1971 in film
See also:
Events
- February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music. The film includes footage from Dylan's 1966 UK tour
- The first permanent IMAX projection system is installed at Ontario Place's "Cinesphere" in Toronto.
Top grossing films
- North America
- Love Story
- Little Big Man
- Summer of '42
- Ryan's Daughter
- The Owl and the Pussycat
- The Aristocats
- Carnal Knowledge
- Willard
- The Andromeda Strain
- Big Jake
Academy Awards
- Best Picture: The French Connection - D'Antoni-Schine-Moore, 20th Century-Fox
- Best Director: William Friedkin - The French Connection
- Best Actor: Gene Hackman - The French Connection
- Best Actress: Jane Fonda - Klute
- Best Supporting Actor: Ben Johnson - The Last Picture Show
- Best Supporting Actress: - Cloris Leachman - The Last Picture Show
Births
- February 17 - Denise Richards,actress
- March 31 - Ewan McGregor
- August 31 - Chris Tucker, actor
- September 29 - Emily Lloyd, English actress.
- October 29 - Winona Ryder, American actress.
- November 25 - Christina Applegate
Deaths
- January 5 - Douglas Shearer, pioneer motion-picture sound engineer
- January 15 - John Dall, actor
- February 26 - Fernandel, actor
- March 8 – Harold Lloyd, silent screen comedian
- March 15 - Bebe Daniels, actor
- May 1 - Glenda Farrell, actress
- May 27 - Chips Rafferty, Australian actor
- May 28 - Audie Murphy, World War II hero became film actor after the war
- July 6 - Louis Armstrong, musician, actor
- July 23 - Van Heflin, actor
- August 15 - Paul Lukas, actor
- September 7 - Spring Byington, actress
- September 10 - Pier Angeli, actress
- September 11 - Bella Darvi, actress
- October 11 - Chester Conklin, actor
- November 17 - Gladys Cooper, actress
- December 13 - Dita Parlo, actress
- December 18 - Diana Lynn, actress
- December 28 - Max Steiner, film composer
- December 30 - Dorothy Comingore, actress best known as Susan Kane in Citizen Kane
- December 31 - Pete Duel 31, actor (suicide)
Other movies released
- Bedknobs and Broomsticks
- The Devils
- Dirty Harry starring Clint Eastwood
- The Music Lovers
- Something Big
- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
- Fiddler on the Roof
- Diamonds Are Forever
- Carnal Knowledge
- A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick
- Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song
- Escape from the Planet of the Apes
- The Big Doll House
- Shaft
- Billy Jack
- The Conformist
- The Garden of the Finzi-Continis Golden Bear winner
- The Go-Between Palme d'Or winner
- The Last Picture Show