Most Popular Movies 1971
This chart shows the 1971 movie releases that have attracted the most interest on The Numbers web site over the past 24 hours. A share of 100 corresponds to 1 percent of the total views for all 1971 releases.
See also: Domestic Release Schedule for 1971 - Top 1971 Worldwide
| Most Popular Overall | 1972 → |
1
| Bananas |
| Director: Woody Allen |
| Initial Theatrical Release: April 28, 1971 (Wide) by MGM |
| Classification: Original Screenplay, Comedy, Live Action |
2
| Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory |
| Director: Mel Stuart |
| Lead Roles: Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, Jack Albertson as Grandpa Joe, Peter Ostrum as Charlie Bucket |
| Initial Theatrical Release: June 30, 1971 (Wide) |
| Keywords: Spoiled Child, Food, Poverty, Rags to Riches, Remade, Family Musical, Novel or Other Work Adapted by Author |
| Classification: Based on Fiction Book/Short Story, Musical, Live Action, Kids Fiction |
|
Domestic BO: $4,000,000 |
|
International BO: $65,779 |
3
| The Andromeda Strain |
| Director: Robert Wise |
| Initial Theatrical Release: January 1, 1971 (Wide) by Universal |
| Keywords: Techno-Thriller, Epidemic, Non-Chronological, Space Program, Medical and Hospitals, Split Screen |
| Classification: Based on Fiction Book/Short Story, Thriller/Suspense, Live Action, Science Fiction |
|
Domestic BO: $12,376,563 |
|
International BO: $70 |
4
| The Hospital |
| Initial Theatrical Release: December 17, 1971 (Wide) by MGM |
|
Domestic BO: $14,142,409 |
5
| The French Connection |
| Director: William Friedkin |
| Initial Theatrical Release: October 9, 1971 (Wide) |
| Keywords: Film Noir, Narcotics, Organized Crime, Car Chase, Hitmen, Bigotry, Epilogue, Police Procedural, Intertitle, Crime Thriller, 1972 Oscars Best Picture Nominee, Oscars Best Picture Winner |
| Classification: Based on Factual Book/Article, Thriller/Suspense, Live Action, Contemporary Fiction |
|
Domestic BO: $41,158,757 |
|
International BO: $2,757 |
6
| Fiddler on the Roof |
| Director: Norman Jewison |
| Initial Theatrical Release: January 1, 1971 (Wide) by United Artists |
| Keywords: Religious, 1972 Oscars Best Picture Nominee, Epic Musical, Jewish, 1900s, Set in Russia, Revolution, Bigotry, Novel or Other Work Adapted by Author, Romance |
| Classification: Based on Musical or Opera, Musical, Live Action, Historical Fiction |
|
Domestic BO: $80,500,000 |
|
International BO: $1,127 |
7
| Diamonds Are Forever |
| Director: Guy Hamilton |
| Initial Theatrical Release: November 26, 1971 (Wide) (Australia) |
| Keywords: Secret Agent |
| Classification: Based on Fiction Book/Short Story, Action, Live Action, Contemporary Fiction |
|
Domestic BO: $43,800,000 |
|
International BO: $72,199,985 |
8
| Wake in Fright |
| Director: Ted Kotcheff |
| Lead Roles: Gary Bond as John Grant |
| Initial Theatrical Release: July 21, 1971 (Wide) (France) |
| Keywords: Life in a Small Town, Addiction, Gambling, Hicksploitation, Black Out Drunk |
| Classification: Based on Fiction Book/Short Story, Thriller/Suspense, Live Action, Contemporary Fiction |
|
Domestic BO: $49,458 |
|
International BO: $65 |
Synopsis
John Grant is a bonded teacher who arrives in the rough outback mining town of Bundanyabba, planning to stay overnight before catching the plane to Sydney. But, as his one night stretches to five, he plunges headlong toward his own destruction. When the alcohol-induced mist lifts, the educated John Grant is no more. Instead there is a self-loathing man in a desolate wasteland, dirty, red-eyed, sitting against a tree and looking at a rifle with one bullet left...
9
| Beg |
| Director: Aleksandr Alov, Vladimir Naumov |
| Initial Theatrical Release: January 14, 1971 (Limited), released as Бег (Russia (CIS)) |
| Classification: Live Action |
|
International BO: $77,102 |
10
| Max et les ferrailleurs |
| Director: Claude Sautet |
| Lead Roles: Michel Piccoli as Max, Romy Schneider as Lily |
| Initial Theatrical Release: February 17, 1971 (Wide) (France) |
| Keywords: Police Procedural, Gangs, Prostitution, Heist, Film Noir, Undercover |
| Classification: Original Screenplay, Thriller/Suspense, Live Action, Contemporary Fiction |
|
Domestic BO: $33,065 |
|
International BO: $312 |
Synopsis
Max is a Paris detective hellbent on justice at any cost after watching one too many wily criminals slip through his fingers. Following a chance encounter with Abel, an Army buddy now working as a scrap collector (most of whose "scrap" just happens to be stolen), Max decides to lure Abel and his gang into committing a bank robbery...so that he can then catch them red-handed. So Max poses as a wealthy banker and begins a series of illicit rendezvous with the high-class prostitute Lily, who happens to be Abel's girlfriend, carefully dropping hints about a bank that's just waiting to be knocked over. But there's one thing the cold-hearted Max doesn't factor into his diabolical scheme: the possibility of falling in love.
