For this article I thought it would be fun to look back at the summer movie season of thirty years ago, 1978, to look at what was one of the best summer movie seasons of all time. No less then eight of the nineteen movies released that summer were big hits. Only three movies were specifically aimed at kids with two of them coming from the usually reliable Walt Disney Company. Four of the films were sequels while five would be remembered at Academy Awards time. One of them would make the cut in the Best Picture category. However the other side of that coin is that the summer of 1978 produced two of the biggest budgeted flops of the decade both of which are still considered today among the biggest disasters of the decade.
Here are the summer movies of 1978 listed in alphabetical order. I hope you enjoy the trip back in time and if you happen to have attended some of these movies in first run I hope this brings back pleasant memories.
ANIMAL HOUSE (Universal; Director – John Landis) The movie of the summer of 1978 was this classic look at college dorm life that was every teenager’s dream and every parent’s worst nightmare. John Belushi, then one of our hottest young actors, steals the show as the ever loving pig Bluto. Director Landis did something that would likely not be done today. He pushed the envelope of nudity, language and graphic ideas and helped create one of the funniest movies of all time. This smash hit opened in late July and would play most of the same theaters right up until Christmas. The budget was low, the reviews were mixed but audiences turned out to a gross of over $71 million.
THE BAD NEWS BEARS GO TO JAPAN (Paramount; Director – John Berry) The third and, mercifully, last in the series of foul mouthed little league baseball players takes the team to Japan with horribly unfunny results. Many of the original cast members knew well enough to stay away from this stinker and only Tony Curtis seemed willing to step into the role of the team’s head coach. The film is so bad there is very little baseball in it. Needless to say even teenagers smelled this one from afar and the film bombed at the box office.
THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY (Columbia; Director – Steve Rash) One of the best musical biographies highlights a career performance by Gary Busey in the title role. Busey not only looked the part but did all of his own singing. The film was originally released slowly in art houses but the reviews were so strong it got a wider release and made a respectable $7 million for a limited release. So strong was Busey’s performance that he would be rewarded later in the year with an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
CAPRICORN ONE (Warner Bros.; Director – Peter Hyams) A slick thriller involving the aborting and then faking of the first manned space mission to Mars and how soon a nosy reporter catches on to what may be happening and starts digging for the truth. Elliot Gould, James Brolin, Sam Waterson, Hal Holbrook, O.J. Simpson, Karen Black and Telly Savalas lead an impressive cast in this crowd pleasing adventure. The film received mixed reviews and was a mild box office hit.
THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE (Walt Disney; Director – Norman Tokar) The first of two Disney summer offerings was about exactly what the title infers: a feline extraterrestrial. Ken Berry, Sandy Duncan and McLean Stevenson headed the cast and the reviews were generally negative though Disney live-action movies always were critic proof. The film made a decent profit at the box office though it is little seen today.
THE CHEAP DETECTIVE (Columbia; Director – Robert Moore) Coming at the height of Neil Simon’s film career, Simon created this clever homage to movie detective films of the 1940’s starring Peter Falk in the title role, literally a cheap detective. Every time he takes a cab ride he comes up with an excuse as to why he can’t tip them. Simon’s story, much the films he lampoons here, tells the story of our title character trying to catch the killer of his investigative partner. Along the way he comes across a bevy of women (played by such actresses as Stockard Channing, Marsha Mason, Ann-Margret, Louis Fletcher, Eileen Brennan and Madeline Kahn) and shady characters (including James Coco, Paul Williams, Fernando Lamas, Sid Caesar and John Houseman), any of whom could be the killer. The real mystery isn’t all that interesting and is needlessly complicated but Falk steals the movie and turns it into good entertainment. The film was hit at the box office (as most of Simon’s films were at that time) grossing almost $20 million.
