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The History of American Cinema: 1976

July - December

Jim Freeman and Greg MacGillivray’s To Fly! premieres in Washington at the Smithsonian Institute for the American Bicentennial.   The film was shot in IMAX, the world’s largest film format, and is a 27-minute history of American aviation. [ADD]

Jean-Charles Tacchella’s French film Cousin, Cousine is released in the States to critical acclaim. [ADD]

Celebrated Austrian director Fritz Lang dies in Los Angeles at the age of 85.   His last film was Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse in 1960. [ADD]

Congress passes a new copyright law replacing that which had been in existence since 1909.   The new law, which takes effect from 1^st January 1978, gives protection to the author (or producer in the case of films) for life plus fifty years. [ADD]

John Schlesinger’s Marathon Man, in which Dustin Hoffman receives some unwanted dental treatment from ex-Nazi Laurence Olivier, is released. [ADD]

A broadcast of Gone With the Wind (1939) over two nights by NBC is viewed by 33.9 and 33.7 million households, making it the most popular film ever shown on American television to date.  [ADD]

Universal and Walt Disney Pictures begin legal proceedings against Sony-Betamax, manufacturer and distributor of videotapes, for breach of copyright law. [ADD]

Elia Kazan’s adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s unfinished novel The Last Tycoon is released.   Robert De Niro stars in a role based upon MGM producer Irving G. Thalberg. [ADD]

Television executive Michael Eisner becomes head of Paramount. [ADD]

Network, Sidney Lumet’s drama set in the cutthroat world of TV broadcasting, is released.   Faye Dunaway stars as a ruthless TV executive who exploits newscaster Peter Finch’s on-screen breakdown to boost ratings.   William Holden also stars. [ADD]

John G. Avildsen’s Rocky is released.   Written by and starring Sylvester Stallone, it breaths fresh life into a clichéd story.   Stallone, who demanded $75,000, a percentage of the profits and the starring role, is Rocky, a likeable pug who gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot at the World Heavyweight title.   Talia Shire plays Rocky’s timid love interest, Burgess Meredith is his crabby trainer, Burt Young plays Shire’s slobbish brother, and Carl Weathers is Apollo Creed, the man Rocky must match up to in the ring. [ADD]

Bound for Glory, Hal Ashby’s biopic about Depression-era folk singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie is released.   David Carradine stars as Guthrie. [ADD]

John Guillermin’s remake of the classic 1933 monster movie King Kong is released.   Newcomer Jessica Lange plays the Fay Wray role in an effort that fails to live up to the reputation of its predecessor. [ADD]

Frank R. Pierson’s updated version of A Star is Born is released.   Barbra Streisand plays a rock chick version of Esther Blodgett whose star rises as lover Kris Kristofferson’s falls. [ADD]

The Enforcer, Clint Eastwood’s latest outing as Dirty Harry Callahan is released.   Directed by James Fargo, it sees Harry saddled with a female partner in the form of Tyne Daly. [ADD]

– The steadicam, invented by Garrett Brown, is introduced. [ADD]

– Marlon Brando negotiates a $1.25 million fee plus 11.3% of the gross above $8.85 million for appearing in The Missouri Breaks.   The film takes $7 million in North American gross rentals by the end of 1983. [ADD]

– Martha Coolidge writes and directs Not a Pretty Picture, the autobiographical account of her own rape. [ADD]

– The Independent Producers Association is formed. [ADD]

Other Key American Films of 1976

Assault on Precinct 13 (John Carpenter) [ADD]

Family Plot (Alfred Hitchcock) [ADD]

The Front (Martin Ritt) [ADD]

Nickelodeon (Peter Bogdanovich) [ADD]

Obsession (Brian de Palma) [ADD]

The Shootist (Don Siegel) [ADD]

The History of Cinema: 1976