Summer Movies of 1979

1979 was a hit and miss summer and nothing really in between. An astounding 34 movies were released in the 14 week period and most of the films were either solid hits or flat out flops. Few of them were marginal or break even.

1979 was definitely geared for teenagers and younger kids with many PG-rated films aimed at them in different genres. There were seven films released for family audiences and children while horror, the new craze in 1979 after the smashing success of Halloween the previous winter, were more then well represented with no less then six movies of the genre released. Not surprisingly most of those horror films were less then stellar.

Only two films from the summer of 1979 were specifically adult oriented that kids had little to no interest in. Yes studios had figured out their bread and butter came from college kids and younger so the season was almost exclusively catered to them. But as you will see some films were so bad even open minded teenagers avoided them.

Seven of these movies would be remembered at Oscar time though only one would be nominated for Best Picture - and that film was a box office disappointment. Two of the films would finish in the top 5 highest grossing films of the year.

I hope you enjoy this look back at films released the summer of 1979. I imagine many of you, like me, saw these films that summer and remember just how good or how awful they were. It was interesting to say the least.

ALIEN (20^th Century Fox; Director - Ridley Scott) Probably the last true horror film that had accurate reports of customers being so frightened they left the theater or became ill. This now classic film came out of nowhere in 1979. It was released slowly so you had to travel a bit to find it unless you were in a big city. The previews told you nothing while suggesting everything and once John Hurt met his demise in one of the most memorable scenes in movie history, a classic was born and customers flocked to see it and then flocked to see it again and again with friends who hadn't seen it more to gauge their reactions then anything else. The film was so popular that its second run began in August while the film continued to play its theaters from the first run but by the end of summer the grosses came to over $40 million which would be good for the fifth highest grossing film of 1979. Alien would be nominated for only two Oscars, Art Direction and Visual Effects (for which it won), but it became the most talked about film hit of the year.

AMERICATHON (United Artists; Director - Neil Israel) One of the biggest bombs of the year was this all-star cast filled comedy about the United States being on the verge of bankruptcy in 1998 and the young President (John Ritter) calling for a country wide telethon to save the day. The film was based on a skit by the Fireside Theater comedy troupe who only served to prove that a minor skit lengthened to almost two full hours would be thin on material and even thinner on laughs. Peter Reigert, Harvey Korman, Fred Willard, Jay Leno, Meat Loaf and Elvis Costello appeared alongside Ritter though no one is really given much to do. George Carlin narrated. The film received atrocious reviews and was in and out of theaters in two weeks.

THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (American International; Director - Stuart Rosenberg) Possibly the most eagerly awaited film of the summer was based on the hugely popular (and now proven phony) non-fiction book about a family who moved into a new house in Long Island and were terrorized for 28 days before fleeing for their lives. This film was going to be critic proof (which was a good thing because the critics trashed it) as audiences had eaten up the book and were only too eager to take in the movie. James Brolin and Margot Kidder (hot off playing Lois Lane) played the married couple while Rod Steiger gleefully overacted as the family priest. The film really has little going for it save for a "What's next?" attitude. There is little fright nor flair to the material. Director Rosenberg snapped out of a more then decade career slump and had the biggest hit of his career as the film would bring in over $36 million and spawned several sequels and a needless, less then average remake. Lalo Schifrin's musical score, which he had composed for The Exorcist originally before it was replaced, brought the film its only Academy Award nomination.

THE APPLE DUMPLING GANG RIDES AGAIN (Walt Disney Pictures; Director - Vincent McEveety) Few people at the time realized it but one of the most successful comedy teams in film were Don Knotts and Tim Conway. The two helped make the original film a hit and earlier that year had a sleeper hit with The Prize Fighter. The two reunited again here and had another solid hit with the adventures of two comic clods in the Old West. This sequel is definitely a few steps back of its predecessor though there is one terrific scene where the two men try to carry a bowl filled with punch and it leads to the destruction of the town. A great moment in an otherwise dreadful film that kids still seemed to like. The film was a mild hit at the box office.

