A list of American films released in 1973.
The Sting won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The highest-grossing film of the year was The Exorcist.
Highest-grossing[]
- The Exorcist
- The Sting
- American Graffiti
- Papillon
- The Way We Were
- Magnum Force
- Robin Hood
- Live and Let Die
- Walking Tall
- Serpico
A–B[]
| Title | Director | Cast | Genre | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 Carats | Milton Katselas | Edward Albert, Liv Ullmann, Binnie Barnes, Gene Kelly | Romantic comedy | Columbia. Based on the play |
| Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies | John Erman | Cliff Robertson, Pamela Franklin | Drama | 20th Century Fox |
| The All-American Boy | Charles Eastman | Jon Voight, Jeanne Cooper | Drama | Warner Bros. |
| American Graffiti | George Lucas | Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Candy Clark, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Paul Le Mat, Mackenzie Phillips, Charles Martin Smith | Comedy | Universal5 Academy Award nominations; Golden Globe Best Comedy |
| Arnold | Georg Fenady | Stella Stevens, Roddy McDowall, Elsa Lanchester, Shani Wallis | Horror | Cinerama Releasing Corporation |
| Arnold's Wrecking Co. | Steven E. de Souza | Barbara Hencheck | Comedy | |
| Ash Wednesday | Larry Peerce | Elizabeth Taylor, Henry Fonda | Drama | Paramount |
| The Baby | Ted Post | Anjanette Comer, Ruth Roman, Marianna Hill | Horror | |
| Badge 373 | Howard Koch | Robert Duvall, Verna Bloom | Crime | Paramount. Script by Pete Hamill |
| Badlands | Terrence Malick | Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates | Crime drama | Warner Bros. Malick's first film |
| Bang the Drum Slowly | John D. Hancock | Robert De Niro, Michael Moriarty, Vincent Gardenia, Phil Foster | Drama | Paramount. Based on Mark Harris novel |
| Battle for the Planet of the Apes | J. Lee Thompson | Roddy McDowall, John Huston, Claude Akins | Science fiction | 20th Century Fox. 3rd Planet of the Apes sequel |
| Black Caesar | Larry Cohen | Fred Williamson, Gloria Hendry | Crime drama | AIP. James Brown score |
| Black Snake | Russ Meyer | David Prowse, Anouska Hempel | Adventure | |
| Blackenstein | William A. Levey | John Hart, Liz Renay | Blaxploitation | |
| Blume in Love | Paul Mazursky | George Segal, Susan Anspach, Kris Kristofferson, Shelley Winters | Romantic comedy | Warner Bros. |
| Book of Numbers | Raymond St. Jacques | Raymond St. Jacques, Philip Michael Thomas, Freda Payne, Hope Clarke | Crime | AVCO Embassy Pictures |
| The Boy Who Cried Wolf | Nathan Juran, Elaine Devry | Robert J. Wilke | Horror | Universal |
| Breezy | Clint Eastwood | William Holden, Kay Lenz | Romance | Universal |
| Brother of the Wind | John Mahon | Dick Robinson | Independent film |
C–G[]
| Title | Director | Cast | Genre | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cahill U.S. Marshal | Andrew V. McLaglen | John Wayne, Gary Grimes, George Kennedy, Neville Brand | Western | Warner Bros. |
| The Candy Snatchers | Guerdon Trueblood | Tiffany Bolling, Ben Piazza | Exploitation | Independent |
| Charley and the Angel | Vincent McEveety | Fred MacMurray, Cloris Leachman, Kurt Russell | Family | Disney |
| Charley One-Eye | Don Chaffey | Richard Roundtree, Roy Thinnes, Nigel Davenport | Western | Paramount. Co-produced with UK |
| Charley Varrick | Don Siegel | Walter Matthau, Joe Don Baker, John Vernon, Andrew Robinson, Felicia Farr, Norman Fell, Jacqueline Scott, Sheree North | Crime drama | Universal. Based on a novel by John H. Reese |
