NYC in the 70s was dirty and dangerous. Pretty much the only good thing about that bad time are the many great, even classic, Hollywood films about the period, including Midnight Cowboy, French Connection, Serpico, Saturday Night Fever, Network and Dog Day Afternoon.
Films about New York in the 70s have been collected into a unique film festival at the Film Forum in Chelsea, with 44 NYC films over 23 days.
New York in the 70s Film Fesstival movies include Al Pacino, Robert de Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jane Fonda as a hooker with a heart in Klute, Laurence Olivier as a sinister dentist in Marathon Man, Roy Scheider as the legendary dancer/choreographer Bob Fosse in All That Jazz, Woody Allen’s Manhattan, and John Travolta disco dancing into history to the music of the Bee Gees in Saturday Night Fever.
Some films are introduced by their directors, such as French Connection’s William Friedkin.
Pretty good films for a pretty bad time, when we New Yorkers were suffering through a recession, a cutback of federal funds from an unfriendly administration in Washington, a drug epidemic and police corruption.
New York in the 70s Film Festival is July 5-27, two films a day, including some shows that are double features. For those of you too young to remember, that means two films for one admission price.
What do you think about this? We welcome your comments.