007: Diamonds Are Forever (1971) DVD

James Bond, equipped with an armoury of hi-tech gadgets, infiltrates a Las Vegas diamond-smuggling ring in a bid to foil a plot to target Washington with a laser in space. However, as 007 prepares to tackle the evil Blofeld, the mastermind who threatens to destabilise the world, he is captivated by the delicious Tiffany Case - but is she really a double agent?

10 Rillington Place (1971) DVD

A seemingly model citizen living in mid-century London, John Christie (Richard Attenborough) is actually a killer. Masquerading as a doctor, he convinces guileless women that he can cure whatever might ail them, and when they follow him to his home, he chokes them to death and buries them in a makeshift graveyard. Based on a series of real-life killings, the story follows John as he cons a pregnant bride (Judy Geeson) and wonders if he might have found a scapegoat in her husband (John Hurt).

Bleak Moments (1971)

Bleak Moments is a 1971 British film, the first film of Mike Leigh. It began as a 75-minute stage play in March 1970 at the Open Space Theatre. Leigh and Les Blair had formed their own company, Autumn Productions, and Leigh wanted to make a film of Bleak Moments. He was able to realise that desire when Albert Finney and Michael Medwin's Memorial Films, which had recently made If.... and was about to produce Gumshoe, "delivered the main financial backing, as well as unused spare bits of film rolls."

Bleak Moments looks at the 'tortured, semi-articulated anguish' in suburban West Norwood, between Sylvia and her developmentally delayed sister Hilda; Sylvia's friend at work, Pat, a teacher; Peter, Sylvia's reticent prospective boy-friend; and Norman, a 'gormless hippie'.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) DVD

The last of five coveted "golden tickets" falls into the hands of a sweet but very poor boy. He and his grandpa then get a tour of the strangest chocolate factory in the world. The owner leads five young winners on a thrilling and often dangerous tour of his factory.

Harold & Maude (1971)

Harold Chasen (Bud Cort) is a young man obsessed with death. He stages elaborate fake suicides, attends funerals, and drives a hearse, all to the chagrin of his socialite mother (Vivian Pickles). She sets him up appointments with a psychoanalyst, but the analyst is befuddled by the case and fails to get Harold to talk about his real emotions.

At another stranger's funeral service, Harold meets Maude (Ruth Gordon), a 79-year-old woman who shares Harold's hobby of attending funerals. He is entranced by her quirky outlook on life, which is bright and excessively carefree in contrast with his morbidity. The pair form a bond and Maude shows Harold the pleasures of art and music (including how to play banjo), and teaches him how to "[make] the most of his time on earth". Meanwhile, Harold's mother is determined, against Harold's wishes, to find him a wife. One by one, Harold frightens and horrifies each of his appointed dates, by appearing to commit gruesome acts such as self-immolation, self-mutilation and seppuku. She tries enlisting him in the military instead, but he deters his recruiting officer uncle by staging a scene in which Maude poses as a pacifist protester and Harold seemingly murders her out of militaristic fanaticism.

When Harold and Maude are talking at her home he tells her, without prompting, the motive for his fake suicides: When he was at boarding school, he accidentally caused an explosion in his chemistry lab, leading police to assume his death. Harold returned home just in time to witness his mother react to the news of his death with a ludicrously dramatized faint. As he reaches this part of the story, Harold bursts into tears and says, "I decided then I enjoyed being dead."

As they become closer, their friendship soon blossoms into a romance and Harold announces that he will marry Maude, resulting in disgusted outbursts from his family, analyst, and priest. Maude's 80th birthday arrives, and Harold throws a surprise party for her. As the couple dance, Maude tells Harold that she "couldn't imagine a lovelier farewell." Confused, he questions Maude as to her meaning and she reveals that she has taken an overdose of sleeping pills and will be dead by morning. She restates her firm belief that eighty is the proper age to die.

Harold rushes Maude to the hospital, where she is treated unsuccessfully and dies. In the final sequence, Harold's car is seen going off a seaside cliff but after the crash, the final shot reveals Harold standing calmly atop the cliff, holding his banjo. After gazing down at the wreckage, he dances away, picking out on his banjo Cat Stevens' "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out".