| Charlotte's Web | Charles A. Nichols | Voices of Debbie Reynolds, Paul Lynde, Henry Gibson, Pamelyn Ferdin | Animated | Paramount. From E. B. White story |
| Cinderella Liberty | Mark Rydell | James Caan, Marsha Mason, Eli Wallach | Drama | 20th Century Fox. Golden Globe for Mason; 3 Oscar nominations |
| Class of '44 | Paul Bogart | Gary Grimes, Deborah Winters | Drama | Warner Bros. sequel to Summer of '42 |
| Cleopatra Jones | Jack Starrett | Tamara Dobson, Antonio Fargas, Shelley Winters | Crime drama | Warner Bros. |
| Coffy | Jack Hill | Pam Grier, Booker Bradshaw | Crime drama | AIP |
| Cops and Robbers | Aram Avakian | Joseph Bologna, Cliff Gorman | Crime, Comedy | United Artists. Written by Donald E. Westlake |
| The Crazies | George A. Romero | Lynn Lowry, Lane Carroll | Horror | |
| The Day of the Dolphin | Mike Nichols | George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Paul Sorvino, Fritz Weaver | Drama | Embassy Pictures. Script by Buck Henry; 2 Oscar nominations |
| A Delicate Balance | Tony Richardson | Katharine Hepburn, Paul Scofield, Lee Remick | Drama | based on Edward Albee play |
| The Deadly Trackers | Barry Shear | Richard Harris, Rod Taylor | Western | |
| Detroit 9000 | Arthur Marks | Alex Rocco, Hari Rhodes | Crime drama | |
| The Devil in Miss Jones | Gerard Damiano | Georgina Spelvin, Harry Reems, Gerard Damiano | Adult | released during Golden Age of Porn; reviewed by Roger Ebert |
| Dillinger | John Milius | Warren Oates, Harry Dean Stanton, Geoffrey Lewis, Ben Johnson, Richard Dreyfuss, Steve Kanaly, Cloris Leachman | Biography, Crime drama | story of John Dillinger |
| The Doll Squad | Ted Mikels | Francine York, Anthony Eisley | Drama | |
| The Don Is Dead | Richard Fleischer | Anthony Quinn, Angel Tompkins, Robert Forster, Al Lettieri | Crime drama | Universal |
| Don't Be Afraid of the Dark | John Newland | Kim Darby, Jim Hutton, William Demarest | Horror | made for TV |
| Don't Play Us Cheap | Melvin Van Peebles | Esther Rolle | Comedy | |
| Electra Glide in Blue | James William Guercio | Robert Blake | Crime drama | United Artists |
| Emperor of the North | Robert Aldrich | Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Keith Carradine | Drama | aka Emperor of the North Pole |
| Encounter with the Unknown | Harry Thomason | Rod Serling, Robert Ginnaven | Horror | |
| Enter the Dragon | Robert Clouse | Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly | Martial arts | Hong Kong co-production |
| Executive Action | David Miller | Burt Lancaster, Will Geer | Docudrama | on John F. Kennedy`s assassination in 1963 |
| The Exorcist | William Friedkin | Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow, Kitty Winn, Lee J. Cobb | Horror | from William Peter Blatty novel; 10 Oscar nominations |
| Five on the Black Hand Side | Oscar Williams | D'Urville Martin, Glynn Turman | Comedy | United Artists |
| Forced Entry | Shaun Costello | Harry Reems | Adult | |
| The Forgotten aka Don't Look in the Basement | S.F. Brownrigg | Jessie Lee Fulton | Horror | |
| Frank Film | Caroline Mouris, Frank Mouris | Frank Mouris | Animated | |
| The Friends of Eddie Coyle | Peter Yates | Robert Mitchum, Peter Boyle, Richard Jordan, Steven Keats, Alex Rocco | Crime drama | from George V. Higgins novel |
| From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler | Fielder Cook | Ingrid Bergman | Family | from E. L. Konigsburg novel |
