American Graffiti
Budget – $770,000
Worldwide Gross – $ 140,000,000
Return – 8,909%
Before swashbuckling lightsaber battles and loud space dogfights and $3.9 billion worth of success, George Lucas did understand human beings. Playing both to the disaffected youth of the 70s and the renegade, tarmac tearing teens of the 50s and 60s, American Graffiti reinvigorated and set precedent for the later teen pics and begun a wave of late-50s/early 60s nostalgia which would pervade television throughout the 70s.
Working alongside his business partner/producer/friend Francis Ford Coppola, Lucas’ goal was to create a story which felt personal to him, a semi autobiography of his days growing up in Modesto, California. What Lucas and Coppola weren’t expecting was how this personal film would chime with audiences, critics and, most impressively, The Academy. This was a timeless story that had a big heart, hence the modestly budgeted picture scoring big at the box office and having an enduring legacy beyond its opening weekend.
Night Of The Living Dead
Budget – $114,000
Worldwide Gross -$ 30,000,000
Return – 13,058%
The crippling size of Night of the Living Dead‘s budget dictated every single aspect of production, relying on simplicity, cheap actors and working with the best options they had, almost accidentally resulting in one of the most influential and important horror films ever made.
Taking horror B-features beyond the carnal thrills of gore and into a more socially conscious headspace, Romero’s debut is a film which transcends its genre by framing its tale with strong political overtones. By the late 60s the themes of oppression of minorities, civil unrest and civil rights were hot on the public conscience. Making the lead Duane Jones, an African-American actor, in a role such as this was considered revolutionary and many critics often read the film as a socio-political tract about racism.
Night of the Living Dead spoke to people beyond the horror fans and gore hounds, it gained a reputation and sold tickets for being a zombie film that had brains amongst the offal.