In the 1970s, the film industry continued to thrive by doing what television could not: telling stories that were more complicated, violent, frightening, or sexy than what could be shown to families sitting at home. Two contrasting trends in movie-making were present in the 1970s. On the one hand, a number of filmmakers, both in the United States and in Europe, began to think of film as an art, and they began to make films that were intellectually challenging. Such films were shown at art-house theaters (theaters that show specialty films thought to have artistic merit) and were seen by few. On the other hand, the major studios continued to back what became known as "blockbusters," spectacular films that drew huge audiences. The amount of money spent on and made by movies grew dramatically in the decade.

The string of 1970s blockbusters started with...