| Ganja & Hess | Bill Gunn | Bill Gunn, Duane Jones, Marlene Clark | Horror | |
| Godspell | David Greene | Victor Garber | Musical | based on stage show |
| The Golden Voyage of Sinbad | Gordon Hessler | John Phillip Law, Caroline Munro | Adventure | |
| Gordon's War | Ossie Davis | Paul Winfield | Adventure | 20th Century Fox |
H–M[]
| Title | Director | Cast | Genre | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Happy Mother's Day, Love George | Darren McGavin | Patricia Neal, Cloris Leachman, Bobby Darin | Thriller | |
| The Harrad Experiment | Ted Post | James Whitmore, Tippi Hedren, Don Johnson | Drama | from Robert Rimmer novel |
| Harry in Your Pocket | Bruce Geller | James Coburn, Michael Sarrazin | Drama | United Artists |
| Heavy Traffic | Ralph Bakshi | Joseph Kaufmann, Jamie Farr (voices) | Animated | Adult |
| Hell Up in Harlem | Larry Cohen | Fred Williamson, Julius Harris, Gloria Hendry | Crime drama | American International |
| High Plains Drifter | Clint Eastwood | Clint Eastwood, Geoffrey Lewis, Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill, Mitchell Ryan | Western | Universal |
| Hit! | Sidney J. Furie | Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor | Action | Paramount |
| The Iceman Cometh | John Frankenheimer | Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan | Drama | from Eugene O'Neill play |
| Idaho Transfer | Peter Fonda | Keith Carradine | Sci-fi | |
| Interval | Daniel Mann | Merle Oberon, Robert Wolders, Russ Conway | Romance | Oberon's final film |
| Invasion of the Bee Girls | Denis Sanders | Anitra Ford | Sci-fi | |
| Jesus Christ Superstar | Norman Jewison | Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson | Musical | based on Broadway show |
| Jeremy | Arthur Barron | Robby Benson, Glynnis O'Connor | Romance | |
| Jonathan Livingston Seagull | Hall Bartlett | James Franciscus, Juliet Mills | from Richard Bach novella | |
| Jory | Jorge Fons | Robby Benson | Western | |
| Kid Blue | James Frawley | Dennis Hopper, Warren Oates, Peter Boyle | Western | 20th Century Fox |
| Lady Ice | Tom Gries | Donald Sutherland, Jennifer O'Neill | Crime | National General |
| The Last American Hero | Lamont Johnson | Jeff Bridges, Valerie Perrine, Ned Beatty | Biography | story of Junior Johnson |
| The Last Detail | Hal Ashby | Jack Nicholson, Otis Young, Randy Quaid | Comedy, Drama | 3 Oscar nominations |
| The Last of Sheila | Herbert Ross | James Coburn, Raquel Welch, Dyan Cannon, James Mason, Joan Hackett, Richard Benjamin, Ian McShane | Mystery | script by Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim |
| The Laughing Policeman | Stuart Rosenberg | Walter Matthau, Bruce Dern, Louis Gossett Jr., Joanna Cassidy, Cathy Lee Crosby | Crime drama | based on Swedish novel |
| Little Cigars | Chris Christenberry | Angel Tompkins | Comedy | |
| Lolly-Madonna XXX | Richard C. Sarafian | Rod Steiger, Robert Ryan, Jeff Bridges | Drama | based on a novel by Sue Grafton |
| The Long Goodbye | Robert Altman | Elliott Gould, Sterling Hayden, Henry Gibson, Nina van Pallandt, Jim Bouton, Mark Rydell | Mystery | based on Raymond Chandler novel |
| Lost Horizon | Charles Jarrott | Peter Finch, Liv Ullmann, Sally Kellerman, George Kennedy, Michael York, Olivia Hussey, Bobby Van, James Shigeta, Charles Boyer, John Gielgud | Adventure Fantasy Musical |
Columbia based on novel by James Hilton; remake of 1937 film |
| Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing | Alan J. Pakula | Maggie Smith, Timothy Bottoms | Drama | Columbia |
