Directed by Arthur Hiller, "Love Story" starred Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw as a pair of college students who embark upon a profound but ultimately doomed love affair. It was best known for the line, "Love means never having to say you're sorry," and its sentimentality help propel it to the top of 1970's box office charts, grossing $106 million domestically. It made big stars out of both O'Neal and MacGraw, the latter of whom was romantically linked to producer Robert Evans at the time.
Disaster movies were in vogue during the early 1970s, few more so than this potboiler directed by George Seaton from a novel by Arthur Hailey. A huge blizzard strikes a major Midwestern airport, and Burt Lancaster's airport manager struggles to deal with all manner of obstacles, including a mad bomber onboard an airborne plane. It rang up a healthy $100 million at the box office, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 1970.
Most people know "M*A*S*H" as a TV show, but it was inspired by Robert Altman's 1970 movie, which is still considered one of the greatest war satires of all time. Three irreverent surgeons--Hawkeye Pierce (Donald Sutherland), Duke Forrest (Tom Skerritt) and Trapper John McIntyre (Elliott Gould)--are stationed at a mobile surgical hospital near the front in the Korean War. Their flaunting of authority and often cruel pranks come as a reaction to the horrors they witness in their work: laughing at the folly so that they don't break down in tears. The film became the surprise hit of the year--grossing $73 million--and today ranks among Altman's best films.
Someone once said that "Patton" wasn't a particularly good film. Instead, it was an unforgettable performance: a character study of the famous World War II general, portrayed by George C. Scott in the role which defined his career. Scott famously refused to accept the Oscar he won for the film, but the performance is indelible, and his opening speech in front of a huge American flag remains one of the most enduring images of cinema. It grossed just under $62 million at the box office, ranking it fourth on the list of 1970s films.