After I tripped down a flight of stairs and hit my head, I suddenly wondered: what if filmmaking was more like the NFL?
Think about it. Fall down a flight of stairs if you have to. I know they say that art is subjective, unlike, say, NFL stats. But to that, I say poppycock! We know who the all-time greats are! So I thought it would be fun to create an all-time roster for the 1970s, using the all-decade template the NFL uses, switching out offensive and defensive positions for Oscar categories. Unfortunately, I’m not attuned enough to assess categories like “film editing,” “sound editing”, and “costume and production.” They will be left out. Also, like the NFL template, there will be a “First Team” and a “Second Team”.
Let’s get started!
The criteria for selection is a combination of Oscar wins/nominations+legacy. The latter, of course, is subjective (subject to my tastes specifically)
Cinematographer
First team-Vilmos Zsigmond (2x nomination. 1x winner). Notable works: McCabe and Ms. Miller, Deliverance, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Deer Hunter. A pioneer in naturalistic lighting. Widely recognized as one of the greatest cinematographers of all time.
Second Team- Owen Roizman. (3x nomination). Notable works: The French Connection, The Exorcist, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Network. Perhaps the greatest cinematographer to never win an Oscar. His work exemplified the gritty, documentarian style that defined the 1970s.
Film Composer
First Team: John Williams (13x nominated. 3x winner). Notable works: Fiddler on the Roof, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Wars, Superman. Needs no introduction. Unquestionably the greatest film composer of all time.
Second Team: Jerry Goldsmith (8x nominated. 1x winner). Notable works: Patton, Chinatown, The Omen, Alien, Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Often considered the poor man’s John Williams, Goldsmith might’ve had a shot at being the GOAT hadn’t he and Williams’ careers blossomed simultaneously.
Screenwriter
First Team– Robert Towne (3x nominated. 1x winner). Notable works: The Last Detail, Chinatown, Shampoo (credited). The Godfather, Marathon Man, Heaven Can Wait (uncredited). The premier screenwriter and script doctor of the 1970s.
Second Team: John Milius (1x nominated) Notable works: Jeremiah Johnson, Magnum Force, Apocalypse Now (credited). Dirty Harry, Jaws (uncredited). Where he lacked in accolades, he made up for by writing the greatest lines of the 1970s, including the “Do I feel lucky, punk?” from Dirty Harry, the USS Indianapolis monologue in Jaws, and “I love the smell of napalm in the morning,” in Apocalypse Now.
Supporting Actress
*note: much like special teams in the NFL, being a supporting actor/actress play a key role in clinching a game or movie. While not as flashy as being in the starting lineup on offense or defense, a supporting actor has a special set of skills needed to make a film work. Sometimes they need to steal a scene. Sometimes they need to just read the lines. It’s for that reason why I’m including this as a separate category from Leading Actor/Actress.
First Team: Karen Black (1x nominated). Notable works: Five Easy Pieces, Airport 1975, Nashville, The Day of the Locusts. One of the great unsung actresses of her time. Could easily hold her own against some heavy hitters.
Second Team: Meryl Streep (2x nominated. 1x win). Notable works: Julia, The Deer Hunter, Manhattan, Kramer Vs. Kramer. Streep was only in five films during the 1970s, but her arrival on the big screen went off like a nuclear bomb. It was a sign of things to come.
Supporting Actor
First Team: Robert Duvall (2x nominated). Notable works: MASH, The Godfather Parts I and II, Network, Apocalypse Now. Bobby Duvall was slingin em in the 70s. The ultimate best supporting actor.
Second Team: Jason Robards (2x nominated. 2x wins). Notable works: The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, All the President’s Men, Julia. Hey, he wouldn’t be the first I’d put on this list. But when you when back-to-back Oscars for supporting actor, that’s enough to get you on any team.
Actress
First Team: Jane Fonda (4x nominated. 2x winner) Notable works: Klute, Julia, Coming Home, The China Syndrome. Combined with her “Hanoi Jane” reputation, Jane Fonda is the undisputed champion of actresses for this decade.
Second Team: Faye Dunaway (2x nominated. 1x winner) Notable works: Little Big Man, Chinatown, The Towering Inferno, Three Days of the Condor, Network. A lot of actresses could have claimed this spot, but to me, the two marquee performances of the decade came from Dunaway in Chinatown and Network.
Actor
First Team: Jack Nicholson (4x nominated. 1x winner). Notable works: Five Easy Pieces, The Last Detail, Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. His Cheshire grin alone defined the decade.
Second Team: Al Pacino (5x nominated) Notable works: Godfather Parts I and II, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, …And Justice For All. The biggest mistake that the Academy made was not awarding Pacino an Oscar during the 1970s.
Director
First team: Francis Ford Coppola (3x nominated. 1x winner). Notable works: The Godfather Parts I and II, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now. Coppola absolutely DOMINATED this decade. No other auteur came close to matching his success.
Second Team: George Lucas (2x nominated). Notable works: THX 1138, American Graffiti, Star Wars. Hear me out. Only a handful of directors were nominated more than once in 1970s, among them are Coppola, Stanley Kubrick, Sidney Lumet, William Friedkin, and, against all reason, George Lucas. Not even Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese achieved that. Additionally, Star Wars essentially reshaped cinema. We are still living in its shadow. And it’s for that reason alone why George Lucas made the team.