Cinema St. Louis’ Golden Anniversaries: Films of 1971, a Free Discussion Series, Runs Virtually Throughout 2021

By Tom Stockman | January 7, 2021

Golden Anniversaries, which is co-presented by Cinema St. Louis (CSL) and the St. Louis Public Library, features classic films celebrating their 50th anniversaries. This fourth edition of the event will highlight films from 1971.

Because in-person screenings remain problematic during the pandemic, Cinema St. Louis will hold free online conversations on the films, with people watching the films on their own but gathering virtually to discuss them.

Film critics, film academics, and filmmakers will offer introductory remarks and then participate in discussions about the films. In addition to a fine selection of St. Louis critics, Golden Anniversaries will feature several experts from elsewhere.

The conversations will be offered as free livestreams at 7:30 PM on the second Monday of every month in 2021 except November, when the St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) hopes to feature several in-person Golden Anniversaries selections.

The first four discussions are already scheduled:

Jan. 11: Peter Bogdanovich’s “The Last Picture Show” with Joshua Ray, film critic for The Lens, CSL’s film blog.

“The Last Picture Show” is one of the key films of the American cinema renaissance of the 1970s. Set during the early ’50s, in the loneliest Texas nowheresville to ever dust up a movie screen, this aching portrait of a dying West, adapted from Larry McMurtry’s novel, focuses on the daily shuffles of three futureless teens — the enigmatic Sonny (Timothy Bottoms), the wayward jock Duane (Jeff Bridges), and the desperate-to-be-adored rich girl Jacy (Cybil Shepherd) — and the aging lost souls who bump up against them in the night like drifting tumbleweeds, including Cloris Leachman’s lonely housewife and Ben Johnson’s grizzled movie-house proprietor (with both of those performers winning Oscars in their supporting roles). Featuring evocative black-and-white imagery and profoundly felt performances, this hushed depiction of crumbling American values remains the pivotal film in the career of director and film historian Peter Bogdanovich.

Intro and discussion by Joshua Ray, regular contributor to Cinema St. Louis’ The Lens film blog, co-programmer for QFest St. Louis, and member of the selection committee for the St. Louis International Film Festival. 

Feb. 8: Gordon Park’s “Shaft” with Novotny Lawrence, author of “Blaxploitation Films of the 1970s: Blackness and Genre”

In this Blaxploitation classic, Richard Roundtree stars as ultra-cool New York City private detective John Shaft. When the New York Mafia wants to take over the Harlem drug trade, they kidnap the daughter of local crime lord Bumpy Jonas (Moses Gunn). In the middle of a mob war that threatens to ignite a racial tinderbox, Jonas hires the one man tough enough to get his daughter back — John Shaft. Helmed by Gordon Parks, whose “The Learning Tree” (1969) was the first Hollywood film directed by a Black man, “Shaft” features a Grammy-winning soul-funk soundtrack by Isaac Hayes. The singer and songwriter also took home an Oscar for the film’s theme song, which features these memorable opening lines: “Who’s the black private dick/That’s a sex machine to all the chicks? (Shaft)/You’re damn right.”

Intro and discussion by Novotny Lawrence, associate professor at Iowa State University, author of “Blaxploitation Films of the 1970s: Blackness and Genre,” editor of “Documenting the Black Experience,” and co-editor of “Beyond Blaxploitation.”

March 8: Robert Altman’s “McCabe” and Mrs. Miller” with Charles Taylor, author of “Opening Wednesday at a Theater or Drive-In Near You: The Shadow Cinema of the American ’70s”

April 12: Ted Kotcheff’s “Wake in Fright” with Andrew Wyatt, editor of and film critic for The Lens

In addition, two programs are confirmed but not yet scheduled: a double bill of Werner Herzog’s “Fata Morgana” and “Land of Silence and Darkness” with Pete Timmermann, director of the Webster University Film Series, and Joseph Losey’s “The Go-Between” with Cait Lore, film critic for The Lens.

The remaining discussions — which will take place on May 10, June 14, July 12, Aug. 9, Sept. 13, Oct. 11, and Dec. 13 — will be announced in February on the CSL website.

Among the other potential selections are Mike Nichols’ “Carnal Knowledge,” Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange,” Don Siegel’s “Dirty Harry,” William Friedkin’s “The French Connection,” Alan J. Pakula’s “Klute,” and Elaine May’s “A New Leaf.”

The discussions with the presenters will be facilitated by Cliff Froehlich, CSL’s executive director. Audience members will be able to ask questions and make observations on the films through the chat function of the livestream.

Participants will need to register for Golden Anniversaries livestreams on the CSL website. The introductions and discussions will also be recorded and archived on CSL’s YouTube channel. Essays on many of the films will appear on The Lens, CSL’s blog.

The Classic French Film Festival — currently slated for in-person presentation in August 2021 — will also feature several 1971 films. Candidates include Claude Jutra’s “Mon Oncle Antoine,” Louis Malle’s “Murmur of the Heart,” and François Truffaut’s “Two English Girls.”

SLIFF — scheduled for in-person presentation from Nov. 4-14, 2021 — will also include a selection of 1971 films. Likely contenders include Jan Troell’s “The Emigrants,” Sam Peckinpah’s “Straw Dogs,” Melvin Van Peebles’ “Sweet Sweetback’s Badasssss Song,” and Monte Hellman’s “Two-Lane Blacktop.”

For more information, please visit cinemastlouis.org/golden-anniversaries.