BLOODLINE (Paramount; Director - Terence Young) With the unexpected success of Sidney Sheldon's The Other Side of Midnight two years earlier, studios were clamoring for films based on trashy novels. 1978 saw a mild hit with Harold Robbins' The Betsy and now came this latest adaptation of a Sidney Sheldon novel. This was one of the few films aimed at adults and it lived up to its nasty, trashy elements from the book. This is a rather repulsive movie about a woman who gets control of the family company and the rest of the family trying to get her out with no matter the methods. The film features sex galore but the real sickness is in the scenes of a bald man who repeatedly sleeps with and then strangles women with a red ribbon while being filmed. Most shocking of all is that this was Audrey Hepburn's first starring role in a movie in over a decade (not counting her co-starring role with Sean Connery in 1976's Robin and Marian) and also included a fine upscale cast of veterans such as James Mason, Ben Gazzara, Irene Pappas and Omar Sharif. Critics savaged the film (Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert gave a rare ZERO stars rating to such a major movie) and audiences listened this time around and the film flopped making just over $5 million.

BREAKING AWAY (20^th Century Fox; Director - Peter Yates) One of the best films of the year was this little sleeper of a comedy that takes place (and was entirely shot in) Bloomington, Indiana where Indiana University is located. The film tells the story of four friends who have never lived up to potential trying to live their lives and deal with the college kids that come and go, moving on to bigger and better things. One of the men is obsessed with the Italian bike racing team to such a degree that he begins speaking it (much to the dismay of his parents). The film is a Midwest slice of life and it is impossible to believe that anyone would dislike it. Critics were as delighted by it as expected but the "sleeper" film never really took off and made only $9 million but did get a small lift when it was later nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Barbara Barrie) and Best Score. Only it's thoughtful screenplay by Steve Tesich would win.

BUTCH AND SUNDANCE: THE EARLY DAYS (20^th Century Fox; Director - Richard Lester) This is the film where the term "prequel" (a sequel to a movie whose action takes place before the action of the original film) was born. 20^th Century Fox had wanted to do another Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid movie for years but couldn't quite overcome the problem that its two lead characters died at the end. Executives believed that since you never actually saw them die (if you remember the last shot was a freeze frame whilst hearing the guns fired) that they may have actually escaped. Finally Paul Newman and Robert Redford put the kibosh on the whole project by announcing they wouldn't make a sequel for any amount of money. What to do? The studio decided on the "prequel" showing how the two bandits met and later became Newman and Redford. For this new version Tom Berenger and William Katt stepped into the roles and credit to the casting director as the two leads were quite likable. Enter director Lester (A Hard Day's Night; The Three Musketeers; The Four Musketeers) who specializes in farcical entertainments and you end up with a film that is deliberately sillier but far less believable yet still mildly entertaining. This film is not nearly as bad as you would expect. The critics were not surprisingly marginal in their reviews and the film was a huge box office flop.

C.H.O.M.P.S. (American International; Director - Don Chaffey) Standing for Canine Home Protection System, a robotic dog with super strength and X-ray vision is created by a young man to help prevent crime. Naturally a ruthless businessman wants to get his hands on the pooch. This is a strictly by the books film for kids with a young Valerie Bertinelli as the love interest for the film's hero. Critics dismissed it and the film was not a success - unlike today when every film for kids seems to make a profit. Interestingly the film was rated G in its original release despite the fact that the very last line of the film is a synonym for feces. Apparently the MPAA rating board members either fell asleep or turned it off before the last scene. When the film was released on video it was re-rated to its proper PG.

THE DARK (Film Ventures International; Director - Bud Cardos) This was your typical drive-in movie fare about an alien creature that terrorizes people after sunset. This low budget schlock fest stands out only because of the inclusion in the cast of such talented actors as William Devane, Richard Jaekal and Keenan Wynn. Cathy Lee Crosby, who was also one of the hosts of TV's That's Incredible, plays the female lead. The film was originally conceived as a zombie movie but after poor preview results all references to zombies were removed. During each attack many moments were edited or freeze framed and new shots of the creature included laser beams shooting out of its eye. It's that kind of film. Those few critics who even reviewed it dismissed it and it flopped at the box office.

