10 Best Films of 1974, Ranked (2024)

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the films of 1974. In 1974, Hollywood was at the apex of the New Hollywood movement, a time in American film history when diminishing studio power led to the rise of independent auteurs. A seminal year for New Hollywood Cinema, 1974 saw major works released by filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Roman Polanski, and John Cassavetes. Comedian Mel Brooks also debuted two landmark comedies, catapulting him to the top of the era's greatest comedic directors.

Internationally, New German Cinema dominated European art cinema, with Wim Wender and Rainer Werner Fassbinder premiering some of their best movies in 1974. West of Germany in France, directors such as Jacques Rivette continued the legacy of the Nouvelle Vague with the release of Céline and Julie Go Boating. Fifty years later, the best movies of 1974 remain some of cinema's most iconic works.

10 Young Frankenstein Is a Foundational Horror Comedy (1974)

Young Frankenstein

PG

Comedy

Sci-Fi

An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather was not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.

Release Date

December 15, 1974

Director

Mel Brooks

Cast

gene wilder , Madeline Kahn , Marty Feldman , Peter Boyle , Cloris Leachman

Runtime

1 Hour 46 Minutes

Main Genre

Comedy

Writers

gene wilder , Mel Brooks , Mary Shelley

• IMDb Rating: 8.0

After years of working as one of the world's premier comedy writers, Mel Brooks tried his hand at feature film directing with the 1967 movie The Producers. The film went on to become a classic and caused Brooks to fully focus on directing throughout the 1970s. In 1974, Brooks directed Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles, two smash-hit films that helped elevate Brooks to the upper echelon of 1970s comedy filmmakers. A parody of Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein, Young Frankenstein focuses on Victor Frankenstein's grandson's attempts to create life from the dead.

Immensely popular at the box office, Young Frankenstein finished 1974 as the year's third highest-grossing domestic release in the United States. Audiences flocked to see Young Frankenstein's hysterical ensemble performances, witty dialogue, and brilliant 1930s-era production value. The American Film Institute, Total Film, and Bravo all included Young Frankenstein on their lists of the greatest comedies. In 2003, the Library of Congress voted Young Frankenstein into the National Film Registry.

9 Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore Won Ellen Burstyn An Oscar For Best Actress (1974)

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

PG

Drama

Romance

A recently widowed woman is on the road with her precocious young son, determined to make a new life for herself as a singer.

Release Date

December 9, 1974

Director

Martin Scorsese

Cast

Ellen Burstyn , Kris Kristofferson , Mia Bendixsen , Alfred Lutter III , Billy Green Bush , Lelia Goldoni , Ola Moore , Harry Northup

Runtime

112 Minutes

Main Genre

Drama

Writers

Robert Getchell

Producer

Audrey Maas, David Susskind

Production Company

Warner Bros.

• IMDb Rating: 7.3

Martin Scorsese shot to the forefront of the New Hollywood movement with the release of Mean Streets. His follow-up, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, was his second successful film in a row. Somewhat of an aberration in Scorsese's filmography, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore stars Ellen Burstyn as the titular Alice, a widow who travels across the Southwestern United States with her young son in search of a better life.

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore was a box office hit, grossing $21 million against a tiny budget of only $1.8 million. Nominated for three Academy Awards, Burstyn won an Oscar for her heart-wrenching performance as Alice. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore was also nominated for seven BAFTAs, winning for Best Film, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress. The film inspired a television adaptation titled Alice, an Emmy-nominated sitcom that ran for nine seasons between 1976 and 1985.

8 Blazing Saddles Is Mel Brooks' Greatest Cinematic Achievement (1974)

Blazing Saddles

R

Comedy

Western

In order to ruin a western town, a corrupt politician appoints a black Sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary.

Release Date

February 7, 1974

Director

Mel Brooks

Cast

Cleavon Little , gene wilder , Slim Pickens , Harvey Korman , Madeline Kahn , Mel Brooks

Runtime

93 minutes

Main Genre

Comedy

• IMDb Rating: 7.7

A biting satirical Western comedy with a postmodern aesthetic, Blazing Saddles is the crowning cinematic achievement of Mel Brooks' illustrious career. The film stars Cleavon Little as Bart, a black Sheriff hired by a corrupt politician who hopes to cause havoc in the town. However, the plan backfires as Bart becomes the politician's most formidable opponent.

Blazing Saddles is frequently acknowledged as a film that could never succeed in the cultural climate of the modern era. This is a sad reality for comedy, especially considering the masterful way Blazing Saddles tackles issues of racism. One of the strongest components of Blazing Saddles is how the film uses comedy to portray the absurdity of racism. Michael Venture, writing for Today, praised Blazing Saddles for retaining its laugh-out-loud hysterics decades after its initial release. A National Film Registry inductee, Blazing Saddles placed sixth on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest comedies.

7 Céline And Julie Go Boating Is One Of The Nouvelle Vague's Most Enchanting And Inventive Films (1974)

Céline And Julie Go Boating

Unrated

Drama

Fantasy

A mysteriously linked pair of young women find their daily lives preempted by a strange boudoir melodrama that plays itself out in a hallucinatory parallel reality.

