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The New Hollywood, also known as American New Wave or Hollywood Renaissance, was a movement in American film history from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when a new generation of young filmmakers came to prominence. They influenced the types of film produced, their production and marketing, and the way major studios approached filmmaking. In New Hollywood films, the film director, rather than the studio, took on a key authorial role. The definition of "New Hollywood" varies, depending on the author, with some defining it as a movement and others as a period. The span of the period is also a subject of debate, as well as its integrity, as some authors, such as Thomas Schatz, argue that the New Hollywood consists of several different movements. The films made in this movement are stylistically characterized in that their narrative often deviated from classical norms. After the demise of the
studio system A studio system is a method of filmmaking wherein the production and distribution of films is dominated by a small number of large movie studios. It is most often used in reference to Hollywood motion picture studios during the Golden Age of Hol ...
and the rise of television, the commercial success of films was diminished. Successful films of the early New Hollywood era include '' Bonnie and Clyde'', ''
The Graduate ''The Graduate'' is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from W ...
'', '' Rosemary's Baby'', ''
Night of the Living Dead ''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, with a screenplay by John Russo and Romero, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven pe ...
'', ''
The Wild Bunch ''The Wild Bunch'' is a 1969 American epic Revisionist Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Ben Johnson and Warren Oates. The plot concerns an aging outlaw gang on th ...
'', and ''
Easy Rider ''Easy Rider'' is a 1969 American independent drug culture road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American So ...
'' while films that failed at the box office such as '' New York, New York'', '' Sorcerer'', '' Heaven's Gate'', ''
They All Laughed ''They All Laughed'' is a 1981 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Audrey Hepburn, Ben Gazzara, John Ritter, Colleen Camp, Patti Hansen, and Dorothy Stratten. The film was based on a screenplay by Bogdanovic ...
'' and ''
One from the Heart ''One from the Heart'' is a 1982 American musical romantic drama film co-written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Raul Julia, Nastassja Kinski, Lainie Kazan, and Harry Dean Stanton. The story is set ...
'' marked the end of the era.


History


Background

Following the
Paramount Case ''United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.'', 334 U.S. 131 (1948) (also known as the Hollywood Antitrust Case of 1948, the Paramount Case, or the Paramount Decision), was a landmark United States Supreme Court antitrust case that decided the f ...
(which ended block booking and ownership of theater chains by film studios) and the advent of
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
(where Rod Serling,
John Frankenheimer John Michael Frankenheimer (February 19, 1930 – July 6, 2002) was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films. Among his credits were ''Birdman of Alcatraz'' (1962), '' The Manchurian Candidate'' ( ...
,
Paddy Chayefsky Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays. He was ...
and Sidney Lumet worked in their earlier years), both of which severely weakened the traditional
studio system A studio system is a method of filmmaking wherein the production and distribution of films is dominated by a small number of large movie studios. It is most often used in reference to Hollywood motion picture studios during the Golden Age of Hol ...
, Hollywood studios initially used spectacle to retain profitability.
Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
developed a far more widespread use, while widescreen processes and technical improvements, such as CinemaScope, stereo sound, and others, such as 3-D, were invented in order to retain the dwindling audience and compete with television. However, these were generally unsuccessful in increasing profits. By 1957, ''Life'' magazine called the 1950s "the horrible decade" for Hollywood. In the
1950s The 1950s (pronounced nineteen-fifties; commonly abbreviated as the "Fifties" or the " '50s") (among other variants) was a decade that began on January 1, 1950, and ended on December 31, 1959. Throughout the decade, the world continued its re ...
and early 1960s, Hollywood was dominated by musicals, historical epics, and other films that benefited from the larger screens, wider framing, and improved sound. Hence, as early as 1957, the era was dubbed a "New Hollywood". However, audience shares continued to dwindle, and had reached alarmingly low levels by the mid-1960s. Several costly flops, including ''
Tora! Tora! Tora! ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' ( ja, トラ・トラ・トラ!) is a 1970 epic war film that dramatizes the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The film was produced by Elmo Williams and directed by Richard Fleischer, Toshio Masuda and Kinji ...
'' and '' Hello, Dolly!'', and failed attempts to replicate the success of ''
The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...
'', put great strain on the studios. By the time the
Baby Boomer Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. ...
generation started to come of age in the 1960s, "
Old Hollywood Classical Hollywood cinema is a term used in film criticism to describe both a narrative and visual style of filmmaking which became characteristic of American cinema between the 1910s (rapidly after World War I) and the 1960s. It eventually b ...
" was rapidly losing money; the studios were unsure how to react to the much-changed audience demographics. The change in the market during the period went from a middle-aged high school-educated audience in the mid-1960s to a younger, more affluent, college-educated demographic: by the mid-1970s, 76% of all movie-goers were under 30, 64% of whom had gone to college.
European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
films, both arthouse and commercial (especially the
Commedia all'italiana Commedia all'italiana (, pl. Commedie all'italiana, "Comedy in the Italian way") or Italian-style comedy is an Italian film genre born in Italy in the 1950s and developed in the 1960s and 1970s. It is widely considered to have started with Mar ...
, the French New Wave, the Spaghetti Western), and
Japanese cinema The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that ea ...
were making a splash in the United States — the huge market of disaffected youth seemed to find relevance and artistic meaning in movies like Michelangelo Antonioni's ''
Blowup ''Blowup'' (sometimes styled as ''Blow-up'' or ''Blow Up'') is a 1966 mystery drama thriller film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and produced by Carlo Ponti. It was Antonioni's first entirely English-language film, and stars David Hemming ...
'', with its oblique narrative structure and full-frontal female nudity. The desperation felt by studios during this period of economic downturn, and after the losses from expensive movie flops, led to innovation and risk-taking, allowing greater control by younger directors and producers. Therefore, in an attempt to capture that audience that found a connection to the "art films" of Europe, the studios hired a host of young filmmakers and allowed them to make their films with relatively little studio control. Some of whom, like actor
Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...
and director
Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. One of the " New Hollywood" directors, Bogdanovich started as a film journalist until he was hired to work on ...
, were mentored by "King of the Bs"
Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
while others like celebrated cinematographer
Vilmos Zsigmond Vilmos Zsigmond ASC (; June 16, 1930 – January 1, 2016) was a Hungarian-American cinematographer. His work in cinematography helped shape the look of American movies in the 1970s, making him one of the leading figures in the American New Wa ...
worked for lesser-known B movie directors like
Ray Dennis Steckler Ray Dennis Steckler (January 25, 1938 – January 7, 2009), also known by the pseudonym Cash Flagg, was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor best known as the low-budget auteur of such cult films as ''The Incredibly St ...
, known for the 1962 Arch Hall Jr. vehicle '' Wild Guitar'' and the 1963 horror musical flick ''
The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies ''The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies'' (sometimes "!!?" is appended to the title) is a 1964 American monster movie written and directed by Ray Dennis Steckler. Steckler also starred in the film, bille ...
''. This, together with the breakdown of the
Motion Picture Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...
in 1966 and the new ratings system in 1968 (reflecting growing market segmentation) set the scene for the New Hollywood.


