1971 in film
The year 1971 in film involved some significant events.
Events
- February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music. The film includes footage from Dylan's 1966 UK tour.
- The first permanent IMAX projection system is installed at Ontario Place's "Cinesphere" in Toronto.
- April 23 - The film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song becomes the highest-grossing independent film of 1971.
Top grossing films (U.S.)
| Rank |
Title |
Studio |
Actors |
Director(s) |
Gross |
| 1. |
Fiddler on the Roof |
United Artists |
Topol, Leonard Frey |
Norman Jewison |
$38,261,000 |
| 2. |
The French Connection |
20th Century Fox |
Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey |
William Friedkin |
$32,500,000 |
| 3. |
Summer of '42 |
Warner Bros. |
Jennifer O'Neill, Gary Grimes |
Robert Mulligan |
$26,315,000 |
| 4. |
Diamonds Are Forever |
United Artists |
Sean Connery, Jill St. John |
Guy Hamilton |
$20,500,000 |
| 5. |
Dirty Harry |
Warner Bros. |
Clint Eastwood, Andy Robinson |
Don Siegel |
$19,727,000 |
| 6. |
Carnal Knowledge |
Embassy |
Jack Nicholson, Ann-Margret, Candice Bergen, Art Garfunkel |
Mike Nichols |
$18,000,000 |
| 7. |
A Clockwork Orange |
Warner Bros. |
Malcolm McDowell |
Stanley Kubrick |
$17,000,000 |
| 8. |
Klute |
Warner Bros. |
Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland |
Alan J. Pakula |
$14,075,000 |
| 9. |
The Last Picture Show |
Columbia |
Timothy Bottoms, Cybill Shepherd, Jeff Bridges, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn |
Peter Bogdanovich |
$13,100,000 |
| 10. |
Bedknobs and Broomsticks* |
Walt Disney |
Angela Lansbury |
Robert Stevenson |
$11,426,000 |
(*) After Theatrical re-issue(s)
Awards
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):
- The Go-Between, directed by Joseph Losey, United Kingdom
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):
- The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini), directed by Vittorio De Sica, Italy / W. Germany
Films released in 1971
U.S.A. unless stated
- A
- The Abominable Dr. Phibes, starring Vincent Price - (U.K.)
- Adrift on the Nile, directed by Hussein Kamal - (Egypt)
- The Adversary, directed by Satyajit Ray - (India)
- Amar Prem - (India)
- The American Soldier (Der Amerikanische Soldat), directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder - (West Germany)
- Anand - (India)
- The Anderson Tapes, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Sean Connery, Dyan Cannon, Martin Balsam, Christopher Walken
- And Now For Something Completely Different, a Monty Python film - (U.K.)
- The Andromeda Strain, directed by Robert Wise, starring Arthur Hill, Kate Reid, David Wayne, James Olson
- B
- Bananas, directed by and starring Woody Allen
- The Barefoot Executive
- Bedknobs and Broomsticks, starring Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson
- The Beguiled, starring Clint Eastwood
- The Big Boss, starring Bruce Lee - (Hong Kong)
- The Big Doll House
- Big Jake, starring John Wayne, Richard Boone, Maureen O'Hara
- Billy Jack, re-released in 1973
- Born to Win
- The Boy Friend, directed by Ken Russell, starring Twiggy - (U.K.)
- Brian's Song, starring James Caan and Billy Dee Williams
- C
- Carnal Knowledge, directed by Mike Nichols, starring Jack Nicholson, Art Garfunkel, Ann-Margret, Candice Bergen
- Carry On Henry, directed by Gerald Thomas, starring Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims - (U.K.)
- Le Chat, directed by Robert Bresson - (France)
- A Clockwork Orange, directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Malcolm McDowell - (U.K.)
- Cold Turkey, starring Dick Van Dyke and Bob Newhart
- Countess Dracula, starring Ingrid Pitt - (U.K.)
- D
- Death in Venice (Morte a Venezia), directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Dirk Bogarde and Silvana Mangano - (Italy/France)
- The Decameron, directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini - (Italy)
- The Devils, directed by Ken Russell, starring Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave - (U.K.)
- Diamonds Are Forever, starring Sean Connery as James Bond with Jill St. John and Charles Gray - (U.K.)
