Which films turn 50 in 2023?

The highest-grossing film of 1973? It’s a disturbing, upsetting horror film. Yes, The Exorcist was the top-grossing movie of 1973, and to this day, it’s still considered one of the best-ever horror movies. Not for the faint of heart, but a must-see for horror enthusiasts.

Ah, the days when Oscar winners were also big hits at the box office. The Sting was the second-highest-grossing film of 1973 and the Best Picture winner. Reuniting Paul Newman and Robert Redford, The Sting is a con artist story punctuated with ragtime music, which apparently people enjoyed at the time.

Before Star Wars , George Lucas made his first splash with American Graffiti . A throwback to Lucas’ youth, the film is a period piece set in 1962 and focused on teenagers wondering what is coming next in their life. Also, they drive around a bunch, and Harrison Ford got an early role, which paved the way for some bigger roles for Ford in Lucas projects.

Apparently, 1973 was a huge year for Redford. In addition to The Sting, he was in another big hit, The Way We Were . Although, this movie is best remembered as a Barbra Streisand film. After all, she sang the title song, which became a No. 1 hit.

Dirty Harry was a big hit in 1971 because grimy movies about renegade cops clicked with people. Magnum Force is the first of the sequels starring Clint Eastwood. These movies don’t necessarily age well, but they are indicative of the era, and Magnum Force was a huge hit. It was also co-written by John Milius and Michael Cimino, which means it is truly wild.

History was made with Paper Moon, another con artist tale. This one stars Ryan O’Neal and his daughter, Tatum. Tatum won Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars, even though she was all of 10 years old. She remains the youngest Oscar winner in a competitive category.

Bond movies are always a view into where the world was at the time, but Live and Let Die has more going for it. It’s the first Roger Moore film after he took over the role of James Bond. That alone makes it worth seeing for film fans and movie historians.

By the time Enter the Dragon was released in the United States, Bruce Lee had already tragically died at 32. He would then posthumously become the biggest martial-arts movie star in the world. To this day, many consider Enter the Dragon the best martial-arts film, and it has kept Lee a legend decades after his death.

Maybe Papillon has not been as culturally sticky as other films on this list. However, if we are talking about the films of 1973, we have to include this prison drama. Based on a true story, the film starred Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman and was the fourth-highest-grossing movie of the year. As such, it is an important film to include when discussing the landscape of 1973.

The year 1973 was in the heyday of the Blaxploitation era, and The Harder They Come is one of the iconic films of that realm. A big part of that is the soundtrack, which is heavy on reggae music and is often credited as introducing American audiences to the genre.

Jack Lemmon was a movie star for decades and already had an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for Mister Roberts. However, in 1973, he won Best Actor for Save the Tiger. The film is not great, though it is fine. As the film that gave Lemmon a Best Actor award, it’s worth seeing.

An animated classic. Charlotte’s Web is an adaption of the E.B. White album that most of us read as kids. There’s a good chance that after reading the book, you were also shown this film.

No, not the Dwayne Johnson film. That movie was a remake of this one. The original Walking Tall is a bit grittier, and that begins with the fact the headliner is not a movie star in Johnson's vein but character actor Joe Don Baker.

This is one of the best film noir movies ever made. The Long Goodbye comes from legendary director Robert Altman and stars Elliott Gould in his best performance. If you like private eye movies at all, you owe it to yourself to watch this Raymond Chandler adaptation.

You probably know the twist. It’s been a piece of the lexicon for decades. Even people who have never watched Soylent Green sort of know what it is about and can envision Charlton Heston yelling the big line of the movie. Why not see the film now?

Sam Peckinpah enjoyed making revisionist Westerns, and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid is that. The film features two musicians, Kris Kristofferson and Bob Dylan, in leading roles. Dylan also wrote the score and contributed songs. “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” comes from this movie.

The HBO show probably led to a renewed interest in the film Westworld. However, this movie is fairly different from the TV show. It’s more of a straightforward sci-fi/horror film but a good example of that kind of thing. Whether or not you like the show, it can be worth checking the movie out.

It’s not his first movie, but this was the first time Martin Scorsese really made a splash. For that alone, you should watch Mean Streets . It also happens to be a really good movie and the breakthrough film for Robert De Niro.

Don’t Look Now is kind of a horror film but only kind of. It’s more of a mood piece, “elevated horror” before that phrase was so popular. The film's ending is also fairly famous, though we don’t want to say anything more lest we verge into spoiler territory.

Sandwiched between the first two Godfather films, Al Pacino starred in Serpico. The guy was on a roll in the 1970s. Pacino’s turn at Frank Serpico is also considered iconic, and the Sydney Lumet film is a crime drama classic to many.

Yes, this is a Woody Allen movie, and if you want to say “hard pass” to that, we totally get it. However, this is probably Allen’s funniest film.  Sleeper is silly, goofy, and full of great bits. Diane Keaton is outstanding. If you can stomach the taint Allen’s presence puts on all his films, Sleeper is the best comedy of 1973.

If you have only seen the Nicolas Cage version of The Wicker Man, you may be surprised. Cage’s film is a fiasco, a so-bad-it’s-good affair. This film, though, is actually functional! It’s considered a solid horror movie. After all, Christopher Lee is in it.

Terrence Malick is a distinct filmmaker and a critical darling. However, while he loves to capture natural beauty, he’s never been afraid of dark subject matter. Badlands falls into that category, but the starring duo of Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek helped make this one of the critically beloved movies of the year.

We dip into the Blaxploitation world once more. We have to because Coffy is the best-known Pam Grier film. Grier is a Blaxploitation legend but also had a career that broke through the genre fare. Who doesn’t want to give Grier’s career some love?

These days, we are used to film franchises. Way back when, they were less common. The Planet of the Apes series was one of the only franchises of any substance, particularly in the world of genre fare. Battle for the Planet of the Apes is the fifth film in the series and was the last of the era. It would be decades before we saw another Planet of the Apes movie.