The year 1976 in film involved some significant events.
Highest-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1976 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
Events
- March 22 - Filming begins on George Lucas' Star Wars science fiction film. In one of the most lucrative business decisions in film history, Lucas declines his directing fee of $500,000 in exchange for complete ownership of merchandising and sequel rights.
- April 1 - The Rocky Horror Picture Show is officially re-released as a midnight movie at the Waverly Theater (Now the IFC Center) in Greenwich Village in New York City, starting through the run and still being shown in there as of 2013 all around the world.
Awards
Academy Awards:
- Best Picture: Rocky - Chartoff-Winkler, United Artists
- Best Director: John G. Avildsen - Rocky
- Best Actor: Peter Finch - Network (first actor to win posthumously)
- Best Actress: Faye Dunaway - Network
- Best Supporting Actor: Jason Robards - All the President's Men
- Best Supporting Actress: Beatrice Straight - Network
- Best Foreign Language Film: Noirs et blancs en couleur (Black and White in Color), directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, Ivory Coast / France / W. Germany / Switzerland
Golden Globe Awards:
- Drama:
- Best Picture: Rocky
- Best Actor: Peter Finch - Network
- Best Actress: Faye Dunaway - Network
- Musical or comedy:
- Best Picture: A Star Is Born
- Best Actor: Kris Kristofferson - A Star Is Born
- Best Actress: Barbra Streisand - A Star Is Born
- Other
- Best Director: Sidney Lumet - Network
- Best Foreign Language Film: Face to Face, Sweden
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):
- Taxi Driver, directed by Martin Scorsese, United States
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):
- Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson, directed by Robert Altman, United States
Notable films released in 1976
U.S.A. unless stated #
- 7 Man Army (Ba dao lou zi), directed by Chang Cheh - (Hong Kong)
- 1900, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, starring Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, Dominique Sanda, Donald Sutherland - (Italy/France)
A
- A Queda (The Fall) - (Brazil)
- All the President's Men, directed by Alan J. Pakula, starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jason Robards, Martin Balsam, Hal Holbrook
- The Anchorite (El anacoreta) - (Spain)
- Any Day Now (Vandaag of morgen) - (Netherlands)
- The Ascent (Voskhozhdeniye) - (U.S.S.R.) - Golden Bear winner
- Assault on Precinct 13, directed by John Carpenter, starring Austin Stoker
- At the Earth's Core, starring Peter Cushing and Doug McClure - (U.K.)
B
- Baby Blue Marine, starring Jan-Michael Vincent
- The Bad News Bears, directed by Michael Ritchie, starring Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal, Vic Morrow, Jackie Earle Haley
- Beach Guard in Winter (Äuvar plaže u zimskom periodu) - (Yugoslavia)
- The Big Bus, starring Joseph Bologna, Stockard Channing, John Beck
- The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings, starring Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, Richard Pryor
- Black and White in Color (La Victoire en chantant), directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud - (France) - Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film
- The Blank Generation, with Patti Smith Group, Television, Ramones and Talking Heads
- Blue Puppy (Goluboy shchenok) - (U.S.S.R.)
- Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw, starring Marjoe Gortner and Lynda Carter
- Bound for Glory, a biopic of Woody Guthrie directed by Hal Ashby, starring David Carradine
- Breaking Point, starring Bo Svenson, Robert Culp, John Colicos
- The Bricklayers (Los albañiles) - (Mexico)
- Brother and Sister (Ani Imouto) - (Japan)
- Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson, directed by Robert Altman, starring Paul Newman, Geraldine Chaplin, Burt Lancaster - Golden Bear winner
- Bugsy Malone, directed by Alan Parker, starring Scott Baio and Jodie Foster - (U.K.)
- Burnt Offerings, starring Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Bette Davis
C
- Caddie, starring Helen Morse - (Australia)
- Canoa (Canoe) - (Mexico)
- Car Wash, starring Franklyn Ajaye and Richard Pryor
- The Career of a Chambermaid (Telefoni bianchi), directed by Dino Risi - (Italy)
- Caro Michele, directed by Mario Monicelli - (Italy)
- Carrie, directed by Brian De Palma, starring Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving
- The Cassandra Crossing, starring Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Lee Strasberg, Martin Sheen, O. J. Simpson - (U.K.)
