Favorite Sleeper Movies....70's

[Verga3]

Certainly dating and characterizing my movie tastes in the 70's, but these three are all worth watching. If you can find them.....enjoy!

Vanishing Point http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067927/ You have to see this fast car transport classic. Barry Newman (Kowalski) is the driven driver and Cleavon Little (Super Soul) is the blind radio DJ helping him to find his way. Good stuff.

Kelly's Heroes http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065938/ Great entertainment and fun, all-star cast (Clint Eastwood is a perfect Pvt. Kelly and Donald Sutherland's "Oddball" is priceless).

Billy Jack http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066832/ The most financially successful independent film ever, great action and cinematography. "Just a person who protects children and other living things."

[Verga3]

Certainly dating and characterizing my movie tastes in the 70's, but these three are all worth watching. If you can find them.....enjoy!

Vanishing Point http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067927/ You have to see this fast car transport classic. Barry Newman (Kowalski) is the driven driver and Cleavon Little (Super Soul) is the blind radio DJ helping him to find his way. Good stuff.

Kelly's Heroes http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065938/ Great entertainment and fun, all-star cast (Clint Eastwood is a perfect Pvt. Kelly and Donald Sutherland's "Oddball" is priceless).

Billy Jack http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066832/ The most financially successful independent film ever, great action and cinematography. "Just a person who protects children and other living things."

I left out the best of all....Sleuth http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069281/.
Laurence Oliver and Michael Caine engage in this murder mystery in a battle of wits and maybe the best back and forth dialogue between two actors, ever. Possibly not a "sleeper" since it was nominated for several Oscars.

Anyone else love this film?

[JStuart]

I left out the best of all....Sleuth http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069281/.
Laurence Oliver and Michael Caine engage in this murder mystery in a battle of wits and maybe the best back and forth dialogue between two actors, ever. Possibly not a "sleeper" since it was nominated for several Oscars.

Anyone else love this film?

Absolutely.."In olden days, a glimpse of stocking.." Also, look at the credits for Inspector Doppler. Could it be Michael Caine's birth name? Hmm?

Maybe not a sleeper, but 1975's The Man Who Would Be King has Michael Caine as well as Sean Connery. An all-time favorite of mine.

[gotoguy]

I saw "Sleuth" at the Page Auditorium, awesome flick.

Agree also with "A Man Who Would be King"

How about "Three Days of the Condor" with Robertson and Redford?

[JasonEvans]

"Man Who Would Be King" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073341/) is one of my all-time favorite movies, no doubt about it. Here is a clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dJf5rO0-BM) of the film.

--Jason "the 70s are 40 years ago... almost everything good from that decade is probably worth seeing again" Evans

[aimo]

Not sure it would be considered a "sleeper" since Tatum O' Neal won an Oscar, but Paper Moon is one of my favorites from the 70's. I remember watching it when I was pretty small and being totally fascinated by her performance.

[hurleyfor3]

You started this thread so someone would mention Sleeper, right?

[rasputin]

You started this thread so someone would mention Sleeper, right?

The cheap-shot gag about Howard Cosell (someone I respected) was, IMO, hysterically funny.

[Verga3]

I saw "Sleuth" at the Page Auditorium, awesome flick.

Agree also with "A Man Who Would be King"

How about "Three Days of the Condor" with Robertson and Redford?

Good call. I second Three Days of the Condor. Great CIA v. ? flick. Great, great cast, but Robert Redford drives things.

Thanks for reminding me of another summer movie to find!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073802/

[GrayHare]

Andromeda Strain (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066769/). A science fiction movie from Michael Crichton's first (?) novel. The premise and political subtext are still compelling, although the scientific technology -- advanced for the time -- is clearly dated now. (A room-sized spectrometer for heaven's sake!)

[77devil]

I'll nominate Breaking Away. A great coming of age story made on a relatively small budget with little marketing. It was nominated for a bunch of Oscars including best picture and best director.

[Verga3]

I'll nominate Breaking Away. A great coming of age story made on a relatively small budget with little marketing. It was nominated for a bunch of Oscars including best picture and best director.