''Bonnie and Clyde''

A defining film of the New Hollywood generation was '' Bonnie and Clyde'' (1967). Produced by and starring
Warren Beatty Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker, whose career spans over six decades. He was nominated for 15 Academy Awards, including four for Best Actor, four for Best Picture, two for Best Director, ...
and directed by
Arthur Penn Arthur Hiller Penn (September 27, 1922 – September 28, 2010) was an American director and producer of film, television and theater. Closely associated with the American New Wave, Penn directed critically acclaimed films throughout the 19 ...
, its combination of graphic violence and humor, as well as its theme of glamorous disaffected youth, was a hit with audiences. The film won
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
s for Best Supporting Actress ( Estelle Parsons) and Best Cinematography. When Jack L. Warner, then-CEO of
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
, first saw a rough cut of '' Bonnie and Clyde'' in the summer of 1967, he hated it. Distribution executives at Warner Brothers agreed, giving the film a low-key premiere and limited release. Their strategy appeared justified when
Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...
,
middlebrow The term middlebrow describes easily accessible art, usually literature, and the people who use the arts to acquire culture and "class" (social prestige). First used in the British satire magazine ''Punch'' in 1925, the term ''middlebrow'' is the ...
film critic at ''The New York Times'', gave the movie a scathing review. "It is a cheap piece of bald-faced slapstick comedy," he wrote, "that treats the hideous depredations of that sleazy, moronic pair as though they were as full of fun and frolic as the jazz-age cut-ups in ''
Thoroughly Modern Millie ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' is a 1967 American musical- romantic comedy film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay, by Richard Morris based on the 1956 British musical ''Chrysanthemum'', follows a naïve you ...
''..." Other notices, including those from ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' and ''Newsweek'' magazines, were equally dismissive. Its portrayal of violence and ambiguity in regard to moral values, and its startling ending, divided critics. Following one of the negative reviews, ''Time'' magazine received letters from fans of the movie, and according to journalist
Peter Biskind Peter Biskind (born 1940) is an American cultural critic, film historian, journalist and former executive editor of ''Premiere'' magazine from 1986 to 1996. Biography He attended Swarthmore College and wrote several books depicting life in Holl ...
, the impact of critic
Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...
in her positive review of the film (October 1967, ''New Yorker'') led other reviewers to follow her lead and re-evaluate the film (notably ''Newsweek'' and ''Time''). Kael drew attention to the innocence of the characters in the film and the artistic merit of the contrast of that with the violence in the film: "In a sense, it is the absence of sadism — it is the violence without sadism — that throws the audience off balance at ''Bonnie and Clyde''. The brutality that comes out of this innocence is far more shocking than the calculated brutalities of mean killers." Kael also noted the reaction of audiences to the violent climax of the movie, and the potential to empathize with the gang of criminals in terms of their naiveté and innocence reflecting a change in expectations of American cinema. The cover story in ''Time'' magazine in December 1967, celebrated the movie and innovation in American New Wave cinema. This influential article by Stefan Kanfer claimed that ''Bonnie and Clyde'' represented a "New Cinema" through its blurred genre lines, and disregard for honored aspects of plot and motivation, and that "In both conception and execution, ''Bonnie and Clyde'' is a watershed picture, the kind that signals a new style, a new trend." Biskind states that this review and turnaround by some critics allowed the film to be re-released, thus proving its commercial success and reflecting the move toward the New Hollywood. The impact of this film is important in understanding the rest of the American New Wave, as well as the conditions that were necessary for it. These initial successes paved the way for the studio to relinquish almost complete control to these innovative young filmmakers. In the mid-1970s, idiosyncratic, startling original films such as '' Paper Moon'', ''
Dog Day Afternoon ''Dog Day Afternoon'' is a 1975 American biographical crime drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and produced by Martin Bregman and Martin Elfand. The film stars Al Pacino, John Cazale, James Broderick, and Charles Durning. The screenplay is wr ...
'', '' Chinatown'', and ''
Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks. Set in a decaying ...
'' among others, enjoyed enormous critical and commercial success. These successes by the members of the New Hollywood led each of them in turn to make more and more extravagant demands, both on the studio and eventually on the audience.


