What U.S. films were released with Enter the Dragon?

I’ve been thinking about what films came out the same year as the groundbreaking Bruce Lee martial arts epic Enter the Dragon. So I researched and found that U.S. film studios were already beginning to experiment with their release schedules and genres, long before the iconic revenge epic hits American shores. Their were numerous projects from Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood that year, as well as cult classics from directors Robert Altman and George A. Romero, among others.

Did you know there was also a Bruce Lee film in 1973 that Bruce Lee himself wasn’t aware of? See the list below for more.

Black Mama, White Mama

Director: Eddie Romero
Cast: Pam Grier, Margaret Markov, Sid Haig, Lynn Borden, Zaldy Zshornack, Laurie Burton, Eddie Garcia, Alona Alegre, Dindo Fernando, Vic Diaz, Wendy Green, Lotis Key, Alfonso Carvajal, Bruno Punzalan, Subas Herrero, Jess Ramos, Carpi Asturias

January 19, 1973

Black Caesar

Director: Larry Cohen
Cast: Fred Williamson, Gloria Hendry, Art Lund, D’Urville Martin, Julius Harris, Minnie Gentry, Philip Roye, William Wellman Jr., James Dixon, Val Avery, Patrick McAllister, Don Pedro Colley, Myrna Hansen, Omer Jeffrey, Michael Jeffrey, Allan Bailey, Cecil Alonzo, Francisco De Gracia, Larry Lurin

February 7, 1973

Walking Tall

Director: Phil Karlson
Cast: Joe Don Baker as Buford Pusser, Elizabeth Hartman, Leif Garrett, Dawn Lyn, Noah Beery Jr., Lurene Tuttle, Ed Call, Dominick Mazzie, Lynn Borden, Brenda Benet, Arch Johnson, Russell Thorson, Gil Perkins, Carey Loftin, Warner Venetz, Gene LeBell, Del Monroe, Gene Evans, Bruce Glover, Don Keefer, Felton Perry

February 22, 1973

Bruce Lee and I

Director: Ti Tang
Cast: Unicorn Chan, Wai-Man Chan, Ching Chen, Tina Chin-Fei, Alan Chui Chung San, Alexander Grand, Han Jae Ji, Wen Chung Ku, Yasuaki Kurata, Hoi Mang, Mars, Jackie Chan was an Extra, and Bruce Lee was an uncredited fight choreographer/martial arts expert
CLICK HERE for more details on Bruce Lee and I.

March 1, 1973 (Hong Kong)

The Long Goodbye

Director: Robert Altman
Cast: Elliott Gould as Philip Marlowe, Nina Van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell, Henry Gibson, David Arkin, Jim Bouton, Warren Berlinger, Jo Ann Brody, Stephen Coit, Jack Knight, Pepe Callahan, Vincent Palmieri, Pancho Córdova, Enrique Lucero, Rutanya Alda

March 7, 1973

The Crazies

Director: George A. Romero
Cast: Lane Carroll, Will MacMillan, Harold Wayne Jones, Lloyd Hollar, Lynn Lowry, Richard Liberty, Richard France, Harry Spillman, Will Disney, Edith Bell, Bill Thunhurst, Leland Starnes, A.C. McDonald, Robert J. McCully, Robert Karlowsky, Ned Schmidtke, Tony Scott, Roy Cheverie, Jack Zaharia

March 16, 1973

Forced Entry

Director: Shaun Costello
Cast: Laura Cannon, Harry Reems (Tim Long), Jutta David, Shaun Costello, Ruby Runhouse, Nina Fawcett

March 16, 1973

Five Fingers of Death

Director: Chang-hwa Jeong
Cast: Lo Lieh, Ping Wang, Hsiung Chao, Chin-Feng Wang, Mien Fang, Feng Tien, James Nam, Shen Chan, Bolo Yeung, Wen Chung Ku, Lung Yu, Yukio Someno, Tse Lin Yang, Chi Chu Chin, Bong-jin Jin, Hsing Chung Hung

March 21, 1973

Sisters

Director: Brian De Palma
Cast: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning, William Finley, Lisle Wilson, Barnard Hughes, Mary Davenport, Dolph Sweet

March 27, 1973

Black Snake

Director: Russ Meyer
Cast: Anouska Hempel, David Warbeck, Percy Herbert, Thomas Baptiste, Milton McCollin, Bernard Boston, Vikki Richards, David Prowse, Bloke Modisane, Anthony Sharp, Robert Lee

March 28, 1973

Cannibal Girls

Director: Ivan Reitman
Cast: Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Ronald Ulrich, Randall Carpenter, Bonnie Neilson, Mira Pawluk, Bob McHeady, Alan Gordon, Allan Price, Earl Pomerantz, May Jarvis

