Image credit: Universal Pictures, Films Incorporated, Columbia Pictures, Syn-Frank Enterprises, Aspen Productions, New World Pictures, Mildred Lewis and Colin Higgins Productions, Tamalpais Productions, Simcha Productions
Here are just some of the overlooked black comedies from the 1970s that are definitely worth a second look.
1. "Harold and Maude" (1971) The quirky love story of Harold and Maude. Harold's a young guy who's got a weird fascination with death – like, he stages elaborate fake suicides for fun. Enter Maude, a 79-year-old woman who loves life more than anyone else. They meet at a funeral – where else?
They embark on a series of wild adventures like stealing cars and planting trees in the city. Maude teaches Harold to live life to the fullest, but here's the twist: Maude plans to take her own life on her 80th birthday.
2. "Where's Poppa?" (1970) Meet Gordon and his elderly mom. Gordon is a lawyer who's fed up with taking care of his senile mother, so much so that he plans to put her in a home. To make matters worse, he has a brother who thinks he's a cowboy. A series of failed attempts to relocate his mom ensue, including hiring a lady to seduce her. Spoiler: it doesn't go as planned.
3. "The Hospital" (1971) If Grey's Anatomy were a black comedy – that's "The Hospital" for you. Dr. Herbert Bock is a suicidal chief of medicine at a Manhattan hospital. In between his personal crises, patients are mysteriously dying. Think of it as a medical whodunnit where the hospital is more of a killer than a curer.
Amidst all this chaos, Herbert falls in love with a patient's daughter, and they have a romance right in the middle of this medical disaster zone.
4. "Car Wash" (1976) Set in a Los Angeles car wash, this movie follows a day in the life of a diverse group of employees. We've got Lindy, who's openly gay, T.C. who's trying to win a radio contest, and Irwin, the boss's son who joins the workers for a day. Imagine a more adult, irreverent "Dazed and Confused," but set in a car wash.
5. "The King of Marvin Gardens" (1972) Meet David and Jason Staebler. David is a depressive radio monologist, while Jason is a smooth-talking con artist. Jason ropes David into his dream of opening a Hawaiian resort. They head to Atlantic City to make this happen, where Jason is juggling relationships with a beauty queen and her stepmother.
Brotherly bonds are tested when Jason's grand plan turns out to be a pipe dream and the law comes knocking.
6. "MASH" (1970) "MASH" is set during the Korean War but screams '70s counterculture. It follows surgeons "Hawkeye" Pierce and "Trapper" John McIntyre, who are stuck in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH). They deal with the trauma of war through booze, pranks, and hijinks.
They're brilliant surgeons but terrible soldiers – disrespecting authority while saving lives, and they even organize a football game against a rival unit.
7. "Death Race 2000" (1975) Weird but awesome – that's "Death Race 2000" in a nutshell. In a dystopian America, the most popular sporting event is a cross-country car race where drivers earn points by running over pedestrians. The story centers on Frankenstein, the masked reigning champ, and his arch-nemesis, Machine Gun Joe.
8. "Eating Raoul" (1972) Paul and Mary Bland are a prudish, struggling couple who discover a new business venture when a swinger accidentally dies in their apartment. They decide to lure perverts to their home, knock them out, rob them, and then sell their bodies as meat to a dog food company. A simple plan, until Raoul, a locksmith and small-time crook, finds out and wants in on the action.
9. "Smile" (1975) Beauty pageants aren't just glitter and crowns – especially not in "Smile." Set in Santa Rosa, California, this film takes a darkly comedic look at a teenage beauty pageant. Meet Big Bob Freelander, a good-hearted but somewhat clueless judge, and Brenda, a ruthless contestant. As the pageant progresses, things get chaotic.
10. "The Groove Tube" (1974) This one's a series of comedy sketches that parody popular TV shows and commercials. We've got everything from a kiddie show host who turns out to be a pervert to a cooking show host who cooks while high.
It's like an unhinged version of "Saturday Night Live," but in movie form. The sequences are bizarre, offensive, and downright hysterical, often all at the same time.