Characteristics

This new generation of Hollywood filmmaker was most importantly, from the point of view of the studios, young, therefore able to reach the youth audience they were losing. This group of young filmmakers—
actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
s, writers and
directors Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...
—dubbed the "New Hollywood" by the press, briefly changed the business from the producer-driven Hollywood system of the past. Todd Berliner has written about the period's unusual narrative practices. The 1970s, Berliner says, marks Hollywood's most significant formal transformation since the conversion to sound film and is the defining period separating the storytelling modes of the studio era and contemporary Hollywood. New Hollywood films deviate from classical narrative norms more than Hollywood films from any other era or movement. Their narrative and stylistic devices threaten to derail an otherwise straightforward narration. Berliner argues that five principles govern the narrative strategies characteristic of Hollywood films of the 1970s: * Seventies films show a perverse tendency to integrate, in narrative incidental ways, story information and stylistic devices counterproductive to the films' overt and essential narrative purposes. * Hollywood filmmakers of the 1970s often situate their film-making practices in between those of classical Hollywood and those of European and Asian art cinema. * Seventies films prompt spectator responses more uncertain and discomforting than those of more typical Hollywood cinema. * Seventies narratives place an uncommon emphasis on irresolution, particularly at the moment of climax or in epilogues, when more conventional Hollywood movies busy themselves tying up loose ends. * Seventies cinema hinders narrative linearity and momentum and scuttles its potential to generate suspense and excitement. * Seventies cinema also dealt with masculine crises. Thomas Schatz points to another difference with the Hollywood Golden Age, which deals with the relationship of characters and plot. He argues that plot in classical Hollywood films (and some of the earlier New Hollywood films like ''The Godfather'') "tended to emerge more organically as a function of the drives, desires, motivations, and goals of the central characters". However, beginning with mid-1970s, he points to a trend that "characters became plot functions". During the height of the studio system, films were made almost exclusively on set in isolated studios. The content of films was limited by the Motion Picture Production Code, and though golden-age film-makers found loopholes in its rules, the discussion of more taboo content through film was effectively prevented. The shift towards a "new realism" was made possible when the
Motion Picture Association of America film rating system The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion picture ...
was introduced and location shooting was becoming more viable.
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
was a favorite spot for this new set of filmmakers due to its gritty atmosphere. Because of breakthroughs in film technology (e.g. the
Panavision Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company founded in 1953 specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses dur ...
Panaflex Panavision has been a manufacturer of cameras for the motion picture industry since the 1950s, beginning with anamorphic widescreen lenses. The lightweight Panaflex is credited with revolutionizing filmmaking. Other influential cameras include th ...
camera, introduced in 1972), the New Hollywood filmmakers could shoot 35mm camera film in exteriors with relative ease. Since location shooting was cheaper (no sets need to be built) New Hollywood filmmakers rapidly developed the taste for location shooting, resulting in a more naturalistic approach to filmmaking, especially when compared to the mostly stylized approach of classical Hollywood musicals and spectacles made to compete with television during the 1950s and early 1960s. The
documentary films A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
of D.A. Pennebaker, the Maysles Brothers and
Frederick Wiseman Frederick Wiseman (born January 1, 1930) is an American filmmaker, documentarian, and theater director. His work is "devoted primarily to exploring American institutions". He has been called "one of the most important and original filmmakers wor ...
, among others, also influenced filmmakers of this era. However, in editing, New Hollywood filmmakers adhered to realism more liberally than most of their classical Hollywood predecessors, often using editing for artistic purposes rather than for continuity alone, a practice inspired by European art films and classical Hollywood directors such as D. W. Griffith and Alfred Hitchcock. Films with unorthodox editing included ''
Easy Rider ''Easy Rider'' is a 1969 American independent drug culture road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American So ...
s use of
jump cuts A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which a single continuous sequential shot of a subject is broken into two parts, with a piece of footage being removed in order to render the effect of jumping forward in time. Camera positions of the subje ...
(influenced by the works of
experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...
collage film Collage film is a style of film created by juxtaposing found footage from disparate sources. The term has also been applied to the physical collaging of materials onto film stock. Surrealist roots The surrealist movement played a critical role i ...
maker
Bruce Conner Bruce Conner (November 18, 1933 – July 7, 2008) was an American artist who worked with assemblage, film, drawing, sculpture, painting, collage, and photography. Biography Bruce Conner was born November 18, 1933 in McPherson, Kansas.His well- ...
) to foreshadow the climax of the movie, as well as subtler uses, such as those to reflect the feeling of frustration in '' Bonnie and Clyde'', the subjectivity of the protagonist in ''
The Graduate ''The Graduate'' is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from W ...
'' and the passage of time in the famous
match cut In film, a match cut is a cut from one shot to another where the composition of the two shots are matched by the action or subject and subject matter. For example, in a duel a shot can go from a long shot on both contestants via a cut to a medium ...
from '' 2001: A Space Odyssey''. Also influential were the works of experimental filmmakers
Arthur Lipsett Arthur Lipsett (May 13, 1936 – May 1, 1986) was a Canadian avant-garde director of short collage films. Life and career Born in Montreal into a Jewish family, Lipsett saw his mother, an immigrant from Kiev, commit suicide when he was 10 years ...
,
Bruce Baillie Bruce Baillie (September 24, 1931 – April 10, 2020) was an American experimental filmmaker. He was born in Aberdeen, South Dakota in 1931 and died on April 10, 2020 in Camano Island, Washington. Work Baillie founded Canyon Cinema in San Franc ...
and
Kenneth Anger Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemyer, February 3, 1927) is an American underground experimental filmmaker, actor, and author. Working exclusively in short films, he has produced almost 40 works since 1937, nine of which have been grouped ...
with their combinations of music and imagery and each were cited by George Lucas and
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...
as influences. The end of the production code enabled New Hollywood films to feature anti-establishment political themes, the use of
rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...
, and sexual freedom deemed "counter-cultural" by the studios. The youth movement of the 1960s turned anti-heroes like ''Bonnie and Clyde'' and '' Cool Hand Luke'' into pop-culture idols, and ''Life'' magazine called the characters in ''Easy Rider'' "part of the fundamental myth central to the counterculture of the late 1960s." ''Easy Rider'' also affected the way studios looked to reach the youth market. The success of ''
Midnight Cowboy ''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama film, based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The film was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with notable smaller ...
'', in spite of its "X" rating, was evidence for the interest in controversial themes at the time and also showed the weakness of the rating system and segmentation of the audience.


Interpretations on defining the movement

For Peter Biskind, the new wave was foreshadowed by ''Bonnie and Clyde'' and began in earnest with ''Easy Rider''. Biskind's book ''
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls ''Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N Roll Generation Saved Hollywood'' is a book by Peter Biskind, published by Simon & Schuster in 1998. ''Easy Riders, Raging Bulls'' is about the 1960s and 1970s Hollywood, a period of Amer ...
'' argues that the New Hollywood movement marked a significant shift towards independently produced and innovative works by a new wave of directors, but that this shift began to reverse itself when the commercial success of ''
Jaws Jaws or Jaw may refer to: Anatomy * Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth ** Mandible, the lower jaw Arts, entertainment, and media * Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker'' * ...
'' and '' Star Wars'' led to the realization by studios of the importance of blockbusters, advertising and control over production (even though the success of ''
The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caa ...
'' was said to be the precursor to the blockbuster phenomenon). Writing in 1968, critic
Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...
argued that the importance of ''The Graduate'' was in its social significance in relation to a new young audience, and the role of mass media, rather than any artistic aspects. Kael argued that college students identifying with ''The Graduate'' were not too different from audiences identifying with characters in dramas of the previous decade. In 1980, film historian/scholar
Robert P. Kolker Robert Phillip Kolker is an American film historian, theorist, and critic. He has authored and edited a number of influential books on cinema and media studies. He is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland, College Park. Early li ...
examined New Hollywood film directors in his book ''A Cinema of Loneliness: Penn, Kubrick, Coppola, Scorsese, Altman'', and how their films influenced American society of the 1960s and 1970s. Kolker observed that "for all the challenge and adventure, their films speak to a continual impotence in the world, an inability to change and to create change." John Belton points to the changing demographic to even younger, more conservative audiences in the mid 1970s (50% aged 12–20) and the move to less politically subversive themes in mainstream cinema, as did Thomas Schatz, who saw the mid- to late 1970s as the decline of the art cinema movement as a significant industry force with its peak in 1974–75 with '' Nashville'' and ''Chinatown''. Geoff King sees the period as an interim movement in American cinema where a conjunction of forces led to a measure of freedom in filmmaking, while Todd Berliner says that 70s cinema resists the efficiency and harmony that normally characterize classical Hollywood cinema and tests the limits of Hollywood's classical model. According to author and film critic Charles Taylor (''Opening Wednesday at a Theater or Drive-In Near You''), he stated that "the 1970s remain the third — and, to date, last — great period in American movies". Author A.D. Jameson (''I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing''), on the other hand, claimed that ''Star Wars'' was New Hollywood's finest achievement that actually embodied the characteristics of the respected "serious, sophisticated adult films".


