This is a list of American films released in 1974.
Box office The highest-grossing American films released in 1974, by domestic box office gross revenue as estimated by The Numbers, are as follows: + Highest-grossing films of 1974 Rank Title Distributor Domestic gross 1Blazing Saddles Warner Bros. $119,500,000 2The Towering Inferno 20th Century Fox / Warner Bros. $116,000,000 3The Trial of Billy Jack Warner Bros. $89,000,000 4Young Frankenstein 20th Century Fox $86,300,000 5Earthquake Universal $79,700,000 6The Godfather Part II Paramount $57,300,000 7Airport 1975 Universal $47,285,152 8The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams Sunn Classic $45,411,063 9The Longest Yard Paramount $43,008,075 10Murder on the Orient Express Anglo-EMI Film Distributors $35,733,867
January–March Opening Title Production company Cast and crew Ref.JANUARY 1 Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones Dragonaire Ltd. Rollin Binzer (director); The Rolling Stones 4 McQ Warner Bros. / Batjac Productions John Sturges (director); Lawrence Roman (screenplay); John Wayne, Eddie Albert, Diana Muldaur, Colleen Dewhurst, Clu Gulager, David Huddleston, Jim Watkins, Al Lettieri, Julie Adams, Roger E. Mosley, William Bryant, Richard Kelton, Richard Eastham, Larry Buck, Kim Sanford 13 The Satanic Rites of Dracula Columbia-Warner Distributors / Hammer Film Productions Alan Gibson (director); Don Houghton (screenplay); Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Michael Coles, William Franklyn 15 The Arena Variety Distribution / Rover Film Steve Carver (director); John William Corrington, Joyce Hooper Corrington (screenplay); Pam Grier, Margaret Markov, Paul Müller, Daniele Vargas, Rosalba Neri, Vassili Karis, Mimmo Palmara, Antonio Casale, Lucretia Love, Marie Louise, Mary Count, Sid Lawrence, Franco Garofalo, Pietro Ceccarelli, Jho Jhenkins 21 Luther American Film Theatre Guy Green (director); Edward Anhalt (screenplay); Stacy Keach, Julian Glover, Maurice Denham, Judi Dench, Patrick Magee, Hugh Griffith, Robert Stephens, Peter Cellier, Leonard Rossiter, Thomas Heathcote, Matthew Guinness, Alan Badel, Bruce Carstairs, Malcolm Stoddard Rhinoceros American Film Theatre Tom O'Horgan (director); Julian Barry, Eugène Ionesco (screenplay); Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Karen Black, Joe Silver, Marilyn Chris, Percy Rodrigues, Robert Fields, Don Calfa, Lou Cutell, Howard Morton, Anne Ramsey, Lorna Thayer, Robert Weil, Melody Santangello, Manuel Aviles 28 Black Belt Jones Warner Bros. / Sequoin Films Robert Clouse (director); Oscar Williams (screenplay); Jim Kelly, Gloria Hendry, Scatman Crothers, Eric Laneuville, Andre Philippe, Mel Novak, Earl Jolly Brown, Earl Maynard, Marla Gibbs, Ted Lange, Esther Sutherland, Alan Weeks, Vincent Barbi, Malik Carter, Eddie Smith, Jac Emil, Clarence Barnes, Nate Esformes 30 The Bat People American International Pictures Jerry Jameson (director); Lou Shaw (screenplay); Stewart Moss, Marianne McAndrew, Michael Pataki, Paul Carr, Arthur Space, Robert Berk, Pat Delaney, George Paulsin, Bonnie Van Dyke, Jennifer Kulik, Laurie Brooks Jefferson, Herb Pierce FEBRUARY 2 The Street Fighter Toei Company Shigehiro Ozawa (director); Kōji Takada, Motohiro Torii (screenplay); Shinichi "Sonny" Triba, Yutaka "Doris" Nakajima, Masashi "Milton" Ishibashi, Jirō Yabuki, Etsuko "Sue" Shihomi, Nobuo Kawai, Ken Kazama, Rinichi Yamamoto 6 Zardoz 20th Century Fox John Boorman (director/screenplay); Sean Connery, Charlotte Rampling, Sara Kestelman, Niall Buggy, John Alderton, Bosco Hogan, Bairbre Dowling, Christopher Casson, Sally Anne Newton, Jessica Swift, Reginald Jarman 7 Blazing Saddles Warner Bros. / Crossbow Productions Mel Brooks (director/screenplay); Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Alan Uger (screenplay); Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Alex Karras, Mel Brooks, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn, Burton Gilliam, David Huddleston, Liam Dunn, John Hillerman, George Furth Sugar Hill American International Pictures Paul Maslansky (director); Tim Kelly (screenplay); Marki Bey, Robert Quarry, Don Pedro Colley, Betty Anne Rees, Richard Lawson, Zara Cully, Charles P. Robinson, Big Walter Price, Larry D. Johnson, Rick Hagood, Ed Geldart, Albert J. Baker, Raymond E. Simpson III, Thomas C. Carroll, Charles Krohn, J. Randall Bell 11 Thieves Like Us United Artists Robert Altman (director/screenplay); Joan Tewkesbury, Calder Willingham (screenplay); Keith Carradine, Shelley Duvall, John Schuck, Bert Remsen, Louise Fletcher, Tom Skerritt, Joan Maguire, Franklin D. Roosevelt 15 Crazy Joe Columbia Pictures / Produzioni De Laurentiis / Bright-Persky Associates Carlo