| Luther | Guy Green | Stacy Keach, Patrick Magee | Drama, Biography | story of Martin Luther |
| The Mack | Michael Campus | Max Julien, Richard Pryor, Roger E. Mosley | Crime drama | AIP |
| The Mackintosh Man | John Huston | Paul Newman, James Mason | Thriller | based on Desmond Bagley novel |
| Magnum Force | Ted Post | Clint Eastwood, Hal Holbrook, Tim Matheson, David Soul, Robert Urich | Crime drama | sequel to Dirty Harry |
| Manson | Laurence Merrick | Vincent Bugliosi | Documentary | story of Charles Manson |
| Maurie | Daniel Mann | Bernie Casey, Bo Svenson | Sports drama | |
| Mean Streets | Martin Scorsese | Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel | Drama | 1st Scorsese-De Niro pairing |
| Messiah of Evil aka Dead People | Willard Huyck | Elisha Cook Jr., Anitra Ford | Horror |
N–S[]
| Title | Director | Cast | Genre | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Neptune Factor | Daniel Petrie | Ben Gazzara, Yvette Mimieux, Walter Pidgeon | Sci-fi | 20th Century Fox |
| The No Mercy Man | Daniel Vance | Sid Haig, Ron Thompson | Action | |
| Oklahoma Crude | Stanley Kramer | George C. Scott, Faye Dunaway, John Mills | Drama | Columbia |
| One Little Indian | Bernard McEveety | James Garner, Pat Hingle, Vera Miles | Western | Disney |
| The Outfit | John Flynn | Robert Duvall, Karen Black, Joe Don Baker, Sheree North, Robert Ryan | Crime drama | from Richard Stark novel |
| The Paper Chase | James Bridges | Timothy Bottoms, Lindsay Wagner, John Houseman | Drama | Oscar for Houseman |
| Paper Moon | Peter Bogdanovich | Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal, Madeline Kahn | Comedy | Oscar for Tatum O'Neal |
| Papillon | Franklin J. Schaffner | Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman | Adventure | story of Henri Charrière |
| Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid | Sam Peckinpah | James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, Bob Dylan, John Beck, Slim Pickens, Katy Jurado, Jack Elam, Chill Wills | Western, Biography | MGM |
| Please Don't Eat My Mother | Carl Monson | Buck Kartalian, Rene Bond | Comedy | |
| The Red Pony | Robert Totten | Henry Fonda, Maureen O'Hara, Ben Johnson | Drama Western |
Made for TV; Universal; Remake of 1949 film |
| The Return of Charlie Chan | Daryl Duke | Ross Martin, Richard Haydn | Mystery | |
| Robin Hood | Wolfgang Reitherman | voices of Peter Ustinov, Terry-Thomas | Animated film | Set in 1192 |
| The Roommates | Arthur Marks | Marki Bey, Pat Woodell | Thriller | |
| Sssssss | Bernard L. Kowalski | Strother Martin | Horror | |
| Santee | Gary Nelson | Glenn Ford | Western | Crown International Pictures |
| Save the Tiger | John G. Avildsen | Jack Lemmon, Jack Gilford | Drama | Oscar for Lemmon |
| Scarecrow | Jerry Schatzberg | Gene Hackman, Al Pacino | Drama | Cannes Grand Prix award |
| Scorpio | Michael Winner | Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Paul Scofield | Thriller | |
| Scream Blacula Scream | Bob Kelljan | William Marshall, Pam Grier | Horror | sequel to Blacula |
| Serpico | Sidney Lumet | Al Pacino, John Randolph, Tony Roberts | Crime, Biography | from Peter Maas book; Golden Globe for Pacino |
| The Seven-Ups | Philip D'Antoni | Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco | Crime drama | 20th Century Fox |
| Shaft in Africa | John Guillermin | Richard Roundtree | Action | sequel to Shaft |
| Shamus | Buzz Kulik | Burt Reynolds, Dyan Cannon | Crime drama | Columbia |
