A Fun Look Back - 1976 Christmas Movie Releases

Each Christmas movie studios release what is, in theory, supposed to represent the best that each studio has to offer. These movies are supposed to be the ones that will be most recognized when the Academy Award nominations are announced.

These days the Christmas movie season now starts on the day before Thanksgiving and runs through the end of the year. Most of these movies open on in excess of 2,000 screens, with a few opening in a more limited release before expanding in January after a hefty Academy Award campaign has been completed. Last year no less then 35 movies opened during this time period.

Just for fun let's take a look back at the Christmas movie season of 1976, 30 years ago. Back then the movie season began in December with major movies opening on less then 500 screens due there being many single and twin screens at one location. A triple screen was considered a multiplex while a quad screen theater was rare. With the lack of available screens also meant fewer movies were released not only during Christmas, but also throughout the year. In 1976 only eleven major movies opened in December.

For those who are old enough to remember when these movies opened and, perhaps, even went to see a few of them, this should be a fun trip down memory lane. It's hard to believe these movies are now that old. For those not old enough it may be hard to believe that at least a few of these movies would represent the best the studio had to offer.

Here is the list in alphabetical order:

BOUND FOR GLORY (United Artists; Director - Hal Ashby) - The life of folk singer Woody Guthrie, from 1936-1940, is chronicled here as we follow the singer in his countrywide travels fighting and singing for victims of the Great Depression. David Carradine magnificently captured Guthrie in a role that should have won him an Academy Award nomination. UA quietly released the film on December 5th in Los Angeles and New York hoping to attract some award consideration for Carradine and the magnificent photography - some of the most beautiful ever captured on film. Despite near unanimous rave reviews, the film was a major failure at the box office. UA hoped to recoup some of its costs by cutting the 147 minute film down and releasing it nationwide the following spring but had to re-think that strategy when it was surprisingly nominated for 6 Academy Awards (Best Picture; Screenplay; Editing; Costume Design; Original Song Score; Cinematography), winning two much deserved awards for Original Song Score and Cinematography. UA went ahead and released it nationwide in January hoping to cash in on the Best Picture nomination but, once again, the film failed despite great reviews.

THE ENFORCER (Warner Bros.; Director - James Fargo) - Clint Eastwood brought his most famous character, "Dirty" Harry Callahan, back for a third time in this action hit which found Harry dealing with a female partner while trying to hunt down an underground terrorist group in San Francisco. Critics were lukewarm to the film finding the script too formulaic and silly but audiences ate it up. The film opened in limited release on December 22 before going wide the following February. The Enforcer solidified Clint Eastwood's strangle hold on the box office by grossing over $24 million.

KING KONG (Paramount; Director - John Guillerman) - Producer Dino DeLaurentiis heavily promoted his big budget remake of the 1933 classic for months, promising it would be "the motion picture event of the year" and was the most eagerly anticipated movie of the season. The results were mildly entertaining but far less then the "event" it was billed to be. The pre-press also heavily promoted a 50 foot high mechanical ape that turned out to be a 50 foot high publicity stunt. The mechanical ape was on screen for less then ten seconds and looked obviously fake in its one scene (when the ape is unveiled at the big show in New York City). The film did introduce the world to a young model named Jessica Lange, making her film debut, and also proved that Jeff Bridges was capable of being good no matter how weak his material. Legend has it that King Kong was a monumental flop because of its $24 million budget but it grossed $37 million domestically (making it the third highest grossing film that year) and over $80 million worldwide. King Kong received two Academy Award nominations (Cinematography; Sound) and should have received a third for John Barry's beautiful musical score. The film was presented a special award for Special Achievement in Visual Effects, which seems almost ludicrous considering most of the ape effects were simply a man in an ape suit.

MONKEY HUSTLE (American International; Director - Arthur Marks) - American International Pictures was a low budget film studio that threw its hat into the holiday movie ring with this "blaxploitation" action comedy starring Yaphet Kotto. The film opened in limited release on Christmas Eve and performed so poorly it barely received a second run to neighboring theaters. It has since been nearly forgotten.

NETWORK (MGM; Director - Sidney Lumet) - Paddy Chayefsky's biting satire on the television industry tells the tale of news anchor Howard Beale (Peter Finch), the "mad prophet of the airwaves," who is allowed to rant and rave on live television about anything from suicide to politics - as long as his ratings continue to rise. William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall, Ned Beatty and Beatrice Straight all provided strong performances in what many believed was pure fantasy but, first with the popularity of talk shows such as Jenny Jones, Jerry Springer, Morton Downey Jr, and Maury Povich, and now reality shows, proved that Chayefsky simply was ahead of his time. Made on a modest budget of $3.8 million, Network grossed over $14 million coming on the heels of some of the best reviews of any movie that year plus ten Academy Award nominations (Best Picture; Director; Original Screenplay; Actor (Peter Finch); Actor (William Holden); Actress (Faye Dunaway); Supporting Actor (Ned Beatty); Supporting Actress (Beatrice Straight); Editing; Cinematography). The film went on to win four awards (Screenplay; Supporting Actress; Actress; Actor (Finch) - Still the only actor to win an acting award posthumously).