- A Child in the Crowd (Un enfant dans la foule) - (France)
- Chinese Roulette (Chinesisches Roulette), directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder - (West Germany)
- Chitchor (Heart Stealer) - (India)
- Cop (Strømer) - (Denmark)
- Coup de Grâce (Der FangschuÃ), directed by Volker Schlöndorff - (West Germany/France)
- A Cricket in the Ear (Shturets v uhoto), directed by Georgi K. Stoyanov, starring Pavel Popandov, Tatyana Lolova, Itzhak Fintzi - (Bulgaria)
D
- Deadly Hero, starring Don Murray and James Earl Jones
- The Desert of the Tartars (Il deserto dei Tartari), starring Vittorio Gassman - (Italy/France/West Germany)
- The Devil's Playground, directed by Fred Schepisi - (Australia)
- Diary of the Dead, starring Geraldine Fitzgerald and Héctor Elizondo
- The Divine Nymph (Divina creatura), starring Marcello Mastroianni and Terence Stamp - (Italy)
- Don's Party, directed by Bruce Beresford, starring Ray Barrett, John Hargreaves and Pat Bishop - (Australia)
- Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos), starring Sônia Braga - (Brazil)
- Les douze travaux d'Asterix (The Twelve Trials of Asterix) - (France)
E-F
- The Eagle Has Landed, starring Michael Caine and Donald Sutherland - (U.K./U.S.A.)
- Embryo, directed by Ralph Nelson, starring Rock Hudson and Barbara Carrera
- The Enforcer, starring Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Tyne Daly
- Escape from the Dark, starring Alastair Sim - (U.K.)
- F comme Fairbanks (F Like Fairbanks), starring Patrick Dewaere and Miou-Miou - (France)
- Face to Face (Ansikte mot ansikte), directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson - (Sweden)
- Family Plot, directed by Alfred Hitchcock (his final film), starring Barbara Harris, Bruce Dern, Karen Black, William Devane
- Farsighted for Two Diopters (Dva Dioptara Dalekogledstvo), directed by Petar B. Vasilev, starring Georgi Partsalev - (Bulgaria)
- Fellini's Casanova, directed by Federico Fellini, starring Donald Sutherland - (Italy)
- The Fifth Seal (Az ötödik pecsét), directed by Zoltán Fábri - (Hungary)
- The First Nudie Musical, directed by Bruce Kimmel, starring Cindy Williams, Stephen Nathan, Diana Canova
- The Food of the Gods, starring Marjoe Gortner, Pamela Franklin, Ralph Meeker, Ida Lupino
- Freaky Friday, directed by Gary Nelson, starring Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster
- From Noon till Three, starring Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland
- The Front, directed by Martin Ritt, starring Woody Allen, Zero Mostel, Andrea Marcovicci, Herschel Bernardi, Michael Murphy
- FumÅ Chitai (Wasted Land) - (Japan)
- Futureworld, starring Peter Fonda and Blythe Danner
G-H
- Gable and Lombard, starring James Brolin and Jill Clayburgh
- Giv'at Halfon Eina Ona (Halfon Hill Doesn't Answer) - (Israel)
- God Told Me To, starring Tony Lo Bianco, Deborah Raffin, Sandy Dennis
- Griffin and Phoenix, starring Peter Falk and Jill Clayburgh
- Grizzly, starring Christopher George
- The Gumball Rally, starring Michael Sarrazin
- Gus, starring Don Knotts and Ed Asner
- Harlan County, USA - a documentary film
- Harry and Walter Go to New York, starring James Caan, Elliott Gould, Diane Keaton, Michael Caine
- Heart of Glass (Herz aus Glas), directed by Werner Herzog - (West Germany)
- The House with Laughing Windows (La casa dalle finestre che ridono) - (Italy)
I-K
- Illustrious Corpses (Cadaveri eccellenti), directed by Francesco Rosi, starring Lino Ventura - (Italy)
- The Inheritance (L'eredità Ferramonti), starring Anthony Quinn and Dominique Sanda - (Italy)
- In the Realm of the Senses (Ai no Korīda), directed by Nagisa Oshima - (Japan)
- L'innocente, directed by Luchino Visconti - (Italy)
- The Inugamis (Inugami-ke no ichizoku), directed by Kon Ichikawa - (Japan)
- I Will, I Will... for Now, directed by Norman Panama, starring Elliott Gould, Diane Keaton, Victoria Principal
- J. D.'s Revenge, starring Glynn Turman and Louis Gossett, Jr.