| Showdown | George Seaton | Rock Hudson, Dean Martin, Susan Clark | Western | Universal; Remake of 1963 film |
| Sisters | Brian De Palma | Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt | Horror | |
| Slaughter's Big Rip-Off | Gordon Douglas | Jim Brown, Ed McMahon, Brock Peters | Blaxploitation | sequel to 1972 film |
| Sleeper | Woody Allen | Woody Allen, Diane Keaton | Sci-fi comedy | United Artists |
| Slither | Howard Zieff | James Caan, Sally Kellerman, Peter Boyle | Crime | MGM |
| Some Call It Loving | James B. Harris | Zalman King, Richard Pryor | Drama | |
| Soylent Green | Richard Fleischer | Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, Chuck Connors, Edward G. Robinson | Science fiction | Robinson's final film |
| The Spook Who Sat by the Door | Ivan Dixon | Lawrence Cook, J. A. Preston | Drama | from book by Sam Greenlee |
| Steelyard Blues | Alan Myerson | Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Peter Boyle | Comedy | Warner Bros. |
| Sticks and Bones | Robert Downey Sr. | Cliff DeYoung | Drama | |
| The Sting | George Roy Hill | Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Eileen Brennan, Ray Walston, Jack Kehoe, Charles Durning, Dana Elcar, Harold Gould, Robert Earl Jones, Dimitra Arliss, Sally Kirkland | Crime, Comedy | won 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture |
| The Stone Killer | Michael Winner | Charles Bronson, Martin Balsam, Paul Koslo | Crime | Columbia |
| Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams | Gilbert Cates | Joanne Woodward, Martin Balsam, Sylvia Sidney | Drama | 2 Oscar nominations |
| Superdad | Vincent McEveety | Bob Crane, Barbara Rush, Kurt Russell | Family | Disney |
| Sweet Kill | Curtis Hanson | Tab Hunter, Isabel Jewell, John Aprea | Thriller |
T–Z[]
| Title | Director | Cast | Genre | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal Island | Stephanie Rothman | Phyllis Davis, Marta Kristen | Action | |
| The Thief Who Came to Dinner | Bud Yorkin | Ryan O'Neal, Jacqueline Bisset, Warren Oates, Ned Beatty, Jill Clayburgh | Crime comedy | Warner Bros. |
| The Three Musketeers (1973) | Richard Lester | Oliver Reed, Michael York, Richard Chamberlain, Raquel Welch | Adventure | from Alexandre Dumas story |
| Tom Sawyer | Don Taylor | Jodie Foster, Warren Oates | Musical | from Mark Twain novel |
| The Train Robbers | Burt Kennedy | John Wayne, Ann-Margret, Rod Taylor, Bobby Vinton | Western | Warner Bros. |
| Two People | Robert Wise | Peter Fonda, Lindsay Wagner | Drama | |
| Visions of Eight | 8 directors | 1972 Summer Olympics | Documentary | |
| Walking Tall | Phil Karlson | Joe Don Baker, Noah Beery Jr. | Crime, Action | story of Buford Pusser |
| The Way We Were | Sydney Pollack | Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford, Bradford Dillman, Susan Blakely, Patrick O'Neal, Lois Chiles | Romance | 6 Oscar nominations; won Golden Globe |
| The Werewolf of Washington | Milton Moses Ginsberg | Dean Stockwell | Horror, Comedy | |
| Westworld | Michael Crichton | Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, James Brolin | Science fiction | MGM; written by Crichton |
| White Lightning | Joseph Sargent | Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Bo Hopkins | Action | followed by Gator |
| Wicked, Wicked | Richard L. Bare | David Bailey, Tiffany Bolling | Horror | |
| The World's Greatest Athlete | Robert Scheerer | John Amos, Tim Conway, Jan-Michael Vincent | Family | Disney |