The 1970s Project

My role in the 1970s project involves drawing a map of popular taste by studying British mainstream films. I am particularly interested in the cultural and social background which produced these films and the state of the British film industry in the period. Considering government legislation, prevailing economics and the structure of the film industry all help to create a more detailed picture of the era. In studying popular taste I am interested in specific genres and cycles of films and want to consider what was popular at the box office, what was critically acclaimed and what was economically and financially successful. Popular genres of the period included low-budget horror, sex-comedy, fantasy and high culture literary adaptations. The wide variety of genres suggests a real diversity of film production and the possible implication that niche audience's tastes were being addressed and considered. In order to fully understand the decade and the films that were made it is important to recognise external factors which impacted on the film industry such as censorship. Censorship was crucial in the 1970s, as it was a time of great social upheaval when morals and social mores were changing and boundaries of permission were being challenged. All of these tensions made their way into heated discussions about what it was appropriate to see on screen. The attitudes of the censor, the popular press and pressure groups such as the Festival of Light to what they saw on screen, can be very helpful in informing any discussion of social attitudes in this period. In using historical evidence, such as the files at the BBFC, I aim to consider some of these questions and help contribute to a fuller understanding of British film and cinema in the 1970s.

What particular things are you interested in with regard to the 1970s?
One of the things that I am specifically interested in, is the background to the period and how this impacted upon which films got made and what was popular at the box office. I have been working on the legislative and industry constraints and this has given me an understanding of how the film industry operated at this time, specifically in terms of its production, exhibition and distribution. Examining the industry bodies such as the National Film Finance Corporation who helped finance feature films, and the Film Fund Agency who administered the Eady Levy payments for successful British films will help in drawing a map of legislation for the period against which more theoretical and conceptual ideas can be considered.

What about specific types of films?
I am interested in mainstream cycles of British films. The 1970s was a decade when sex films and horror films dominated and yet there were also large numbers of high class lavish, literary adaptations, such as The Go-Between, Murder on the Orient Express, The Tempest, Women in Love and Barry Lyndon. The decade was certainly one of contradictions; there was also a huge emphasis on fantasy films, both as part of horror but also sci-fi fantasy films including films as diverse as The Man who fell to Earth, The people that time forgot, At the earths core, Zardoz and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The 1970s was an incredibly rich period in terms of diversity and experimentation and perhaps the lack of cohesion in the British film industry and scarcity of funding opportunities allowed a greater degree of freedom of expression and creative output. Bond films, children's films, sci-fantasy, experimental art films and music films all featured significantly in the period. One of the genres I have studied in detail for the period is the horror film.

So what is so interesting about horror in the period?
Studying how the horror films changed from the late 1960s throughout the 1970s is very interesting. Hammer studios was actually in decline at the start of the 1970s and new directors were coming to the fore and trying very things in terms of style, content and audience. In the wake of successful American horror films such as Night of the Living Dead, British horror had to improve the quality of their films in order to have the same kind of appeal. It was no longer enough to have yet another reincarnation of Dracula and Frankenstein; the audience wanted more in terms of story, character and special effects. The modern set horror films of Pete Walker did not allow the audience to believe that horror was something that happened in another time or place. His brutal depictions of modern horror and psychotic behaviour were far more chilling to a sophisticated audience who no longer eagerly accepted the clich's of Vampires and creepy castles.

So was the 1970s more sophisticated and diverse in terms of film, than people think?
Definitely. The belief that the 1970s was just about carry on and Confessions is largely overstated myth. Both of these series did enjoy considerable box office success and were seen by hundreds of thousands of people in the period, during a time when cinema audiences were declining, but they were not the only British films that were successful or popular. The whole picture of the era is much more complex than has previously been suggested.

Does the success of these films suggest that people wanted escapism?
Perhaps, but it is no longer acceptable to explain these films purely as escapist entertainment; there were escapist, but they also had mass social appeal and are a key indicator of taste and popularity. All of these wide ranging and diverse genres of films must be included in any consideration of popularity and popular taste. In order to draw a map of the decade in terms of taste, the era as a whole must be evaluated critically and carefully.

How is it possible to find out what people thought about the films they saw?
It is very difficult to establish people's responses to particular films. There is a real lack of sources for this period and although we can study critic's reviews and letters to fan magazines, these are not as useful as box office returns or audience research. All of it is crucial in helping to create the bigger picture. However one key issue in the 70s which has been crucial in suggesting what people thought, was censorship. In terms of what was permitted and acceptable, the material held in the archives of the BBFC, can help to reveal these attitudes as the BBFC examiners considered specific films and the impact they would have on the public at large.

So censorship is important in this period?
Censorship is crucial in the 1970s. There are real changes taking place between the start and end of the decade regarding taste and what was permissible and what was not. By studying specific films and then groups of films, we can establish the attitude of the BBFC and their specific concerns and worries, and through this material identify prevailing social attitudes.

Suggestions for set dressing
I think the idea of dressing the setting with key items is a good one, although not overstuffed as it might look a bit too overdone. Maybe lit subtly with just simple spotlights and then 70's inspired objects like a lava lamp, glitterball etc in the foreground.

Clips
It is not essential for me to have film clips but any clip from either The Go-between or Pete Walker's Frightmare 1976, would be brilliant. Let me know if I have to be more specific about this, but as I said, it is not really essential.