NICKELODEON (Columbia; Director - Peter Bogdanovich) - The biggest flop of the 1976 Christmas season was director Bogdanovich's homage to silent films. A huge cast headed by Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal and Burt Reynolds took a look at a group of rogue filmmakers trying to break into the movie business. Unfortunately, Bogdanovich chose to mix slapstick humor with straight comedy and the results were disastrous. Two terrific scenes illustrate what Bogdanovich may have been getting at and stand out as the best in the film. The first comes after the cast and crew have visited a local nickelodeon to watch their movie. On the way out Reynolds is recognized by other patrons as the star of the movie they have just watched. They clamor to get at him, ripping his clothes off and begging to touch him. The movie star is born. The second is a scene when the cast and crew sit down to watch D.W. Griffith's classic Birth of a Nation and discover just how menial their little movie is. Uniformly negative reviews plagued the film and it barely made back a tenth of its rather large $9 million dollar budget.

THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN (MGM; Director - Blake Edwards) After an eleven year hiatus, director Edwards and star Peter Sellers, both desperate for a hit, decided to resurrect the Inspector Clouseau character made famous in The Pink Panther and A Shot in the Dark. In 1975 they teamed for Return of the Pink Panther and had a box office smash grossing over $20 million. Despite their repeated insistence that it would be the last in the series, the two re-teamed for The Pink Panther Strikes Again which would go on to gross about the same amount as Return. Given the budget was just over $6 million, the film turned a tidy profit and would lead to 1978's Revenge of the Pink Panther, which would be the highest grossing film of the series making over $25 million. Sadly, Sellers would die in 1980, seemingly ending the series. Edwards would try his hand at going on without Sellers with Trail of the Pink Panther, which incorporated scenes cut from previous Panther movies featuring Sellers. A mild hit, it led to Curse of the Pink Panther starring Ted Wass as a bumbling American detective. Despite its flop, Edwards would try one more time in 1992 with Son of the Pink Panther, which was easily the worst film of the series. It flopped and the series was put to rest until a 2006 remake of The Pink Panther starring Steve Martin, which was a sleeper hit. The Pink Panther Strikes Again received one Academy Award nomination for Tom Jones' song Come To Me.

ROCKY (United Artists; Director - John G. Avildsen) - The sleeper hit of 1976 turned out to be the year's highest grossing picture, grossing $56 million. This despite the fact that it opened in limited release at Christmas before expanding nationwide the following February. Good reviews and an astounding ten Academy Award nominations (Best Picture; Director; Original Screenplay; Actor (Sylvester Stallone); Actress (Talia Shire); Supporting Actor (Burgess Meredith); Supporting Actor (Burt Young); Sound; Original Song (Gonna Fly Now); Editing) took this little movie about a down and out boxer given a chance at the championship, to blockbuster status considering its miniscule $1.1 million budget. Rocky would win three awards (Picture; Director; Editing) and spawn 5 sequels (including the sixth installment, Rocky Balboa - to be released this Christmas) so far.

THE SEVEN-PERCENT SOLUTION (Universal; Director - Herbert Ross) - One of the best-reviewed films of the holiday turned out to be the biggest disappointment. Based on a novel by Nicholas Meyer (who adapted the screenplay), the film tells the story of Sherlock Holmes meeting Sigmund Freud to help solve a mystery. Despite changing tones from serious drama to tongue-in-cheek humor, the film stays on course and was one of the most entertaining films of the year. An excellent cast was headed by Nicol Williamson as Holmes; Robert Duvall as Dr. Watson; Laurence Olivier as arch nemesis Moriarty and also featuring Alan Arkin, Joel Grey and Vanessa Redgrave. The film opened in limited release to qualify for the Academy Award nominations and received two (Best Adapted Screenplay; Costume Design).

THE SHAGGY D.A. (Walt Disney; Director - Robert Stevenson) - For the first time in almost a decade Walt Disney Pictures decided to release a live action family movie amongst the more serious holiday fare. In this sequel to The Shaggy Dog, Dean Jones stars as a lawyer cursed by a transformation into the title character. The film received the usual mixed reviews that were accustomed with any live action Disney film, but still made a small profit.

SILVER STREAK (20th Century Fox; Director - Arthur Hiller) - The first of four movies to pair Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, and their best, was this comedy-thriller about love and murder on a luxury train headed from California to Chicago. The film culminates in a terrific chase sequence that results in an astounding final sequence in which a train crashes through Chicago's Union Station. Pryor became a star after this movie, which would gross an astounding $30 million domestically, making it the fourth highest grossing film of the year, and $51 million worldwide. Silver Streak also earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound.

A STAR IS BORN (Warner Bros.; Director - Frank Pierson) - One of the most eagerly awaited movies of the season for movie fans was the latest telling of the familiar story of a married couple and how the husband tries and fails to deal with his wife's rising success while his own star is falling. Barbra Streisand, then the hottest actress in films, took on the lead made famous by Janet Gaynor and later even more famously, Judy Garland. Kris Kristofferson played the husband, previously played by Frederic March and James Mason. Interestingly, Kristofferson was cast only after Striesand's first choice, Elvis Presley, turned the role down. Critics complaining of its length, 140 minutes, and updating the setting to the world of rock music, blasted the film. Audiences, however, enamored by Streisand, turned out in droves and weren't disappointed, especially when she sang. The film ends with a masterful ten-minute sequence of her performing. The film's $6 million budget was quickly erased, as A Star Is Born would gross over $37 million, making it the second highest grossing film of 1976. It also received four Academy Award nominations (Best Cinematography; Song Score; Sound; Original Song (Evergreen)), winning the award for its now classic song.