11
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| The Panic in Needle Park |
| Director: Jerry Schatzberg |
| Lead Roles: Al Pacino as Bobby, Kitty Winn as Helen |
| Initial Theatrical Release: July 13, 1971 (Limited) by 20th Century Fox |
| Classification: Based on Fiction Book/Short Story, Drama, Live Action, Contemporary Fiction |
12
| Trafic |
| Director: Jacques Tati |
| Lead Roles: Jacques Tati as Mr. Hulot |
| Initial Theatrical Release: April 16, 1971 (Wide) (France) |
| Classification: Original Screenplay, Comedy, Live Action, Contemporary Fiction |
|
International BO: $807 |
13
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| Shoot Out |
| Director: Henry Hathaway |
| Lead Roles: Gregory Peck as Clay Lomax |
| Initial Theatrical Release: October 13, 1971 (Limited) by Universal |
| Classification: Based on Fiction Book/Short Story, Thriller/Suspense, Live Action, Historical Fiction |
14
| È tornato Sabata hai chiuso un'altra volta! |
| Director: Gianfranco Parolini |
| Initial Theatrical Release: September 3, 1971 (Wide) (Italy) |
| Classification: Western |
15
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| The Devils |
| Director: Ken Russell |
| Lead Roles: Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Reed |
| Initial Theatrical Release: July 16, 1971 (Limited) by Warner Bros. |
| Classification: Based on Play, Drama, Live Action, Dramatization |
16
| Escape from the Planet of the Apes |
| Director: Don Taylor |
| Initial Theatrical Release: 1971 (Wide) |
| Keywords: Action Adventure, Talking Animals, Animal Lead, Near Future, 1970s, Non-Chronological, Time Travel |
| Classification: Original Screenplay, Action, Live Action, Science Fiction |
|
Domestic BO: $12,300,000 |
17
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| The Man who Haunted Himself |
| Director: Basil Dearden |
| Lead Roles: Roger Moore as Harold Pelham |
| Initial Theatrical Release: September 2, 1971 (Limited) by Levitt-Pickman |
| Classification: Thriller/Suspense, Live Action |
18
| Le genou de Claire |
| Director: Eric Rohmer |
| Initial Theatrical Release: September 11, 1971 (Wide), released as O Joelho de Claire (Portugal) |
| Classification: Original Screenplay, Drama, Live Action, Contemporary Fiction |
|
International BO: $5,130 |
19
| The Big Doll House |
| Director: Jack Hill |
| Initial Theatrical Release: January 1, 1971 (Wide) by MGM |
| Classification: Original Screenplay, Live Action |
|
Domestic BO: $10,000,000 |
20
| Straw Dogs |
| Director: Sam Peckinpah |
| Initial Theatrical Release: December 22, 1971 (Limited) by Cinerama |
21
| The Murder of Fred Hampton |
| Director: Howard Alk |
| Initial Theatrical Release: May, 1971 (Limited) by MGA |
| Keywords: Set in Chicago, Race Relations, 1960s |
| Classification: Based on Real Life Events, Documentary, Live Action, Factual |
22
| Harold and Maude |
| Director: Hal Ashby |
| Initial Theatrical Release: December 20, 1971 (Limited) by Paramount Pictures |
| Classification: Original Screenplay, Black Comedy, Live Action, Contemporary Fiction |
|
International BO: $1,551 |
23
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| Mary, Queen of Scots |
| Director: Charles Jarrott |
| Lead Roles: Vanessa Redgrave as Mary, Queen of Scots, Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth I |
| Initial Theatrical Release: December 22, 1971 (Limited) by Universal |
| Classification: Based on Real Life Events, Drama, Live Action, Dramatization |
24
| La califfa |
| Director: Alberto Bevilacqua |
| Initial Theatrical Release: January 1, 1971 (Limited) (Italy) |
| Classification: Original Screenplay, Drama, Live Action, Contemporary Fiction |
25
| La Coda dello scorpione |
| Director: Sergio Martino |
| Initial Theatrical Release: August 16, 1971 (Limited) (Italy) |
| Keywords: Direct-to-Video |
| Classification: Live Action |