Criticism

The New Hollywood was not without criticism, as in a ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' article film critic
Manohla Dargis Manohla June Dargis () is an American film critic. She is one of the chief film critics for ''The New York Times''. She is a five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Career Before being a film critic for ''The New York Times'', ...
described it as the "halcyon age" of the decade's filmmaking, that "was less revolution than business as usual, with rebel hype". She also pointed out in her ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' article that New Hollywood enthusiasts insist this was "when American movies grew up (or at least starred underdressed actresses); when directors did what they wanted (or at least were transformed into brands); when creativity ruled (or at least ran gloriously amok, albeit often on the studio's dime)." This era of American cinema was also criticized for its excessive
decadence The word decadence, which at first meant simply "decline" in an abstract sense, is now most often used to refer to a perceived decay in standards, morals, dignity, religious faith, honor, discipline, or skill at governing among the members ...
and on-set mishaps. Even Steven Spielberg, who co-directed/co-produced 1983's '' Twilight Zone: The Movie'' with
John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978 ...
, was so disgusted by the latter's handling of the deadly helicopter accident that resulted in the death of character actor
Vic Morrow Victor Morrow (born Victor Morozoff; February 14, 1929 – July 23, 1982) was an American actor. He came to prominence as one of the leads of the ABC drama series '' Combat!'' (1962–1967), which earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstand ...
and child actors Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, he ended their friendship and publicly called for the end of this era. When approached by the press about the accident, he stated "No movie is worth dying for. I think people are standing up much more now, than ever before, to producers and directors who ask too much. If something isn't safe, it's the right and responsibility of every actor or crew member to yell, 'Cut!'


Legacy

The films of Steven Spielberg,
Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (born September 11, 1940) is an American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for his work in the suspense, crime and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading ...
,
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...
and Francis Ford Coppola influenced both the
Poliziotteschi Poliziotteschi (; singular ''poliziottesco'') constitute a subgenre of crime and action films that emerged in Italy in the late 1960s and reached the height of their popularity in the 1970s. They are also known as ''polizieschi all'italiana'', ' ...
genre films in Italy and a decade later the Cinéma du look movement in France.
American Eccentric Cinema American Eccentric Cinema is a mode of contemporary American filmmaking that emerged in what has been termed the metamodern or New Sincerity. Its attachment to indie cinema has led some to consider it a movement and genre of cinema in the United ...
has been framed as influenced by this era. Both traditions have similar themes and narratives of existentialism and the need for human interaction. The New Hollywood focuses on the darker elements of humanity and society within the context of the American Dream in the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, with themes that were reflective of sociocultural issues and were centered around the potential meaninglessness of pursuing the American Dream as generation upon generation was motivated to possess it. In comparison, American Eccentric Cinema does not have a distinct context, its films show characters who are very individual and their concerns are very distinctive to their own personalities. The behind-the-scenes of some of the films from this era (''Rosemary's Baby'', ''The Exorcist'', ''Twilight Zone: The Movie'' and ''The Omen'') were also the subjects for the docuseries ''
Cursed Films ''Cursed Films'' is an American documentary streaming television series produced by Shudder, a streaming service owned by AMC Networks. Written, edited and directed by Jay Cheel, the series covers alleged instances of curses surrounding films. ...
''.