The Cat o' Nine Tails (1971) DVD

Franco "Cookie" Arnò (Karl Malden), a middle-aged blind man, is out at night walking with his niece Lori (Cinzia De Carolis) when he overhears a man in a parked car mention blackmail. After Franco and Lori return home, the man in the car gets out and breaks into a large medical complex, the Terzi Institute. The following day, the police and reporter Carlo Giordani (James Franciscus) investigate the break-in, Carlo introducing himself to Franco during a run-in.

Meanwhile, Dr. Calabresi (Carlo Alighiero) looks at his files in his office and phones someone and agrees to meet with him. Calabresi tells his fiancee Bianca Merusi (Rada Rassimov) that he knows who broke into the institute and what was taken, but does not wish to tell anyone yet, saying it could mean a "big step forward". At a train station, while a group of reporters are waiting for a celebrity to arrive by train, the man approaches Calabresi and pushes him onto the tracks. Lori reads the newspaper for Franco about Calabresi's "accidental death," describing the picture and telling him that Giordani wrote the article. The two of them go to see the reporter at his office and ask if the picture has been cropped. Carlo calls Righetto (Vittorio Congia), the paparazzi photographer who snapped the picture. Righetto goes back to the original and sees a moving hand-arm in the far left of the frame. As he prepares to print the photograph, he is strangled to death with a cord. The killer takes the photo and all the negatives and leaves. Carlo, Franco, and Lori arrive and find the body, calling the police led by Chief Investigator Spimi (Pier Paolo Capponi).

Carlo and Franco survey the Institute from a distance, the former looking through a pair of binoculars and describing the people leaving the building to Franco: Mombelli, Esson, Casoni, and Braun, as well as Professor Fulvio Terzi (Tino Carraro) and his daughter Anna (Catherine Spaak). Carlo goes to the Terzi home and expresses his desire to talk about Calabresi's "accident". Afterwards, Carlo speaks with Anna, and he evades her questions of what he and her father spoke about. Carlo and Anna drive away together, but soon realize they are being followed by police and drive at full speed to evade them.

Meanwhile, Franco and Lori go to talk with Bianca, and she says that she could not find anything in the house relating to her fiance's death. At a local restaurant, Anna tells Carlo about the institute's research of "chromosome alteration" and "XYY", the extra Y producing a "criminal tendency" in a person. Carlo goes to see Dr. Braun (Horst Frank) at the St. Peter's Club and talks to the doctor about someone being after the institute's secret drug, news that does not seem to vex the doctor.

Bianca takes a taxi to Calabresi's parked car in a lot. Inside, she finds a tiny note with the details of his fatal appointment at the station. She tapes the note to the inside of her locket. Bianca calls Franco and says she knows who killed Calabresi, but will only tell him in person. As Bianca returns to her apartment, the killer attacks and strangles her with a cord. The killer rummages through her purse, but does not find anything. Franco shows Carlo a note he received in which the killer threatens them. Carlo tells Franco he found out that Casoni was fired from his last job, and Braun received a lot of money. Carlo goes to see Casoni and the doctor talks about the institute's "wonder drug" and the "XYY pattern". Carlo then asks Dr. Mombelli about XYY, and the doctor says that everyone in the institute was tested, but their results are confidential.

The killer approaches Carlo's front door and injects two milk cartons, dropped off by the local milkman, with a syringe. Carlo arrives home and brings the milk cartons inside. Anna arrives shortly thereafter and they talk about more about the research and of her results of the XYY test. They end up having sex. Afterwards, Carlo pours a glass of milk from one of the cartons when Franco phones saying that someone tampered with the gas line on his stove, flooding his apartment with methane gas and also may try to kill Carlo. Carlo notices the milk that had bled through the hypodermic needle holes and knocks the glass away from Anna before she can drink it.

