Paranoid Hollywood: American Political Thrillers in the 1970s

Hollywood in the 1970s engaged with the uncertainties that seemed to permeate American society in the wake of the Watergate scandal. This event undermined confidence in a range of political and social institutions and led to concerns about a variety of covert actions being instigated by the state.

Populated by some of the biggest stars of the era, this short season of films will bring together some of the most emblematic titles from Hollywood’s cycle of paranoid political thrillers.  

 

This season is curated by Andy Willis, HOME’s Senior Visiting Curator.  

Previously in this season

Three Days of the Condor

Redford plays a bookish CIA researcher who finds all his co-workers dead, and must outwit those responsible until he figures out who he can really…

Read more

All The President’s Men

In the run-up to the 1972 elections, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward covers what seems to be a minor break-in at the Democratic Party National…

Read more

The Parallax View

Perhaps the archetypal paranoid thriller from Hollywood in the 1970s. Warren Beatty plays an ambitious reporter who gets in way-over-his-head

Read more