Best 1970s Documentary Movies

Looking for the best 1970s Documentary movies? These are the 16 highest-rated 1970s Documentary titles in our catalogue, led by Goodbye CP, Hitler: A Career and George Carlin: Again!. The list is ranked by audience score; open any title for its cast, trailer and legal places to watch.

1. Goodbye CP (1972)

★ 7.8/10

Kazuo Hara follows the lives and activities of Yokota Hiroshi and Yokozuka Koichi, members of an activist group made up of people with cerebral palsy.
2. Hitler: A Career (1977)

★ 7.4/10

A keen chronicle of the unlikely rise to power of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) and a dissection of the Third Reich (1933-1945), but also an analysis of mass psychology and how the desperate crowd can be deceived and…
3. George Carlin: Again! (1978)

★ 7.4/10

Performing at the Celebrity Star Theater in Phoenix on July 23, 1978, Carlin mesmerizes his audience in the second of his 12 HBO specials. The show was originally planned as part of a concert/sketch movie, The…
4. Number Our Days (1976)

★ 7.4/10

Based on the book by anthropologist Barbara Myerhoff, this Academy Award-winning short documentary offers a tender portrait of a community of elderly yet resilient Jews living, loving, and at times struggling, in…
5. Reggae in a Babylon (1978)

★ 7.0/10

The young, gifted and black generation of the '70s who started the British Reggae movement is captured in this unique documentary. Groove to the smooth sounds and see rare footage.
6. First Case, Second Case (1979)

★ 7.0/10

A documentary about a teacher who sends a group of pupils out of the classroom when one of them does not own up to talking behind the master's back.
7. Weed (1972)

★ 6.8/10

Documentary about marijuana use, culture and law enforcement by future porn superstar director Alex de Renzy.
8. Hot Pepper (1973)

★ 6.8/10

A musical portrait of Zydeco King Clifton Chenier, who combines the pulsating rhythms of Cajun dance music and black R&B with African overtones, belting out his irresistible music in the sweaty juke joints of South…
9. The Beloved Child, or I Play at Being a Married Woman (1971)

★ 6.6/10

In this unfinished work, a young mother, her little girl, as well as a friend of the mother's, spend the summer in a villa. The mother shares her problems – womanhood, motherhood, being married - with her friend…
10. Spend It All (1972)

★ 6.6/10

Another short documentary of "Real Food, Roots Music, and People Full of Passion for what they do!", Spend It All is Les Blank's spirited look at the French-speaking Cajun community of southwest Louisiana. Preserved by…
11. A Well Spent Life (1971)

★ 6.4/10

A tribute to the Texas songster, Mance Lipscomb, considered by many to be the greatest guitarist of all time.
12. Land of Milk and Honey (1971)

★ 6.3/10

Pierre Etaix’s most radical film, and perhaps unsurprisingly the one that effectively ended his career in cinema, Land of Milk and Honey is a fascinating investigative documentary about post–May ’68 French society.
13. Dry Wood (1973)

★ 6.2/10

Featuring the stories and music of seminal Cajun musicians "Bois Sec" Ardoin and Canray Fontenot, Dry Wood is a short, vibrant documentary portrait of life, food, music and festivity in the Louisiana Delta from the…
14. Women of Suriname (1978)

★ 0.0/10

Oema Foe Sranang (1978), translated in Dutch as Vrouwen van Suriname, was a film made in close collaboration with LOSON (Landelijke Organisatie Strijd Organisatie Suriname). This anti-colonial, feminist portrait of the…
15. Elizabeth II: The Unseen Photos (1970)

★ 0.0/10

Marking a century since the birth of the late Queen Elizabeth II, this documentary uses newly discovered photographs to chart the life and reign of Britain's longest-serving monarch. Royal insiders, historians and…
16. Vigilante and Proud: Catching the Street Thieves (1970)

★ 0.0/10

From pickpocketing to bike theft, street crime sweeps Britain as a former detective helps victims track down criminals using phone footage.