MY TOP 60 Movies and Documentaries for 1976 (in list order)
by DukeEman | created - 15 Jul 2012 | updated - 1 week ago | PublicSchrader joins the team of Scrosese, De Niro & Kietel; the coming of age in the Australian film industry, and Stallone gives birth to Rocky, plus a whole lotta Seventies style of groovy and hip movies from politics to comedy and everything in between... In List Order.
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1. Taxi Driver (1976)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama
A mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Albert Brooks
Votes: 921,541 | Gross: $28.26M
A pure modern cinema classic...
2. The Devil's Playground (1976)
107 min | Drama
Fred Schepisi's first feature is this lushly photographed period drama detailing a young boy's coming-of-age in a strict Catholic seminary in 1950s Australia.
Director: Fred Schepisi | Stars: Charles McCallum, John Frawley, Arthur Dignam, Nick Tate
Votes: 1,315
For those who have been through it...
3. Bound for Glory (1976)
PG | 147 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The early life of Woody Guthrie as a vagabond folk singer.
Director: Hal Ashby | Stars: David Carradine, Ronny Cox, Melinda Dillon, Gail Strickland
Votes: 5,593
Ashby and Wexler do it for the people...
4. 1900 (1976)
Unrated | 317 min | Drama, History
The epic tale of a class struggle in twentieth-century Italy as seen through the eyes of two childhood friends on opposing sides.
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, Dominique Sanda, Francesca Bertini
Votes: 27,291
Only Bertolucci could get De Niro and Gerard together in a political epic...
5. Rocky (1976)
PG | 120 min | Drama, Sport
A small-time Philadelphia boxer gets a supremely rare chance to fight the world heavyweight champion in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers
Votes: 628,895 | Gross: $117.24M
A quasi neo-fantasy-realism good feel cheering film...
6. The Tenant (1976)
R | 126 min | Drama, Thriller
A bureaucrat rents a Paris apartment where he finds himself drawn into a rabbit hole of dangerous paranoia.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Roman Polanski, Isabelle Adjani, Melvyn Douglas, Jo Van Fleet
Votes: 47,645 | Gross: $1.92M
Polanski at his best when dealing with mental issues...
7. The Front (1976)
PG | 95 min | Drama
In 1953, a cashier poses as a writer for blacklisted talents to submit their work through, but the injustice around him pushes him to take a stand.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Woody Allen, Zero Mostel, Herschel Bernardi, Michael Murphy
Votes: 9,678
Politics in Hollywood with Woody perfectly cast...
8. Harlan County U.S.A. (1976)
PG | 103 min | Documentary
A heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line.
Director: Barbara Kopple | Stars: John L. Lewis, Carl Horn, Norman Yarborough, Logan Patterson
Votes: 6,640
Brilliant observational documentary on the struggle of the coal mine worker, which I'm sure in this day and age is seen as a lefty film...
9. In the Realm of the Senses (1976)
NC-17 | 109 min | Drama, Romance
A passionate telling of the story of Sada Abe, a woman whose affair with her master led to an obsessive and ultimately destructive sexual relationship.
Director: Nagisa Ôshima | Stars: Tatsuya Fuji, Eiko Matsuda, Aoi Nakajima, Yasuko Matsui
Votes: 22,830
It does smash your senses...
10. The Innocent (1976)
R | 112 min | Drama, Romance
Tullio Hermil is a chauvinist aristocrat who flaunts his mistress to his wife, but when he believes she has been unfaithful, he becomes enamored of her again.
Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Giancarlo Giannini, Laura Antonelli, Rina Morelli, Massimo Girotti
Votes: 4,270
Love in all its ugliness...
11. Kings of the Road (1976)
Not Rated | 175 min | Drama
A traveling projection-equipment mechanic works in Western Germany along the East-German border, visiting worn-out theatres. He meets with a depressed young man whose marriage has just broken up, and the two decide to travel together.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Rüdiger Vogler, Hanns Zischler, Lisa Kreuzer, Rudolf Schündler
Votes: 6,445
Last of the "Wenders' Road Movie Trilogy" where he finally found his style and tone...