DRACULA (Universal Pictures; Director - John Badham) The umpteenth filming of Bram Stoker's classic novel was also inspired by the stage play that was a hit in the mid to late 1970's. Director Badham (Saturday Night Fever) sticks closely with the tone of the play rather then the book and creates a gothic romance between the count (Frank Langella) and the fair Lucy (Kate Nelligan), whom the count desires. Laurence Olivier and Donald Pleasance are also on hand in this thriller that is short on thrills but provides an interesting if not always successful interpretation. Composer John Williams adds flavor with one of his most under appreciated scores. The film divided critics but after a strong opening the film stalled and grossed just over $10 million.

ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ (Paramount; Director - Don Seigel) Box office hero Clint Eastwood, rarely missing from a summer movie list, re-teams with his Dirty Harry director for this taut, suspenseful drama based on the true story of three men who escaped from the escape proof prison. The film fictionally surmises certain events and doesn't answer any questions at the end that we don't already know. Still this is solid entertainment from Clint and the reliable Seigel at the helm. Patrick McGoohan co-stars as the not so friendly prison warden. The film was another hit for Clint with the critics and the public having grossed almost $22 million.

THE FRISCO KID (Warner Bros.; Director - Robert Aldrich) In what should have been a can't miss became a surprising flop that summer. Gene Wilder returned to the Western/Comedy for the first time since Blazing Saddles and had Harrison Ford, hot off his role as Han Solo in Star Wars, as his co-star. In it Wilder plays a Rabbi headed to San Francisco who is tricked out of most of his belongings by con men and then meets up on the road with a bank robber and soon the two share adventures and friendship together. The film highly disappoints as the laughs are few and far between. This was a major disappointment at the box office and another film dismissed by critics.

GAME OF DEATH (Columbia; Director - Robert Clouse) Talk about rip-off! It seems that before Bruce Lee died in 1973 he had shot several minutes of footage for a new movie that would never be completed. Well leave it to the big boys to come up with a new way to take the consumers money. A story was crafted around this footage (most of it a karate battle with basketball star Kareem-Abdul Jabbar) while the rest of the movie used close-up footage of Lee from other movies (sometimes looking in the wrong direction) or using body doubles shot from behind. The resulting film is laughably bad with the only good moment being the concluding fight between Lee and Jabbar. The rest is pure rip-off which set the critics into protection mode against unsuspecting audiences who quickly caught on to the scheme and stayed away.

GOLDEN GIRL (Avco Embassy; Director - Joseph Sargent) Supermodel Susan Anton made her feature film debut as a woman in the Olympics struggling with love and the agony of defeat. This trashy love story somehow attracted the talents of James Coburn, Leslie Caron and Robert Culp among others. The film barely saw theatrical release and was out of theaters before most critics even had time to review it.

HANOVER STREET (Columbia; Director - Peter Hyams) Harrison Ford would appear in his second of three summer box office flops, this time starring as a soldier in WWII who falls in love with the wife (Lesley Anne-Down) of a British intelligent agent (Christopher Plummer). The film was blasted for its ludicrous love story plot and soap opera-ish characters and situations. Critics did not treat the film kindly and the audiences stayed away though the film has gained some reputable points over the years for the flying sequences.

HOT STUFF (Columbia; Director - Dom DeLuise) Comic character actor Dom DeLuise made his starring debut in this light but somewhat entertaining action/comedy co-starring Suzanne Pleshette and Jerry Reed as Miami cops who set up a sting operation in a pawn shop by videotaping everyone thus having the conclusive evidence needed to convict the criminals that repeatedly have been beating the rap. Of all the films directed by members of the Mel Brooks factory (including Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman and Anne Bancroft) this is probably the best of the bunch though still no masterpiece. Critics were mixed in their reactions but the film failed to find an audience.