The following day, Carlo meets with one of his old friends and informants, Gigi (Ugo Fangareggi), for help in investigating the Terzi break-in which may have been an inside job. Carlo and Gigi break into Terzi's house and discover that Anna is adopted and (via a diary) that Terzi "adored" the woman. Carlo goes to the police station and learns from Spimi that Bianca often met with Braun and that the cops cannot find the doctor. Carlo runs a story in the newspaper about Braun being a suspect in the break-in, and a former gay lover of Manuel (Werner Pochath) (Braun's new lover) approaches Carlo and tells him where Braun is hiding. Carlo goes over to the apartment where he is attacked by Manuel. Carlo wins the fight, and sees Braun lying dead on the couch.

A few days later, Franco contacts Carlo about Bianca's locket and suggests that the note that she found might still be there. Franco and Carlo head to the cemetery and open Bianca's family crypt. Carlo gets her coffin open while Franco waits by the door. Carlo finds the locket and discovers the note behind a metal plate and hands it to Franco. As Carlo closes the coffin, the killer shuts the crypt door, locking him in, and attacks Franco. The killer takes the note, but Franco stabs him with his walking cane (which has a knife hidden inside the cain). While Franco reopens the door to let Carlo out, Lori is hit on the head, by the killer, and put in the back of a car. Franco and Carlo find the taxi which the killer and Lori rode and discover blood in the back seat. The killer calls Franco and tells him to stop investigating the break in and murders or otherwise he will kill Lori.

Carlo goes to the police to report the kidnapping and they go to the Terzi house. Anna comes downstairs with a cloth wrapped around her hand. Carlo tells her he knows about her incestuous relationship with her adoptive father and expresses suspicion about the milk incident (Anna had the glass of poisoned milk for some time without drinking it). But Anna claims that she only cut her hand on a broken vase and was nowhere near the cemetery. Then Terzi arrives and confirms her story.

Carlo and the police arrive at the Terzi Institute and search the place for Lori, but they find nothing. Carlo sees blood dripping from the ceiling in one room. He climbs up to the roof and finds Casoni, who hits him in the face and kicks him to the ground. Casoni, with a stab wound to his stomach, goes to a back room where a bound and gagged Lori is and prepares to stab her. Carlo runs in and tackles Casoni, but is stabbed in the chest. The police arrive on the roof and chase Casoni. Franco stops him with his cane blade and Casoni confesses that he murdered Calabresi and the others to cover up that he tested positive for the XYY chromosome and that Calabresi was attempting to blackmail him. When Franco asks about Lori, and Casoni tells Franco that he killed her. Enraged, Franco swings his cane at Casoni, knocking him through a sky window and down an elevator shaft to his death, just as Lori calls out for Franco.

Family Life (1971)

Family Life (US: Wednesday's Child) is a 1971 British drama film directed by Ken Loach from a screenplay by David Mercer. It is a remake of In Two Minds, an episode of the BBC's Wednesday Play series first transmitted by the BBC in March 1967, which was also written by Mercer and directed by Loach.

A young woman, Janice, is living with her restrictive and conservative parents, who lead a dull working-class life, and consider their daughter to be "misbehaving" whenever she's trying to find her own way in life. When she becomes pregnant, they force her into abortion, and hypocritically blame her for "upsetting them" when she is unable to cope with the emotional and mental effect this has on her. Janice is subjected to shockingly self-righteous and ignorant doctors.

(1971) Blood on Satan's Claw

The Blood on Satan's Claw (also released as Satan's Skin) is a 1970 British horror film made by Tigon British Film Productions and directed by Piers Haggard. The film was written by Robert Wynne-Simmons, with additional material by Piers Haggard, and stars Patrick Wymark, Linda Hayden and Barry Andrews. It is set in early 18th century England, and tells the story of a village taken over by demonic possession.

In his 2010 BBC documentary series A History of Horror, writer and actor Mark Gatiss referred to the film as a prime example of a short-lived subgenre he called folk horror, grouping it with 1968's Witchfinder General and 1973's The Wicker Man. The film was to be Patrick Wymark's last English language film, and was released three months after his death.

In early 18th century England, Ralph Gower (Barry Andrews) uncovers a deformed skull with one eye and strange fur on it while ploughing a field. Ralph insists that local judge (Patrick Wymark) look at it, but the skull has vanished and the judge disregards Ralph's supernatural fears. Later, many people in the village become affected by its supernatural power, including a young woman (Tamara Ustinov) who sprouts a claw, and children who find a strange claw and then behave oddly and grow patches of fur on their bodies.

