The year 1970 in film involved some significant events.
Highest-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1970 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
Events
January 9 – Larry Fine, the second member of The Three Stooges, suffers a massive stroke, effectively ending his career. February 11 – The Magic Christian, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr, premieres in New York City. The film's soundtrack album, including Badfinger's "Come and Get It" (written and produced by Paul McCartney), is released on Apple Records. March 12 – Film debut of Ornella Muti in La moglie più bella (The Most Beautiful Wife) 3 days after her 15th birthday. March 17 – The controversial film The Boys in the Band, directed by William Friedkin and based on Mart Crowley's hit off-Broadway play, opens in theaters. October 24 – Joan Crawford's final film, the low-budget horror picture Trog, opens in theaters. December 1 – Yousuf Khan Sher Bano is the first Pashto film released. December 14 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono film Up Your Legs Forever with 367 participants in New York City. The IMAX motion picture projection system premieres at the Fuji Pavilion, at Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan. In Culver City, California, MGM begins selling off its studio back lot property and movie props.
Awards
Cannes Film Festival (Palme d'Or): M*A*S*H, directed by Robert Altman, United States
Notable films released in 1970
United States unless stated
#
7 Plus Seven, a TV documentary directed by Michael Apted - (U.K.)
A
The Act of the Heart, starring Geneviève Bujold and Donald Sutherland - (Canada) The Adventurers, starring Candice Bergen, Bekim Fehmiu, Olivia de Havilland, Ernest Borgnine The Adventures of Gerard, starring Peter McEnery, Claudia Cardinale, Eli Wallach, Jack Hawkins Airport, directed by George Seaton, starring Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, Jacqueline Bisset, Van Heflin, George Kennedy, Helen Hayes, Maureen Stapleton, Barry Nelson Alex in Wonderland, directed by Paul Mazursky, starring Donald Sutherland The American Soldier (Der amerikanische Soldat), directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder - (West Germany) And Soon the Darkness, starring Pamela Franklin - (U.K.) Ann and Eve, starring Gio Petré, Marie Liljedahl and Francisco Rabal The Angel Levine, starring Zero Mostel and Harry Belafonte The Aristocats - an animated Disney film. Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, starring Phil Harris, Eva Gabor, Hermione Baddeley, Gary Dubin, Dean Clark, Sterling Holloway, Roddy Maude-Roxby, and Liz English Awakening of the Beast (O Ritual dos Sádicos) - (Brazil)
B
The Baby Maker, starring Barbara Hershey and Sam Groom
The Ballad of Cable Hogue, directed by Sam Peckinpah, starring Jason Robards and Stella Stevens Bartleby, starring Paul Scofield – (U.K.) The Bear and the Doll (L'ours et la poupée), starring Brigitte Bardot and Jean-Pierre Cassel - (France) Bed and Board (Domicile Conjugal), directed by François Truffaut, starring Jean-Pierre Léaud - (France) Behold Homolka (Ecce homo Homolka) - (Czechoslovakia) The Beloved, starring Raquel Welch - (U.K.) Beneath the Planet of the Apes, starring James Franciscus, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, directed by Russ Meyer, starring Dolly Read The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo), directed by Dario Argento - (Italy) Black Brigade, starring Stephen Boyd and Richard Pryor Bloody Mama, directed by Roger Corman, starring Shelley Winters, Pat Hingle, Don Stroud, Robert De Niro The Boatniks, starring Robert Morse, Stefanie Powers and Phil Silvers The Body, a documentary narrated by Frank Finlay and Vanessa Redgrave - (U.K.) Borsalino, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon - (France) El bosque del lobo (a.k.a. The Ancines Woods) - (Spain) The Boys in the Band, directed by William Friedkin Brancaleone at the Crusades (Brancaleone alle Crociate), starring Vittorio Gassman and Adolfo Celi - (Italy) The Breach, directed by Claude Chabrol - (France/Italy/Belgium) Brewster McCloud, directed by Robert Altman, starring Bud Cort, Sally Kellerman, Michael Murphy, Shelley Duvall The Brotherhood of the Bell, starring Glenn Ford, Rosemary Forsyth and Maurice Evans The Butcher (Le Boucher), directed by Claude Chabrol, starring Stéphane Audran and Jean Yanne - (France)