- Je t'aime moi non plus (I Love You...Me Neither), directed by Serge Gainsbourg, starring Jane Birkin and Joe Dallesandro - (France)
- Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 (Jonas qui aura 25 ans en l'an 2000) - (Switzerland/France)
- The Judge and the Assassin (Le Juge et l'assassin), directed by Bertrand Tavernier, starring Philippe Noiret and Isabelle Huppert - (France)
- Kabhie Kabhie (Sometimes), starring Shashi Kapoor - (India)
- Kalicharan - (India)
- The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, directed by John Cassavetes, starring Ben Gazzara, Timothy Carey, Seymour Cassel
- King Kong, directed by John Guillermin, starring Jessica Lange, Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin
- King Kung Fu, directed by and starring Lance D. Hayes
- Kings of the Road (Im Lauf der Zeit), directed by Wim Wenders - (West Germany)
L
- The Last Hard Men, starring Charlton Heston and James Coburn
- The Last Supper (La Ãltima Cena) - (Cuba)
- The Last Tycoon, directed by Elia Kazan, starring Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Ray Milland, Jeanne Moreau, Jack Nicholson
- Leadbelly, a biopic directed by Gordon Parks
- Lipstick, starring Margaux Hemingway, Mariel Hemingway, Chris Sarandon
- The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, starring Jodie Foster and Martin Sheen
- Logan's Run, directed by Michael Anderson, starring Michael York, Richard Jordan, Jenny Agutter
M
- Mako: The Jaws of Death, directed by William Grefe, starring Richard Jaeckel
- The Man on the Roof (Mannen på taket), directed by Bo Widerberg - (Sweden)
- The Man Who Fell to Earth, directed by Nicolas Roeg, starring David Bowie, Rip Torn, Candy Clark - (U.K.)
- Marecek, Pass Me the Pen! (MareÄku, podejte mi pero!) - (Czechoslovakia)
- Marathon Man, directed by John Schlesinger, starring Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, Marthe Keller, William Devane
- The Marquise of O, directed by Ãric Rohmer - (West Germany/France)
- Master of the Flying Guillotine (a.k.a. One-Armed Boxer 2), starring Jimmy Wang - (Taiwan/Hong Kong)
- A Matter of Time, directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Ingrid Bergman, Liza Minnelli, Charles Boyer, Isabella Rossellini - (U.S.A./Italy)
- Max Havelaar, directed by Fons Rademakers - (Netherlands)
- The Memory of Justice, a documentary film by Marcel Ophüls - (France/West Germany/U.K./U.S.A.)
- Midway, starring Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, Toshiro Mifune, Glenn Ford, Robert Mitchum, Hal Holbrook
- Mikey and Nicky, directed by Elaine May, starring John Cassavetes and Peter Falk
- The Missouri Breaks, directed by Arthur Penn, starring Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson
- Mohammad, Messenger of God, directed by Moustapha Akkad, starring Anthony Quinn - (Morocco/Libya)
- Mother, Jugs & Speed, directed by Peter Yates, starring Bill Cosby, Raquel Welch, Harvey Keitel
- Mr. Klein, directed by Joseph Losey, starring Alain Delon and Jeanne Moreau - (France)
- Murder by Death, starring Peter Sellers, David Niven, Maggie Smith, Alec Guinness, Peter Falk, Eileen Brennan, Elsa Lanchester, James Coco, Truman Capote
- The Mysterious Monsters, starring Peter Graves and Peter Hurkos
N
- Network, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Peter Finch, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall
- Next Stop, Greenwich Village, starring Shelley Winters, Lenny Baker, Ellen Greene
- Nickelodeon, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds, Tatum O'Neal, John Ritter, Stella Stevens
- No Deposit, No Return, starring David Niven, Darren McGavin, Don Knotts, Barbara Feldon, Kim Richards
O-P-Q
- Obsession, directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, John Lithgow
- Ode to Billy Joe, directed by Max Baer, Jr., starring Robby Benson, Glynnis O'Connor, James Best
- The Omen, directed by Richard Donner, starring Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Billie Whitelaw, Leo McKern - (U.K./U.S.A.)
