Year by year: 1973
by cafg-0 | created - 06 Jul 2013 | updated - 10 months ago | PublicMy 50 favorite films of 1973
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Day for Night (1973)
PG | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A committed film director struggles to complete his movie while coping with a myriad of crises, personal and professional, among the cast and crew.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Pierre Léaud, François Truffaut, Valentina Cortese
Votes: 24,761 | Gross: $0.02M
2. Cries & Whispers (1972)
R | 91 min | Drama
When a woman dying of cancer in early twentieth-century Sweden is visited by her two sisters, long-repressed feelings between the siblings rise to the surface.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Harriet Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Kari Sylwan, Ingrid Thulin
Votes: 36,942 | Gross: $1.74M
3. Last Tango in Paris (1972)
NC-17 | 129 min | Drama, Romance
A young Parisian woman meets a middle-aged American businessman who demands their clandestine relationship be based only on sex.
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider, Maria Michi, Giovanna Galletti
Votes: 58,285 | Gross: $36.14M
4. The Exorcist (1973)
R | 122 min | Horror
When a young girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb
Votes: 454,414 | Gross: $232.91M
5. The Sting (1973)
PG | 129 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Two grifters team up to pull off the ultimate con.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning
Votes: 279,607 | Gross: $159.60M
6. The Big Feast (1973)
NC-17 | 130 min | Comedy, Drama
A group of men go to a villa in the French countryside where they resolve to eat themselves to death.
Director: Marco Ferreri | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret, Ugo Tognazzi
Votes: 14,677
7. The Day of the Jackal (1973)
PG | 143 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In the aftermath of France allowing Algeria's independence, a group of resentful military veterans hire a professional assassin codenamed "Jackal" to kill President Charles de Gaulle.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Edward Fox, Terence Alexander, Michel Auclair, Alan Badel
Votes: 44,856 | Gross: $16.06M
8. Badlands (1973)
PG | 94 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town, and her older greaser boyfriend, embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota Badlands.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates, Ramon Bieri
Votes: 78,299
9. American Graffiti (1973)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
A group of teenagers in California's central valley spend one final night after their 1962 high school graduation cruising the strip with their buddies before they pursue their varying goals.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith
Votes: 98,037 | Gross: $115.00M
10. Paper Moon (1973)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, John Hillerman
Votes: 52,388 | Gross: $30.93M
11. Papillon (1973)
R | 151 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A French convict in the 1930s befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence in the South American penal colony on Devil's Island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Victor Jory, Don Gordon
Votes: 138,282 | Gross: $53.27M
12. Ludwig (1973)
R | 238 min | Biography, Drama, History
The reign of the tormented Ludwig, king of Bavaria, from 1864 to 1886.
Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Helmut Berger, Romy Schneider, Trevor Howard, Silvana Mangano
Votes: 5,988
13. The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
Not Rated | 98 min | Drama, Fantasy
In 1940, after watching and being traumatized by the movie Frankenstein (1931), a sensitive seven year-old girl living in a small Spanish village drifts into her own fantasy world.
Director: Víctor Erice | Stars: Fernando Fernán Gómez, Teresa Gimpera, Ana Torrent, Isabel Tellería
Votes: 20,642
14. Turkish Delight (1973)
R | 108 min | Drama, Romance
An aimless young artist learns to face his responsibilities when a former lover develops a terminal illness.
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Monique van de Ven, Rutger Hauer, Tonny Huurdeman, Wim van den Brink
Votes: 11,825
15. Wesele (1973)
102 min | Drama
Set at the turn of the century, the story concerns a Polish poet living in Cracow who has decided to marry a peasant girl. The wedding is attended by a heterogenous group of people from all... See full summary »
Director: Andrzej Wajda | Stars: Marek Walczewski, Izabella Olszewska, Ewa Zietek, Daniel Olbrychski
Votes: 1,349
16. F for Fake (1973)
PG | 89 min | Documentary
A documentary about fraud and fakery.
Directors: Orson Welles, Gary Graver, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach | Stars: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach, Elmyr de Hory
Votes: 18,271
17. State of Siege (1972)
Not Rated | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Using the interrogation of a US counterinsurgency agent as a backdrop, the film explores the consequences of the struggle between Uruguay's government and the leftist Tupamaro guerrillas.
Director: Costa-Gavras | Stars: Yves Montand, Renato Salvatori, O.E. Hasse, Jacques Weber
Votes: 6,054 | Gross: $1.13M
18. Mean Streets (1973)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In New York City's Little Italy, a devoutly Catholic mobster must reconcile his desire for power, his feelings for his epileptic lover, and his devotion to his troublesome friend.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, David Proval, Amy Robinson
Votes: 119,493 | Gross: $3.13M
19. Serpico (1973)
R | 130 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
An honest New York cop named Frank Serpico blows the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire
Votes: 134,590 | Gross: $29.80M
20. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
R | 122 min | Biography, Drama, Western
Pat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid.
