1977 - The Second-Best Year in American Movie History

1977 is the year that gave us the most successful movie in its time (Star Wars). A Woody Allen comedy won best picture (Annie Hall). Steven Spielberg showed how music could connect us with aliens (Close Encounters of the Third Kind). A Neil Simon comedy won a Best Actor award for Richard Dreyfuss (The Goodbye Girl). Vanessa Redgrave and Jane Fonda were nominated for Oscars in a haunting holocaust drama (Julia). Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft along with Mikhael Baryshnikov were nominated for Oscars in a film about ballet dancers that was nominated for 11 Oscars (Turning Point). John Travolta starred in the definitive disco film (Saturday Night Fever). There was another James Bond hit (The Spy Who Loved Me). And there were more ground-breaking films. Did this creative outpouring result from the change in American society post Viet Nam War? Or were there other societal influences? We will explore what made all of these films possible in one year, through discussions and film clips. (Note: 1939 is considered the best year according to most film historians).