12. Allegro non troppo (1976)
PG | 75 min | Animation, Comedy, Fantasy
An enthusiastic filmmaker thinks he's come up with a totally original idea: animation set to classical music! When he is informed that some American named "Prisney" (or something) has ... See full summary »
Director: Bruno Bozzetto | Stars: Maurizio Nichetti, Maurizio Micheli, Marialuisa Giovannini, Néstor Garay
Votes: 3,217
Sheer delight...
13. Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976)
PG | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, Western
A cynical Buffalo Bill hires Sitting Bull to exploit him and add his credibility to the distorted view of history presented in his Wild West Show.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Paul Newman, Joel Grey, Kevin McCarthy, Harvey Keitel
Votes: 5,296
Altman can do no wrong with Newman up front...
14. Marathon Man (1976)
R | 125 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After the shocking murder of his older brother, a New York history student finds himself inexplicably hounded by shadowy government agents on the trail of a Nazi war criminal who is trying to retrieve smuggled diamonds.
Director: John Schlesinger | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, William Devane
Votes: 70,270 | Gross: $21.71M
IS IT SAFE...
15. All the President's Men (1976)
PG | 138 min | Drama, History, Thriller
"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.
Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam
Votes: 126,143 | Gross: $70.60M
Pakula knows how to do politics and the likes...
16. The Judge and the Assassin (1976)
128 min | Crime, Drama, History
An unstable former French Sergeant commits many atrocities. A judge considers how this case could benefit or damage his career.
Director: Bertrand Tavernier | Stars: Philippe Noiret, Michel Galabru, Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Claude Brialy
Votes: 2,329
Tavernier always stimulates the audience's mind...
17. The Scar (1976)
Not Rated | 106 min | Drama
When a political decision is made as to the location of a new large chemical factory, Stefan Bednarz is put in charge of it. This honest communist party man has to confront the local community opposing the construction.
Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski | Stars: Franciszek Pieczka, Mariusz Dmochowski, Jerzy Stuhr, Jan Skotnicki
Votes: 2,207
Very interesting early Kieslowski piece...
18. Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
R | 91 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A Highway Patrol Officer, two criminals and a station secretary defend a defunct Los Angeles precinct office against a siege by a bloodthirsty street gang.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer, Martin West
Votes: 55,667
Carpenter's homage to the Western...
19. Silent Movie (1976)
Passed | 87 min | Comedy
A film director and his strange friends struggle to produce the first major silent feature film in forty years.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Mel Brooks, Marty Feldman, Dom DeLuise, Sid Caesar
Votes: 18,500 | Gross: $36.15M
Mel at his prime...
20. Network (1976)
R | 121 min | Drama
A television network cynically exploits a deranged former anchor's ravings and revelations about the news media for its own profit, but finds that his message may be difficult to control.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall
Votes: 170,750
Still going on till this day...
21. The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976)
PG | 113 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
To treat his friend's cocaine induced delusions, Watson lures Sherlock Holmes to Sigmund Freud.
Director: Herbert Ross | Stars: Alan Arkin, Vanessa Redgrave, Robert Duvall, Nicol Williamson
Votes: 5,101
Interesting concept...
22. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
PG | 135 min | Drama, Western
Missouri farmer Josey Wales joins a Confederate guerrilla unit and winds up on the run from the Union soldiers who murdered his family.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Chief Dan George, Bill McKinney
Votes: 79,902 | Gross: $31.80M
Eastwood begins to find his style...
23. Robin and Marian (1976)
PG | 106 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
Robin Hood, aging none too gracefully, returns exhausted from the Crusades to woo and win Maid Marian one last time.
Director: Richard Lester | Stars: Sean Connery, Audrey Hepburn, Robert Shaw, Richard Harris
Votes: 13,982 | Gross: $8.72M
What a lovely film...
24. Murder by Death (1976)
PG | 95 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Five famous literary detective characters and their sidekicks are invited to a bizarre mansion to solve an even stranger mystery.