- One Summer Love, aka Dragonfly, directed by Gilbert Cates, starring Susan Sarandon and Beau Bridges
- The Outlaw Josey Wales, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, with Chief Dan George, Sam Bottoms, Sondra Locke, John Vernon
- Oz or 20th Century Oz, a Rock 'N' Roll Road Movie, starring Bruce Spence, Joy Dunstan - (Australia)
- The Pink Panther Strikes Again, starring Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Lesley-Anne Down - (U.K.)
R
- Raise Ravens (Cria Cuervos), directed by Carlos Saura, starring Geraldine Chaplin - (Spain)
- The Rat Savior (Izbavitelj) - (Yugoslavia)
- Rich Man, Poor Man, television mini-series, starring Nick Nolte and Peter Strauss
- The Ritz, directed by Richard Lester, starring Rita Moreno, Jerry Stiller, Jack Weston
- Robin and Marian, directed by Richard Lester, starring Sean Connery, Audrey Hepburn, Robert Shaw - (U.K./U.S.A.)
- Rocky, directed by John G. Avildsen, starring Sylvester Stallone, Burgess Meredith, Carl Weathers, Talia Shire, Burt Young
- Rogue Male, starring Peter O'Toole - (U.K.)
S
- The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, starring Kris Kristofferson and Sarah Miles
- Salon Kitty, directed by Tinto Brass, starring Helmut Berger and Ingrid Thulin - (Italy/West Germany/France)
- The Scar (film), directed by Krzysztof KieÅlowski
- Sebastiane, directed by Derek Jarman - (U.K.)
- Seclusion Near a Forest (Na samotÄ u lesa), directed by JiÅÃ Menzel - (Czechoslovakia)
- Seven Beauties (Pasqualino Settebellezze), starring Fernando Rey - (Italy)
- The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, directed by Herbert Ross, starring Nicol Williamson, Robert Duvall, Alan Arkin, Laurence Olivier - (U.K./U.S.A.)
- Shadow of Angels (Schatten der Engel), starring Ingrid Caven and Rainer Werner Fassbinder - (Switzerland)
- The Shaggy D.A., starring Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette
- The Shootist, directed by Don Siegel, starring John Wayne (his final film), Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, Richard Boone, Harry Morgan, James Stewart
- Shout at the Devil, starring Lee Marvin, Roger Moore - (U.K.)
- Silent Movie, directed by and starring Mel Brooks, with Marty Feldman, Dom DeLuise, Bernadette Peters
- Silver Streak, directed by Arthur Hiller, starring Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Jill Clayburgh, Ned Beatty, Ray Walston, Patrick McGoohan
- Sister Street Fighter â" Fifth Level Fist (Onna hissatsu godan ken) - (Japan)
- Sky Riders, starring James Coburn, Susannah York, Robert Culp
- The Slipper and the Rose, directed by Bryan Forbes, starring Gemma Craven and Richard Chamberlain - (U.K.)
- Small Change (L'Argent de poche), directed by François Truffaut - (France)
- The Smurfs and the Magic Flute (La Flûte à six schtroumpfs) - (Belgium)
- Snuff - (Argentina/U.S.A.)
- The Song Remains the Same, featuring Led Zeppelin - (U.K./U.S.A.)
- Soy un delincuente (I Am a Criminal) - (Venezuela)
- Sparkle, starring Irene Cara
- A Star Is Born, starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson
- Stay Hungry, directed by Bob Rafelson, starring Jeff Bridges, Sally Field, Arnold Schwarzenegger
- St. Ives, directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring Charles Bronson
- Storm Boy, starring David Gulpilil - (Australia)
- Swashbuckler, starring Robert Shaw
- The Swiss Conspiracy, starring David Janssen and Elke Sommer
- Sybil, starring Joanne Woodward and Sally Field
T
- Taxi Driver, directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Robert De Niro, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Albert Brooks, Peter Boyle, Jodie Foster
- The Tenant (Le Locataire), directed by and starring Roman Polanski, with Isabelle Adjani and Melvyn Douglas - (France)
- That's Entertainment, Part II, documentary featuring Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly
- Tatlong taong walang Diyos (Three Godless Years) - (Philippines)
- To Fly!, a documentary film
- To the Devil a Daughter, starring Richard Widmark, Christopher Lee, Honor Blackman, Nastassja Kinski - (U.K.)