THE IN-LAWS (Warner Bros; Director - Arthur Hiller) Now considered by many to be one of the great comedies of the last 30 years, The In-Laws, which tells the story of a mild mannered dentist (Alan Arkin) who gets involved with future in-law and CIA agent Peter Falk in a huge government robbery that has put both men's lives in danger. Andrew Bergman's magnificent script keeps the film moving into unexpected and delightfully ludicrous directions and director Hiller gets terrific performances out of his two leads. Surprisingly the film's reviews were quite mixed at the time but it became one of the sleeper hits of 1979 earning $20 million.

IN PRAISE OF OLDER WOMEN (Avco Embassy; Director - George Kacsendor) Tom Berenger stars in his second 1979 summer flop as a young Hungarian man whose hunger for older women is satiated one at a time. And, yes, that is about all there is to this movie. The women come and go quickly, enough to lust for Berenger, bed him and then get dumped or catch him cheating. The only reason to see this movie is for men's desires to see Karen Black, Susan Strasberg and Helen Shaver (among others) nude. For anyone else it's a waste of time.

JUST YOU AND ME, KID (Columbia; Director - Leonard Stern) George Burns and Brooke Shields, a delightful teaming if there ever was one, unfortunately team in a lame and contrived film where Shields plays a runaway being pursued by drug dealers. Burns finds her hiding in his car and takes pity on her leading the two of them to form a friendship. It was so very made for television and a major disappointment. Critics were unkind even to the always lovable Burns and the film flopped.

LOST AND FOUND (Columbia; Director - Melvin Frank) Looking back over the list it is hard to believe how many films flopped in the summer of 1979, especially the comedies of which this can be added to that list. Someone thought it wise to re-team the director with his stars of the 1973 smash comedy, A Touch of Class, which would win Glenda Jackson her second Academy Award while the film was nominated for Best Picture. Jackson was brought back with George Segal and director Frank for a new comedy about a divorced man who falls for Jackson while on vacation but cannot keep his promise to her not to lie to her - ever. Naturally Segal is lying as soon as they return and the trouble starts right away. The film is filled with silly situations and awkward moments and audiences apparently sensed it beforehand because despite the huge success of the original film, this film barely grossed $3 million and was ripped apart by critics.

THE MAIN EVENT (Warner Bros; Director - Howard Zieff) Seven years after the very successful What's Up Doc?, Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal re-team in this romantic comedy about a woman who inherits a broken down boxer but hopes to rehabilitate him so she can make some money. Not surprisingly the two eventually fall in live. The same chemistry that worked so well in the earlier film worked the same here and it delighted audiences who made it a hit having earned over $22 million. Critics were divided in their opinions, many feeling Streisand's performance was phoned in and that she should be concentrating more on dramatic roles like her previous film, A Star Is Born, some three years earlier.

MANHATTAN (United Artists; Director - Woody Allen) One of the few films of Allen's to open during the summer, Manhattan is considered by many to be his masterpiece or at the very least one of his best films (myself included). From the opening montage of Allen's beloved New York to the music of George Gershwin you know Allen has a firm grip on his material and will take his audience for a delightful ride. Shot in glorious black and white, the film is a seriocomic look at relationships and why they succeed and why they fail. Allen plays a writer dating a high school senior (the marvelous Mariel Hemingway) and begins a relationship with the mistress (Diane Keaton) of his best friend (Michael Murphy). The mistress is sick and tired of being "the other woman" but has conflicting feelings about both men. Meryl Streep makes an early appearance as Allen's ex-wife who is now a lesbian and writing a tell all book about their marriage. Allen mixes in just enough humor with the drama to balance it into a beautiful motion picture that would receive two Academy Award nominations (it was a bit shocking in 1979 that it was only nominated for 2). Hemingway received a Best Supporting Actress nod while Allen's script with Marshall Brickman was also nominated. Oddly the film was released with an R-rating because of one mention of the F-word. Allen appealed this but lost. Critics almost unanimously embraced this film and while it wasn't a big hit, it did make over $10 million which is big money for a Woody Allen film.

