“The Towering Inferno” & “Earthquake” (1975)
The all-star disaster movie was the superhero movie of the 1970s: massive box-office hits that sometimes quietly cleaned up with technical Oscars. This reached something of a peak at the 47th Academy Awards, when “The Towering Inferno” picked up eight nominations, including Best Picture, and won three, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing and Best Original Song —more than any other film that year bar “The Godfather Part II.” Charlton Heston vs. tectonic plates picture “Earthquake” also got in on the act, with four nods and a win for Best Sound.
“Harry & Tonto” (1975)
The late Paul Mazursky was terminally underrated for much of his career, but even by the standard of his work, “Harry & Tonto” is somewhat passed over by modern-day critics, despite its Oscar-winning status. Revolving around the relationship between an elderly widower and his cat, it’s a sweet-natured film that picked up the Best Actor prize for “Honeymooners” star Art Carney as the human half of the central partnership.
“The Omen” (1976)
Horror and the Oscars rarely go together, and you’d think that a pulpy movie about Satan’s spawn featuring bloody skewerings and decapitations like “The Omen” wouldn’t have much luck with the Academy. But the 1970s were a different time, and Richard Donner’s picture won an Oscar for Jerry Goldsmith’s sinister score (the film also picked up a nod for Best Original Song, oddly).
“Thank God It’s Friday” (1978)
The Best Original Song category has been the home to more than a few ignominious winners, but “Thank God It’s Friday” might take the biscuit. A very, very poor disco cash-in picture that’s remarkable mostly for providing early breakthrough roles for Debra Winger and Jeff Goldblum, and for being nakedly cynical in its motivations for existing, it nevertheless won an Academy Award for Donna Summer’s tune “Last Dance.”
“Tess” (1980)
The year after he fled America after sexual assault charges involving a 13-year-old girl, Roman Polanski returned to filmmaking with Thomas Hardy adaptation “Tess,” and Hollywood didn’t show any signs of objection to the director’s wrongdoing and fugitive status. The film, which starred Nastassja Kinski, was nominated for six awards including Best Picture and Best Director and won for Art Direction, Cinematography and Costume Design.
