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![Jack Nicholson in the film Five Easy Pieces and Barbra Streisand in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever Jack Nicholson in the film Five Easy Pieces and Barbra Streisand in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/entertainment/movies-for-grownups/info-2020/films-turning-50/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/container_image/articlecontentfragment/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/entertainment/movies-for-grownups/2020/07/1140-jack-nicholson-barbra-streisand1.jpg)
It’s hard to believe that these 11 films — from Little Big Man to Love Story — all arrived in movie theaters in 1970, a full 50 years ago. Take a trip down memory lane with our critics’ picks from that year, and think about giving them another watch to see if they’ve stood the test of time.
Love Story
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Why is this shameless tearjerker about a dying girl (top 1970 heartthrob Ali MacGraw) who loved Bach, the Beatles and her beau (Ryan O'Neal), still popular? “I am probably more shocked than anyone,” MacGraw told AARP in 2017. Love Story ranked number 9 in the American Film Institute's list of the greatest romance films, and its catchphrase “Love means never having to say you're sorry” ranked number 13 on the top movie quotes list.
Watch it here: Amazon, iTunes, Fandango Now
![Dustin Hoffman in the film Little Big Man Dustin Hoffman in the film Little Big Man](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/entertainment/movies-for-grownups/info-2020/films-turning-50/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/body_one_cf_one/par4/articlecontentfragme/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/entertainment/movies-for-grownups/2020/07/1140-little-big-man.jpg)
Little Big Man
Studios didn't want hot director Arthur Penn (Bonnie and Clyde) to make this revisionist western because the Indians were the good guys, not the bad guys. But he prevailed, grossing $200 million in modern dollars and winning honors for Dustin Hoffman as a 121-year-old man who claims he was captured by the Cheyenne at age 10, and grew up to be a gunslinger with Wild Bill Hickok — and the sole white survivor of Custer's Battle of the Little Bighorn. And his costar Chief Dan George tallied more honors than Hoffman, including earning an Oscar nomination.
Watch it here: Amazon
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![Dean Martin Jacqueline Bisset Jean Seberg Burt Lancaster Lloyd Nolan Maureen Stapleton Helen Hayes Van Heflin Dana Wynter Barry Nelson Barbara Hale George Kennedy George Seaton and Ross Hunter in a cast photo for the film Airport Dean Martin Jacqueline Bisset Jean Seberg Burt Lancaster Lloyd Nolan Maureen Stapleton Helen Hayes Van Heflin Dana Wynter Barry Nelson Barbara Hale George Kennedy George Seaton and Ross Hunter in a cast photo for the film Airport](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/entertainment/movies-for-grownups/info-2020/films-turning-50/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/body_one_cf_one/par8/articlecontentfragme/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/entertainment/movies-for-grownups/2020/07/1140-airport.jpg)
Airport
The granddaddy of all disaster films totally deserved the merciless ridicule of its smash-hit parody, Airplane! What could be cornier than airport manager Burt Lancaster and pilot Dean Martin struggling with snowstorms and mad bomber Van Heflin? Or more wildly entertaining? Even many who considered it history's most unqualified nominee for 10 Oscars (including best picture) admitted it was mysteriously irresistible. Critic Matt Brunson said: “It may be junk, but it's irresistible junk, like cotton candy, chicken nuggets or Gilligan's Island reruns.”
Watch it here: iTunes, Amazon, Vudu
Cotton Comes to Harlem
The biggest hit of its time with a black cast, director Ossie Davis’ comic crime drama spawned the blaxploitation genre that led to Shaft, Super Fly and Quentin Tarantino. Foulmouthed, purehearted cops Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques investigate a corrupt preacher, because they're “Too quick with their fists. Too flip with their talk. Too fast with their guns. And too damn black maniacs on a powder keg.” Redd Foxx and Cleavon Little give the star-making performances that catapulted them to success in Sanford and Son and Blazing Saddles.
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