MEATBALLS (Paramount; Director - Ivan Reitman) Bill Murray's first starring role came in one of 1979's sleeper hits about a summer at camp. Murray plays one of the counselors trying to romance another counselor while taking a young, shy kid under his wing. All of this while constantly playing tricks on the head camp counselor, aptly named Morty. The film is delightful fun for kids but has aged some in its 30 years. Director Reitman offers the right amount of slapstick with his gross out humor and keeps things on a slight but even keel. The film is no classic but it is fun. Critics were not very kind to the film but Murray's popularity with Saturday Night Live propelled this to a strong $21 million gross.

MOONRAKER (United Artists; Director - Lewis Gilbert) Summer wouldn't be complete without James Bond and here Roger Moore takes to the role for the 4^th time which takes our hero from ski slopes into outer space. Add to that the return of Jaws (Richard Kiel), a giant villain with metal teeth that appeared in the previous feature, The Spy Who Loved Me, and box office success was guaranteed. This would become the most successful 007 movie of all time before Daniel Craig took over the role and is still the biggest hit of Moore's Bond career. The film would be nominated for its Visual Effects and would make a whopping $38 million at the box office despite mostly negative reviews.

MORE AMERICAN GRAFFITI (Universal; Director - B.W.L. Norton) Perhaps one of the most ambitious of movie sequels, certainly the most ambitious since The Godfather Part II, most of the original stars (except for Richard Dreyfuss) from the classic 1973 original return with a different story telling device. Here four stories are told with each taking place on New Year's Eve in the years 1964, 65, 6, and 67. Story one follows hot rodder Jon Milner (Paul Le Mat) as he drives and woos a foreign woman while at the races. Story two (easily the best) follows Terry the Toad (Charles Martin Smith) in Vietnam as he attempts to shoot himself to get sent home. Story three follows Candy Clark, Oscar nominee from the original, as she experiences the rock and roll and hippie life on the road. Look fast for a Harrison Ford cameo. Story four follows Steve and Laurie (Ron Howard and Cindy Williams) through marital discord. The first two stories are the best by far as the last story gets old watching the two leads fight (incidentally they are also part of the Milner story as is the Toad). As with the original the musical soundtrack is filled with wall to wall songs and is almost worth the price of admission. This is not a bad film but just not a totally successful one. George Lucas did return to executive produce but it's a shame he didn't try directing it as it may have lived up to the original. The critics were not kind to the film but, shockingly, the film flopped at the box office making just over $4 million.

THE MUPPET MOVIE (Associated Film Distribution; Director - James Frawley) One of the biggest and best surprises of summer, 1979, was the big screen debut of Jim Henson's delightful array of puppets (or Muppets) from the hit television series. This musical comedy follows Kermit as he makes his way to Hollywood to be a big star and along the way comes across such cameos as Dom DeLuise, Steve Martin, Mel Brooks and many, many more. This wonderful film has some amazing moments including scenes where we actually see Kermit walking on his two legs and an unforgettable full shot of Kermit riding a bicycle. It's a shot whose trick I have never learned and, frankly, hope I never do. The film pleased critics for the most part but was a huge hit grossing over $30 million and spawning several sequels through the years. The film would also be nominated for two Academy Awards for its Score and Best Song (The Rainbow Connection).

NIGHTWING (Columbia; Director - Arthur Hiller) Director Hiller's second film (after The In-Laws) to open within a week of each other, this film is the polar opposite of his hit comedy as this horror film tells the story of vampire bats terrorizing an Indian reservation in New Mexico. Nick Mancuso stars as the sheriff trying to figure it all out with David Warner as the bat expert and a brief appearance by Strother Martin, one of his last roles, trying to keep things interesting. Unfortunately the film is too cartoonish and silly to be believable and it all turns out to be pretty dumb. Critics ripped the film apart and the film flopped at the box office though, interestingly, it has begun to gain a small cult status in the last few years because of the rarity of its showings.