- Todo modo, starring Gian Maria Volonté and Marcello Mastroianni - (Italy)
- Tosun PaÅa - (Turkey)
- The Town That Dreaded Sundown, starring Ben Johnson and Dawn Wells
- Trackdown, starring James Mitchum
- Tracks, directed by Henry Jaglom, starring Dennis Hopper
- Treasure of Matecumbe, starring Joan Hackett, Robert Foxworth, Peter Ustinov
- The Twist, directed by Claude Chabrol, starring Bruce Dern, Stéphane Audran, Charles Aznavour, Ann-Margret - (France)
- Two-Minute Warning, starring Charlton Heston, John Cassavetes, David Janssen, Jack Klugman, Gena Rowlands, Walter Pidgeon, Beau Bridges
U-V
- Ugly, Dirty and Bad (Brutti, sporchi e cattivi), directed by Ettore Scola, starring Nino Manfredi - (Italy)
- Up!, directed by Russ Meyer, featuring Raven De La Croix
- Vigilante Force, starring Kris Kristofferson and Victoria Principal
- Voyage of the Damned, starring Faye Dunaway, Lee Grant, James Mason, Katharine Ross, Max von Sydow, Orson Welles, Oskar Werner - (U.K.)
W-Z
- W.C. Fields and Me, starring Rod Steiger, Valerie Perrine, Jack Cassidy
- Wan Pipel (One People) - (Suriname/Netherlands)
- Welcome to L.A., directed by Alan Rudolph, starring Keith Carradine, Geraldine Chaplin, Sally Kellerman, Harvey Keitel
- The White Ship (Belyy parokhod) - (U.S.S.R.)
- Who Can Kill a Child? (¿Quién puede matar a un niño?) - (Spain)
- Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood, starring Madeline Kahn, Teri Garr, Bruce Dern, Art Carney
Births
- January 6
- Danny Pintauro, actor
- Johnny Yong Bosch, actor/voice actor
- February 11 - Brice Beckham, actor.
- February 23
- Aaron Aziz, Singaporean actor
- Kelly Macdonald, actress.
- February 25 - Rashida Jones, actress.
- March 16 - Paul Schneider, actor.
- March 22 - Reese Witherspoon, actress.
- March 23 - Michelle Monaghan, actress.
- April 13 - David Oyelowo, actor.
- April 13 - Jonathan Brandis, actor. (d.2003)
- April 15 - Susan Ward, actress.
- April 23 - Gabriel Damon, actor.
- April 27 - Sally Hawkins, actor.
- May 25
- Cillian Murphy, Irish actor
- Ethan Suplee, American film and television actor
- J. Michael Tatum, voice actor
- July 15 - Diane Kruger, German actress.
- July 19 - Benedict Cumberbatch, English actor.
- July 31 - Mela Lee, voice actress
- August 9 - Audrey Tautou, French actress.
- September 6 - Naomie Harris, actress
- September 7 - Shannon Elizabeth, actress.
- September 20 - Enuka Okuma, actress
- October 4 - Alicia Silverstone, actress.
- October 21 - Andrew Scott, Irish actor
- October 23 - Ryan Reynolds, actor
- October 31 - Piper Perabo, actress.
- November 29 - Chadwick Boseman, actor
- December 8 - Dominic Monaghan, actor
Notable deaths
Film debuts
- Albert Brooks - Taxi Driver
- Chow Yun-fat - Tou tai ren
- Amy Irving - Carrie
- Jessica Lange - King Kong
- Delroy Lindo - Find the Lady
- Brooke Shields - Alice, Sweet Alice
References
- ^ "Rocky, Box Office Information". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 26, 2014.Â
- ^ "To Fly!, Box Office Information". The Numbers. Retrieved January 17, 2012.Â
- ^ "A Star Is Born, Box Office Information". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 17, 2012.Â
- ^ "All the President's Men, Box Office Information". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 17, 2012.Â
- ^ "The Omen, Box Office Information". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 17, 2012.Â
- ^ "In Search of Noah's Ark, Box Office Information". The Numbers. Retrieved January 17, 2012.Â
- ^ "King Kong, Box Office Information". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 26, 2014.Â
- ^ "Silver Streak, Box Office Information". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 17, 2012.Â
- ^ "The Enforcer, Box Office Information". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 17, 2012.Â
- ^ "Midway, Box Office Information". The Numbers. Retrieved January 17, 2012.Â
- ^ rock Horror Picture Show film booking in Feb 2011