Films of my life – 1975

“1975 is one of my favourite movie years. Not all of the movies were great, but the memories certainly were”

Films of my life – 1975

What a year! This is the year when I remember becoming more “independent” in my movie habits. Not as in seeing more independent rather than mainstream Hollywood movies, but in being able to go to the cinema without my parents.

At this time I was growing up in Gateshead, and most of the movies I saw were shown at the Classic Cinema in Low Fell. I used to go with my Three Amigos – Tessa, Andy & Sean

Title: Classic Cinema, Durham Road, Low Fell Courtesy of: Photographer: Manders, Frank Date: 28/7/1977 iSee Gateshead Old Photographs Ref: GL001191

and the certificates in those days were;

• U (universal, same as today)
• A (a bit like today’s PG, but many cinema’s would not allow children to see movies on an evening, without an adult, especially for popular films)
• AA – like a 15
• X – like an 18

I remember trying to go and see “The Towering Inferno” in 1974 with my mates, and getting turned away from a evening show, despite queuing for 30 minutes!

So what were my favourite movies of 1975? Well, I got to see my first AA (despite being 11) when we got into “Tommy”. I barely enjoyed the film on that occasion as I kept expecting the police to come in and arrest us for being under age! I have to say, Tommy is still one of my favourite movies, a crazy mix of a great album from The Who and the trippy visuals of Ken Russell.

The following week, I tried to get into “Rollerball” and failed. After several failed attempts I eventually got to see it in 70mm at the Queen’s Cinema in Newcastle (with a giant curved screen) about 2 years later! It is still one of my favourite movies of any year.

courtesy of cinematreasures.org Queens Cinerama Theatre

Here are my favourite movies of 1975

1. Jaws
2. Rollerball
3. Tommy
4. One FlewOver the Cuckoo’s Nest (Jack Nicholson classic)
5. Three Days of the Condor (classic 1970s conspiracy flick)
6. Picnic at Hanging Rock (spooky Australian mystery)
7. Barry Lyndon (Kubrick does Thackeray)
8. Dog Day Afternoon
9. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (which everyone my age could quote)

one of the most famous movie posters in history

Jaws confirmed my love of cinema. It came out on boxing Day 1975, 6 months after taking the USA by storm. I remember the hype and build up (done in a very 1970s under stated way). There were jigsaws,  an advert for Tudor crisps and the original book and the soundtrack with that theme (Da dum Daa dum). In the days before the internet, building the buzz was a long drawn out affair.

I got to see Jaws over the Christmas holiday. It was showing at the ABC Haymarket in Newcastle, and there were queues for every showing. If you wanted to see it in the first week, you had to queue for up to 2 hours. I went with my friend Dave, who’s dad was best friends with Sandy, the concierge. We walked to the front of the queue and got in first. Just like we were VIPs, though we did pay!

My abiding memories of watching the film were;

1. I’ve never seen anything like this
2. Seeing a fat woman in the row in front of us scream and throw her large box of popcorn all over her and us when that head comes out of the bottom of the boat. Simply magic.

1975 is one of my favourite movie years. Not all of the movies were great, but the memories certainly were