- Dirty Harry, directed by Don Siegel, starring Clint Eastwood and Andy Robinson
- Duel, the directorial debut of Steven Spielberg, starring Dennis Weaver
- Dulcima, starring John Mills and Carol White - (U.K.)
- E
- F
- Family Life (Życie rodzinne) - (Poland)
- Fiddler on the Roof, directed by Norman Jewison, starring Chaim Topol
- A Fistful of Dynamite, directed by Sergio Leone, starring James Coburn and Rod Steiger
- Fools' Parade, starring James Stewart, George Kennedy, Kurt Russell
- Four Nights of a Dreamer (Quatre nuits d'un rêveur), directed by Robert Bresson - (France)
- The French Connection, directed by William Friedkin, starring Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider - 5 Academy Awards including best film, director and actor
- G
- H
- Hannie Caulder, starring Raquel Welch and Robert Culp
- Hare Rama Hare Krishna, directed by and starring Dev Anand - (India)
- Harold and Maude, directed by Hal Ashby, starring Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort
- The Hellstrom Chronicle, a documentary direc ted by Walon Green
- The Hired Hand, starring Warren Oates
- The Hospital, directed by Arthur Hiller, starring George C. Scott and Diana Rigg
- How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman (Como Era Gostoso o Meu Francês) - (Brazil)
- The Hunting Party, starring Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen, Oliver Reed
- I
- J
- K
- L
- The Last Picture Show, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn
- Lawman, starring Burt Lancaster, Lee J. Cobb, Robert Ryan, Robert Duvall
- Le Mans, starring Steve McQueen
- Little Murders, directed by Alan Arkin, starring Elliott Gould, Marcia Rodd, Vincent Gardenia, Elizabeth Wilson, Donald Sutherland
- Love - (Hungary)
- M
- Macbeth, directed by Roman Polanski, starring Jon Finch and Francesca Annis - (U.K./U.S.)
- Made for Each Other, starring Joseph Bologna and Renee Taylor
- Mary, Queen of Scots, starring Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson - (U.K.)
- McCabe & Mrs. Miller, directed by Robert Altman, starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie
- Melody - (U.K.)
- Mere Apne - (India)
- The Million Dollar Duck
- Minnie and Moskowitz, directed by John Cassavetes, starring Gena Rowlands and Seymour Cassel
- Mon oncle Antoine - considered by some critics the greatest Canadian film - (Canada)
- Murmur of the Heart, directed by Louis Malle - (France/Italy/West Germany)
- Murphy's War, starring Peter O'Toole
- N
- O
- P
- The Panic in Needle Park, starring Al Pacino
- Play Misty For Me, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood with Jessica Walter and Donna Mills
- Plaza Suite, directed by Arthur Hiller, starring Walter Matthau, Maureen Stapleton, Barbara Harris, Lee Grant
- Pretty Maids All in a Row, directed by Roger Vadim, starring Rock Hudson and Angie Dickinson
- Punishment Park, directed by Peter Watkins
- R
- S
- Sacco e Vanzetti, starring Gian Maria Volonté - (Italy)
- A Safe Place, starring Jack Nicholson and Tuesday Weld
- Shaft, directed by Gordon Parks, starring Richard Roundtree
- She Killed in Ecstasy - (West Germany)
- Silence - (Japan)
- Skin Game, starring James Garner and Louis Gossett, Jr.
- Something Big, starring Dean Martin
- Soul to Soul, a concert documentary featuring Wilson Pickett, Ike and Tina Turner and others
- Straw Dogs, directed by Sam Peckinpah, starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George - (U.K./U.S.)
- Such Good Friends, directed by Otto Preminger, starring Dyan Cannon
- Summer of '42, directed by Robert Mulligan, starring Jennifer O'Neill and Gary Grimes
- Sunday, Bloody Sunday, directed by John Schlesinger, starring Peter Finch and Glenda Jackson - (U.K.)
- Support Your Local Gunfighter, starring James Garner and Suzanne Pleshette
- Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
- T
- THX 1138, the directorial debut of George Lucas, starring Robert Duvall
- T.R. Baskin, starring Candice Bergen
- Taking Off, directed by Milos Forman, starring Lynn Carlin and Buck Henry
- The Tales of Beatrix Potter, a dance film featuring the Royal Ballet - (U.K.)
