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

Romance films released in 1974

 * 1) Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

Births

 * January 5 - Daisy Bates, actress
 * January 30 - Christian Bale, English actor
 * February 9
 * Amber Valletta, American model and actress
 * Erra Fazira, Malaysian actress
 * March 24 - Alyson Hannigan, actress
 * April 24 - Jennifer Paz, Filipino actress
 * April 28 - Penélope Cruz, actress
 * May 21 - Fairuza Balk, actress
 * June 25 - Karisma Kapoor, Indian actress
 * July 8 - Tami Erin, American actress
 * July 22 - Franka Potente, actress
 * July 30 - Hilary Swank, actress
 * August 7 - Michael Shannon, actor
 * August 15 - Natasha Henstridge, Canadian actress
 * August 20 - Amy Adams, American actress
 * August 23 - Ray Park, English actor
 * September 10 - Ryan Phillippe, American actor
 * September 19 - Victoria Silvstedt, Swedish actress and model
 * October 17 - Matthew Macfadyen, English actor
 * October 28 - Joaquin Phoenix, Puerto Rican-born actor
 * November 11 - Leonardo DiCaprio, actor
 * November 16 - Chloë Sevigny, American actress
 * December 1 - Erica Rivas, Argentinian actress
 * December 7 - Habieb Naseer, Bollywood director
 * December 17
 * Sarah Paulson, American actor
 * Giovanni Ribisi, American actor

Film debuts

 * Armand Assante - The Lords of Flatbush
 * Chevy Chase - The Groove Tube
 * Jeff Goldblum - Death Wish
 * John Rhys-Davies - The Black Windmill
 * Fred Ward - Ginger in the Morning
 * Denzel Washington - Death Wish