It’s no secret. I’ve been a crazed movie fan since I was old enough to read the TV Guide and plan my week around the late late shows. Growing up in the 1970’s gave me the opportunity to not only see many of the classic era movie stars on TV in “old movies” but on occasion to see them on the big screen as many were still acting even if they were in many cases smaller roles.
It was the tough guys that caught my attention as a kid and maybe that is still the case for many of todays youngsters watching movies. Still, that has never stopped me from enjoying all genres of films and the actors and actresses that populate them.
I looked up the yearly lists for the top ten box office draws from the 1920’s up into the 1980’s to match some of the biggest names in Hollywood history with my first time seeing them on the BIG SCREEN in a newly released film. I was a fan of many of these box office draws by the time I saw them in a movie theater having seen a good number of their earlier films on television or even VHS tape by the early 1980’s.
I went thru the lists and for each “star” I’ve entered the year they first appeared on the annual list and the number in which they placed followed by the film I first saw them in at a local theater. Many would appear continually on the annual list over a number of years. Here’s what I came up with.
Though I never knew it at the time with Charlton Heston front and center, Gloria Swanson, would prove to be the first film star on the annual poll that I saw on the big screen thanks her appearance in Airport ’75 (1974). Miss Swanson first made the list at #5 in 1921.
I saw James Cagney on the big screen thanks to Ragtime (1981).
His first film following a 20 year absence/retirement. Cagney had appeared in the #10 slot for box office champs way back in 1935. I was 14 years old and won tickets to a special premiere for answering 10 Cagney questions in our local newspaper. I should point out that this was before the internet and the ease of looking up the answers. Yes by the age of 13 I was a know-it-all when it came to the likes of Cagney, Bogie and the gangster flicks of the 30’s and 40’s.
Myrna Loy at #10 in 1937 – Airport ’75 (1974)
Mickey Rooney first made the list in 1938 at #4 – The Magic of Lassie (1978)
Bob Hope #4 in 1940 – The Muppet Movie (1979)
Gregory Peck made #8 in 1947 on his way to prominence – Cape Fear (1991 remake)
James Stewart first charted at #5 in 1950 – Airport’77 (1977)
The team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis at #2 in 1951. My first Dino movie was Cannonball Run (1980) and it was Jerry’s Hardly Working (1980)
Taking the movies by storm was Marlon Brando at #10 in 1954 – Superman (1978)
Burt Lancaster at #4 in 1956 – Tough Guys (1986)
Glenn Ford at #5 in 1956 – Superman (1978)
Frank Sinatra in at #10 in 1956 – Cannonball Run Part II (1984)
Tony Curtis made the list for the first time at #6 in 1960 – The Bad News Bears Go To Japan (1978)
Jack Lemmon #9 in 1960 – Airport ’77 (1977)
Paul Newman first hit the list at #9 in 1963 – The Verdict (1982)
Shirley MacLaine #7 in 1964 – Cannonball Run Part II (1984)
Ann-Margret #8 in 1964 – The Villian (1979)
Richard Burton at #10 in 1964 – Sadly it was his final film which proved to be my first on the big screen. 1984 (1984) released following his death.
Sean Connery’s first appearance was at #1 in 1965. I wonder why? Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Lee Marvin makes #2 in 1967. Like Burton it was Lee’s final film which was my first in a local movie house, The Delta Force (1985)
Sidney Poitier #7 in 1967 – Thankfully Mr. Poitier decided to go in front of the cameras of a ten year hiatus allowing me to see him star in Shoot to Kill (1988)
Steve McQueen turned up for the first time at #10 in 1967 – The Hunter (1980)
Clint Eastwood began his lengthy appearance on the annual box office champs list at #5 in 1968. My first go around with Clint was seeing Every Which Way But Loose (1978) I didn’t miss too many Clint films on the big screen from there onwards.
Dustin Hoffman #4 in 1969 – Dick Tracy (1990)
Katharine Hepburn at #9 in 1969 – On Golden Pond (1981)
Barbra Streisand #10 in 1969 – Meet the Fockers (2004)
Elliott Gould #5 in 1970 – Capricorn One (1979) Love this movie.
Walter Matthau #10 in 1970 – California Suite (1978)
Gene Hackman #3 in 1972 – Superman (1978)
Goldie Hawn #10 in 1972 – The Banger Sisters (2002)
Burt Reynolds charted at 4 in 1973 – Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
My personal favorite when it comes to the tough guys of cinema, Charles Bronson, finally made the list at #8 in 1973. It would be Borderline (1980) that allowed me to see him for the first time on the big screen.
Jack Nicholson #8 in 1974 – Prizzi’s Honor (1985)
Al Pacino at #9 in 1974 – Dick Tracy (1990)
Stallone hits the ground running at #1 in 1977 following Rocky. At 14 I’d join a bunch of teenage pals to see First Blood (1982) and we’d come out of the theater ready to take on all challengers. As an added bonus, the original novelist, David Morrell, was born in our hometown and went to the same high school as us and we all knew it.
