007: The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) DVD

Cool government operative James Bond (Roger Moore) searches for a stolen invention that can turn the sun's heat into a destructive weapon. He soon crosses paths with the menacing Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee), a hit man so skilled he has a seven-figure working fee. Bond then joins forces with the swimsuit-clad Mary Goodnight (Britt Ekland), and together they track Scaramanga to a tropical isle hideout where the killer-for-hire lures the slick spy into a deadly maze for a final duel.

Chinatown (1974) DVD

A woman identifying herself as Evelyn Mulwray hires private investigator J.J. "Jake" Gittes to surveil her husband, Hollis Mulwray, chief engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Gittes tails him, hears him publicly refuse to create a new reservoir that would be unsafe, and shoots photographs of him with a young woman, which are published on the front page of the following day's paper. Back at his office, Gittes is confronted by a woman who informs him she is the real Evelyn Mulwray and that he can expect a lawsuit.

Realizing he was set up, Gittes assumes that Hollis Mulwray is the real target. Before he can question him, Lieutenant Lou Escobar fishes Mulwray, drowned, from a reservoir. Under retainer to Mrs. Mulwray, Gittes investigates his suspicions of murder and notices that although there is a drought, huge quantities of water are being released from the reservoir every night. Gittes is warned off by Water Department Security Chief Claude Mulvihill and a henchman who slashes Gittes' nose. Back at his office, Gittes receives a call from Ida Sessions, who identifies herself as the imposter Mrs. Mulwray. She is afraid to identify her employer but tells Gittes to check the day's obituaries.

Gittes learns that Mulwray was once the business partner of his wife's wealthy father, Noah Cross. Over lunch at his personal club, Cross warns Gittes that he does not understand the forces at work, and offers to double Gittes' fee to search for Mulwray's missing mistress. At the hall of records, Gittes discovers that much of the Northwest Valley has recently changed ownership. Investigating the valley, he is attacked by angry landowners who believe he is an agent of the water department attempting to force them out by sabotaging their water supply.

Gittes deduces that the water department is drying up the land so it can be bought at a reduced price and that Mulwray was murdered when he discovered the plan. He discovers that a former retirement home resident is one of the valley's new landowners who seemingly purchased the property a week after his death. Gittes and Evelyn bluff their way into the home and confirm that the real-estate deals were surreptitiously completed in the names of several of the home's residents. Their visit is interrupted by the suspicious retirement-home director, who has called Mulvihill.

After fleeing Mulvihill and his thugs, Gittes and Evelyn hide at Evelyn's house and sleep together. Early in the morning, Evelyn gets a phone call and must leave suddenly; she warns Gittes that her father is dangerous. Gittes follows Evelyn's car to a house, where he spies her through the windows comforting Mulwray's mistress, Katherine. He accuses Evelyn of holding the woman against her will, but she says Katherine is her sister.

The next day, an anonymous call draws Gittes to Ida Sessions' apartment, where he finds her murdered and Escobar waiting for Gittes' arrival. Escobar tells him the coroner's report found salt water in Mulwray's lungs, indicating that he did not drown in the fresh water of the reservoir. Escobar suspects Evelyn of the murder and tells Gittes to produce her quickly. At Evelyn's mansion, Gittes finds her servants packing her things. He realizes her garden pond is salt water and discovers a pair of bifocals in it. He confronts Evelyn about Katherine, whom Evelyn now claims is her daughter. After Gittes slaps her, she tells him that Katherine is her sister and her daughter: her father raped her when she was 15. She says that the eyeglasses are not Mulwray's, as he did not wear bifocals.

Gittes arranges for the women to flee to Mexico and instructs Evelyn to meet him at her butler's home in Chinatown. He summons Cross to the Mulwray home to settle their deal. Cross admits his intention to annex the Northwest Valley into the City of Los Angeles, then irrigate and develop it. Gittes accuses Cross of murdering Mulwray. Cross takes the bifocals at gunpoint, and he and Mulvihill force Gittes to drive them to the women. When they reach the Chinatown address, the police are already there and detain Gittes. When Cross approaches Katherine, Evelyn shoots him in the arm and starts to drive away with Katherine. The police open fire, killing Evelyn. Cross clutches Katherine and leads her away, while Escobar orders Gittes released. Lawrence Walsh, one of Gittes's associates, tells him: "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown."

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) and her paraplegic brother, Franklin (Paul A. Partain), travel with three friends, Jerry (Allen Danziger), Kirk (William Vail), and Pam (Teri McMinn), to visit the grave of the Hardestys' grandfather to investigate reports of vandalism and grave robbing. Afterwards, they decide to visit the old Hardesty family homestead. Along the way, they pick up a hitchhiker (Edwin Neal) who talks about his family who worked at the old slaughterhouse. He borrows Franklin's pocket-knife and cuts himself, then takes a Polaroid picture of the others and demands money for it. When they refuse to pay, he burns the photo and slashes Franklin's arm with a straight razor. The group forces him out of the van and drive on. They stop at a gas station to refuel, but the proprietor (Jim Siedow) tells them the pumps are empty.