Peter Edmonton (Simon Williams) rides to a neighbouring town to find the judge and bring him back to eradicate the evil. After doing some research in a book about witchcraft, the judge returns. The judge learns that the evil children in the village will gather nearby, and he takes some men to the spot. A satanic beast, whose remains had been found by Gower, is responsible for the evil infecting the populace. The judge and his party find the beast at their destination and slay it.

(1971) The French Connection

The French Connection is a 1971 American dramatic thriller film directed by William Friedkin and produced by Philip D'Antoni. It stars Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, and Roy Scheider. The film was adapted and fictionalized by Ernest Tidyman from the 1969 non-fiction book by Robin Moore. It tells the story of New York Police Department detectives, "Popeye" Doyle and Buddy "Cloudy" Russo, whose real-life counterparts were Narcotics Detectives Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso. Don Ellis scored the film.
It was the first R-rated movie to win the Academy Award for Best Picture since the introduction of the MPAA film rating system. It also won Academy Awards for Best Actor (Hackman), Best Director (Friedkin), Best Film Editing, and Best Adapted Screenplay (Tidyman). It was nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Scheider), Best Cinematography and Best Sound Mixing. Tidyman also received a Golden Globe Award nomination, a Writers Guild of America Award and an Edgar Award for his screenplay. A sequel, French Connection II, followed in 1975 with Gene Hackman and Fernando Rey reprising their roles.

The American Film Institute included the film in its list of the best American films in 1998 and again in 2007. In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

(1971) Murphy's War

An Irish merchant seaman (Peter O'Toole) declares war on a U-boat after it sinks his ship off Venezuela.

(1971) Lust for a Vampire

Lust For a Vampire (also known as Love for a Vampire or To Love a Vampire) is a 1971 British Hammer Horror film directed by Jimmy Sangster, starring Yutte Stensgaard, Michael Johnston and Barbara Jefford. It was given an R rating in the United States for some violence, gore, strong adult content, and nudity. It is the second film in the so-called Karnstein Trilogy loosely based on the J. Sheridan Le Fanu novella Carmilla. It was preceded by The Vampire Lovers and followed by Twins of Evil (1971). The three films do not form a chronological development, but use the Karnstein family as the source of the vampiric threat and were somewhat daring for the time in explicitly depicting lesbian themes.

In 1830, at a finishing school in Styria, Mircalla arrives as a new student. A visiting author, Richard Lestrange, instantly falls in love with her; but Mircalla is a vampire - Carmilla Karnstein - who has been resurrected by her vampiric family. As students in the school, inhabitants of the nearby village and those who suspect Mircalla is responsible start to die, suspicion turns toward the Karnsteins and their ominous castle.

(1971) Catweazle: Complete Second Series

Box set containing the entire second season of the popular Seventies children's series. In 'The Magic Riddle', Catweazle escapes pursuing Norman soldiers by jumping into a moat, only to emerge on the twentieth century estate of Lord Collingford, where he is befriended by young Cedric (Gary Warren). 'Duck Halt' sees Catweazle causing chaos after being sent on an errand to the local pub. In 'The Heavenly Twins', Cedric's birthday party goes awry when Catweazle assists a modern-day magician (Paul Eddington). In 'The Sign of the Crab', Catweazle comes under suspicion when thieves break into King's Farthing. 'The Black Wheels' sees Catweazle keen to help when Groome loses his voice. In 'The Woggle Stone', a superstitious property tycoon attempts to develop King's Farthing. In 'The Enchanted King', Catweazle becomes convinced that a local sculptor (Graham Crowden) has the ability to turn people into stone. 'The Familiar Spirit' sees Touchwood, Catweazle's pet toad, taken ill. In 'The Ghost Hunters', Lady Collingford becomes convinced that King's Farthing is haunted, and takes steps to rid herself of the spooks. In 'The Walking Trees', Catweazle finds himself interrogated by the military when they suspect that he is a spy. 'The Battle of the Giants' sees Lord Collingford and Groome competing against each other with their marrows in the local flower show. In 'The Magic Circle', Groome is referred to a psychiatrist when he begins seeing things. 'The Thirteenth Sign' sees Catweazle set to return to his own time after collecting the twelve signs of the Zodiac, only to stumble across a thirteenth.

