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The History of American Cinema: 1980

July - December

18/7 -

The Big Red One, Samuel Fuller’s first film since 1972, is released.   Lee Marvin, Robert Carradine and Mark Hamill star. [ADD}

25/7 -

Brian de Palma’s slasher movie Dressed to Kill invokes the wrath of feminists upon its release who picket cinemas at which it is showing in protest against its misogynistic aspects and violence towards women.  Michael Caine, Nancy Allen and Angie Dickinson star. [ADD}

17/9 -

Negotiations between unions and producers resume after a 12-day break. [ADD}

19/9 -

Ordinary People, Robert Redford’s directorial debut, is released.   An adaptation of an unpublished novel by Judith Guest, the film stars Mary Tyler Moore and Donald Sutherland whose relationship is strained by the nervous breakdown of their son, Timothy Hutton. [ADD}

19/9 -

Jonathan Demme’s Melvin and Howard is released.   The film is based on an allegedly true incident when Melvin Dummer gave a lift to a tramp on a Nevada highway who turned out to be eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes.   Upon Hughes' death, Dummer produced a will naming him as the sole heir to Hughes’ billions.   Paul Le Mat stars as Melvin with Mary Steenburgen as his stripper wife and Jason Robards as Hughes. [ADD}

26/9 -

Woody Allen’s $10 million budget Stardust Memories is released.   Charlotte Rampling Jessica Harper and Marie-Christine Barrault co-star with the funny man. [ADD}

23/10 -

The Screen Actors Guild signs a new, three-year contract with film producers following one of the longest strikes Hollywood has known.   The contract reflects the importance to SAG’s members of ancillary rights to the video and cable television markets. [ADD}

12/10 -

Jean-Luc Godard's Sauve qui peut (la vie) wins an American release through Francis Ford Coppola under the title Every Man for Himself (aka Slow Motion). [ADD}

4/11 -

Former actor Ronald Reagan is elected President of the United States.    Reagan’s last film was The Killers, made in 1964. [ADD}

14/11 -

Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull, a gritty biopic of former world middleweight champion Jake La Motta, is released.   Robert de Niro portrays the New York fighter from his youth to bloated middle age, piling on 55lbs in real life to do so.   Cathy Moriarty and Joe Pesci also star. [ADD}

19/11 -

United Artists cut the running time of Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate down from 225 minutes to 148 after devastating reviews from the critics.   Having exceeded its $11 million budget by $24 million, it is unlikely to recoup its losses and threatens to become the most expensive flop of all time. [ADD}

31/12 -

Veteran film director Raoul Walsh dies at his home in Simi Valley, California, at the age of 93.  [ADD}

– Pioneer introduces the Laser Disc player. [ADD}

– Tobacco group Philip Morris allegedly pays $42,000 for its Marlboro Cigarettes logo to appear 22 times in the forthcoming Superman II. [ADD}

Other Key American Films of 1980

The Blues Brothers (John Landis) [ADD}

Bronco Billy (Clint Eastwood) [ADD}

The Elephant Man (David Lynch) [ADD}

Fame (Alan Parker) [ADD}

The Fog (John Carpenter) [ADD}

Popeye (Robert Altman) [ADD}

The History of Cinema: 1980