NORTH DALLAS FORTY (Paramount; Director - Ted Kotcheff) An odd choice for summer of 79 is this very adult, dramatic look at life in pro football. How much better it could have been had it been released in autumn with the football season just a few weeks old? But, alas, it was a late summer release taking place in one long week starring Nick Nolte as the team's star wide receiver who is feeling the pain of the game professionally and personally. Country singer Mac Davis made an impressive film debut as the team's quarterback and it's a shame that after a few flops (Cheaper To Keep Her; The Sting II) Davis abandoned acting on the big screen. He was quite a talent. Charles Durning, G.D Spradlin, Steve Forrest and Bo Swenson co-star in what I feel is the best football film ever made. Critics were enthusiastic but the film under performed making just $14 million.

PLAYERS (Paramount; Director - Anthony Harvey) Set in the world of professional tennis, Players tells of a love story between an under achieving tennis pro and a kept woman that he falls in love with. The tennis pro is playing in the finals at Wimbledon and the love story is told in flashback. Dean Paul Martin (son of crooner Dean) makes his starring debut as the tennis pro and Ali MacGraw, attempting a career comeback that had started the year before with the bomb Convoy, plays the woman of his desires. She happens to belong to millionaire Anthony Quinn. Martin flashes his smile with his clean cut good looks and fits the role of the tennis pro but his character is limited so we never get a sense of how good an actor he may be (Sadly he quit films and joined the military where he was killed in a plane crash in 1987). The fact that Martin really played tennis added some much needed realism to the film which never figures out what it wants to be. Is it a sports film? A love story? A soap opera? It never answers that question. The film did not go over well with critics and was a box office bomb.

THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (Universal; Director - Richard Quine) The umpteenth version of the classic novel takes a satirical turn with Peter Sellers playing the duo role of the king and the pauper who impersonates him. Sellers does his best but the material is too thin here to make much a go of it and it all becomes desperate. Before the film was released it was revealed that Sellers had the director fired and completed the film on his own but was forced out of the editing and disowned the final product. Not surprisingly this kept audiences away from the film even though Sellers was a huge star again thanks to the Pink Panther movies. Critics drubbed it and the film made just under $5 million.

PROPHECY (Paramount; Director - John Frankenheimer) This is a shockingly awful horror film about a log company whose waste in the local water creates a killer mutant that goes on a spree in the countryside. Shocking because director Frankenheimer was known for such terrific films as Birdman of Alcatraz, The Train, The Manchurian Candidate and Black Sunday. Robert Foxworth, Talia Shire, Armand Assante and Richard Dysart all lend their considerable talents to the project and each seems to know they have picked possibly the worst movie of their careers. There is nothing remotely scary or even interesting about this film and while critics laughed it off their newspapers, audiences still turned out for a mild gross of $10 million.

ROCKY II (United Artists; Director - Sylvester Stallone) Not surprisingly this sequel to one of the great movie Cinderella stories of all time was the biggest hit the summer of 1979. The only major difference between the two films is that Stallone (who wrote all the films) took the directing reigns and proved he was a confident, capable one at that. The new film picks up with the fight from the original and then follows Rocky's new life of fame and how he copes. Meanwhile he and Adrian marry, have a child and have to get through a serious health crisis. Apollo Creed challenges Rocky to another fight having felt the public embarrassment of almost losing to an amateur. And while the fight is a pipe dream (as it is in ALL of the movies) it is exciting and a terrific sequel. Critical reaction was surprisingly mixed but audiences made it another box office knockout grossing over $42 million, making it the 4^th highest grossing film of 1979.

THE VILLAIN (Columbia; Director - Hal Needham) More then anything this comedy parody of westerns can best be described as a live action Road Runner cartoon complete with scenes of defying gravity, painted tunnel entrances and shoes glued to a railroad track with a train bearing down. The thin story has Cactus Jack Slade (Kirk Douglas in the Wile E Coyote role) trying to rob a horse carriage carrying Charming Jones (Ann-Margret in a very low cut dress) and Handsome Stranger (a pre-Terminator Arnold Schwarzenegger) as they claim money that was her father's. Unfortunately Cactus Jack is not the most adept person at robbing or staying on his feet for that matter. So you have a Road Runner cartoon stretched out to almost 90 minutes - you get the whole idea. Critics were not kind to the film nor its stars (especially Douglas in one of his most unusual roles) but it was a mild hit with kids and families.