my favorite movie of 1975:
(1) One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest
favorite of 1975:
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest(Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Will Sampson, Brad Dourif, William Redfield, Sydney Lassick, Christopher Lloyd, Danny DeVito, Scatman Crothers. Directed by Miloš Forman.)
This movie about a rebellious new patient at a mental institution (Jack Nicholson) is one of only 3 movies that’s ever swept all top 5 Oscars: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay.
Louise Fletcher, who plays the draconian Nurse Ratched, did a great job of accepting her Oscar for Best Actress:
She thanked Nicholson and the other actors, who “made being in a mental institution … like being in a mental institution.” At the end she signed a message to her parents, who were both deaf.
Stream One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest on these sites.
2nd favorite of 1975:
(Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, Chris Sarandon. Directed by Sidney Lumet.)
Al Pacino has an acting tour de force as the ringleader of a bank robbery in Brooklyn. Everything goes wrong, starting when one of his two accomplices gets cold feet and walks out at the beginning. The two remaining robbers keep getting bogged down while stuck in the bank for hours, and eventually they’re surrounded by police, media, a raucous crowd, and loved ones. As the masses of people grow, the lines between “good guys” and “bad guys” can seem to be blurred or crossed. (Example: When Pacino frees the bank’s security guard — a black man having an asthma attack — police immediately descend on him and handcuff him.)
Ebert observed how different characters react to the media frenzy:
Pacino has said the most memorable moment in the movie involves the delivery boy (Lionel Pina) who brings pizza to the robbers and their hostages. He’s been watching the drama unfold on live TV, and when he’s applauded by the crowd, he does a little skip and jump and says, “I’m a star!” Television turns the moment into what, at that time, was a fairly new event for live broadcasting. Sonny expands in the TV lights, strutting back and forth in front of the bank and unwisely exposing himself to rooftops lined with snipers.
More from Ebert:
His remaining partner Sal (John Cazale), on the other hand, shrinks within himself. He can’t believe he’s a bank robber. … He’s offended that on TV, which has the facts a little confused, he’s described as a homosexual. He can’t believe he’s expected to get on a jet with the others and fly to safety. He’s never flown before. Asked to name a foreign country they can fly to, he says “Wyoming.” The line was improvised on the spot by Cazale.
I was surprised how much I laughed at this thriller based on a true story. Ebert captures the tone:
Although the movie contains tragedy and the potential for greater tragedy, it is also tremendously funny. But Frank Pierson’s Oscar-winning screenplay never pauses for a laugh; the laughter grows organically out of people and situations. You can believe that even with hostages taken and firearms being waved around, such elements of human comedy would nevertheless arise.
While some of the hostages are smoking inside the bank, their coworker Sylvia (Penelope Allen) asks for a cigarette even though she doesn’t smoke. Cazale’s character, who doesn’t smoke either, questions why Sylvia would start smoking now when it causes cancer, and Sylvia retorts that if she does get cancer it’ll be half his fault. In real life, Cazale was a heavy smoker who was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1977, and he died in 1978 at age 42. John Cazale had an extraordinary distinction: All 5 movies he ever appeared in were nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture.
You can stream Dog Day Afternoon on Tubi (free with ads) or these sites.
Click here for the full list of my favorite movie(s) of each year from 1920 to 2020.
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