On this day in movie history - Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974):

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

directed and written by Michael Cimino,

was released in the United States on May 24, 1974.
Music by Dee Barton.

Cast:

Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, Geoffrey Lewis, Catherine Bach, Gary Busey, Jack Dodson, Eugene Elman, Burton Gilliam, Roy Jenson, Claudia Lennear, Bill McKinney, Vic Tayback, Dub Taylor, Gregory Walcott, Erica Hagen, Alvin Childress, Virginia Baker, Stuart Nisbet, Irene K. Cooper, Cliff Emmich, June Fairchild, Ted Foulkes, Leslie Oliver, Mark Montgomery, Karen Lamm, Luanne Roberts, Lila Teigh, George Kennedy, David Chow, Beth Howland, Steve Moriarty.

Recommended reading - Jaws, by Peter Benchley (1974):

Jaws

By Peter Benchley.

Published by Ballantine Books.

First published 1974.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0345544145

ISBN-13: 978-0345544148

Description from the original hardcover inner sleeve:

A girl swims lazily in the cool midnight sea - the shark, attracted by the movement, glides unerringly on to its prey; and the girl is next seen as a hideously mangled carcass in the flotsam left by the receding so begins the terror which will reign in Amity, a holiday resort on Long Island which is just preparing for another successful summer season.

Sharks are rare in those waters; and great white sharks – three-ton, thirty-foot eating machines which hunt alone – are almost unheard of. But Martin Brody, Amity’s police chief, realizes that the killer must be a shark, and begins to suspect which kind. The beach, he sees at once, must be closed.

But Amity depends on its summer season, and there are people behind the town’s development who are not prepared to contemplate a financial loss. The shark will surely move on. The girl’s death must be ‘an accident’. Reluctantly Brody gives way to pressure.

From that moment the monster in the sea becomes more than the killer of individual victims. It becomes an evil presence felt throughout the town, shaking it out of its complacency and exposing its innermost fears and tensions; and Brody will not be able to face himself again until he has cleared the ocean of its menace. Peter Benchley’s magnificent story ends with a sea-chase which for tension and drama is second to none.

This novel is a spectacular achievement, and ensures that Benchley will be the most avidly read novelist of the year.

On this day in movie history - The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974):

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz

directed by Ted Kotcheff,

written by Mordecai Richler and Lionel Chetwynd,

based on the novel by Mordecai Richler,

was released in the United States on April 11, 1974.
Music by Stanley Myers and Andrew Powell.

Cast:

Richard Dreyfuss, Micheline Lanctôt, Jack Warden, Randy Quaid, Joseph Wiseman, Denholm Elliott, Henry Ramer, Joe Silver, Zvee Scooler, Robert Goodier, Alan Rosenthal, Barry Baldaro, Allan Kolman, Barry Pascal, Susan Friedman, Jacques Durette, Jonathan Robinson, Edward Resmini, Henry Gamer, Lou Levitt, Sonny Oppenheim, Lionel Schwartz, Mickey Eichen, Robert Desroches, Judith Gault, Norman Taviss.

On this day in movie history - Dark Star (1974):

Dark Star

directed by John Carpenter,

written by John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon,

was released in the United States on March 30, 1974.
Music by John Carpenter.
Title song Benson, Arizona performed by John Yager.
Lyrics by Bill Taylor.

Cast:

Brian Narelle, Dan O'Bannon, Cal Kuniholm, Andreijah "Dre" Pahich, John Carpenter, Joe Saunders, Barbara "Cookie" Knapp, Miles Watkins, Nick Castle.