Heroes of the New Hollywood

In instant classics spanning the 1970s, audiences watched Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, and Robert De Niro come of artistic age. Together, this dynamic group advanced the craft of screen acting and redefined what it meant to be a man in the age of post-’60s disillusionment, burgeoning feminism, and the narcissistic machoism of disco culture.
The book, featuring 35 photographs, is a critical and historical look at the films, performances, and career arcs of six of the biggest male stars of the 1970s. Studying them in the context of the times, it also touches on several of their contemporaries including Marlon Brando, Laurence Olivier, George C. Scott, Charlton Heston, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Robert Redford, Warren Beatty, James Caan, Donald Sutherland, Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, Richard Dreyfuss, and Bruce Lee.

Dan Lalande is a screenwriter based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. For thirteen years, he served as an adjunct instructor of screen-based storytelling at Algonquin College.

Dan Lalande
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 202
Bibliographic Info: 35 photos, filmographies, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2025
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9355-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5344-0
Imprint: McFarland

Preface: Brando’s Bastards  1

Introduction: “The Charmless Man”  5

Marlon Brando: A Budding Influence  13

Dustin Hoffman: The Graduate Graduates  38

Gene Hackman: A Sorry Son of a Bitch  64

Jack Nicholson: The Rebel King  85

Al Pacino: Forever Wired  107

Robert Duvall: A Good Soldier  125

Robert De Niro: Avenging Angel  153

1980s–2020s: The Aftermath  174

Postscript  177

Chapter Notes  181

Filmographies (1970–79)  185

Bibliography  189

Index  191

“The author clearly has an affection for this period in film history, a seemingly encyclopaedic knowledge of it, and writes with the insight of a historian and the enthusiasm of a fan.”—Booklist