Maybe not a true "sleeper".....but we haven't been in the 70's for awhile, so most everything may qualify. Plenty of Oscar nominations and won one. Great movie and those loving the University of Indiana will really enjoy this Bloomington-filmed classic. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078902/

[Reddevil]

Does anyone remember Silent Running with Bruce Dern on a spaceship with three service robots - Huey, Louie, and Dewey? I only remember 'snippets' of it as I was in elementary school at the time, but even so, I remember it fondly. I wonder how I would like it now.

[JBDuke]

Does anyone remember Silent Running with Bruce Dern on a spaceship with three service robots - Huey, Louie, and Dewey? I only remember 'snippets' of it as I was in elementary school at the time, but even so, I remember it fondly. I wonder how I would like it now.

Cheesy effects and hit-you-in-the-face environmentalism. Yep - I remember it well.

[Jarhead]

It may not be a sleeper, but I'll mention 1979's Being There. It's a movie that won a couple of Oscars, Best Actor for Peter Sellers and Best Supporting for Melvyn Douglas. This is a movie that deserves a remake, but I don't know who could fill the key roles in the movie. Others in the cast with notable performances were Shirley MacLaine, Jack Warden and Richard Dysart. Thanks to Netflix, I watched it last night.

[davekay1971]

Andromeda Strain (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066769/). A science fiction movie from Michael Crichton's first (?) novel. The premise and political subtext are still compelling, although the scientific technology -- advanced for the time -- is clearly dated now. (A room-sized spectrometer for heaven's sake!)

The novel was great. That and The Great Train Robbery, both from earlier in Crichton's writing career, are two of my favorite Crichton books - written before it became so obvious in his writing how impressed he was with himself.

One that was a sleeper when it came out was Alien. The director and star were relative unknowns at the time: Ridley Scott had done one previous movie, Sigourney Weaver had had small roles in 2 previous films. It was originally pitched to studios as "Jaws in space" (ugh), almost purchased by Roger Corman (replace Weaver with some chick with big breasts), and finally greenlit by 20th Century Fox with a $4.2 million budget. Of course, it ended up with a great cast, including Ian Holm, John Hurt, Yaphet Kotto, Tom Skerrit, and Harry Dean Stanton, and, in my mind, is one of the best suspense movies of all time.

[DukieInKansas]

It may not be a sleeper, but I'll mention 1979's Being There. It's a movie that won a couple of Oscars, Best Actor for Peter Sellers and Best Supporting for Melvyn Douglas. This is a movie that deserves a remake, but I don't know who could fill the key roles in the movie. Others in the cast with notable performances were Shirley MacLaine, Jack Warden and Richard Dysart. Thanks to Netflix, I watched it last night.

This was one of the most depressing movies I've ever seen. That memory has made me avoid seeing it again. A second viewing may change my mind but I haven't been able to make myself see it again.

[Jarhead]

This was one of the most depressing movies I've ever seen. That memory has made me avoid seeing it again. A second viewing may change my mind but I haven't been able to make myself see it again.You must have missed the last scene.

[sagegrouse]

Scary, in fact, to learn that the movie Breaking Away wasn't in the late 1980s but was in 1979.

Two 1971 movies deserve mention here. I thought Carnal Knowledge, which got few awards, was terrific. It compromised on nothing. And The Last Picture Show, which got quite a few, was one of the best movies of all time.

sagegrouse

[roywhite]

Due to awards and nominations, it's probably not accurate to call The Conversation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Conversation) from 1974 a sleeper, but it is under-recognized as a great movie IMO.

The cast included Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Cindy Williams, and even a brief appearance by a young Harrison Ford. Great tension and intrigue.

[rasputin]

It may not be a sleeper, but I'll mention 1979's Being There. It's a movie that won a couple of Oscars, Best Actor for Peter Sellers and Best Supporting for Melvyn Douglas. This is a movie that deserves a remake, but I don't know who could fill the key roles in the movie. Others in the cast with notable performances were Shirley MacLaine, Jack Warden and Richard Dysart. Thanks to Netflix, I watched it last night.

The Best Actor Oscar in 1979 went to Dustin Hoffman (for Kramer vs. Kramer--yuck), not Sellers.