The 20th Century Fox Story (1970-1979)

The dark comedy "M*A*S*H" and the biographical drama "Patton" both brought 20th Century Fox much profit and prestige in 1970 but otherwise the new decade got off to a rough start for the studio. Studio founder Darryl F. Zanuck who had been installed as its chairman in the early 1960's had lost his "Midas Touch" and put his production stamp on too many expensive box office failures. In 1971, he was ousted from the studio by its president and his own son (who he appointed to the job) Richard D. Zanuck in an infamous power struggle. Richard resigned from the presidency of Fox soon afterwards to become an independent producer.

"Patton" and 1971's "The French Connection" gave Fox two back-to-back Academy Award wins for Best Picture while multiple sequels to "Planet of the Apes" as well as Irwin Allen's all-star epic "disaster" dramas "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972) and "The Towering Inferno" (1974, co-produced with Warner Bros.) also proved to be very popular. Even the television division, which mostly languished with multiple short lived series for just over a decade was finally making a serious name for itself on the strength of the consistent ratings hit "M*A*S*H", a sitcom adaptation of the popular 1970 movie. While the old days of the Hollywood studio system and the stable of contract players were long gone, Fox could still strike up production/development deals with various directors including Irwin Allen, Mel Brooks and Robert Altman among others. Their films were profitable and the occasional big box office surprise (like 1975's "The Rocky Horror Picture Show") would also help boost Fox's annual profits. However, when previously largely unknown director Steven Spielberg literally created the summer blockbuster with his box office records setting thriller "Jaws" (Universal, 1975), the other studios, Fox included, were hoping to release their own answer(s) to that very profitable kind of success.

Fox got exactly that in 1977 when George Lucas' special effects laden, epic outer space adventure "Star Wars" was released to theaters and became not only the highest grossing movie of the year but would set new box office records as the highest grossing movie of all time. "Star Wars" revived the previously dormant "sci-fi in space" genre, became a cultural phenomenon all over the world and its film making/storytelling influence has paved the way for the many special effects and CGI filled cinematic extravaganzas that have been released since. It was a seemingly improbable film from which the studio expected very little and what they got was huge. By the end of 1979, Fox would launch the beginning of another long running outer space franchise with the release of the smash hit "Alien." The 1970's has frequently been called Hollywood's first real "big money" era and perhaps no studio was making more of that big money than Fox.

The 161 feature films that comprise Fox's 1970's theatrical release output are all listed here. There are some embarrassing lows but a lot more triumphant highs as far as profits and critical/audience praise are concerned.

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