List of selected important and notable figures of the movement


Actors

*
Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
*
René Auberjonois René Murat Auberjonois (; June 1, 1940 – December 8, 2019) was an American actor and director. He was best known for portraying Odo on ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1993–1999). He first achieved fame as a stage actor, winning the Tony A ...
* Ned Beatty *
Warren Beatty Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker, whose career spans over six decades. He was nominated for 15 Academy Awards, including four for Best Actor, four for Best Picture, two for Best Director, ...
*
Candice Bergen Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the title character on the CBS sitcom ''Murphy Brown'' (1988–1998, 2018). She is also kno ...
*
Jacqueline Bisset Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset ( ; born 13 September 1944) is a British actress. She began her film career in 1965 and first came to prominence in 1968 with roles in '' The Detective'', ''Bullitt'', and ''The Sweet Ride'', for which she rec ...
*
Karen Black Karen Blanche Black (née Ziegler; July 1, 1939 – August 8, 2013) was an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence for her work in various studio and independent films in the 1970s, frequently portrayi ...
*
Timothy Bottoms Timothy James Bottoms (born August 30, 1951) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for playing the lead in ''Johnny Got His Gun'' (1971); Sonny Crawford in ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971), where he and his fellow co-stars, Cy ...
* Peter Boyle * Beau Bridges *
Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Bridges comes from a prominent ac ...
*
Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...
*
Geneviève Bujold Geneviève Bujold (; born July 1, 1942) is a Canadian actress. For her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the period drama film ''Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969), Bujold received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her other film cre ...
*
Ellen Burstyn Ellen Burstyn (born Edna Rae Gillooly; December 7, 1932) is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complicated women in dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Em ...
*
James Caan James Edmund Caan ( ; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in ''The Godfather'' (1972) – a performance which earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Suppo ...
*
Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...
*
Dyan Cannon Dyan Cannon (born Samille Diane Friesen; January 4, 1937) is an American actress, director, screenwriter, producer, and editor. Her accolades include a Saturn Award, a Golden Globe Award, three Academy Award nominations, and a star on the Holly ...
*
Keith Carradine Keith Ian Carradine ( ; born August 8, 1949) is an American actor who has had success on stage, film, and television. He is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman's film ''Nashville'', Wild Bill Hickok in the HBO series '' Deadwood ...
*
John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and direc ...
*
John Cazale John Holland Cazale (; August 12, 1935 – March 13, 1978) was an American actor. He appeared in five films over seven years, all of which were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture: ''The Godfather'' (1972), '' The Conversation'' (19 ...
*
Julie Christie Julie Frances Christie (born 14 April 1940) is a British actress. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, Christie is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She ...
*
Jill Clayburgh Jill Clayburgh (April 30, 1944 – November 5, 2010) was an American actress known for her work in theater, television, and cinema. She received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Ac ...
* Sean Connery *
Bud Cort Walter Edward Cox, known professionally as Bud Cort, is an American actor and comedian, known for his portrayals of Harold in Hal Ashby's film ''Harold and Maude'' (1971) and the eponymous hero in Robert Altman's film '' Brewster McCloud'' (19 ...
*
Jamie Lee Curtis Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, children's author, and activist. She came to prominence with her portrayal of Lt. Barbara Duran on the ABC sitcom '' Operation Petticoat'' (1977–78). In 1978, she m ...
* Beverly D'Angelo * Robert De Niro * Bruce Dern *
Danny DeVito Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him a Gold ...
*
Michael Douglas Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the A ...
*
Brad Dourif Bradford Claude Dourif (; born March 18, 1950) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Oscar, and won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for his film debut role as Billy Bibbit in ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975). He is also kno ...
* Richard Dreyfuss *
Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a BAFTA Award. In 2011, the government of France mad ...
*
Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career spans more than seven decades and he is considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Gold ...
*
Shelley Duvall Shelley Alexis Duvall (born July 7, 1949) is an American actress and producer who is known for her portrayals of distinct, often eccentric characters. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award and a Peab ...
* Clint Eastwood * Peter Falk *
Mia Farrow Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera '' Peyton Place'' and gained further recognition for her subsequent ...
*
Louise Fletcher Estelle Louise Fletcher (July 22, 1934 – September 23, 2022) was an American actress who portrayed the antagonist Nurse Ratched in ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975), which earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress, a BAFTA Award, a ...
* Jane Fonda * Peter Fonda * Harrison Ford *
Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the hono ...
*
Teri Garr Teri Ann Garr (born December 11, 1944) is an American former actress, dancer, and comedian. She frequently appeared in comedic roles throughout her career, which spans four decades and includes over 140 credits in film and television. Her accola ...
*
Ben Gazzara Biagio Anthony Gazzara (August 28, 1930 – February 3, 2012) was an American actor and director of film, stage, and television. He received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Drama Desk Award, in addition to nominatio ...
*
Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Heaven'' (1978). He came to prominence with ...
* Elliott Gould *
Lee Grant Lee Grant (born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal; October 31, during the mid-1920s) is an American actress, documentarian, and director. She made her film debut in 1951 as a young shoplifter in William Wyler's ''Detective Story'', co-starring Kirk Dougl ...
*
Pam Grier Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star (although, there are some who dispute that claim and believe Cheng Pei-pei actually holds that distinc ...
*
Charles Grodin Charles Sidney Grodin (April 21, 1935 – May 18, 2021) was an American actor, comedian, author, and television talk show host. Grodin began his acting career in the 1960s appearing in TV serials including '' The Virginian''. After a small part ...
* Gene Hackman * Mark Hamill *
Goldie Hawn Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, dancer, producer, and singer. She rose to fame on the NBC sketch comedy program ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (1968–1970), before going on to receive the Academy Award and Go ...
*
Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is ...
*
Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...
* Dennis Hopper *
Glenda Jackson Glenda May Jackson (born 9 May 1936) is an English actress and former Member of Parliament (MP). She has won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice: for her role as Gudrun Brangwen in the romantic drama ''Women in Love'' (1970); and again for ...
*
Madeline Kahn Madeline Gail Kahn ('' née'' Wolfson; September 29, 1942 – December 3, 1999) was an American actress, comedian and singer, known for comedic roles in films directed by Peter Bogdanovich and Mel Brooks, including '' What's Up, Doc?'' (1972), ' ...
*
Carol Kane Carolyn Laurie Kane (born June 18, 1952) is an American actress. She became known in the 1970s and 1980s in films such as '' Hester Street'' (for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress), ''Dog Day Afternoon'', ''Annie ...
*
Diane Keaton Diane Keaton (''née'' Hall, born January 5, 1946) is an American actress and director. She has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over six decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Glo ...
*
Harvey Keitel Harvey Keitel ( ; born May 13, 1939) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of morally ambiguous and "tough guy" characters. He first rose to prominence during the New Hollywood movement, and has held a long-running association with ...
*
Sally Kellerman Sally Clare Kellerman (June 2, 1937 – February 24, 2022) was an American actress and singer whose acting career spanned 60 years. Her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in Robert Altman's film '' M*A*S*H'' (1970) earned her an Oscar n ...
*
Margot Kidder Margaret Ruth Kidder (October 17, 1948 – May 13, 2018), known professionally as Margot Kidder, was a Canadian-American actress whose career spanned five decades. Her accolades include three Canadian Screen Awards and one Daytime Emmy A ...
*
Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are " Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", " Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and " Help Me Make It Through the ...
* Diane Ladd *
Jessica Lange Jessica Phyllis Lange (; born April 20, 1949) is an American actress. She is the 13th actress to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, having won two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award, along with a Screen Actors ...
*
Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nomina ...
*
Malcolm McDowell Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is a British actor, producer, and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Alex DeLarge in ''A Clockwork Orange.'' He was born in the Horsforth suburb of Leeds and raised i ...
* Paul Newman *
Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...
*
Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...
*
Warren Oates Warren Mercer Oates (July 5, 1928 – April 3, 1982) was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah, including ''The Wild Bunch'' (1969) and ''Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia'' (1974). A ...
*
Ryan O'Neal Ryan O'Neal (born April 20, 1941) is an American actor and former boxer. He trained as an amateur boxer before beginning his career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera '' Peyton Pla ...
*
Tatum O'Neal Tatum Beatrice O'Neal (born November 5, 1963) is an American actress. She is the youngest person ever to win an Academy Award, winning at age 10 for her performance as Addie Loggins in '' Paper Moon'' (1973) opposite her father, Ryan O'Neal. S ...
* Peter O'Toole * Al Pacino * Sidney Poitier * Robert Redford * Vanessa Redgrave * Burt Reynolds * Jason Robards * Gena Rowlands * Roy Scheider * George Segal * Martin Sheen * Sam Shepard * Cybill Shepherd * Tom Skerritt * Sissy Spacek * Sylvester Stallone * Mary Steenburgen * Meryl Streep * Barbra Streisand * Donald Sutherland * Lily Tomlin * Rip Torn * John Travolta * Jon Voight * Sigourney Weaver * Gene Wilder * Joanne Woodward