Release Date

September 18, 1974

Runtime

3 Hours 13 Minutes

Main Genre

Comedy

Story By

Characters By

Juliet Berto, Dominique Labourier, Bulle Ogier, Marie-France Pisier

Producer

Barbet Schroeder

Production Company

Action Films, Les Films 7, Les Films Christian Fechner, Les Films du Losange, Renn Productions, Saga, Simar Productions, V.M. Productions

• IMDb Rating: 7.2

Like many of his Nouvelle Vague contemporaries, Jacques Rivette first rose to prominence as a film critic for the famed French magazine Cahiers du cinéma. Starting in the 1960s, Rivette emerged as one of the Nouvelle Vague's most unique filmmakers. Rivette's movies are notable for their heavy improvisation, loose narratives, and lengthy runtimes. Céline and Julie Go Boating epitomizes Rivette at the peak of his powers, telling the story of a daydreaming librarian who teams up with an enigmatic magician on a time-warping adventure full of fantasy, mystery, and melodrama.

As is the case with many Nouvelle Vague films, Céline and Julie Go Boating features allusions to countless works of literature and film such as Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Louis Feuillade's Les Vampires, and various stories by Henry James. One of Rivette's most acclaimed works, Céline and Julie Go Boating won the Special Prize of the Jury at the Locarno International Film Festival. In the 2022 Sight & Sound critics' poll, Céline and Julie Go Boating finished as the 78th greatest film of all time.

6 Alice In The Cities Commences Wim Wenders' Road Trilogy (1974)

Alice In The Cities

Not Rated

A German journalist is saddled with a nine-year-old girl after encountering her mother at a New York airport.

Release Date

May 17, 1974

Director

Wim Wenders

Runtime

1 Hour 53 Minutes

Main Genre

Drama

Story By

Characters By

Yella Rottländer, Rüdiger Vogler, Lisa Kreuzer

Producer

Peter Genée, Joachim von Mengershausen

Production Company

Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), Produktion 1 im Filmverlag der Autoren

• IMDb Rating: 7.9

Following several unsuccessful directorial efforts, Wim Wenders wrote and directed Alice in the Cities, the inaugural film of his Road trilogy. The international acclaim Wenders received from his Road trilogy skyrocketed him to the top of New German Cinema's most accomplished filmmakers. Two integral aspects of Wenders' oeuvre are his fascination with both America and the road genre of cinema. Alice in the Cities, which centers on a German journalist who unexpectedly must care for a nine-year-old girl, perfectly encompasses these two paramount components of Wenders' filmography.

Alice in the Cities is notable for its pristine, deep focus, black and white cinematography by Robby Müller and for the awe-inspiring performance by child star Yella Rottländer, which easily belongs among the best child actor performances in film history. In celebration of the 100th anniversary of cinema, the Association of German Cinémathèques surveyed to account for the most important German films ever made. Alice in the Cities ranked 47th on the list.

5 Rainer Werner Fassbinder Pays Homage To Douglas Sirk With Ali: Fear Eats The Soul (1974)

Ali: Fear Eats The Soul

Not Rated

Romance

A lonely widow meets a much younger Moroccan worker in a bar during a rainstorm. They fall in love, to their own surprise and to the outright shock of their families, colleagues, and drinking buddies.

Release Date

October 31, 1974

Director

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Runtime

1 Hour 32 Minutes

Main Genre

Drama

Writers

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Characters By

Brigitte Mira, El Hedi ben Salem, Barbara Valentin

Producer

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Production Company

Tango Film, Filmverlag der Autoren

• IMDb Rating: 8.0

The most prolific filmmaker of New German Cinema, Rainer Werner Fassbinder directed over 40 films and television series between 1969 and 1982. His career was ultimately cut short when he succumbed to a drug overdose at the age of 37. One of his most admired films is Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, a romantic melodrama that pays homage to the 1950s films of Douglas Sirk. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul revolves around a romance that develops between Emmi, a 60-year-old window cleaner, and Ali, a Moroccan migrant in his late thirties.

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is a heartbreaking movie that explores issues of race and class in postwar West Germany. At the Cannes Film Festival, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul won the FIPRESCI Prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, while at the Chicago International Film Festival, the movie took home the Silver Hugo award for Best Feature. Martin Scorsese included Ali: Feat Eats the Soul on a list he compiled of 39 essential foreign films for young filmmakers.

4 Francis Ford Coppola Wins The Palme d'Or For The Conversation (1974)

The Conversation

PG

Drama

Crime

Documentary

Mystery

Thriller

A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.

Release Date

April 7, 1974

Director

Francis Ford Coppola

Cast

Gene Hackman , John Cazale , Allen Garfield , Frederic Forrest , Cindy Williams , Michael Higgins

Runtime

113 minutes

Main Genre

Drama

Writers

Francis Ford Coppola

Producer

Francis Ford Coppola

Production Company

The Directors Company, The Coppola Company, American Zoetrope

• IMDb Rating: 7.8

Made between The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, The Conversation is one of the greatest thrillers of the New Hollywood movement. Gene Hackman stars as Harry Caul, a surveillance expert who becomes consumed with the idea that a couple he spies on may be in grave danger. One of director Francis Ford Coppola's biggest inspirations for The Conversation was Blowup, Michelangelo Antonioni's counterculture masterpiece.

