Cineliteracy: What You Need to Know about 1979 as Movie Year
My Oscar Book:
Highest-Grossing Films of 1979
Rank Title Distributor Box-office gross
1 Kramer vs. Kramer Columbia $106,260,000
2 The Amityville Horror American International $86,432,520
3 Rocky II United Artists $85,182,160
4 Apocalypse Now $83,471,511
5 Star Trek: The Motion Picture Paramount $82,258,456
6 Alien 20th Century Fox $80,931,801
7 The Muppet Movie Associated Film $76,657,000
8 10 Warner Bros. $74,865,517
9 The Jerk Universal $73,691,419
10 Moonraker United Artists $70,308,099 (James Bond)
Major Events
March 2 –
Buena Vista release first film, Take Down, since the advent of U.S. movie ratings to not be G-rated.
March 5 –
Production begins on The Empire Strikes Back.
March – Frank Price becomes president of Columbia Pictures.
May 25 –
Alien, a landmark of the sc-fi genre, is released.
May 29 –
Mary Pickford, a silent legend and Hollywood pioneer who was, at the height of her career, the most famous woman in the world, dies of a stroke.
May 31 –
The Muppet Movie, Jim Henson’s Muppets’ first foray into motion pictures, is released in UK.
June 11 –
John Wayne, famous movie actor, dies at 72 from stomach cancer.
June 27 –
Fox Pictures president Alan Ladd Jr. and vice-presidents Jay Kanter and Gareth Wigan agree to leave Fox.
June 29 –
Moonraker, 11th film in James Bond franchise, is released in US, becomes the highest-grossing film of the year worldwide.
August 15 –
Apocalypse Now is released to critical acclaim and box office success. heralded as one of the greatest films ever made.
September 19 –
Don Bluth and fellow animators resign from Disney Company’s animation department to set up rival studio, Don Bluth Productions.
October 1 –
Alan Ladd Jr., Jay Kanter and Gareth Wigan who announce The Ladd Company.
October 3 –
Producers Benjamin Melniker and Michael E. Uslan purchase rights of Batman from DC Comics. It would be another ten years, before Batman feature film would be realized, by Tim Burton.
November 1 –
Production begins on Raiders of the Lost Ark.
December 7 –
Star Trek: The Motion Picture debuts in the US to mixed reviews but blockbuster box office, launching film franchise of 9 sequels and 3 reboots over the next 37 years. It also leads to five spin-off TV series based upon Gene Roddenberry’s creation.
Allied Artists files for bankruptcy.
Awards
Category/Organization 37th Golden Globe Awards
52nd Academy Awards, April 14, 1980
Best Film: Kramer vs. Kramer
Best Director: Robert Benton, Kramer vs. Kramer
Best Actor: Dustin Hoffman, Kramer vs. Kramer
Best Actress Sally Field, Norma Rae
Best Supporting Actor: Melvyn Douglas, Being There
Best Supporting Actress: Meryl Streep, Kramer vs. Kramer
Best Screenplay, Adapted Robert Benton, Kramer vs. Kramer
Best Screenplay, Original Steve Tesich, Breaking Away
Best Original Score:
Best Foreign Language Film: The Tin Drum
Palme d’Or (Cannes Film Fest): Tie; Apocalypse Now, Coppola, US
The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel), Schlöndorff, W. Germany
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Fest): David, Peter Lilienthal, West Germany
Births
Deaths
Month Date Name Age Country Profession Notable films
January
Jan 16
Ted Cassidy 46 US Actor
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Mackenna’s Gold
February
Feb 12 Jean Renoir 84 US Director, The Rules of the Game, La Grande Illusion
March
March 1
Dolores Costello 75 US Actress, The Magnificent Ambersons
April 10
Nino Rota 67 Italy Composer, The Godfather, The Leopard
]
24 John Carroll 72 US Actor, Go West Flying Tigers
May
May 8
Victor Saville 83 UK Producer, director, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Kim
May 26
George Brent 80 US Actor, Jezebel, 42nd Street
May 29
Mary Pickford 87 US Actress, producer, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, Coquette
June
June 2
Jim Hutton 45 US Actor, Walk, Don’t Runm Who’s Minding the Mint?