Director: Sam Peckinpah | Stars: James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, Richard Jaeckel, Katy Jurado
Votes: 21,068 | Gross: $0.95M
21. Love & Anarchy (1973)
R | 120 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When a friend is murdered by the Facists, a melancholy farmer takes up residence in a Roman brothel as he and an anarchist prostitute plot to assassinate Mussolini.
Director: Lina Wertmüller | Stars: Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato, Lina Polito, Eros Pagni
Votes: 3,526
22. The Long Goodbye (1973)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Private investigator Philip Marlowe helps a friend out of a jam, but in doing so gets implicated in his wife's murder.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Elliott Gould, Nina van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell
Votes: 37,130 | Gross: $0.96M
23. The Wicker Man (1973)
R | 88 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.
Director: Robin Hardy | Stars: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento, Britt Ekland
Votes: 92,121 | Gross: $0.06M
24. The Mother and the Whore (1973)
210 min | Drama, Romance
The chauvinist Alexandre balances relationships with several women in the post-1968 intellectual scene of Paris.
Director: Jean Eustache | Stars: Bernadette Lafont, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Françoise Lebrun, Isabelle Weingarten
Votes: 6,662
25. The Castle of Purity (1973)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama
The story of a disciplined and sexually driven man who keeps his family isolated in his home for years to protect them from the "evil nature" of human beings while inventing (with his wife)... See full summary »
Director: Arturo Ripstein | Stars: Claudio Brook, Rita Macedo, Arturo Beristáin, Diana Bracho
Votes: 2,378
26. Don't Look Now (1973)
R | 110 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A married couple grieving the recent death of their young daughter are in Venice when they encounter two elderly sisters, one of whom is psychic and brings a warning from beyond.
Director: Nicolas Roeg | Stars: Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland, Hilary Mason, Clelia Matania
Votes: 62,269 | Gross: $0.98M
27. The Way We Were (1973)
PG | 118 min | Drama, Romance
During post-WWII McCarthyism, a diametrically opposed couple come together only to find out that genuine friendship and physical attraction is not enough to overcome fundamental societal beliefs.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford, Bradford Dillman, Lois Chiles
Votes: 27,439
28. The Circumstance (1973)
90 min | Drama
Laura is a successful lawyer with fully grown children, who finds her life empty. Then a young motorcyclist has an accident in front of her. She takes him to the hospital, and he becomes the focus of her attention.
Director: Ermanno Olmi | Stars: Ada Savelli, Gaetano Porro, Raffaella Bianchi, Mario Sireci
Votes: 184
29. Anna and the Wolves (1973)
100 min | Drama
A British governess comes to an isolated house to take care of the children of a convoluted family.
Director: Carlos Saura | Stars: Geraldine Chaplin, Fernando Fernán Gómez, José María Prada, José Vivó
Votes: 1,981
30. O Lucky Man! (1973)
R | 178 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
An ambitious coffee salesman has a series of improbable and ironic adventures that seem designed to challenge his naive idealism.
Director: Lindsay Anderson | Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Ralph Richardson, Rachel Roberts, Arthur Lowe
Votes: 8,784
31. Los siete locos (1973)
118 min | Drama
After committing a fraud in the company where he works, a man meets a strange character who will introduce you to a group a terrorist attack plot.
Director: Leopoldo Torre Nilsson | Stars: Alfredo Alcón, Norma Aleandro, Héctor Alterio, Thelma Biral
Votes: 202
32. Scarecrow (1973)
R | 112 min | Drama
An ex-con drifter with a penchant for brawling is amused by a homeless ex-sailor, so they partner up as they head east together.
Director: Jerry Schatzberg | Stars: Gene Hackman, Al Pacino, Dorothy Tristan, Ann Wedgeworth
Votes: 19,206 | Gross: $9.00M
33. The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama
After his last crime has him looking at a long prison sentence for repeat offenses, a low level Boston gangster decides to snitch on his friends to avoid jail time.
Director: Peter Yates | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Peter Boyle, Richard Jordan, Steven Keats
Votes: 12,188
34. Touki Bouki (1973)
Not Rated | 85 min | Drama
Mory, a cowherd, and Anta, a university student, try to make money in order to go to Paris and leave their boring past behind.
