Watchlist: 13 overlooked British films of the 1970s

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Conservative executive Harold Pelham (a harrowing and atypical performance by Roger Moore) is involved in a car accident and declared momentarily dead. When he’s eventually released from the hospital, Pelham discovers that an exact double of him has recently been seen in places that he’s never been, taken over his family, undermined his business and even begun an extramarital affair. Is Pelham being stalked by a doppelgänger with a taste for the wild life or is he simply a man going insane?

Two young English nurses, Jane (Pamela Franklin) and Cathy (Michele Dotrice), embark on a cycling holiday in the French countryside. They happen upon a mysterious man, Paul (Sandor Eles), who seems interested in them. Cathy is intrigued by the man, but suspicious Jane wants to continue on the journey. The two split up but when Jane returns to the village where they are staying, her friend is nowhere to be found. Frantic, she searches for Cathy, but who can she trust, and will she find her in time? 

In this 1971 thriller from The Italian Job director Peter Collinson, Amanda (Susan George) prepares for what was advertised as a routine night of babysitting. But does the mother’s incessant fretting hint that something more frightful than an unruly child will be awaiting her this evening? 

In this sensitive and ground-breaking drama, Malcolm McDowell plays a passionate young man who has developed a degenerative disease. In despair he decamps to a home for disabled people where he meets a woman with polio (Nanette Newman) who instils him with hope, leading to a passionate relationship.

The Boy Who Turned Yellow is the splendidly eccentric final collaboration from the eminent filmmaking duo Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. London schoolboy John Saunders turns a bright yellow after losing his pet mouse on a school trip. Is the mysterious colour change the result of an alien invasion or does the answer lie closer to home?

Attempting to satisfy their insatiable lust for blood, two beautiful bisexual vampires roam the English countryside, luring motorists back to their stately pile, to enjoy fine wine, and engage in unspeakably bloody sex acts. Meanwhile, unwitting holidaymakers nearby twitch their caravan curtains. Dark, atmospheric and distinctly shocking, this sexy, gory chiller saw cult Spanish director José Larraz (Symptoms) take on the folk at Hammer, arguably beating them at their own game.

In this extraordinary film directed by David Gladwell, the idyllic, rural past of a Suffolk village comes to life through the memories of an old man who tends a country graveyard. Although best known for his celebrated work as editor on Lindsay Anderson’s If…. (1968) and O Lucky Man! (1973), Gladwell has, until now, rarely been recognised as the director of a number of groundbreaking films.

New airforce recruit Peter Firth takes an instant dislike to his embittered squadron leader, Malcolm McDowell. But as the young pilot experiences the tensions and stresses of warfare, his dislike turns to admiration. Jack Gold directs this First World War drama based on R. C. Sherriff’s classic play Journey’s End, updating the action from the trenches to the air. Also starring Christopher Plummer and John Gielgud, this stirring war film features excellently photographed aerial dogfight sequences.

In this rousing kids’ crime yarn, Bernard Cribbins is ‘Pyramid’, a dastardly master-of-disguise who plans to smuggle an ancient Egyptian mummy out of the country. When young Jeff (Graham Fletcher-Cook) discovers the plan, a dangerous chase via south London’s Victoria Station and Clapham Station ensues. 

Hard-bitten Flying Squad officer Jack Regan gets embroiled in a deadly political plot when an old friend asks him to investigate the death of his girlfriend. Framed on a drunk-drive charge and suspended from the force, with his partner and best mate George Carter unable to help, Jack must rely on his wits to evade deadly government hitmen and expose the real villain of the piece.

The first major British gay film, this study of a closeted schoolteacher who spends his nights cruising London’s gay clubs in search of Mr Right defies categorisation. Both a fascinating glimpse into the 1970s scene and a portrait of an ordinary gay man living in a homophobic society, Nighthawks subverts stereotypes, led by Ken Robertson’s strong, naturalistic performance.

Sammy dreams of becoming a super athlete, despite his puny build. When his lucky training t-shirt is thrown into a scientist’s lab it becomes imbued with ‘super strength’ power. When Sammy manages to recover the t-shirt he uses his new-found strength to outrun baddies and bullies alike.

A comic thriller influenced by the French New Wave, which, with its unorthodox narrative about a woman’s confession of murder, deconstructs the conventions of the thriller genre. Directed by Christopher Monger (Voice Over), who would go on to have a successful Hollywood career, Repeater was produced out of the Chapter Film Workshop, a Cardiff based filmmaking workshop funded by the BFI and Channel 4.