6 Jack Haley 80 US Actor
The Wizard of OzAlexander’s Ragtime Band
June 11
John Wayne 72 US Actor, producer, director, The Searchers, Red River
June 12
Henry Berman 65 US Editor, Producer
Swing TimeGrand Prix
June 14
David Butler 84 US Director, Road to Morocco, Calamity Jane
June 16
Nicholas Ray 67 US Director, writer, Rebel Without a Cause, In a Lonely Place
July 8
Michael Wilding 66 UK Actor, producer
Stage Fright, Waterloo
July 13
Corinne Griffith 84 US Actress, The Divine Lady, Back Pay
July 25
Eric Pohlmann 66 Germany Actor, The Third Man, From Russia with Love
July 28
George Seaton 68 US Director, The Country Girl, Airport
July 10 Dick Foran 69 US Actor
The Petrified Forest, Ride ‘Em Cowboy
July 17
Vivian Vance 70 US Actress, The Great Race
Aug 21
Stuart Heisler 82 US Director
TulsaI Died a Thousand Times
Aug 30
Jean Seberg 40 US Actress, Breathless, Airport
September
Sep 12
Jocelyne LaGarde 54 Tahiti Actress Hawaii
17 Willis Goldbeck 80 US Screenwriter
Young Dr. KildareThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Sep 22
Frederick Piper 76 UK Actor, The 39 Steps, The Man Who Knew Too Much
23 Catherine Lacey 75 UK Actress
The Lady VanishesThe Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
26 John Cromwell 91 US Director
Of Human Bondage, The Enchanted Cottage
26 Arthur Hunnicutt 69 US Actor
The Tall TEl Dorado
October
Oct 1 Dorothy Arzner 82 US Director, Craig’s Wife, Dance, Girl, Dance
November
5 Amedeo Nazzari 71 Italy Actor
Il banditoThe Jester’s Supper
8 Sydney Tafler 63 UK Actor
The Spy Who Loved MeAlfie
11 Dimitri Tiomkin 85 Russia Composer
High NoonThe High and the Mighty
20 Michael Darbyshire 62 UK Actor, writer
Chitty Chitty Bang BangThe Slipper and the Rose
21 Paul Wexler 50 US Actor
The Four Skulls of Jonathan DrakeDoc Savage: The Man of Bronze
22 George Froeschel 88 US Screenwriter
Mrs. MiniverScaramouche
23 Merle Oberon 68 India Actress, producer
Wuthering HeightsThe Scarlet Pimpernel
30 Barbara von Annenkoff 79 Germany Actress
Wood LoveDerby
30 Joyce Grenfell 69 UK Actress
The Americanization of EmilyBlue Murder at St Trinian’s
30 Zeppo Marx 78 US Actor, director
Duck SoupMonkey Business
December
Dec 10
Ann Dvorak 68 US Actress, Scarface, Three on a Match
Dec 12
Jon Hall 64 US Actor, director, The Hurricane, Kit Carson
Dec 25
Joan Blondell 73 US Actress, Grease, The Public Enemy
Film Debuts
Rosanna Arquette – More American Graffiti
G. W. Bailey – A Force of One
Talia Balsam – Sunnyside
Tobin Bell – Manhattan
Lorraine Bracco – Duos sur canapé
Patrick Bruel – Le coup de sirocco
Grand L. Bush – Hair
Yancy Butler – Savage Weekend
Gordon Clapp – Running
Frances Conroy – Manhattan
Matt Craven – Meatballs
Denise Crosby – 10
Ted Danson – The Onion Field
Keith David – Disco Godfather
Matt Dillon – Over the Edge
Lisa Eichhorn – The Europeans
Cary Elwes – Yesterday’s Hero
Giancarlo Esposito – Running
Christopher Fairbank – Agatha
Danny Glover – Escape from Alcatraz
Erin Gray – Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Bruce Greenwood – Bear Island
Linda Hamilton – Night Flowers
Melora Hardin – The North Avenue Irregulars
Dennis Haysbert – Scoring
Stephen McKinley Henderson – A Pleasure Doing Business
James Horner (film composer) – The Lady in Red
Michael Jeter – Hair
Sam J. Jones – 10
David Keith – The Great Santini
David Patrick Kelly – The Warriors
Wayne Knight – The Wanderers
Christine Lahti – …And Justice for All
Laurene Landon – Bitter Heritage
Diane Lane – A Little Romance
Fredric Lehne – Being There
Eugene Lipinski – Hanover Street
Carl Lumbly – Escape from Alcatraz
Tzi Ma – Cocaine Cowboys
Hayao Miyazaki (director) – The Castle of Cagliostro
Bill Nighy – The Bitch
Will Patton – Minus Zero
David Paymer – The In-Laws
Elizabeth Peña – El Super
Chris Penn – Charlie and the Talking Buzzard
Rhea Perlman – Swap Meet
Clarke Peters – The Music Machine
CCH Pounder – All That Jazz
Mickey Rourke – 1941
Zelda Rubinstein – Americathon
Jay O. Sanders – Starting Over
Raynor Scheine – Something Short of Paradise
Wallace Shawn – Manhattan
Martin Short – Lost and Found
J. Smith-Cameron – Gal Young Un
Timothy Spall – Quadrophenia
Vincent Spano – Over the Edge
Mike Starr – Squeeze Play!
Daniel Stern – Breaking Away
Emma Suárez – Memoirs of Leticia Valle
Patrick Swayze – Skatetown, U.S.A.
Joey Travolta – Sunnyside
Jean-Claude Van Damme – Woman Between Wolf and Dog
Christoph Waltz – Breakthrough
Peter Weller – Butch and Sundance: The Early Days
Joanne Whalley – Birth of the Beatles
JoBeth Williams – Kramer vs. Kramer
Mykelti Williamson – Sunnyside
Michael Wincott – Title Shot
Ray Winstone – That Summer!
Michael Wright – The Wanderers