Lizzani (director); Lewis John Carlino (screenplay); Peter Boyle, Paula Prentiss, Fred Williamson, Charles Cioffi, Fausto Tozzi, Guido Leontini, Rip Torn 22 Alien Thunder American International Pictures / Cinerama Releasing Corporation / Onyx Films Claude Fournier (director); George Malko (screenplay); Donald Sutherland, Gordon Tootoosis, Chief Dan George, Kevin McCarthy, Jean Duceppe, Francine Racette, James O'Shea, John Boylan, Jack Creley, Lenny George, Ernestine Gamble, Vincent Daniels, Sarain Stump 23 From Beyond the Grave Warner Bros. / Amicus Productions Kevin Connor (director); Raymond Christodoulou, Robin Clarke (screenplay); Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence, Ian Bannen, Diana Dors, David Warner, Angela Pleasence 27 Busting United Artists Peter Hyams (director/screenplay); Elliott Gould, Robert Blake, Allen Garfield, Antonio Fargas, Michael Lerner, Sid Haig, Ivor Francis, William Sylvester, Logan Ramsey Man on a Swing Paramount Pictures / Jaffilms Inc. Frank Perry (director); David Zelag Goodman (screenplay); Cliff Robertson, Joel Grey, Elizabeth Wilson, George Voskovec, Peter Masterson, Lane Smith, Christopher Allport, Richard Venture, Dianne Hull, Gil Gerard, Alice Drummond, Richard McKenzie, Clarice BlackburnMARCH 7 Billy Two Hats United Artists / Algonquin Films Ted Kotcheff (director); Alan Sharp (screenplay); Gregory Peck, Desi Arnaz Jr., Jack Warden, David Huddleston, Sian Barbara Allen, John Pearce, Vic Armstrong, Dawn Little Sky, W. Vincent St. Cyr, Henry Medicine Hat, Zev Berlinsky, Antony Scott 14 Alice in Wonderland (re-release) Walt Disney Productions / Buena Vista Distribution Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske (directors); Winston Hibler, Ted Sears, Bill Peet, Erdman Penner, Joe Rinaldi, Milt Banta, Bill Cottrell, Dick Kelsey, Joe Grant (screenplay); Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Richard Haydn, Sterling Holloway, Jerry Colonna, Verna Felton, J. Pat O'Malley, Bill Thompson, Heather Angel, Joseph Kearns, Larry Grey, Queenie Leonard, Dink Trout, Doris Lloyd, Jimmy MacDonald, The Mellomen, Don Barclay, Lynn Bari, Lucille Bliss, Pinto Colvig, Clarence Nash, Marni Nixon, Erdman Penner, Thurl Ravenscroft, Norma Zimmer 15 Three Tough Guys Titanus / Produzioni Cinematografiche Inter. Ma. Co. / Columbia Film Duccio Tessari (director); Luciano Vincenzoni, Nicola Badalucco (screenplay); Lino Ventura, Isaac Hayes, Fred Williamson, Paula Kelly, William Berger, Vittorio Sanipoli, Lorella De Luca, Mario Erpichini, Jess Hahn, Jacques Herlin, Guido Leontini, Luciano Salce, Nazzareno Zamperla 20 The Super Cops (debut in its plot and filming city, New York, with its Los Angeles debut on April 10) United Artists Gordon Parks (director); Lorenzo Semple Jr. (screenplay); Ron Leibman, David Selby, Sheila Frazier, Pat Hingle, Dan Frazer, Joseph Sirola, Amy Freeman, Bernard Kates, Ralph Wilcox, Albert Henderson, Alex Colon, Charles Turner, Al Fann 21 Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla – (Japan) Toho Jun Fukuda (director/screenplay); Hiroyasu Yamamura (screenplay); Masaaki Daimon, Kazuya Aoyama, Akihiko Hirata, Hiroshi Koizumi, Reiko Tajima, Hiromi Matsushita, Gorō Mutsumi, Shin Kishida, Beru-Bera Lin, Masao Imafuku, Daigo Kusano, Kenji Sahara, Isao Zushi, Kazunari Mori, Kin'ichi Kusumi 22 Catch My Soul Cinerama Releasing Corporation / Metromedia Productions Patrick McGoohan (director); William Shakespeare, Jack Good (screenplay); Richie Havens, Lance LeGault, Season Hubley, Tony Joe White, Susan Tyrrell, Delaney Bramlett, Bonnie Bramlett, Billy Joe Royal, Raleigh Gardenhire, Wayne Waterhouse 27 Conrack 20th Century Fox Martin Ritt (director); Harriet Frank Jr., Irving Ravetch (screenplay); Jon Voight, Paul Winfield, Hume Cronyn, Madge Sinclair, Tina Andrews, Antonio Fargas, Ruth Attaway, James O'Rear Mame Warner Bros. / ABC Gene Saks (director); Paul Zindel (screenplay); Lucille Ball, Beatrice Arthur, Robert Preston, Bruce Davison, Jane Connell, Joyce Van Patten, Lucille Benson, Doria Cook-Nelson, Don Porter, Audrey Christie, John McGiver, Bobbi Jordan, Patrick Labyorteaux 28 John Carpenter's directoral debut, Dark Star, limited to Los Angeles' International Film Exposition, aka 'Filmex'. Bryanston Distributing Company John Carpenter (director/screenplay); Dan O'Bannon (screenplay); Dan O'Bannon, Brian Narelle, Cal Kuniholm, Andreijah "Dre" Pahich, Joe Saunders, Barbara "Cookie" Knapp, Miles Watkins, John Carpenter, Nick Castle 29 The Great Gatsby Paramount Pictures / Newdon Productions Jack Clayton (director); Francis Ford Coppola (screenplay); Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Karen Black, Scott Wilson, Sam Waterston, Lois Chiles
April–June