Directors

*
Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
* Robert Altman * Hal Ashby * John G. Avildsen * John Badham * Ralph Bakshi *
Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. One of the " New Hollywood" directors, Bogdanovich started as a film journalist until he was hired to work on ...
* James Bridges *
Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...
* John Boorman * John Carpenter *
John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and direc ...
* Michael Cimino * Francis Ford Coppola *
Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
* Wes Craven * Michael Crichton * Joe Dante *
Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (born September 11, 1940) is an American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for his work in the suspense, crime and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading ...
* Richard Donner * Miloš Forman * Bob Fosse * William Friedkin * Monte Hellman * George Roy Hill * Walter Hill (director), Walter Hill * Arthur Hiller * Tobe Hooper * Dennis Hopper * Henry Jaglom * Norman Jewison * Stanley Kubrick *
John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978 ...
* Tom Laughlin * George Lucas * Sidney Lumet * David Lynch * Terrence Malick * Elaine May * Paul Mazursky * John Milius * Ralph Nelson * Mike Nichols * Alan J. Pakula * Sam Peckinpah * Melvin Van Peebles *
Arthur Penn Arthur Hiller Penn (September 27, 1922 – September 28, 2010) was an American director and producer of film, television and theater. Closely associated with the American New Wave, Penn directed critically acclaimed films throughout the 19 ...
* Roman Polanski * Sydney Pollack * Bob Rafelson * Michael Ritchie (film director), Michael Ritchie * George A. Romero * Stuart Rosenberg * Alan Rudolph * Richard C. Sarafian * Franklin J. Schaffner * Jerry Schatzberg * John Schlesinger * Paul Schrader *
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...
* Ridley Scott * Don Siegel * Steven Spielberg * James Toback * Peter Yates * David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker


Others

* Dede Allen * John Alcott * Nestor Almendros * John A. Alonzo * Steven Bach * Bill Butler (cinematographer), Bill Butler * William Peter Blatty * Wendy Carlos * Michael Chapman (cinematographer), Michael Chapman *
Paddy Chayefsky Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays. He was ...
* Stewart Copeland * Pino Donaggio * Tangerine Dream * Bob Dylan * Roger Ebert * Robert Evans * William A. Fraker * Tak Fujimoto * Jerry Goldsmith * Conrad L. Hall * James Wong Howe * Quincy Jones *
Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...
* László Kovács (cinematographer), László Kovács * Giorgio Moroder * Ennio Morricone * Harry Nilsson * Jack Nitzsche * Mike Oldfield *Polly Platt * Owen Roizman *Andrew Sarris * Lalo Schifrin * David Shire * Bert Schneider * Thelma Schoonmaker * Gene Siskel * Vittorio Storaro * Robert Towne * Tom Waits * Haskell Wexler * John Williams * Gordon Willis * Vangelis *
Vilmos Zsigmond Vilmos Zsigmond ASC (; June 16, 1930 – January 1, 2016) was a Hungarian-American cinematographer. His work in cinematography helped shape the look of American movies in the 1970s, making him one of the leading figures in the American New Wa ...


