This page lists 34 films I saw in theaters in 1972. My movie database lists only films I see in theaters, not those I see on TV, videotape, DVD, or the internet. My culture page lists other cultural events.

I was a graduate student in the Stanford Computer Science Department starting in the fall of 1968. By the end of 1972, I had finished the required courses for my Ph.D., so I was supposed to be hard at work on my dissertation. Instead, I watched lots of movies. I had access to Stanford Artificial Intelligence Project computers, and starting in late October 1972 I listed the movies I saw in a computer file. The data here is from file films.pub dated 1/10/1973, as preserved at saildart.org. The original list includes 39 films I watched on TV in addition to the 34 films seen in theaters listed here. I kept going to movies, but I stopped showing up at Stanford AI, so this list stops in early 1973. I started keeping film data again in 1982. I wish I had the data for the missing years (and for earlier years)!

The early 1970s was a very rich period for repertory cinema, and as this list shows I traversed the Bay Area to see great films. I liked the tiny Academy Cinema in Palo Alto and was very unhappy when it folded, but it reopened in 1973 as the Festival Cinema and I had a wonderful time working there with a great group of friends. I learned to love silent films at the Avenue Theater on San Bruno Avenue in San Francisco, where Bob Vaughn accompanied on the big Wurlitzer.

I have kept movie date/title/director data consistently since 1982, with additional details since 2010. I also have some incomplete data from earlier years.

See also: 1963 1964 1965 1966 1968 1972 1973
1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 All

Click on a heading below to sort the list accordingly. Click on a title or director entry to search for it in IMDB.

Date Title Director Year Theater City
10/31/72 La Salamandre Alain Tanner 1972 Central II Cambridge MA
10/31/72 Charles vif ou mort Alain Tanner 1969 Central II Cambridge MA
11/03/72 Les Deux Anglaises et le Continent François Truffaut 1972 Boston MA
11/05/72 Tokyo Story Yasujiro Ozu 1953 Harvard Square Cambridge MA
11/05/72 Princess Yang Kwei-Fei Kenji Mizoguchi 1955 Harvard Square Cambridge MA
11/08/72 The Big Sleep Howard Hawks 1946 Charles Boston MA
11/10/72 Greed Erich von Stroheim 1925 Avenue San Francisco
11/12/72 Singin' in the Rain Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly 1952 Academy Palo Alto
11/12/72 Hollywood Party 1934 Academy Palo Alto
11/17/72 Intolerance D.W. Griffith 1916 Avenue San Francisco
11/21/72 Roadhouse Jean Negulesco 1948 Academy Palo Alto
11/21/72 Anastasia Anatole Litvak 1956 Academy Palo Alto
11/22/72 Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex Woody Allen 1972 Carlos San Carlos
11/22/72 What's New, Pussycat? Clive Donner 1965 Carlos San Carlos
11/23/72 The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie Luis Buñuel 1972 Music Hall San Francisco
11/23/72 David Copperfield George Cukor 1935 Gateway San Francisco
11/23/72 A Tale of Two Cities Jack Conway 1935 Gateway San Francisco
11/24/72 The Black Pirate Albert Parker 1926 Avenue San Francisco
11/27/72 Gone with the Wind Victor Fleming 1939 Century 25 San Jose
12/01/72 Strangers on a Train Alfred Hitchcock 1951 College of San Mateo San Mateo
12/07/72 The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex Michael Curtiz 1939 Academy Palo Alto
12/07/72 The Adventures of Robin Hood Michael Curtiz 1939 Academy Palo Alto
12/08/72 Dial M for Murder Alfred Hitchcock 1954 College of San Mateo San Mateo
12/08/72 The Thirty-Nine Steps Alfred Hitchcock 1935 College of San Mateo San Mateo
12/12/72 Phantom India Part I Louis Malle 1971 SF Museum of Art San Francisco
12/12/72 Phantom India Part II Louis Malle 1971 SF Museum of Art San Francisco
12/15/72 The Birds Alfred Hitchcock 1963 College of San Mateo San Mateo
12/19/72 Mildred Pierce Michael Curtiz 1945 Academy Palo Alto
12/19/72 Irma la Douce Billy Wilder 1963 Academy Palo Alto
12/22/72 Camille George Cukor 1936 Gateway San Francisco
12/22/72 Pride and Prejudice Robert Z. Leonard 1940 Gateway San Francisco
12/24/72 Gaslight George Cukor 1944 Academy Palo Alto
12/24/72 Meet Me in St. Louis Vincente Minnelli 1944 Academy Palo Alto
12/25/72 The Emigrants Jan Troell 1972 Fine Arts Palo Alto