Director: Djibril Diop Mambéty | Stars: Magaye Niang, Myriam Niang, Christoph Colomb, Mustapha Ture
Votes: 4,100
35. Charley Varrick (1973)
PG | 111 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A man, his wife and their friend stage a bloody bank robbery without realizing they are stealing from the Mob.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Walter Matthau, Joe Don Baker, Felicia Farr, Andrew Robinson
Votes: 14,091
36. Soylent Green (1973)
PG | 97 min | Crime, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A nightmarish futuristic fantasy about the controlling power of big corporations and an innocent cop who stumbles on the truth.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Charlton Heston, Edward G. Robinson, Leigh Taylor-Young, Chuck Connors
Votes: 70,499 | Gross: $7.92M
37. The Last Detail (1973)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama
Two Navy men are ordered to bring a young offender to prison, but decide to show him one last good time along the way.
Director: Hal Ashby | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Randy Quaid, Otis Young, Clifton James
Votes: 27,916 | Gross: $3.19M
38. Save the Tiger (1973)
R | 100 min | Drama
A disillusioned war veteran has two days to let go of his shaken morals if he wants his small fashion company to survive.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Jack Gilford, Laurie Heineman, Norman Burton
Votes: 5,602 | Gross: $2.33M
39. The Invitation (1973)
100 min | Comedy, Drama
After the death of his mother, middle-aged insurance employee inherits her small cottage surrounded by a garden. Selling the cottage which is situated on unexploited ground near the center ... See full summary »
Director: Claude Goretta | Stars: Jean-Luc Bideau, Jean Champion, Corinne Coderey, Pierre Collet
Votes: 674
40. Battles Without Honor and Humanity (1973)
Not Rated | 99 min | Crime, Drama
During the violent chaos of post-War Japanese black market, a young gangster called Shozo Hirono has to keep up with the rapid shifts of power between unscrupulous bosses.
Director: Kinji Fukasaku | Stars: Bunta Sugawara, Hiroki Matsukata, Kunie Tanaka, Eiko Nakamura
Votes: 4,304
41. The Iceman Cometh (1973)
PG | 239 min | Drama
A salesman with a sudden passion for reform has an idea to sell to his barfly buddies: throw away your pipe dreams. The drunkards, living in a flophouse above a saloon, resent the idea.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Lee Marvin, Fredric March, Robert Ryan, Jeff Bridges
Votes: 1,872
42. Tüzoltó utca 25. (1973)
Not Rated | 97 min | Drama, History, Romance
Hungary's postwar history told through the dreams, nightmares, and memories of the inhabitants of an old house on the eve of its destruction.
Director: István Szabó | Stars: Lucyna Winnicka, Margit Makay, Károly Kovács, András Bálint
Votes: 347
43. Wedding in Blood (1973)
PG | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Lucienne Delamare and Pierre Maury are having an affair. Lucienne's husband Paul is the mayor, and a French deputy. Pierre's wife Clotilde has been weak and sickly for years. Lucienne's ... See full summary »
Director: Claude Chabrol | Stars: Stéphane Audran, Michel Piccoli, Claude Piéplu, Clotilde Joano
Votes: 2,043
44. The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (1972)
PG | 90 min | Comedy, Mystery
A hapless orchestra player becomes an unwitting pawn of rival factions within the French secret service after he is chosen as a decoy by being identified as a super secret agent.
Director: Yves Robert | Stars: Pierre Richard, Bernard Blier, Jean Rochefort, Mireille Darc
Votes: 9,237 | Gross: $0.40M
45. The Hireling (1973)
PG | 95 min | Drama
A young British woman suffering from depression over the loss of her husband develops an unusual relationship with her chauffeur.
Director: Alan Bridges | Stars: Robert Shaw, Sarah Miles, Peter Egan, Caroline Mortimer
Votes: 864
46. Enter the Dragon (1973)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A Shaolin martial artist travels to an island fortress to spy on an opium lord - who is also a former monk from his temple - under the guise of attending a fighting tournament.
Director: Robert Clouse | Stars: Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly, Ahna Capri
Votes: 112,894 | Gross: $25.00M
47. The Offence (1973)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A burnt-out British police detective finally snaps whilst interrogating a suspected child molester.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Sean Connery, Trevor Howard, Vivien Merchant, Ian Bannen
Votes: 7,977
48. Sisters (1972)
R | 93 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A small-time reporter tries to convince the police she saw a murder in the apartment across from hers.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning, William Finley
Votes: 20,643 | Gross: $0.35M
49. The Sandglass (1973)
124 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Józef visits his dying father at a remote mental institution, where time itself doesn't seem to exist, and the line between dreams and memories becomes indistinguishable.
Director: Wojciech Has | Stars: Jan Nowicki, Tadeusz Kondrat, Irena Orska, Halina Kowalska
Votes: 4,957
50. All Nudity Shall Be Punished (1973)
102 min | Drama
Rich, spoiled youngman encounters a prostitute, and gets confused about the nature of his feelings for her; he can't decide between attraction, and repulsion.
Director: Arnaldo Jabor | Stars: Paulo Porto, Darlene Glória, Elza Gomes, Paulo César Peréio
Votes: 630
Tell Your Friends