Director: Robert Moore | Stars: Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Eileen Brennan
Votes: 41,708
Silly but absolute fun...
25. The Killer Inside Me (1976)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama
Haunted by visions from his abusive childhood, Montana deputy sheriff Lou Ford gradually exhibits the signs of a homicidal schizophrenic.
Director: Burt Kennedy | Stars: Stacy Keach, Susan Tyrrell, Tisha Sterling, Keenan Wynn
Votes: 510
Kennedy does a good job in the director's chair, and Keach gives it that extra kick...
26. Nickelodeon (1976)
PG | 121 min | Comedy
Buck and lawyer Leo accidentally get into movie production in the early days (1910).
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds, Tatum O'Neal, Brian Keith
Votes: 2,798
For those who love filmmaking...
27. Don's Party (1976)
Not Rated | 90 min | Comedy, Drama
On the night of the 1969 Australian election, Don holds a party in his suburban Sydney house, where his raucous, rude, embarrassing, extrovert friends discuss sex, politics, and their lives, and seduce each others wives.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: John Hargreaves, Pat Bishop, Graham Kennedy, Veronica Lang
Votes: 1,576
Party politics Aussie style...
28. The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
PG | 103 min | Comedy, Crime
After escaping from an insane asylum, the bonkers Charles Dreyfus sends 26 assassins on the trail of the forever bumbling Inspector Clouseau.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Lesley-Anne Down, Burt Kwouk
Votes: 32,018 | Gross: $33.83M
Always loved the pink...
29. St. Ives (1976)
PG | 94 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A crime novelist is hired by a shady character to negotiate the return of stolen confidential documents.
Director: J. Lee Thompson | Stars: Charles Bronson, Jacqueline Bisset, John Houseman, Maximilian Schell
Votes: 2,814
One of Bronson's best...
30. Face to Face (1976)
R | 114 min | Drama, Fantasy
Two psychiatrists have their marriage tested when one suffers a mental breakdown.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson, Aino Taube, Gunnar Björnstrand
Votes: 6,142
Bergman doing what he does best...
31. Family Plot (1976)
PG | 120 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A phony psychic/con artist and her taxi driver/actor boyfriend encounter a pair of serial kidnappers while trailing a missing heir in California.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Karen Black, Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris, William Devane
Votes: 24,847
Hitchcock still had it right up to the last one...
32. Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976)
R | 111 min | Comedy, Drama
The ups and downs of life as experienced by a group of aspiring young artists in the early Fifties New York.
Director: Paul Mazursky | Stars: Lenny Baker, Shelley Winters, Ellen Greene, Lois Smith
Votes: 2,472
Mazursky gets it right with this...
33. The Missouri Breaks (1976)
PG | 126 min | Drama, Western
Tom Logan is a horse thief. Rancher David Braxton has horses, and a daughter, worth stealing. But Braxton has just hired Lee Clayton, an infamous "regulator", to hunt down the horse thieves; one at a time.
Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Randy Quaid, Kathleen Lloyd
Votes: 12,216 | Gross: $14.00M
Strange one that seems to work...
34. The Last Tycoon (1976)
PG | 123 min | Drama, Romance
F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel is brought to life in this story of a movie producer slowly working himself to death.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Jeanne Moreau
Votes: 9,592 | Gross: $1.82M
A busy year for De Niro...
35. Storm Boy (1976)
Not Rated | 88 min | Drama, Family
Mike is a lonely Australian boy living in a coastal wilderness with his reclusive father. In search of friendship he encounters an Aboriginal native loner and the two form a bond in the care of orphaned pelicans.
Directors: Henri Safran, Ian Goddard | Stars: Greg Rowe, Peter Cummins, David Gulpilil, Judy Dick
Votes: 1,520
Beautiful photography from the legend, Geoff Burton, and the relationship between boy and pelican is heartwarming...
36. Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (1976)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
In a small city of Brazil, a woman named Flor marries a man named Vadinho, but once married she finds that he is a good-for-nothing. She works teaching cooking and he takes all of her money... See full summary »
Director: Bruno Barreto | Stars: Sonia Braga, José Wilker, Mauro Mendonça, Dinorah Brillanti
Votes: 3,332
A movie of three parts, with the 1/3 too long, 2/3 not too interesting, and the third partbeing the best bit, and too short...
37. Bernice Bobs Her Hair (1976 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 45 min | Drama
Bernice, a shy young woman, leaves her safe home to go visit her flapper cousin. When her cousin tries to teach Bernice how to be much more modern, Bernice gives her much more than she bargained for.
Director: Joan Micklin Silver | Stars: Shelley Duvall, Veronica Cartwright, Bud Cort, Lane Binkley
Votes: 462
FSF's cheeky tale handled well with a director and cast who knew how to play it...
38. Obsession (1976)
PG | 98 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A wealthy New Orleans businessman becomes obsessed with a young woman who resembles his wife.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, John Lithgow, Sylvia Kuumba Williams
Votes: 11,648 | Gross: $1.00M
De Palma does good Hitchcock...
39. Silver Streak (1976)
PG | 114 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
On a long-distance train trip, a man finds romance but also finds himself in danger of being killed, or at least pushed off the train.
Director: Arthur Hiller | Stars: Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Jill Clayburgh, Patrick McGoohan
Votes: 21,726
Fun with these guys...
40. Casanova (1976)
R | 155 min | Biography, Drama, History
Giacomo Casanova uses his sexuality to find his place in life amid eccentric and strange characters.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Tina Aumont, Cicely Browne, Carmen Scarpitta
Votes: 8,672
An interesting Casanova...
41. The Omen (1976)
R | 111 min | Horror, Mystery
Mysterious deaths surround an American ambassador. Could the child that he is raising actually be the Antichrist? The Devil's own son?
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, Harvey Stephens, David Warner
Votes: 132,735 | Gross: $4.27M
Almost pulled it off...
42. Carrie (1976)
R | 98 min | Horror, Mystery
Carrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, John Travolta
Votes: 206,827 | Gross: $33.80M
An A-Class horror film...
43. From Noon Till Three (1976)
PG | 99 min | Drama, Romance, Western
After spending 3 unforgettable hours with an outlaw, a beautiful young widow turns her story into a worldwide famous book.
Director: Frank D. Gilroy | Stars: Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Douglas Fowley, Stan Haze
Votes: 3,194
Bronson and Ireland are so terribly cute in this one...
44. The Bad News Bears (1976)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
An aging, down-on-his-luck ex-minor leaguer coaches a team of misfits in an ultra-competitive California little league.
Director: Michael Ritchie | Stars: Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal, Vic Morrow, Joyce Van Patten
Votes: 25,049 | Gross: $42.35M
Very enjoyable...
45. Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976)
PG | 98 min | Comedy, Drama
Competition between privately owned Los Angeles, California ambulance companies is played for humor.
Director: Peter Yates | Stars: Bill Cosby, Raquel Welch, Harvey Keitel, Allen Garfield
Votes: 3,370 | Gross: $20.00M
Pretty funny little film...
46. The Eagle Has Landed (1976)
PG | 123 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
A German plot to kidnap Sir Winston Churchill unfolds at the height of World War II.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, Robert Duvall, Jenny Agutter
Votes: 24,534
Sturges still at it with a top notch cast...
47. The Shootist (1976)
PG | 100 min | Drama, Romance, Western
A dying gunfighter spends his last days looking for a way to die with a minimum of pain and a maximum of dignity.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, James Stewart
Votes: 26,846
Wayne plays out his death...
48. The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
R | 139 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
An alien must pose as a human to save his dying planet, but a woman and greed of other men create complications.
Director: Nicolas Roeg | Stars: David Bowie, Rip Torn, Candy Clark, Buck Henry
Votes: 28,687 | Gross: $0.10M
Roeg and Bowie make the perfect strange couple...
49. The Gumball Rally (1976)
PG | 105 min | Comedy
An eclectic group of people takes part in a secret, and illegal, cross country road race.