Despite being a box office bomb, The Conversation was one of the most acclaimed films of the 1970s. The movie won Coppola his first of two Palmes d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. At the Academy Awards, The Conversation earned three nominations, losing Best Picture to Coppola's other 1974 release, The Godfather Part II. However, The Conversation did win Best Film from the National Board of Review. Retrospectively, The Conversation continues to receive admiration from critics. Premiere magazine named Hackman's performance the 37th greatest in film history. The Motion Picture Editors Guild voted The Conversation the 11th best-edited film ever made. In 1995, The Conversation entered the National Film Registry.

3 A Woman Under The Influence Is John Cassavetes' Magnum Opus (1974)

A Woman Under The Influence

R

Romance

Although wife and mother Mabel is loved by her husband Nick, her mental illness places a strain on the marriage.

Release Date

November 18, 1974

Director

John Cassavetes

Cast

Peter Falk , Gena Rowlands

Runtime

2 Hours 35 Minutes

Main Genre

Drama

Writers

John Cassavetes

Producer

Sam Shaw

Production Company

Faces

• IMDb Rating: 8.1

John Cassavetes was a pioneering independent filmmaker who helped popularize a cinéma vérité style aesthetic in fiction moviemaking. A paramount work of independent cinema, A Woman Under the Influence stars Gene Rowlands as a wife and mother struggling with mental illness. Produced entirely without the support of a studio, Cassavetes mortgaged his home and borrowed extensively from family and friends to make the movie. Peter Falk, who co-stars in the film, contributed $500,000 to the budget.

One of the first fifty films selected for preservation by the National Film Registry, A Woman Under the Influence earned Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Actress. During an appearance on The Mike Douglas Show, actor Richard Dreyfuss articulated how A Woman Under the Influence was such a powerful and devastating experience that he vomited after seeing it. Both Sight & Sound and the BBC have ranked A Woman Under the Influence among the best movies of all time.

2 The Godfather Part II Is Cinema's Greatest Sequel (1974)

The Godfather Part II

R

Crime

Drama

The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.

Release Date

December 18, 1974

Director

Francis Ford Coppola

Cast

Al Pacino , Robert De Niro , Robert Duvall

Runtime

3 hours 22 minutes

Main Genre

Crime

Writers

Francis Ford Coppola , Mario Puzo

Production Company

Paramount Pictures, The Coppola Company, American Zoetrope

• IMDb Rating: 9.0

Serving as both a prequel and sequel to The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Part II is a film many might consider superior to the original movie. The Godfather Part II presents parallel narratives, one concerning Michael Corleone's continuing rule of his crime family and one showing the ascension of Vito Corleone from a poor immigrant to a ruthless Mafia boss.

Like The Godfather, The Godfather Part II was a box office and critical triumph. The film finished the year as a top ten domestic release and won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, out of eleven total nominations. However, Al Pacino controversially lost the Oscar for Best Actor to Art Carney for his performance in Harry and Tonto. Premiere magazine listed Pacino's performance as the 20th best of all time, while Total Film hailed Pacino's performance as the fourth greatest in film history. Dozens of publications ranging from Empire and Sight & Sound to Entertainment Weekly and The Village Voice have all declared The Godfather Part II to be one of cinema's greatest works. In 1993, The Godfather Part II became the first sequel inducted into the National Film Registry.

1 Chinatown Is The Best Film Of 1974 (1974)

Chinatown

R

Crime

Documentary

Drama

Mystery

Thriller

A private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.

Release Date

June 20, 1974

Director

Roman Polanski

Cast

Jack Nicholson , Faye Dunaway , John Huston , Perry Lopez , John Hillerman , Darrell Zwerling

Runtime

130 minutes

Main Genre

Drama

Writers

Robert Towne , Roman Polanski

Producer

Robert Evans

Production Company

Paramount Pictures, Penthouse Video, Long Road Productions, Robert Evans Company

• IMDb Rating: 8.2

Choosing between The Godfather Part II and Chinatown is almost as difficult as naming a favorite child. Although a stressful decision, Chinatown narrowly ekes out The Godfather Part II as the best film of 1974. Directed by Roman Polanski, Chinatown is a neo-noir starring Jack Nicholson as J. J. Gittes, a private investigator tasked with pursuing a case of adultery. However, the investigation leads Gittes down a path of deceit, rampant corruption, and murder.

Chinatown features world-class acting, a dynamite screenplay, an unforgettable score by Jerry Goldsmith, and one of cinema's most famous final lines. The film received eleven nominations at the 47th Academy Awards, winning only one for Best Writing, Original Screenplay. A staple entry on movie lists curated by the American Film Institute, the organization named Chinatown to its lists of the best American movies, scores, mysteries, quotes, villains, and thrills. In 2010, The Guardian proclaimed Chinatown to be the single greatest film of all time. Chinatown was among the first 75 films inducted into the National Film Registry.