- They Call Me Trinity, spaghetti western with Terence Hill - (Italy)
- They Might Be Giants, starring George C. Scott and Joanne Woodward
- The Touch of Satan
- Trafic, directed by and starring Jacques Tati - (France)
- Twitch of the Death Nerve (Ecologia del delitto) - (Italy)
- Two English Girls, directed by François Truffaut - (France)
- Two-Lane Blacktop, starring James Taylor and Warren Oates
- U
- V
- W
- W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism - (Yugoslavia/West Germany)
- Walkabout, directed by Nicolas Roeg, starring Jenny Agutter, Luc Roeg and David Gulpilil - (Australia/U.K.)
- Waterloo (U.S. release), directed by Sergei Bondarchuk, starring Rod Steiger, Christopher Plummer, Orson Welles
- Le Wazzou polygame - (Niger/France)
- Werewolves on Wheels
- Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?, starring Dustin Hoffman
- Who Killed Mary What's 'Er Name?
- Wild Rovers, starring William Holden and Ryan O'Neal
- Willard
- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, starring Gene Wilder
- The Working Class Goes to Heaven, Palme d'Or winner - (Italy)
- X-Y-Z
Births
- January 2 - Taye Diggs, actor
- January 11 - Mary J. Blige, musician
- January 15 - Regina King, actor
- January 17 - Kid Rock, musician
- February 1 - Michael C. Hall, actor
- February 1 - Jill Kelly, adult actress
- February 11 - Damien Lewis, actor
- February 15 - Alex Borstein, actress
- February 17 - Denise Richards, actress
- February 24 - Stephen Petit, actor and musician
- March 7 - Peter Sarsgaard, actor
- March 10 - Jon Hamm, actor
- March 13 - Annabeth Gish, actress
- March 27 - Nathan Fillion, actor
- March 31 - Ewan McGregor actor
- April 1 - Method Man actor and musician
- April 12 - Shannon Doherty actress
- April 18 - David Tennant actor
- May 14 - Sofia Coppola, actress, writer, and director
- May 27 - Lisa "Left Eye" Lopez singer and actress (d.2002)
- May 27 - Paul Bettany actor
- June 4 - Noah Wyle actor
- June 5 - Mark Wahlberg actor and musician
- June 16 - Tupac Shakur actor and musician (d.1996)
- July 1 - Missy Elliott musician and actress
- July 16 - Corey Feldman actor
- July 21 - Charlotte Gainsbourg, actress
- August 10 - Justin Theroux, actor
- August 29 - Carla Gugino, actress.
- August 31 - Chris Tucker, actor
- September 16 - Amy Poehler, actress
- September 18 - Jada Pinkett-Smith, actress
- September 21 - Luke Wilson, actor
- October 20 - Snoop Dogg, musician and actor
- October 29 - Winona Ryder, actress
- November 25 - Christina Applegate actress
- December 1 - Emily Mortimer actress
- December 7 - Chasey Lain adult actress
- December 23 - Corey Haim, actor (d.2010)
- December 26 - Jared Leto, actor and musician
Deaths
- January 5 - Douglas Shearer, pioneer motion-picture sound engineer
- January 15 - John Dall, actor
- February 26 - Fernandel, actor
- March 8 – Harold Lloyd, silent screen comedian
- March 15 - Bebe Daniels, actress
- May 1 - Glenda Farrell, actress
- May 27 - Chips Rafferty, Australian actor
- May 28 - Audie Murphy, World War II hero became film actor after the war
- July 3 - Jim Morrison, songwriter, poet, musician
- July 6 - Louis Armstrong, musician, actor
- July 23 - Van Heflin, actor
- August 3 - Ernst Eklund, actor
- August 15 - Paul Lukas, actor
- September 7 - Spring Byington, actress
- September 10 - Pier Angeli, actress
- September 11 - Bella Darvi, actress
- October 11 - Chester Conklin, actor
- October 26 - Vincent Coleman, actor
- November 17 - Gladys Cooper, actress
- December 13 - Dita Parlo, actress
- December 18 - Diana Lynn, actress
- December 28 - Max Steiner, film composer
- December 30 - Dorothy Comingore, actress best known as Susan Kane in Citizen Kane
- December 31 - Pete Duel, 31, actor (suicide)
- December 31 - Marin Sais, actress
Film debuts