Director: Charles Bail | Stars: Michael Sarrazin, Tim McIntire, Raul Julia, Norman Burton
Votes: 4,497
Silly cheap fun...
50. The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (1976)
R | 105 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
After his father dies, a disturbed young boy plots to take revenge on the new man in his mother's life.
Director: Lewis John Carlino | Stars: Sarah Miles, Kris Kristofferson, Jonathan Kahn, Margo Cunningham
Votes: 1,646
More of a curious pieces with an interesting take on a Yukio Mishima story...
51. Midway (1976)
PG | 132 min | Action, Drama, History
A dramatization of the battle that was widely heralded as a turning point of the Pacific Theatre of World War II.
Director: Jack Smight | Stars: Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford
Votes: 21,503
A good ol' fashion cast...
52. The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday (1976)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Western
Three prospectors confront their ex-partner who, 15 years earlier, ran off with all the gold from their mine and they also plan to kidnap his wife.
Director: Don Taylor | Stars: Lee Marvin, Oliver Reed, Robert Culp, Elizabeth Ashley
Votes: 1,689
Marvin at his drunkest best...
53. Mad Dog Morgan (1976)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Drama
The true story of Irish outlaw Daniel Morgan, who is wanted, dead or alive, in Australia during the 1850s.
Director: Philippe Mora | Stars: Dennis Hopper, Jack Thompson, David Gulpilil, Frank Thring
Votes: 1,866
Hopper tripping in the Aussie outback...
54. The Enforcer (1976)
R | 96 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan reluctantly teams up with rookie Inspector Kate Moore to foil a terrorist organization made up of disgruntled Vietnam veterans.
Director: James Fargo | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Tyne Daly, Harry Guardino, Bradford Dillman
Votes: 49,210 | Gross: $46.20M
Getting dirtier with each film...
55. The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Romance
The girl next door makes a teen born with immune deficiencies want to leave his germ-free bubble.
Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: John Travolta, Glynnis O'Connor, Robert Reed, Diana Hyland
Votes: 5,582
Travolta was so cute...
56. Bugsy Malone (1976)
G | 93 min | Comedy, Crime, Family
The classic gangster story of Bugsy Malone told with an all-child cast.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Jodie Foster, Scott Baio, Florence Garland, John Cassisi
Votes: 19,474 | Gross: $2.78M
Kiddy gangster fun...
57. A Star Is Born (1976)
R | 139 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A has-been rock star falls in love with a young, up-and-coming songstress.
Director: Frank Pierson | Stars: Barbra Streisand, Kris Kristofferson, Gary Busey, Oliver Clark
Votes: 13,185 | Gross: $80.00M
One for the Streisand fans, and worth a look at Kris...
58. The Big Bus (1976)
PG | 88 min | Action, Comedy
A nuclear powered bus driving cross-country, from New York City to Colorado, is destined for disaster due to the machinations of a mysterious group allied with the oil lobby.
Director: James Frawley | Stars: Joseph Bologna, Stockard Channing, John Beck, Rene Auberjonois
Votes: 3,717 | Gross: $3.54M
One of the very first disaster spoof films that almost came off...
59. Unmade Beds (1976)
Not Rated | 77 min | Drama
Photographer Rico fantasizes himself a 1960s Paris gangster. An outsider using his camera like a gun, he searches for reality to fulfill his dreams until falling in love disrupts the delicate balance of his imagined world.
Director: Amos Poe | Stars: Duncan Hannah, Eric Mitchell, Kitty Sondern, Patti Astor
Votes: 161
Film art by Amos Poe who pays tribute to the French New Wave but in the American way of trash…
60. The First Nudie Musical (1976)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Musical
The son of famous studio owner is forced to make porno films to keep the bankrupt studio from being made into a shopping center. In an attempt to get back on the high ground he makes a ... See full summary »
Directors: Mark Haggard, Bruce Kimmel | Stars: Stephen Nathan, Cindy Williams, Bruce Kimmel, Leslie Ackerman
Votes: 906
Gimmick film within a gimmick film with a few funny moments within the silliness…
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