CONVOY (United Artists; Director – Sam Peckinpah) Based on a popular country song of its day by C.W. McCall, Convoy tells the story of a group of truckers who band together to stop the continuing abuse of a sheriff who enjoys giving them a hard time. Kris Kristofferson stars along with Ali MacGraw (who chose this project as her first film in 6 years) and both are miscast and lack any romantic chemistry. Ernest Borgnine comes off a little better as the bad guy but is saddled by a weak script. Only director Peckinpah’s trademark action scenes are worthy but even those go over the top. The film was killed by critics but while it is long believed the film was a dud it actually made over $15 million at the box office.
DAMIEN: OMEN II (2oth Century Fox; Director – Don Taylor) One of the most anticipated films of the summer was this follow up to the sleeper hit of 1976 starring Gregory Peck. Here young Damien has grown into a teenager now attending military school who gradually begins to learn who he is and what he is capable of. William Holden steps into the lead role here with Lee Grant, Robert Foxworth, Sylvia Sydney, Lew Ayers and Lance Henricksen adding able support. The film has some memorable moments and is at its best when trying to guess who is there to protect Damien and who is oblivious. The film was thrashed by critics but audiences turned out with a box office total of over $26 million, enough to warrant a third film in the series three years later.
THE DRIVER (20th Century Fox; Director – Walter Hill) Action packed adventure with Ryan O’Neal as a professional car thief and getaway driver being pursued by a crooked cop (Bruce Dern) with a personal vendetta. Hill spices the film with some terrific chase scenes while O’Neal and Dern play off one another just right. Despite receiving good reviews the film failed to find an audience.
EYES OF LAURA MARS (Columbia; Director – Irvin Kirschner) Faye Dunaway made her return to the big screen for the first time since winning her Network Academy Award starring as a fashion photographer whose tastes tend more toward the kinky. One night she has a vision of a murder and soon realizes her vision has come true. Soon enough it becomes apparent that she can see from the point of view of the killer as she watches her good friends get killed off one by one. Tommy Lee Jones co-stars as the lead detective on the case with Brad Dourif as one of MANY possible suspects. Unfortunately for the film you should be able to guess the identity of the killer by the end of the second reel thus removing what little suspense the film has going for it. The film was severely bashed by critics but in a rare instance of ignoring the critical mass, the film was a solid hit earning over $20 million.
FOUL PLAY (Paramount; Director – Colin Higgins) One of the most anticipated films of that summer was this comedy/thriller starring Goldie Hawn as a meek librarian who gets caught up in political intrigue and murder while trying to stay alive after inadvertently having some microfilm planted on her. Chevy Chase, once co-star of Saturday Night Live, makes his film debut as the detective assigned to protect her who eventually falls in love with her. This film was a good mixture of comedy, suspense and romance with the two leads displaying terrific chemistry into a story that doesn’t always make sense but is a lot of fun. The film is also remembered for showcasing Barry Manilow’s Oscar nominated hit Ready To Take A Chance Again. The film received mixed reviews but would earn a solid $28 million at the box office.
GREASE (Paramount; Director – Randal Kleiser) The film adaptation of the smash hit Broadway musical became 1978’s highest grossing movie thanks in part to star John Travolta and his enormous popularity having just come off the smash hit Saturday Night Fever. Here Travolta and singer Olivia Newton-John star as lovers during a summer who have to split up because of school and are reunited much to her delight and his chagrin until he realizes he lovers her. The film is filled with wall to wall (mostly memorable) musical numbers that pleased teenagers all over who returned to see the movie several times after. When all was said and done the film grossed just over $96 million.
HEAVEN CAN WAIT (Paramount; Directors – Warren Beatty and Buck Henry) The most honored of the summer films at the Academy Awards later that year was this sweet romantic comedy about a football player who dies in an accident only to be told he should have survived but was taken out too early. When he returns his body has been cremated so he has to find another and wants to get in shape for the Super Bowl. Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Jack Warden, James Mason, Dyan Cannon and Charles Grodin head the strong cast in a strong film that was nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture. Beatty became the first person since Orson Welles to be nominated for four awards (Actor, Director, Screenplay Picture). He would not win any of them. Warden and Cannon would also receive acting nominations. The film was well received and would gross just over $49 million.
