1974 in film



The year 1974 in film involved some significant events.

Highest-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1974 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Events

 * February 7 - Blazing Saddles is released in the USA.
 * June 20 - Chinatown, directed by Roman Polanski and featured Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, and John Huston, is released to worldwide critical acclaim.
 * August 7 - Peter Wolf, lead singer of The J. Geils Band, marries actress Faye Dunaway.
 * November 1 - Technicolor ceases its legendary dye-transfer printing process.
 * Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer celebrated its fiftieth anniversary with big fanfare from the studio, most significantly with its film release That's Entertainment!, a retrospective documentary that acknowledges and celebrates the importance and legacy of its prestigious film musicals (e.g. The Wizard of Oz, Singin' in the Rain, Meet Me in St. Louis, Gigi, An American in Paris, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, etc.) for the studio.
 * October, November, and December, 1974 - Three "disaster films" are released in three consecutive months: Airport 1975, Earthquake, and The Towering Inferno respectively.  All were box office successes.
 * Kevin Costner made his film debut in Sizzle Beach, U.S.A., although the film was not released until 1986.

Awards
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):
 * The Conversation, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, United States

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):
 * The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, directed by Ted Kotcheff, Canada

Christmas films released in 1974

 * 1) Black Christmas