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USA

1977

29/1 -

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jessica Lange win the acting debut awards at the Golden Globes ceremony hosted by Harry Belafonte in Beverly Hills for their respective performances in Stay Hungry and King Kong. [MORE] [ADD]

10/3 -

Roman Polanski is arrested in Beverly Hills following complaints from the mother of a 13-year-old girl that the Polish film director had sex with her.   He is later charged to appear before a grand jury for the corruption of a minor. [MORE] [ADD]

29/3 -

Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky wins the Best Picture award at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony, which is presented by Jane Fonda, Ellen Burstyn, Warren Beatty and Richard Pryor. [MORE] [ADD]

20/4 -

Woody Allen’s film Annie Hall is released.   Allen stars as Alvy Singer, a stand-up comedian who embarks on an on-off affair with Diane Keaton (real name Hall). [MORE] [ADD]

27/5 -

Former stunt man Hal Needham’s redneck comedy Smokey and the Bandit is released.   Burt Reynolds stars as the bandit, a trucker pursued by Jackie Gleason's Sheriff Buford T. Justice.   Sally Field supplies the love interest. [MORE] [ADD]

25/5 -

George Lucas’s Star Wars is released.   The first of a series of six films – although, in terms of narrative chronology, the fourth – it harnesses the energy and lightning pace of Saturday morning serials like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers to tell the timeless story of good vs evil.   Mark Hamill stars as Luke Skywalker, protégé of Obi Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), from whom he learns the secrets of the Force with which to fight the evil Darth Vader.   Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher also star, and all of them are aided by a couple of droids called C-3PO and R2D2. [MORE] [ADD]

31/5 -

40s star Rita Hayworth is made a ward of her daughter, Yasmin, while being treated for alcoholism. [MORE] [ADD]

7/6 -

Francis Ford Coppola reveals that he mortgaged all of his personal assets, including his house, as a guarantee for the $10 million loan made to him by United Artists to complete his Vietnam War film, Apocalypse Now. [MORE] [ADD]

20/6 -

Following negative reactions from test audiences, Warner Bros change the ending to The Exorcist II: The Heretic.   Director John Boorman phones instructions from Ireland. [MORE] [ADD]

21/6 -

The New York Times instigates a new policy limiting the size, format and content of adverts in its pages for cinemas showing pornographic films. [MORE] [ADD]

16/8 -

Elvis Presley dies of a massive heart attack after years of drug dependency and binge eating on junk food.   He is found by his companion, Ginger Alden, on the bathroom floor at his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. [MORE] [ADD]

16/9 -

David Begelman, vice-president of Columbia Pictures Industries, is accused of forging actor Cliff Robertson's signature in order to cash a check made out to Robertson by the studio accountant. [MORE] [ADD]

19/9 -

A grand jury hands down a six-count indictment on Roman Polanski for the corrupting of a minor, remanding him to 90 days in prison and a psychiatric evaluation. [MORE] [ADD]

19/10 -

Richard Brooks’ adaptation of Judith Rosner's best-selling novel Looking for Mr. Goodbar is released.   Diane Keaton stars as a teacher of deaf-mute children who cruises singles bars at night looking for sex.   Tom Berenger and Richard Gere also star as two of her less savoury encounters. [MORE] [ADD]

22/10 -

Posters depicting Al Jolson in black-face make-up in The Jazz Singer (1927) to promote a commemorative stamp issue to honour the 50th anniversary of talking pictures are removed from 5,000 post offices following complaints that they are insulting to black people. [MORE] [ADD]

15/11 -

Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind is released.   Richard Dreyfus stars as an American Everyman who becomes obsessed with alien contact.   French director François Truffaut also makes an appearance as a UFO expert. [MORE] [ADD]

17/11 -

The American Film Institute names Gone With the Wind (1939) America's greatest movie.  The decision is reached following a vote by the 350,000 members of the AFI from all 50 American states and from 50 foreign countries.   Other films in the top ten are Casablanca, Singin' in the Rain, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Wizard of Oz, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The African Queen, Citizen Kane and The Grapes of Wrath. [MORE] [ADD]

20/11 -

An article in the Los Angeles Times declares Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind, ‘without a doubt the most important film of our era... A religious experience with a universal message full of hope.’ [MORE] [ADD]

16/12 -

John Badham’s Saturday Night Fever, adapted from an article by Nik Cohn entitled ‘Tribal Rites of the New York Saturday Night,’ is released.   John Travolta gives a career-making performance as paint store clerk Tony Manero, who comes alive on the disco dance floor.   The Bee Gees soundtrack, which include ‘Night Fever,’ ‘Stayin' Alive,’ ‘How Deep Is Your Love?’ and ‘Jive Talkin',’ becomes the best-selling film soundtrack album to date.    [MORE] [ADD]

– Marlon Brando is offered $2.25 million for a small role in the forthcoming Superman movie. [MORE] [ADD]

Other Films of Note

Eraserhead (David Lynch) [MORE] [ADD]

Julia (Fred Zinnemann) [MORE] [ADD]

New York, New York (Martin Scorsese) [MORE] [ADD]

Pumping Iron (George Butler) [MORE] [ADD]

Three Women (Robert Altman) [MORE] [ADD]