Ah, wait, “The Godfather” — now you’re talking. Then or now, it’s an offer no moviegoer can refuse. Francis Ford Coppola’s movie was playing at no fewer than 17 theaters here 40 years ago. Considering that it opened in April, this is pretty impressive — though not surprising. How could the greatest Hollywood epic since “Gone With the Wind” not have legs at the box office? In fact, “The Godfather” was well on its way to overtaking “GWTW” and “The Sound of Music” as the top-grossing film of all time. And its reviews were no less stellar than its financial performance.
Obviously, any year that saw the release of “The Godfather” deserves an honored place in movie history. But 1972 was a pretty good movie year generally. Also playing in Greater Boston were Peter Bogdanovich’s “What’s Up, Doc?,” Alfred Hitchcock’s “Frenzy,” and “The Candidate.” With Robert Redford as the telegenic title character, it concludes with one of the best lines in any American political film: “What do we do now?” John Boorman’s “Deliverance” opened a week later
It was also a very strange movie year. How strange? Consider just the letter P: “Pink Flamingos” and “The Poseidon Adventure.” Alas, Divine never got to play the lead in “The Shelley Winters Story.” Or consider “The Godfather.” There in what may well (otherwise) be the finest acting ensemble in Hollywood history is Al Martino — not even Vic Damone, but Al Martino. No wonder Marlon Brando slaps him. Stranger yet, Coppola wouldn’t win the best director Oscar — it would go to Bob Fosse, for “Cabaret.”
As a blend of quality and strangeness, “Cabaret” is hard to beat. It’s one thing for a musical to be nihilistic, kinky, and feature Nazis. It’s quite another for Liza Minnelli to be firing her howitzer talents at such point-blank range. Her Sally Bowles isn’t so much performance as historical reenactment. It’s Judy Garland’s revenge, redemption, or both.