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The History of American Cinema: 1971

January - June

16/1 -

The plan to merge MGM and 20^th Century-Fox, as first suggested to Darryl F. Zanuck by MGM’s president James Aubrey Jr, is dropped. [MORE]

22/1 -

President Richard Nixon recommends Arthur Hiller’s Love Story to reporters in the White House.   “I recommend it,” he said, while admitting to being mildly upset by the film’s profanity. [ADD]

25/1 -

Charles Keating, an anti-pornography protestor, declares that "Darryl Zanuck and Russ Meyer should be arrested and imprisoned for daring to make Beyond the Valley of the Dolls." [ADD]

2/2 -

The American Film Institute publishes a guide to the 1,679 film courses available at 300 colleges and universities throughout the country. [ADD]

11/3 -

Elaine May makes both her writing and directing debuts with A New Leaf.   May also co-stars with Walter Matthau as an accident-prone heiress who is targeted by Matthau’s bankrupt gold-digger. [ADD]

24/3 -

Francis Ford Coppola begins filming his screen adaptation of Mario Puzo’s The Godfather.   All references to the Mafia and the Cosa Nostra are removed at the request of the Italian-American Civil Rights League. [ADD]

28/3 -

Taking Off, Czech director Milos Forman’s debut American feature, is released. [ADD]

2/4 -

Samuel Goldwyn is awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Richard Nixon. [ADD]

9/4 -

Robert Mulligan’s nostalgic Summer of ’42 is released.   Gary Grimes stars as a youth who embarks on his first affair with a young married woman (Jennifer O’Neill) whose husband is away on active service. [ADD]

10/4 -

The first festival of Black Cinema takes place in Atlanta, Georgia. [ADD]

15/4 -

George C. Scott refuses to accept his Best Actor Oscar for his role in Patton at the 43rd Annual Academy Awards and condemns the awards as a meat market that degrades the acting profession.   Patton also wins the Best Picture Award. [MORE]

23/4 -

Melvin van Peebles’ Sweet Sweetback’s Badasssss Song is released.   The film, which was filmed in 19 days, is hailed by Black Panther’s leader Huey Newton as ‘a great revolutionary document.’ [ADD]

18/6 -

Daniel Mann’s Willard, in which Bruce Davison plays a disturbed young man who befriends the rats that infest his family’s old mansion, is released.   Elsa Lanchester and Ernest Borgnine also star as Davison’s parents. [ADD] 

23/6 -

Dr. Aaron Stern replaces Eugene Dougherty as the head of the Code and Rating Administration, while the MPAA’s president, Jack Valenti acknowledges the need for reforms in the Code to allow for changes in moral standards. [ADD]

24/6 -

Robert Altman's Western McCabe & Mrs. Miller is released.   Warren Beatty stars as a hustler who tries to turn a run-down frontier dive into a busy town.   Julie Christie co-stars as his drug-addicted love interest. [ADD]

25/6 -

Donald Sutherland stars as private detective Klute in Alan J. Pakula's film of the same name.   Jane Fonda co-stars as prostitute Bree Daniels who might have the answers to the disappearance of a tourist that Klute seeks. [ADD]

30/6 -

Mike Nichols’ adaptation of Jules Feiffer's script of Carnal Knowledge is released.   Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel star as college friends whose love lives are followed to cynical middle age.  Ann-Margret also appears against type as one of Nicholson’s lovers. [ADD]

Jun -

Julia Reichert and Jim Klein create the feminist film distribution company New Day Films to promote their film, Growing Up Female. [ADD]

The History of Cinema: 1971

Algeria - Italy