In the past couple of weeks, I have heard or seen 2-3 references to old movies. The Exorcist is about to hit 50 years since its release. It was filmed substantially on location at Georgetown University, my alma mater. Arriving as a freshman, it was then the established ritual in the first day or two of orientation to attend and evening showing of the Exorcist on Copley Lawn or some other open air location.
I head something else regard the upcoming fifty year anniversary of Jaws (released in 1975). I start considering, what other movies from fifty years ago still have currency? I.e. what other movies released in 1973 would a 15-25 year-old today either recognize by name or would likely have seen?
My first list was quickly marred by imprecision. The movies are classic but I did not have the year correct. Such as:
Jaws (released 1975)Tommy (1975)Exorcist (1973)Star Wars (1977)
The Godfather (1972)
Wooof! There were some great movies back then. When you are surrounded by CGI remakes and franchises, you forget just how much bubbling creativity and theatrical quality there was earlier.
So what were the big movies from 1973? The Exorcist leads the pack from the perspective of revenue.
1 The Exorcist2 The Sting3 American Graffiti4 Papillon5 The Way We Were6 Magnum Force7 Live and Let Die8 Robin Hood9 Paper Moon10 Serpico11 Jesus Christ Superstar12 The World's Greatest Athlete13 Enter the Dragon14 Sleeper15 A Touch of Class16 The Day of the Jackal17 High Plains Drifter18 The Last Detail19 Battle for the Planet of the Apes20 Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid21 Lost Horizon22 Westworld23 The Day of the Dolphin24 Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Well, that's interesting. I recognize 16 of the 24. Indeed, have seen at least once 13 of the 24.
I bolded those which I suspect there is a good chance at least 20% of any random group of HS students today might have seen. I italicized those which I suspect they might recognize the name without having seen it.
If I am correct, then nearly half of the major movies released in 1973 (11 out of 24, 46%) are relevant to the movie watching youth of today.
I then flipped the question. In 1973, how many movies had I seen which had been produced in 1923?
And I was probably especially advantaged to have seen a disproportionate number. I lived in Sweden and the two national TV channels had meager budgets which were stretched to fill perhaps six hours of broadcast time each day by buying dirt cheap B&W and silent movies from the US, released in the teens and twenties. There were occasional splurges on movies as recent as the 30s and 40s. But only a few.
So I grew up with Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardie, Harold Lloyd, The Three Stooges, the Marx Brothers, etc. A complete list of 1923 movies is here. Wikipedia lists nine major movies that year.
From the Wikipedia list:
1 The Ten Commandments2 The Covered Wagon3 Safety Last!3 The Hunchback of Notre Dame4 Scaramouche5 Adam's Rib6 Main Street7 The Gold Diggers8 Tiger Rose
I don't think I have seen any of those. Possibly Hunchback. Possibly Covered Wagon.
From the more complete list, I think I have seen Our Hospitality with Harold Lloyd.
And our random sampling of HS teens today? How many would heard of, much less seen, any of these? I suspect to the nearest approximation - 0. Probably adults as well.
I wonder if these is not a different kind of evidence of the steepening of the technological, economic and cultural S-Curve of which I written. Things come in, depart, and/or aggregate faster and faster.
In 1973, movies from 1923 were essentially unknown and irrelevant whereas in 2023, movies from 1973, I would argue, are culturally very relevant.
Or possibly it is just an artifact of the innovation and creativity cycle. 1973 (plus or minus a couple of years) were, for whatever reasons, especially fecund in terms of unique, creative, distinct and popular movies appealing to large audience is a way unknown today.
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