Robert De Niro at #10 in 1977 – The King of Comedy (1983)
John Travolta #2 in 1978 – Pulp Fiction (1994)
Richard Dreyfuss #3 in 1978 – Jaws (1975) Easily one of the most influential nights in my movie going life.
Warren Beatty #4 in 1978 – Dick Tracy (1990)
Jane Fonda placing at #8 in 1978 – California Suite (1978)
Peter Sellers #9 in 1978 – Again it would be a final appearance that turned out to be my first film on the big screen. In this case it was Sellers’ The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980).
Sally Field at #7 in 1980 – Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
Sissy Spacek #8 in 1980 – Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980)
Steve Martin #10 in 1980 – The Jerk (1979)
Harrison Ford #6 in 1981 – Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) I saw Star Wars in rerelease in case you’re wondering.
Alan Alda goes from TV’s MASH to #7 in 1981 – California Suite (1978)
Bill Murray #10 in 1981 – Ghostbusters (1984)
Richard Pryor #5 in 1982 – California Suite (1978) I’d rather say it was Stir Crazy which I saw in 1980 and believe me, this 12 year old laughed like hell!
Eddie Murphy #2 in 1983 – Trading Places (1983)
Chevy Chase at #9 in 1983 – Vacation (1983)
Tom Cruise #10 in 1983 – Interview With the Vampire (1994)
Dan Aykroyd #9 in 1984 – 1941(1979)
Michael J. Fox at #4 in 1985 – Might fool you here. My first movie on the big screen that had this fellow Canadian costarring was Class of 1984 (1984) and yes I did see Back to the Future as well in a theatre.
Arnold Schwarzenegger debuts at #6 in 1985 – The Villain (1979)
Chuck Norris at #7 in 1985 – Missing In Action (1984)
Michael Douglas #9 in 1985 – The China Syndrome (1979)
Paul Hogan storms into North America at #3 in 1986 and yes I saw Crocodile Dundee (1986) at the theater like almost everyone else on the continent.
Kathleen Turner at #9 in 1986 – Romancing the Stone (1984)
Cher at #9 in 1987 – The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
Mel Gibson #10 in 1987 – What Women Want (2000)
Tom Hanks hits #3 in 1988 – Big (1988)
Danny DeVito scores #6 in 1988 – Romancing the Stone (1984)
Robin Williams at #8 in 1988 – Awakenings (1990)
I suppose the end of my teenage years is as good as any place to stop. Looking thru the names I’ve come to realize some big ones are missing. So I guess I’ve never seen a Robert Redford flick in a movie theater. Likewise for Elizabeth Taylor and a number of others. Many favorites had long quit making films by the time I was on the scene or had passed on. Names like Doris Day, Cary Grant and Humphrey Bogart though I did see a number of Bogie titles in a festival of rereleases for the very first time when I was about 14 years of age. I’m also saddened to say Mom and Dad never took me to see a John Wayne flick at the theater as a kid. Seriously, couldn’t they have taken a five year old to see The Cowboys in 1972?
Notable favorites of mine who never did make the top ten list that I have seen on the BIG SCREEN for the first time include Charlton Heston (Earthquake 1974), Kirk Douglas The Villain (1979), Ernest Borgnine (Escape From New York 1981), Kurt Russell (The Strongest Man in the World 1975), Henry Fonda (On Golden Pond 1981), Christopher Lee (Killer Force 1975), Olivia de Havilland (Airport ’77), both of my “old friends” Roddy McDowall and Vincent Price (Scavenger Hunt 1979), Robert Mitchum (Scrooged 1988), Jack Palance (Hawk the Slayer 1980), Anthony Quinn and Maureen O’Hara (Only the Lonely 1991) and Richard Widmark (Bear Island 1979).
If you have any fond memories of your own, please share. I’d love to hear them.
To wrap this up all I can say is I’m thankful for those star studded 70’s flicks that filled out the casting list with plenty of well known faces.
Mike's Take On the Movies 
So glas you placed the comment “Love this movie” after CAPRICORN ONE (1978). I feel exactly the same way.
I love to revisit this one every few years.
The only classic film I ever got to see on the big screen was one of the anniversary re-releases of The Wizard of Oz back in the late 90’s. It was me, my parents, my aunt (my dad’s sister), uncle, and their son. It was a fun time I remember. I did get to see my childhood hero Indiana Jones on the big screen when Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls came out in 2008, the very last time I went to a movie theater as most of the new movies don’t appeal to me, with a few exceptions and including Tarantino’s films. When I was growing up in Philly PA there was a small movie theater about 15 to 20 minutes from my house called the Devon that had a very interesting history: it started out as your typical theater, then in the 1970’s it changed owners and for 20 years only showed porno films, earning the infamous moniker, the “Dirty Devon”, then in the 90’s it went back to showing regular films, and in its final 2 to 4 years of life they showed classic films. This period they showed The Maltese Falcon, The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, and a few others; I really wish my interest in those films had kicked in high gear sooner as that would’ve been a treat seeing those greats on a giant screen, but I don’t know if my parents would’ve taken me had I asked.
Just put on my thinking cap and the list is as follows:
Mike, this is the best I can recall. Best regards.
Further to my earlier list, I would like to add the following:
Mike, this is about all I can remember.