They continue toward the homestead, intending to return to the gas station once it has received a fuel delivery. When they arrive, Franklin tells Kirk and Pam about a local swimming-hole and the couple head off to find it. They stumble upon a nearby house, and Kirk calls out for gas, entering through the unlocked door, while Pam waits outside. Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) suddenly appears and kills Kirk with a hammer. Pam enters soon after and trips into a room filled with furniture made from human bones. She attempts to flee, but Leatherface catches her and impales her on a meathook, making her watch as he butchers Kirk with a chainsaw. Jerry heads out to look for Pam and Kirk at sunset. He sees the house and finds Pam, still alive, inside a freezer. Before he can react, Leatherface kills him.

With darkness falling, Sally and Franklin set out to find their friends. As they near the neighboring house and call out, Leatherface lunges from the darkness and kills Franklin with a chainsaw. Sally runs toward the house and finds the desiccated remains of an elderly couple upstairs. She escapes from Leatherface by jumping through a second-floor window and flees to the gas station. The proprietor calms her with offers of help but then ties her up, gags her and forces her into his truck. He drives to the house, arriving at the same time as the hitchhiker, now revealed as Leatherface's brother. The hitchhiker recognizes Sally and taunts her.

The men torment the bound and gagged Sally while Leatherface, now dressed as a woman, serves dinner. Leatherface and the hitchhiker bring down Grandpa (John Dugan), one of the desiccated bodies from upstairs. He is revealed to be alive when he sucks blood from a cut on Sally's finger. They decide that Grandpa, the best killer in the old slaughterhouse, should kill Sally. He tries to hit her with a hammer but he is too weak. In the ensuing confusion, she breaks free, leaps through a window, and flees to the road. Leatherface and the hitchhiker give chase, but the latter is run over and killed by a passing truck. Leatherface attacks the truck with his chainsaw, and when the driver stops to help; the driver knocks down Leatherface with a pipe wrench, causing the chainsaw to cut his leg. The driver flees, and Sally escapes in the back of a passing pickup truck as Leatherface dances maniacally in the road with his chainsaw.

Penda's Fen (Play for Today) 1974

Penda's Fen is a British television play which was written by David Rudkin and directed by Alan Clarke. It was commissioned by BBC producer David Rose, and first broadcast on 21 March 1974 as part of the corporation's Play for Today series.

Set in the village of Pinvin, near Pershore in Worcestershire, England, against the backdrop of the Malvern Hills, it is an evocation of conflicting forces within England past and present. These include authority, tradition, hypocrisy, landscape, art, sexuality, and most of all, its mystical, ancient pagan past. All of this comes together in the growing pains of the adolescent Stephen, a vicar's son, whose encounters include angels, Edward Elgar and King Penda himself. The final scene of the play, where the protagonist has an apparitional experience of King Penda and the "mother and father of England", is set on the Malvern Hills.

(1974) Gone in 60 Seconds

Gone in 60 Seconds is a 1974 American action film written, directed, produced by, and starring H.B. "Toby" Halicki. It centers on a group of car thieves and the 48 cars they must steal in a matter of days. The film is known for having wrecked and destroyed 93 cars in a car chase scene. This film is the basis for the 2000 remake starring Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie.

Maindrian Pace (H.B. "Toby" Halicki) is a respectable insurance investigator who runs an automobile chop shop in Long Beach, California. However, he is also the leader of a professional car theft ring, who steal and re-sell stolen cars; utilizing the vehicle identification number (VIN), engines, parts, and details (such as parking decals and bumper stickers) sourced from legitimately-purchased wrecks. As an insurance industry insider, Pace does have one small idiosyncrasy: All vehicles stolen must be insured.
 
Pace is approached by a South American drug lord who offers $400,000 in exchange for the theft of 48 specific vehicles, to be delivered to the Long Beach docks within five days. The list includes limousines, semi-trailer trucks, vintage cars, and exotics; rendering the order difficult to fill within the time limit. Nevertheless, Pace is confident that the order can be filled.

Mapping out a basic strategy, the thieves scout out their vehicular targets; all of which have been given female code names. The plan goes smoothly – with even some of the more eclectic vehicles acquired with relative ease – but obstacles mount. Chief of these difficulties is a yellow, 1973 Ford Mustang, code named "Eleanor." The first "Eleanor" they come across is occupied; the second car results in a chase as its drunken owner pursues Pace. A third "Eleanor" is acquired seemingly without issue.

Further tension enters into the picture when a white Cadillac – stolen as part of the order – is found to contain several kilos of heroin stashed in its trunk. Pace's brother-in-law, Eugene, sees the heroin as a profitable side business; Pace disagrees, viewing the heroin as a threat to the security of the operation. Against Eugene's vehement protests, Pace does not relinquish the heroin, and has the Cadillac and its contents burned at a remote location – unbeknownst to Eugene.