List of selected important and notable films

The following is a chronological list of notable films that are generally considered to be "New Hollywood" productions. * ''Dr. Strangelove'' (1964) ≈ * ''Mickey One'' (1965) * ''The Chase (1966 film), The Chase'' (1966) * ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1966) ≈ * ''Seconds (1966 film), Seconds'' (1966) ≈ * ''The Shooting'' (1966) * ''Ride in the Whirlwind'' (1966) * ''You're a Big Boy Now'' (1966) * ''Portrait of Jason'' (1967)Looking Back on Hollywood's Second Golden Age, Hollywood.com
/ref>≈ * ''In the Heat of the Night (film), In the Heat of the Night'' (1967) ≈ * '' Bonnie and Clyde'' (1967)Film History According to Tarantino - ArtReview
/ref> ≈ * ''
The Graduate ''The Graduate'' is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from W ...
'' (1967) ≈ * ''In Cold Blood (film), In Cold Blood'' (1967) ≈ * ''Reflections in a Golden Eye (film), Reflections in a Golden Eye'' (1967) * '' Cool Hand Luke'' (1967) ≈ * ''Who's That Knocking at My Door'' (1967) * ''The Dirty Dozen'' (1967) * ''Dont Look Back'' (1967)≈ * ''Point Blank (1967 film), Point Blank'' (1967)≈ * ''The Trip (1967 film), The Trip'' (1967) * ''David Holzman's Diary'' (1967) ≈ *''Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One'' (1968)≈ * ''Faces (1968 film), Faces'' (1968) ≈ * ''The Swimmer (1968 film), The Swimmer'' (1968) * ''Coogan's Bluff (film), Coogan's Bluff'' (1968) * ''Greetings (1968 film), Greetings'' (1968) * ''2001: A Space Odyssey (film), 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968) ≈ * ''Planet of the Apes (1968 film), Planet of the Apes'' (1968) ≈ * ''Petulia'' (1968) * '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1968) ≈ * '' The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film), The Thomas Crown Affair'' (1968) * ''Bullitt'' (1968) ≈ * ''
Night of the Living Dead ''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, with a screenplay by John Russo and Romero, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven pe ...
'' (1968)≈ * ''Head (film), Head'' (1968) * ''Downhill Racer'' (1969) * ''Alice's Restaurant (film), Alice's Restaurant'' (1969) * ''
Easy Rider ''Easy Rider'' is a 1969 American independent drug culture road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American So ...
'' (1969)≈ * ''Medium Cool'' (1969)≈ * ''
Midnight Cowboy ''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama film, based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The film was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with notable smaller ...
'' (1969)≈ * ''Putney Swope'' (1969)≈ * ''The Rain People'' (1969) * ''Goodbye, Columbus (film), Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969) * ''Take the Money and Run'' (1969) * ''
The Wild Bunch ''The Wild Bunch'' is a 1969 American epic Revisionist Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Ben Johnson and Warren Oates. The plot concerns an aging outlaw gang on th ...
'' (1969)≈ * ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' (1969) * ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' (1969)≈ * ''They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (film), They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' (1969) * ''Wanda (film), Wanda'' (1970)≈ * ''Husbands (film), Husbands'' (1970) * ''The Boys in the Band (1970 film), The Boys in the Band'' (1970) * ''Alex in Wonderland'' (1970) * ''Catch-22 (film), Catch-22'' (1970) * ''MASH (film), MASH'' (1970)≈ * ''Love Story (1970 film), Love Story'' (1970) * ''Airport (1970 film), Airport'' (1970) * ''The Strawberry Statement (film), The Strawberry Statement'' (1970) * ''Loving (1970 film), Loving'' (1970) * ''The Landlord'' (1970) * ''Kelly's Heroes'' (1970) * ''Five Easy Pieces'' (1970)≈ * ''Little Big Man (film), Little Big Man'' (1970) * ''Brewster McCloud'' (1970) * ''Joe (1970 film), Joe'' (1970) * ''Woodstock (film), Woodstock'' (1970)≈ * ''The Ballad of Cable Hogue'' (1970) * ''Zabriskie Point (film), Zabriskie Point'' (1970) * ''Gimme Shelter (1970 film), Gimme Shelter'' (1970) * ''A New Leaf (film), A New Leaf'' (1971)≈ * ''Drive, He Said'' (1971) * ''Fiddler on the Roof (film), Fiddler on the Roof'' (1971) * ''The Panic in Needle Park'' (1971) * ''Play Misty for Me'' (1971) * ''Klute'' (1971) * ''The Beguiled (1971 film), The Beguiled'' (1971) * ''A Safe Place'' (1971) * ''McCabe & Mrs. Miller'' (1971)≈ * ''Carnal Knowledge (film), Carnal Knowledge'' (1971) * ''Such Good Friends'' (1971) * ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' (1971)≈ * ''The Hospital '' (1971) * ''The Last Movie'' (1971) * ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971)A Brief History Of New Hollywood, The Rise - Little White Lies on YouTube
/ref>≈ * ''The French Connection (film), The French Connection'' (1971)≈ * ''A Clockwork Orange (film), A Clockwork Orange'' (1971)≈ * ''Dirty Harry'' (1971)≈ * ''Harold and Maude'' (1971)≈ * ''Straw Dogs (1971 film), Straw Dogs'' (1971) * ''Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song'' (1971)≈ * ''THX 1138'' (1971) * ''Little Murders'' (1971) * ''Vanishing Point (1971 film), Vanishing Point'' (1971) * ''Billy Jack '' (1971) * ''Duel (1971 film), Duel'' (1971) * ''The Heartbreak Kid (1972 film), The Heartbreak Kid'' (1972) * ''Cabaret (1972 film), Cabaret'' (1972)≈ * ''Deliverance'' (1972)≈ * ''Tomorrow (1972 film), Tomorrow'' (1972) * ''Pocket Money'' (1972) * ''Bad Company (1972 film), Bad Company'' (1972) * ''The Last House on the Left'' (1972) * ''Fat City (film), Fat City'' (1972) * ''Fritz the Cat (film), Fritz the Cat'' (1972) * ''Images (film), Images'' (1972) * ''The Poseidon Adventure (1972 film), The Poseidon Adventure'' (1972) * ''Slaughterhouse-Five (film), Slaughterhouse-Five'' (1972) * ''
The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caa ...
'' (1972)≈ * ''Junior Bonner'' (1972) * ''Boxcar Bertha'' (1972) * ''The King of Marvin Gardens'' (1972) * ''What's Up, Doc? (1972 film), What's Up, Doc?'' (1972) * ''Last Tango in Paris'' (1972) * ''Payday (1972 film), Payday'' (1972) * ''Sounder (film), Sounder'' (1972)≈ * ''Heavy Traffic'' (1973) * ''American Graffiti'' (1973)≈ * ''Badlands (film), Badlands'' (1973)≈ * ''Dillinger (1973 film), Dillinger'' (1973) * ''The Friends of Eddie Coyle'' (1973) * ''The Long Goodbye (film), The Long Goodbye'' (1973)≈ * ''The Last Detail'' (1973) * ''Mean Streets'' (1973)≈ * '' Paper Moon'' (1973) * ''Charley Varrick'' (1973) * ''The Last American Hero'' (1973) * ''Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid'' (1973) * ''Breezy'' (1973) * ''Blume in Love'' (1973) * ''Serpico'' (1973) * ''Sisters (1973 film), Sisters'' (1973) * ''Sleeper (1973 film), Sleeper'' (1973) * ''The Exorcist (film), The Exorcist'' (1973)≈ * ''Scarecrow (1973 film), Scarecrow'' (1973) * ''The Sting'' (1973)≈ * ''Electra Glide in Blue'' (1973) * ''Westworld (film), Westworld'' (1973) * ''Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'' (1974) * ''Thieves Like Us (film), Thieves Like Us'' (1974) * ''Harry and Tonto'' (1974) * ''Dark Star (film), Dark Star'' (1974) * ''California Split'' (1974) * ''Thunderbolt and Lightfoot'' (1974) * '' Chinatown'' (1974)≈ * ''The Conversation'' (1974)≈ * ''The Godfather Part II'' (1974)≈ * ''The Sugarland Express'' (1974) * ''The Parallax View'' (1974) * ''A Woman Under the Influence'' (1974)≈ * ''The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974 film), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three'' (1974) * ''The Towering Inferno'' (1974) * ''Blazing Saddles'' (1974)≈ * ''Young Frankenstein'' (1974)≈ * ''Hearts and Minds (film), Hearts and Minds'' (1974)≈ * ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (1974) * ''Death Wish (1974 film), Death Wish'' (1974) * ''Freebie and the Bean'' (1974) * ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975)≈ * ''
Dog Day Afternoon ''Dog Day Afternoon'' is a 1975 American biographical crime drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and produced by Martin Bregman and Martin Elfand. The film stars Al Pacino, John Cazale, James Broderick, and Charles Durning. The screenplay is wr ...
'' (1975)≈ * ''Three Days of the Condor'' (1975) * ''The Eiger Sanction (film), The Eiger Sanction'' (1975) * ''Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins'' (1975) * ''
Jaws Jaws or Jaw may refer to: Anatomy * Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth ** Mandible, the lower jaw Arts, entertainment, and media * Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker'' * ...
'' (1975)≈ * '' Nashville'' (1975)≈ * ''Smile (1975 film), Smile'' (1975) * ''Night Moves (1975 film), Night Moves'' (1975) * ''Shampoo (film), Shampoo'' (1975) * ''The Day of the Locust (film), The Day of the Locust'' (1975) * ''Barry Lyndon'' (1975) * ''The Wind and the Lion'' (1975) * ''At Long Last Love'' (1975)On the Tuneless Cole Porter Musical At Long Last Love, Peter Bogdanovich’s “Great Debacle,” Screening This Weekend - The L Magazine
/ref> * ''The Killing of a Chinese Bookie'' (1976) * ''Mikey and Nicky'' (1976) * ''All the President's Men (film), All the President's Men'' (1976)≈ * ''Next Stop, Greenwich Village'' (1976) * ''Carrie (1976 film), Carrie'' (1976) * ''Obsession (1976 film), Obsession'' (1976) * ''The Omen (1976 film), The Omen'' (1976) * ''The Outlaw Josey Wales'' (1976)≈ * ''God Told Me To'' (1976) * ''Assault on Precinct 13 (1976 film), Assault on Precinct 13'' (1976) * ''Network (1976 film), Network'' (1976)≈ * ''Rocky'' (1976)≈ * ''
Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks. Set in a decaying ...
'' (1976)≈ * ''Buffalo Bill and the Indians'' (1976) * ''Futureworld'' (1976) * ''Annie Hall'' (1977)≈ * ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' (1977)≈ * ''Eraserhead'' (1977)≈ * ''The Hills Have Eyes (1977), The Hills Have Eyes'' (1977) * ''The Gauntlet (film), The Gauntlet'' (1977) * ''High Anxiety'' (1977) * '' The Late Show (film), The Late Show'' (1977) * ''Handle with Care (1977 film), Handle with Care'' (1977) * ''Looking for Mr. Goodbar (film), Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) * ''New York, New York (1977 film), New York, New York'' (1977)A Brief History Of New Hollywood , The Fall - Little White Lies on YouTube
/ref> * ''Opening Night (1977 film), Opening Night'' (1977) * ''Saturday Night Fever'' (1977)≈ * '' Sorcerer'' (1977) * ''Star Wars (film), Star Wars'' (1977)≈ * ''3 Women'' (1977) * ''An Unmarried Woman'' (1978) * ''Blue Collar (film), Blue Collar'' (1978) * ''Coming Home (1978 film), Coming Home'' (1978) * ''Straight Time'' (1978) * ''Grease (film), Grease'' (1978)≈ * ''Days of Heaven'' (1978)≈ * ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978)≈ * ''F.I.S.T. (film), F.I.S.T.'' (1978) * ''Interiors'' (1978) * ''Big Wednesday'' (1978) * ''Fingers (1978 film), Fingers'' (1978) * ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 film), Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' (1978) * ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978)≈ * ''Coma (1978 film), Coma'' (1978) * ''Who'll Stop the Rain'' (1978) * ''Midnight Express (film), Midnight Express'' (1978) * ''Dawn of the Dead (1978 film), Dawn of the Dead'' (1978) * ''Halloween (1978 film), Halloween'' (1978)≈ * ''The China Syndrome'' (1979) * ''Alien (film), Alien'' (1979)≈ * ''All That Jazz (film), All That Jazz'' (1979)≈ * '' ...And Justice for All (film), ...And Justice for All'' (1979) * ''Hardcore (1979 film), Hardcore'' (1979) * ''Apocalypse Now'' (1979)≈ * ''Being There'' (1979)≈ * ''Kramer vs. Kramer'' (1979) * ''Manhattan (1979 film), Manhattan'' (1979)≈ * ''Wise Blood (film), Wise Blood'' (1979) * ''1941 (film), 1941'' (1979) * ''Melvin and Howard'' (1980) * ''The Shining (film), The Shining'' (1980)≈ * ''Popeye (1980 film), Popeye'' (1980) * ''Bronco Billy'' (1980) * ''Raging Bull'' (1980)≈ * ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980)10 Best Films Of The American New Wave, According To IMDb - Screen Rant
/ref>≈ * ''American Gigolo'' (1980) * ''Cruising (film), Cruising'' (1980) * ''Dressed to Kill (1980 film), Dressed to Kill'' (1980) * ''Airplane!'' (1980)≈ * ''Stardust Memories'' (1980) * '' Heaven's Gate'' (1980) * ''History of the World, Part I'' (1981) * ''Blow Out'' (1981) * ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1981)≈ * ''Cutter's Way'' (1981) * ''Reds (film), Reds'' (1981) * ''
They All Laughed ''They All Laughed'' is a 1981 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Audrey Hepburn, Ben Gazzara, John Ritter, Colleen Camp, Patti Hansen, and Dorothy Stratten. The film was based on a screenplay by Bogdanovic ...
'' (1981) * ''Blade Runner'' (1982)≈ * ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982)≈ * ''
One from the Heart ''One from the Heart'' is a 1982 American musical romantic drama film co-written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Raul Julia, Nastassja Kinski, Lainie Kazan, and Harry Dean Stanton. The story is set ...
'' (1982) * ''The King of Comedy (film), The King of Comedy'' (1982) * ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983)≈ * ''Rumble Fish'' (1983) * '' Twilight Zone: The Movie'' (1983)


