70's Movies Set in LA?

September 25, 2014 12:28 PM

Hey There Brilliant People! I'm looking for great films from the 1970's or docs about that time that show the sexual culture, gender politics, wealth, entertainment business, interior design, architecture, etc. Please recommend :) THANKS!
posted by sunnyblues48 to Media & Arts (25 answers total)

The Long Goodbye, starring Elliott Gould, directed by Robert Altman.
posted by Ufez Jones at 12:33 PM on September 25, 2014 [5 favorites]

Dogtown and Z Boys.
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 12:36 PM on September 25, 2014

IMDB movie search for movies/shows released 1970-1980 with keyword los-angeles-california produces only 179 movies/shows, some of which are not set there, and others of which are not set in the 1970s, but you can probably find some leads.
posted by Sunburnt at 12:41 PM on September 25, 2014

Shampoo
posted by iboxifoo at 12:45 PM on September 25, 2014 [4 favorites]

The first thing that came to mind for me is is Annie Hall, which is mainly set in New York but which has a long segment in the second act wherein Alvy and Annie visit Los Angeles (and which AFAIK was actually filmed in L.A.). It comments on a lot of the social tropes of 70s SoCal, from car culture to health food to the entertainment industry.
posted by Sara C. at 12:53 PM on September 25, 2014 [4 favorites]

LA Plays Itself (1972) (not to be confused with Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003) though you may also be interested in that).
posted by bubukaba at 1:01 PM on September 25, 2014

The Times of Harvey Milk is one of the best documentaries period. Lots of great period shots of 70s SF.
posted by latkes at 1:03 PM on September 25, 2014

Night Moves(1975)
posted by octothorpe at 1:05 PM on September 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

Welcome to L.A., an Alan Rudolph film. Rudolph was an Altman protege, and it shows.
posted by janey47 at 1:31 PM on September 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

Came here to say "The Long Goodbye" and was beat to it by the first one in the thread. Based on a Raymond Chandler story written and set in the late '40s or early '50s, but it transposes really well.
posted by randomkeystrike at 1:40 PM on September 25, 2014

the sexual culture, gender politics, wealth, entertainment business, interior design, architecture, etc.
Shampoo: checks 'em all.

On edit: rinsed and repeated, sorry.
posted by third rail at 2:16 PM on September 25, 2014 [3 favorites]

A Woman Under the Influence seems to fit your bill. I've never seen it, so I can't comment.

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, it's a road movie of sorts, with a stop in Phoenix, but it ends up in LA.

Helter-Skelter.

A weird pairing, Bill Cosby and Raquel Welch, Mother, Jugs and Speed.

Thank God It's Friday

Hardcore

But yeah, Shampoo.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 2:30 PM on September 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

Oh -- you have to include Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice.
Came out in late 1969/early 1070 but still is very very early 70s L.A. gender/sex/culture musings...
posted by third rail at 2:36 PM on September 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

Antonioni's Zabriskie Point (1970) doesn't have any gender politics, but it has everything else, including architecture -- watch for the view of the top of the (demolished) Richfield Tower through Rod Taylor's office window.
posted by Rash at 2:53 PM on September 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

California Suite.
posted by iviken at 3:54 PM on September 25, 2014

The Baader Meinhof Complex.
posted by ereshkigal45 at 4:04 PM on September 25, 2014

There are several movies set in L.A. in the 70s that were filmed much later.

Frost/Nixon splits time between Hollywood and San Clemente

Star 80 and Boogie Nights both start in the 70s.

Lords of Dogtown

The Runaways
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:43 PM on September 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

Another thing to explore is the wide range of surfing films made, many of which feature L.A. in whole or in part.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 7:10 PM on September 25, 2014

I thought of another one, also with the letter z! Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession spans through the eighties, but starts in the 70s and is a fascinating angle on the evolution of film/broadcast/cable.
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 8:19 PM on September 25, 2014

Minnie and Moskowitz
posted by brujita at 8:22 PM on September 25, 2014

I thought of another one, also with the letter z! Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession spans through the eighties, but starts in the 70s and is a fascinating angle on the evolution of film/broadcast/cable.


As someone who grew up in L.A. I n the 70s I think this is a fantastic suggestion! Z Channel was hugely influential.

Also:

Foxes (Very realistic)

Car Wash

Heaven Can Wait

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

Wattstax

The Decline of Western Civilization could count for 1979 I think.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Lovelace

But start with Shampoo.
posted by Room 641-A at 1:18 AM on September 26, 2014

Boogie Nights. If you want to feel old, it was filmed as long ago (1996) as it was from its core setting (1977-1979). I'd bet half the 70s and earlier architecture it captured has been demolished.
posted by MattD at 7:38 AM on September 26, 2014

It's set in San Francisco, not LA, but I'd also suggest Foul Play just on general principles.
posted by Gelatin at 8:17 AM on September 26, 2014

Gay Sex in the 70s is a documentary which certainly covers gender politics and sexual culture!
posted by DarlingBri at 10:42 AM on September 26, 2014

Breezy. A non-sensational view of the generation gap at the end of the sixties, 1973. First film Clint Eastwood directed.

The previously mentioned 'The Long Goodbye' is set in the 70s, but it's a parody of film noir, complete with a lead character who acts is if he just woke up from 1950. Anything about the 70s is an exaggerated version.

The previously mentioned 'Shampoo' is a farce set in 1968.
posted by Homer42 at 5:37 AM on September 27, 2014