The theft of all 48 vehicles is soon completed, but the third "Eleanor" is discovered to be uninsured within hours of delivery to the docks. After pleas from fiancée Pumpkin Chase, Pace agrees to return it – only because he is aware of a fourth match for "Eleanor" at the International Towers in Long Beach. At the same time, Eugene learns of the Cadillac's fate and attempts to start a brawl; ultimately leaving the office in a rage.

Pace prepares to steal the fourth "Eleanor", unaware that Eugene has anonymously tipped off the police. As a result of the tip-off, two detectives (Butch Stockton and Phil Woods) in an unmarked Mercury corner the disguised Pace as he exits the International Towers. A 34-minute car chase (in which 93 vehicles are destroyed) ensues, covering 6 California cities from Long Beach to Carson. Eluding the police with speed and driving skill, Pace keeps from being caught by police – but not without causing irreparable damage to the car.

Pace is now desperate; police blockades and surveillance surround the areas. However, Pace spots another "Eleanor" Mustang pulling into a car wash. Realizing an opportunity, Pace drives the abused Mustang up to the wash entrance, leaves it with the staff, and then dupes the owner of the fifth Mustang (under the guise of being the manager of the car wash). After a quick license plate swap and removal of his disguise, he subsequently leaves the car wash with the intact Mustang.
Meanwhile, the duped owner is inquiring with the manager of the car wash as to the whereabouts of her Mustang – and faints at the sight of the wrecked car as it exits the wash bay. The police, spotting the wrecked Mustang, quickly descend upon the scene to arrest the manager of the car wash, who matches the description of Pace.

The film ends as Pace clears a police roadblock, driving the fifth "Eleanor".

(1974) Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry

Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry is a 1974 American car chase film based on the 1963 Richard Unekis novel titled The Chase (later renamed Pursuit). Directed by John Hough, the film stars Peter Fonda, Susan George, Adam Roarke, and Vic Morrow. Although Jimmie Haskell is credited with writing the music score, the soundtrack contains no incidental music apart from the theme song "Time (Is Such A Funny Thing)", sung by Marjorie McCoy, over the opening and closing titles, and a small amount of music heard over the radio.


Two NASCAR hopefuls, driver Larry Rayder and his mechanic Deke Sommers, successfully execute a supermarket heist to finance their jump into big-time auto racing. They extort $150,000 in cash from a supermarket manager by holding his wife and daughter hostage.

In making their escape, they are confronted by Larry's one-night stand, Mary Coombs. She coerces them to take her along for the ride in their souped-up 1966 Chevrolet Impala. The unorthodox sheriff, Captain Everett Franklin, obsessively pursues the trio in a dragnet, only to find his outmoded patrol cars unable to catch Larry, Mary, and Deke after they ditch the Impala for a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T 440 at a flea market.

As part of the escape plan, Larry's vehicle enters an expansive walnut grove, where the trees provide significant cover from aerial tracking, and the many intersecting roads ("with sixty distinct and separate exits") making road blocks ineffective. The trio evades several Dodge Polara patrol cars, a specially-prepared high-performance police interceptor, and even Captain Franklin himself in a Bell JetRanger helicopter. Believing they've finally beaten the police, Larry and company meet their doom when they randomly collide with a freight train pulled by an Alco S1 locomotive.

(1974) The Godfather: Part II

The compelling sequel to "The Godfather," contrasting the life of Corleone father and son. Traces the problems of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) in 1958 and that of a young immigrant Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) in 1917's Hell's Kitchen. Michael survives many misfortunes and Vito is introduced to a life of crime.

(1974) The Complete Bagpuss

All episodes from the children's animated series featuring the moth-eaten old fat cat and his various animated chums. The episodes are: 'Ship in a Bottle', 'The Owls of Athens', 'The Frog Princess', 'The Ballet Shoe', 'The Hamish', 'The Wise Man', 'The Elephant', 'The Mouse Mill', 'The Giant', 'The Old Man's Beard', 'The Fiddle', 'Flying' and 'Uncle Feedle'.

(1974) The Beast Must Die

(1974) Alice in the Cities

Alice in the Cities (Alice in den Städten) was the first of German director Wim Wenders' films to be lensed in part in the United States. Phillip (Rüdiger Vogler) is a roving German reporter who, after a chance encounter with an elusive American woman, reluctantly accepts temporary custody of little Alice (Yella Rottländer). Phillip takes Alice in hand on a trek across Germany to locate the girl's grandmother. The plot takes second place to Wenders' fascination with the contrast between the neon-and-billboard ambiance of the U.S. and the rolling hills and industrial pockets of Deutschland. Alice in the Cities was the first of Wenders' "road trilogy"; the follow-ups were Wrong Move (1975) and Kings of the Road (1976), both also starring Rüdiger Vogler.

Directed By: Wim Wenders

Born Innocent (1974)

The victim of an abusive father and an indifferent mother, Chris Parker (Linda Blair) runs away from home repeatedly until her parents give up on her. After her latest attempt at escape, she becomes a ward of the court and is sent to live in a group home for girls. Life there, however, is not much more agreeable than it is at home. When Chris excels in her schoolwork, the other girls avenge themselves by raping her in the shower, and things only get worse from there.