1974 Flashback: My top 10 from 40 years ago

1974 was an incredibly fascinating year in America and at the movies. It was the year Richard Nixon finally resigned from office after the prolonged Watergate debacle and an air of cynicism and paranoia had seeped into even the most mainstream Hollywood productions.

The 1970s are my favorite film era for a myriad of reasons -- among them the dark and often subversive content, which reflected the political climate of the times.

It was also a period when my favorite generation of A-list actors (Nicholson, Hoffman, Beatty, Redford, Pacino, Hackman and De Niro) did some of their best, most iconic work.

I am continuing my top 10 series which started with 2004 and then 1994 and 1984. I don't know if I'm capable of coming up with a top 10 list from 50 years ago, so this may be the last one of these 10-year intervals.

10) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - From the opening shots, the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre creates an unsettling and uncomfortably realistic feel. An unrelenting horror classic that inspired many subpar imitators, there is also a very odd and eccentric strain of humor throughout this grisly enterprise and despite its title, the scares are genuine not gore-induced.

9) Young Frankenstein - One of two home runs from Mel Brooks in 1974. He assembled a comedy dream team, including Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman and Madeleine Kahn, to pay homage to the great horror classics of the 1930s. Very stylish looking and unabashedly silly -- this is a spoof that has a lot of genuine affection for its source material, which is part of why it succeeds.

8) Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia - I didn't love this one at first, but I've come to realize that Sam Peckinpah films are something of an acquired taste. A fascinating and deeply strange melodrama about a hard-drinking loser (played by the brilliant Warren Oates) who takes on a brutal mission for some chump change and ends up going to hell and back. Not for the squeamish -- but if you like your character studies dark (and I do) it's a keeper.

7) Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore - After his Mean Streets breakthrough, Scorsese decided to stretch and show he could make a film about women. Ellen Burstyn won the Academy Award for the titular role in this bittersweet comedy-drama about a recently widowed mom who has to fend for herself for the first time. Scorsese infuses the material with some of his signature, flashy camera moves but it is at its core a simple story with a lot of heart.

6) Death Wish - A morally reprehensible revenge fantasy -- but also an incredibly potent and entertaining one. Charles Bronson is one of my all-time favorite action stars -- and this is his most iconic role. He is completely believable as a soft-spoken but stern businessman who becomes a vigilante in the wake of a brutal attack on his wife and daughter. The politics of the film will always be hotly debated but the creepy last shot suggests director Michael Winner was at least a little ambivalent about his protagonist.

The creepy last shot in question from Death Wish

5) The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 - Walter Matthau as action hero? It's not as ridiculous as it sounds in this very New York style thriller set in the subways. The remake can't hold a candle to this gritty and clever caper film. Not only does it have genuine thrills but the movie boasts a wonderfully comic sarcasm that pays off time and time again. Also, Robert Shaw cements his status as one of the best bad guys of the decade (see The Sting).

4) The Conversation - Arguably Gene Hackman's second best performance of the decade, this is a master-class in restrained understatement. He plays Harry Caul, a deeply paranoid and lonely surveillance expert who stumbles upon a potential conspiracy to commit murder. It's much more sophisticated than it sounds, and more concerned with a character study of Caul than its thriller plot. Coppola's most overlooked 1970s masterpiece.

3) Blazing Saddles - One of the funniest and most politically incorrect movies of all time. This uproarious western spoof had some really witty things to say about race that will remind some viewers of Django Unchained. Mel Brooks' greatest achievement and a career high mark for Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little, who plays a role originally intended for Richard Pryor to perfection.

2) Chinatown - This neo-noir lives up to all the hype. Not only is it Roman Polanski's best film, it's arguably Faye Dunaway's and quite possibly Jack Nicholson's.  A pitch-black classic with one of the all-time most shocking twists in movie history. A movie that captures a mood, look and lingo of the golden age of Hollywood. The plot is infamously labyrinthian -- something to do with the water supply and corrupt politicos. Nevermind all that, just sit back and watch what happens to "nosy fellows."

1) The Godfather Part II - As I've said before, this is my favorite of the legendary Godfather films. It's a powerful, sprawling epic that shows the full reach of organized crime in just 3 hours. Al Pacino is phenomenal as the increasingly psychotic Michael Corleone and John Cazale is unforgettable as his pathetic (and ultimately tragic) brother Fredo. No movie better captured the dark spirit of 1974 America and the movie's bleak vision remains even more potent 40 years later.