormously popular song by Debby Boone, Light told the simple tale of a young woman trying to break into show business while keeping her life, especially the romantic side, in order. Considered to be an ultimate “chick flick,” Light went on to become a sleeper hit thanks to writer/director Brooks who, as a previous director of commercials (he conceived the classic Coke commercials with the “Id like to teach the world to sing” jingles) knew how to craft a story that would tug at the hearts of its intended audience. The film is not widely seen today but is an interesting curio of a film that marked the sign of the times.