(1971) Dirty Harry

Cop Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) attempts to track down a psychopathic rooftop killer before a kidnapped girl dies. When he is found Harry abuses the murderer's civil rights putting him back on the streets. Once he is released he hijacks a school bus and Harry must go after him again. The only way to stop this vicious killer is in cold blood.

(1971) Columbo: Complete First Season

The entire first series of investigations featuring Peter Falk's now-classic depiction of the trenchcoat-clad detective Columbo, who uses his humble ways and disingenuous demeanour to winkle out even the most well-concealed of crimes. In 'Murder by the Book', the talents of a bestselling writing duo are jeopardised when one tries to murder the other. In 'Death Lends a Hand', a top businessman hires a private detective to ascertain whether or not his wife is having an affair... but his plan backfires. In 'Dead Weight', a celebrated war hero becomes a murder suspect. 'Suitable for Framing' sees a multimillionaire art dealer cutting his art critic nephew out of his will - with deadly consequences. In 'Lady in Waiting', the younger sister of a rich corporation chairman loses her patience with him when he refuses to let her marry the man she loves. 'Short Fuse' sees a brilliant scientist plotting to murder his wayward uncle. Finally, in 'Blueprint for Murder', an architect hustles the wife of a rich Texan tycoon into funding an ambitious new multi-million dollar office complex - but when her husband returns, he is none too impressed...

(1971) Two-Lane Blacktop

In this cult favorite road film, a mechanic (Dennis Wilson) and a driver (James Taylor) live only to race and maintain their 1955 Chevy. Heading east from California with no particular agenda, they give a girl (Laurie Bird) a ride, and en route she incites jealousy between the men by sleeping with them both. Meanwhile, the trio encounters an overbearing GTO driver (Warren Oates) who agrees to race them to New York, each side putting at stake their most prized possession: their car.

(1971) Countess Dracula

In 17th-century Hungary, recently widowed Countess Elisabeth Nádasdy discovers that her youthful appearance and libido can be temporarily restored if she bathes in the blood of young women. She enlists her steward and lover Captain Dobi and her maid Julie to help with the kidnap and murder of several local girls, whilst having another sexual affair with a young Lieutenant, Imre Toth. As a cover for her crimes while in her rejuvenated state, she takes the identity of her own daughter, Countess Ilona, whom she had Dobi hold captive in the wood. However, castle historian Fabio grows suspicious. Eventually, she kills a prostitute called Ziza. It doesn't help. Dobi finds Fabio, who has a book-chapter about blood sacrifices and tells Elisabeth the truth in return for being allowed to live.

He says only a virgin sacrifice will help Elisabeth remain young and beautiful. She then kills more virgins, from peasant girls to the servant girls in the palace. Fabio tries to tell Toth the truth about his lover, but Dobi kills Fabio before he can do so. Dobi then shows Elisabeth to Toth to steer him away from her. Elisabeth forces Toth into marrying her but her daughter Ilona arrives home. Elisabeth grows old again and tries to kill her daughter but kills Toth instead. Elisabeth, Dobi and her maid are sentenced to death for their crimes and are last seen awaiting the hangman in their cell. In the last scene, the peasants curse her as "devil woman" and "Countess Dracula".

Countess Dracula was based on Hungarian Countess Erzsebet Báthory (1560-1614), who was responsible for the deaths of allegedly 600 girls and young women, all of which involved torture and gruesome methods of killing.

(1971) Black Beauty (Promotional DVD)

(1971) Duel

David Mann (Dennis Weaver), a mild mannered electronics salesman, is driving cross-country on a two-lane highway when he encounters an old oil tanker driven by an unseen driver who seems to enjoy annoying him with dangerous antics on the road. Unable to escape the demonic big rig, David finds himself in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the monstrous truck. When the pursuit escalates to deadly levels, David must summon his inner warrior and turn the tables on his tormentor.Directed By: Steven Spielberg

(1971) Born to Win

(1971) Blood from the Mummy's Tomb