Notes

*≈ indicates a National Film Registry inductee


See also

* Counterculture of the 1960s * Golden Age of Television (2000s–present) - similar to New Hollywood in content * ''A Decade Under the Influence (film), A Decade Under the Influence'' - the 2003 documentary about the New Hollywood * ''
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls ''Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N Roll Generation Saved Hollywood'' is a book by Peter Biskind, published by Simon & Schuster in 1998. ''Easy Riders, Raging Bulls'' is about the 1960s and 1970s Hollywood, a period of Amer ...
'' -
Peter Biskind Peter Biskind (born 1940) is an American cultural critic, film historian, journalist and former executive editor of ''Premiere'' magazine from 1986 to 1996. Biography He attended Swarthmore College and wrote several books depicting life in Holl ...
's controversial account of this era of filmmaking * Cinephilia * Exploitation film - popular during that time * Vulgar auteurism * Modernist film * European art cinema - popular with audiences during this time period * L.A. Rebellion - alternative African-American cinema in the 1970s-1980s * Midnight movie - popular during this era * Postmodernist film postmodern television, and television * Minimalist film, Minimalist and maximalist film, maximalist cinema * Hippie exploitation films * Blaxploitation * Indiewood


References


Bibliography

* *Peter Biskind, Biskind, Peter (1990). ''The Godfather Companion: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About All Three Godfather Films'' (HarperPerennial) * * *Cook, David A. "Auteur Cinema and the film generation in 70s Hollywood", in ''The New American Cinema''. Ed. by Jon Lewis. NY: Duke University Press, 1998, pp. 1–37 * *Harris, Mark. ''Scenes from a Revolution: The Birth of the New Hollywood''. Canongate Books, 2009. *James, David E. ''Allegories of Cinema: American Film in the Sixties''. NY: Princeton University Press, 1989, pp. 1–42 *Pauline Kael, Kael, Pauline. "Bonnie and Clyde", in ''For Keeps''. Ed. by Pauline Kael. NY: Plume, 1994, pp. 141–57. *Pauline Kael, Kael, Pauline. "Trash, Art, and the Movies", in ''Going Steady: Film Writings 1968–69''. NY: Marion Boyers, 1994, pp. 87–129 *Kanfer, Stefan, "The Shock of Freedom in Films", ''Time Magazine'', Dec 8, 1967, Accessed 25 April 2009

* *Kirshner, Jonathan. ''Hollywood's Last Golden Age: Politics, Society, and the Seventies Film in America''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2012. * *
''Road Trip to Nowhere: Hollywood Encounters the Counterculture''
Jon Lewis, 2022 * * *
''New Wave, New Hollywood: Reassessment, Recovery and Legacy''
Nathan Abram and Gregory Frame, 2021


External links


The First Five Years of the 70s episode of Siskel and Ebert

The American Revolution-DGA

The Film School Generation episode of American Cinema at Annenberg Learner
{{Film genres New Wave in cinema, American 1960s in film 1970s in film 1980s in film Cinema of the United States History of film History of Hollywood, Los Angeles Movements in cinema 1960s in American cinema 1970s in American cinema 1980s in American cinema Film genres particular to the United States 1964 establishments in the United States 1983 disestablishments in the United States 1970s in animation Modern art Postmodern art