HOOPER (Warner Bros; Director – Hal Needham) Burt Reynolds was the star of the decade of the 70’s and when he was on he was really on. Following the huge smash hit that was Smokey and the Bandit, Reynolds followed it up with this lively action comedy as a Hollywood stuntman who finds he may be getting too old but still stands up to the challenge of a new, young hot shot stuntman. As you might expect the film is filled with terrific action scenes and stunts mixed in with the good ole boy humor Burt was best known for. Reviews were mixed even though Burt was critic proof at this point and the film grossed a healthy $35 million.
HOT LEAD AND COLD FEET (Walt Disney; Director – Robert Butler) The second of two Disney films released that summer was this silly but fun film set in the old West starring Don Knotts, Darren McGavin and Jim Dale. As usual reviews for a live action Disney film were mostly weak but the film turned a solid profit.
JAWS 2 (Universal; Director – Jeannot Szwarc) Bar none the most anticipated film of the summer was this sequel to Steven Spielberg’s 1975 smash that broke box office records worldwide. This sequel brought back Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton and while the scenes in the water deliver the goods the scenes on land are lacking. Still and all the film is not bad and much better then either sequel that followed it. As expected reviews were bad but the film was an expected hit making over $50 million though it is far below the predicted gross.
REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER (United Artists; Director – Blake Edwards) Peter Sellers donned his Inspector Clouseau get up for the third time in four years and for one last time in this massive comedy that takes the viewer all over the world ending with a high speed chase on the streets of Hong Kong after which a warehouse of fireworks goes up in flames. It had become obvious here that Sellers and director Edwards were pouring it on too much too fast and the film feels forced at times. It has its moments to be sure but it was the weakest of the Sellers starred vehicles. Reviews were mixed but it made a healthy $26 million, enough that Sellers planned to carry on without Edwards (the two clashed frequently despite making 6 movies together) and had written the screenplay called Romance of the Pink Panther. Sadly Sellers would die before it could be made.
SGT. PEPPER’S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (Universal; Director – Michael Schultz) One of the grandest box office flops of the decade was this lavish musical based on the songs from the classic Beatles album and starred none other then The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton who proved you have to have even a slight bit of acting ability to make a musical scene passable. The film is ludicrous right down to trying to make the musical numbers work by having characters named Lucy, Strawberry Fields, Mr. Mustard and Dr. Maxwell (and his silver hammer). The highlight in its awfulness is when Frampton decides to commit suicide because he thinks his love (Strawberry) is dead. He jumps off the roof of a small building and is magically saved by a wizard (Billy Preston) who halts his plunge and returns him to the roof all the while singing Get Back. The film does have the Beatles music going for it but the performances by everyone from Steve Martin to Aerosmith to Earth, Wind and Fire to Alice Cooper to Donald Pleasance are uniformly bad. Somehow this film had a budget of over $10 million (must have been for buying the rights to the songs) and the film only grossed $12 million before being laughed off screens all over the country.
THE SWARM (Warner Bros; Director – Irwin Allen) An even bigger disaster was this film which began the decline in disaster movies. Watch an all-star cast including Michael Caine, Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Katherine Ross, Richard Chamberlain, Jose Ferrer, Patty Duke Astin, Olivia DeHavilland, Fred MacMurray and Ben Johnson avoid giant puffed rice posing as killer bee swarms. To watch an actor like Caine bark orders to Widmark about stopping the swarm is to watch great talent wasted. This film is so bad it is laughable and somehow producer/director Irwin Allen plugged $21 million into the budget – most of which must have gone for well deserved salaries. In the end the film would barely manage to make $10 million, which qualified it as one of the biggest losers of the decade.
