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Ten Best List for the Year 1973
- American Graffiti -- It's the last, long night of the summer of 1962 and for two recent California grads (Richard Dreyfuss and Ron Howard) jetting away to college in the morning, it's a last chance to taste the innocent fantasies of a teenage world about to be lost, perhaps forever. The hugely eventful evening is packed with high school nostalgia but, despite the smiles of its star-crossed lovers, the mood ultimately turns sober. Director George Lucas's delightful comedy not only captures the signs of former times but comments on them with eloquence and incisiveness. A-III-adults (PG) 1973
- Bang the Drum Slowly -- Director John Hancock's humorous and touching portrait of a young baseball player who wants to play one last season before he dies made Robert De Niro a name to remember. Michael Moriarity co-stars as the best friend who shares his hopes and pains. Realistic but sensitive treatment of terminal illness. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1973
- Day for Night -- Director Francois Truffaut presents an amusing day-to-day diary of how a melodrama gets filmed in a studio on the French Riviera and himself plays the role of the director battling production difficulties while trying to deal with various complications in the (mostly love) lives of his cast (Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Valentina Cortese and Jean-Pierre Aumont). It not only has some charming comedy, but it provides viewers with a real insight into how movies are made. A-III-adults (PG) 1973
- The Friends of Eddie Coyle -- Solid adaptation of a George V. Higgins' novel about a tired, smalltime Boston crook (Robert Mitchum), who wants to retire on one last job but gets caught in the middle of con men, cops and criminals, and tries desperately to find an out. Directed by Peter Yates, the story is given a fine, naturalistic treatment, tough and complex, but tight. The powerful effect of the conclusion is achieved through the movie's careful accumulation of detail, though some may be unwilling to wait for the final turn of events because of the harsh and uncompromising depiction of criminal life. A-III-adults (R) 1973
- Godspell -- Sparkling screen version of musical based loosely on the Gospel according to Matthew, featuring an off-Broadway cast with Victor Garber as the Christ figure and David Haskell as both John the Baptist and Judas. What makes the movie so high-spirited is director David Greene's turning the entire city of New York into a giant stage set, with its buildings, streets and parks all strikingly used for great effect. The parables are presented in imaginative skits, many of which serve as springboards for the irresistible tunes, such as "Day by Day" and "God Save the People!," that made the play so popular. A-I-general patronage (G) 1973
- I.F. Stone's Weekly -- Fine documentary by Jerry Bruck Jr. is primarily a study of Stone as a reporter's reporter, whose labors have made him an ebullient force in contemporary jounalism. Not least of the film's virtues is its rare picture of a man who thoroughly enjoys what he does for a living and even feels a little guilty that he gets paid for it. A-II-adults and adolescents (Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America) 1973
- An Infinite Tenderness -- French documentary on the world of a brain-damaged, physically-handicapped child confined to a wheel chair, unable to speak but trying desperately to communicate with his nurse and the other children in the hospital. It chronicles his friendship with another youngster even more crippled than himself, their joy in being together, their little spats and, finally, the termination of their friendship by death. Directed by Pierre Jallaud, it is a remarkable achievement, treating its subject creatively yet with complete integrity. There is no commentary, no dialogue, only the natural sounds of the children and their environment. A-II-adults and adolescents (Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America) 1973
- The New Land -- Sequel to "The Emigrants" continues its story of a Swedish family (Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann) after they and a small band of farmers arrive in the Minnesota wilderness of the 1850s and set to work establishing homesteads, cultivating the land, raising their families and acclimatizing themselves to life in the New Land. Superbly directed by Jan Troell, the historical re-creation is an extraordinary achievement in conveying a sense of the pioneer spirit out of which our nation grew. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1973
- Serpico -- Screen version of the life and hard times of Frank Serpico (Al Pacino), the New York City patrolman whose disclosure of deep and insidious corruption within the police force went unheard until he told the press, after which a commission was set up to reform the department. Director Sidney Lumet's movie is gritty and uncompromising, convincingly realistic, yet engrossing in its human drama and tension. Its theme of corruption is unpleasantly graphic and some will find its implications frightening. A-IV-adults with reservations (R) 1973
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