Top 10 (ish) films of … 1972

I’m blogging about the top ten (more or less) movies of every year since I was born. This week we delve into 1972.

With a couple of notable exceptions it looks like 1972 was not so much of a banner year for cinema. That being said, we’re certainly in an interesting transitional stage—budding blockbuster giants like The Godfather, The Poseidon Adventure and more traditional titles such as What’s Up Doc and Jeremiah Johnson share the stage with subversive fare like Pink Flamingos, Deep Throat while Last Tango In Paris further blurs those boundaries. We’re definitely moving … somewhere.

Unsurprisingly, this is a year of movies that I remember my parents talking about, and directly introducing me to in a few cases. Despite that, it’s remarkable how few of the titles listed above I’ve actually seen. So let’s get into it.

The Godfather

I developed a passion for films quite early on in life, and it was in my early teens that I first discovered The Godfather, mostly on the strength of another film fan friend of mine raving about it. My strongest early memories of it include, somewhat bizarrely, Marlon Brando cavorting around with orange peel in his mouth but also, inevitably, key moments like Michael Corleone preparing himself to gun down Sollozzo and McCluskey, and Sonny at the tollbooth. Like many vintage classics, I grew up watching this one in pan-and-scan on VHS tape (likely copied second-generation from a rented copy—yeah, we did just fine without bittorrent back in those days!) so it’s been particularly satisfying to revisit The Godfather across its various releases. 

Most recently I had the pleasure of watching the recent 4k remaster with my eldest son (our second shared viewing, actually). It’s one of those movies that delivers more and more with each viewing—even now, decades after first watching it, I’m still relishing picking up the tiny details and subtleties, as well as admiring the masterful way the story is constructed. A worthy classic.

The Poseidon Adventure

This is a film that’s never going to end up on any of my “best movies ever” lists, but it still holds a very special place in my heart. I recall watching this with my mother around Christmas time (and Wikipedia confirms that it arrived on UK TV screens on December 23, 1979) so it already had that big event feel to it. Christmas plus blockbuster disaster movie? Perfect for an eight-year-old. 

We must have taped it as well, because I remember watching it more than once and while the spectacle of it all was unmistakably part of the fun, the bits I remember staying with me are some of the key story beats. The drama and dilemma of whether to stay in the ballroom where it’s supposedly safe, or make the potentially hazardous journey towards escape. The hero sacrificing himself right at the end so that everyone else he’s doggedly led to safety can live. The sheer toughness and bloody-mindnedness of Gene Hackman’s lead character (this was probably the start of my lifelong admiration for the actor). It may be a corny movie, it might even be a bad one, but the drama of it made a lasting impression.

I’ve watched it several times in the years since and have always enjoyed it. A particular delight for me is seeing Leslie Nielsen, about a decade before ascending to comedy godhood, playing the captain of the doomed ship.

Deliverance

Every time I think of Deliverance my mind is inevitably drawn to the thematically similar 1981 movie Southern Comfort—but we’re not here (yet) to talk about that one. My mother was the first person to tell me about Deliverance, and is quite likely the person who first encouraged me to watch it (this would not have happened in 1972 as I would have been less than two-years old at the time and definitely not capable of appreciating the subtle metaphor of anal rape being inflicted upon cappuccino-sipping city dwellers).

I’ll be honest and say this is not a particular favourite of mine, although I have nothing against it. That said, it’s been many years since I last watched it and I do plan to give it a rewatch at some point—mainly on the strength the What Went Wrong podcast (probably my favourite movie podcast) which recently did a deep dive into the making of Deliverance and gave me a renewed interest, and perspective, on it. Recommended listening, for sure.

The Getaway

This one is a slight oddity. I’ve only seen it for two reasons: I happened to catch the largely forgettable 1994 remake (starring Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger), and I later read the Jim Thompson novel (I was bingeing some of his work while on holiday around the time). I enjoyed the novel and it made me want to check out the [original] movie. Unfortunately, my overriding memory of the experience is a scene wherein a character gets shot at close range in the chest and it’s distractingly obvious that the prop gun has simply been ‘armed’ with a big daub of red paint on the end of the barrel to create the gunshot wound. I think some other things probably happened as well …

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The Unseen

Let’s get the first elephant out of the room: Cabaret. I’ve definitely seen parts of this, most likely while my mother was watching it one time on TV, but I’ve never properly watched it. I have no idea why because it sounds bizarre and fascinating. So, this is one that’s definitely going on the watch list. The rest of the unseen, not so much.

I’m a big horror fan, and an admirer of Wes Craven, yet I’ve never seen Last House On The Left so what’s up with that? Well, I have seen The Virgin Spring, the Ingmar Berman classic upon which this movie is (somewhat improbably) based. I’m also not a big fan of rape/revenge movies so, in a sense, I’ve probably seen as much of this one as I need to.

I’m slightly surprised to find I’ve also never seen Deep Throat, given it had a certain notoriety when I was growing up. I’m even more surprised to learn that Pink Flamingos came out as early as 1972 as I had the idea that John Waters was an eighties film-maker (his work doesn’t have a huge amount of appeal for me, so my ignorance is perhaps forgivable). 

I do recall my mother talking about What’s Up, Doc? with great fondness, and I have the feeling I watched it at some early age but I remember very little about it. I’m not certain it’s the type of film that would stand up to being viewed now, and I don’t recall ever seeing any ‘best comedies of all time’ lists. 

Rounding things up, Jeremiah Johnson and Lady Sings the Blues are, I’m sure, worthy titles but I’m currently in no rush to find out. The film I’m least familiar with here is Travels With My Aunt, which stars the late Maggie Smith so at least has that going for it.

The Tragically Unmentioned

As already mentioned, 1972 wasn’t particularly noteworthy at the box office so there’s not much else vying for attention in this final section. I’ll give a quick shout out to Frenzy purely because it was the number one film of the year at the UK box office (likely due to the legendary British director finally making another film set in England), but it’s a long, long way from Hitchcock’s best work. I do, however, have a lot of love for Sleuth, the twisty thriller starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. I’m already looking forward to my next viewing. No spoilers! 

It was, once again, a reasonably prolific year for horror, even if the Hammer era was on the wane. Among various titles released by the studio this year, we have the ridiculous but also better-than-you-think Dracula AD 1972. I’m not sure if any of the other horror titles released in 1972 were any better, but like many people I have a particular weakness for the Christopher Lee Dracula movies and will celebrate them at any opportunity.

And we’re done. Join me next time for a stroll through 1973, and don’t forget to add your own highlights from this year in the comments!