April 1973

Theater of Blood

Director: Douglas Hickox
Cast: Vincent Price, Diana Rigg, Ian Hendry, Harry Andrews, Coral Browne, Robert Coote, Jack Hawkins, Michael Hordern, Arthur Lowe, Robert Morley, Dennis Price, Milo O’Shea, Eric Sykes, Madeline Smith, Diana Dors, Joan Hickson, Renée Asherson

April 5, 1973

Scarecrow

Director: Jerry Schatzberg
Cast: Gene Hackman, Al Pacino, Dorothy Tristan, Ann Wedgeworth, Richard Lynch, Eileen Brennan, Penelope Allen, Richard Hackman

April 11, 1973

Scorpio

Director: Michael Winner
Cast: Burt Lancaster as Cross, Alain Delon as Jean Laurier a.k.a. Scorpio, Paul Scofield, John Colicos, Gayle Hunnicutt, J.D. Cannon, Joanne Linville, Mel Stewart, Vladek Sheybal, Mary Maude, Jack Colvin, James Sikking, Burke Byrnes, William Smithers, Shmuel Rodensky

April 19, 1973

Soylent Green

Director: Richard Fleischer
Cast: Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, Chuck Connors, Joseph Cotten, Brock Peters, Paula Kelly, Edward G. Robinson, Stephen Young, Mike Henry, Lincoln Kilpatrick, Roy Jenson, Leonard Stone, Whit Bissell, Celia Lovsky, Dick Van Patten

May 9, 1973

Paper Moon

Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Cast: Ryan O’Neal, Tatum O’Neal, Madeline Kahn, John Hillerman, P.J. Johnson, Jessie Lee Fulton, James N. Harrell, Lila Waters, Noble Willingham, Bob Young, Jack Saunders, Jody Wilbur, Liz Ross, Yvonne Harrison, Dorothy Price, Eleanor Bogart, Dorothy Forster, Lana Daniel, Herschel Morris, Randy Quaid, Jack Benny

May 9, 1973

Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid

Director: Sam Peckinpah
Cast: James Coburn as Pat Garrett, Kris Kristofferson as Billy The Kid, Richard Jaeckel, Katy Jurado, Chill Wills, Barry Sullivan, Jason Robards, Bob Dylan, R.G. Armstrong, Luke Askew, John Beck, Richard Bright, Matt Clark, Rita Coolidge, Jack Dodson, Jack Elam, Emilio Fernández, Paul Fix, L.Q. Jones, Slim Pickens

May 23, 1973

Coffy

Director: Jack Hill
Cast: Pam Grier as Coffy, Booker Bradshaw, Robert DoQui, William Elliott, Allan Arbus, Sid Haig, Barry Cahill, Lee de Broux, Ruben Moreno, Lisa Farringer, Carol Locatell, Linda Haynes, John Perak, Mwako Cumbuka, Morris Buchanan, Peaches Jones, Jan-Minika Hughes

June 13, 1973

Shaft in Africa

Director: John Guillermin
Cast: Richard Roundtree as John Shaft, Frank Finlay, Vonetta McGee, Neda Arneric, Debebe Eshetu, Spiros Focás, Jacques Herlin, Jho Jhenkins, Willie Jonah, Adolfo Lastretti, Marne Maitland, Frank McRae, Zenebech Tadesse, A.V. Falana

June 14, 1973

Battle for the Planet of the Apes

Director: J. Lee Thompson
Cast: Roddy McDowall, Claude Akins, Natalie Trundy, Severn Darden, Lew Ayres, John Huston, Paul Williams, Austin Stoker, Noah Keen, Richard Eastham, France Nuyen, Paul Stevens, Heather Lowe, Bobby Porter, Michael Stearns, Cal Wilson, Pat Cardi, John Landis

June 15, 1973

The Legend of Hell House

Director: John Hough
Cast: Pamela Franklin, Roddy McDowall, Clive Revill, Gayle Hunnicutt, Michael Gough, Roland Culver, Peter Bowles

June 15, 1973

Live and Let Die

Director: Guy Hamilton
Cast: Roger Moore as James Bond, Yaphet Kotto as Kananga a.k.a. Mr. Big, Jane Seymour as Solitaire, Clifton James, Julius Harris, Geoffrey Holder, David Hedison, Gloria Hendry, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, Tommy Lane, Earl Jolly Brown, Roy Stewart, Lon Satton, Arnold Williams, Ruth Kempf, Joie Chitwood, Madeline Smith, Michael Ebbin, Kubi Chaza, Brenda Arnau

June 27, 1973

Scream Blacula Scream

Director: Bob Kelljan
Cast: William Marshall as Blacula a.k.a. Prince Mamuwalde, Don Mitchell, Pam Grier, Michael Conrad, Richard Lawson, Lynne Moody, Janee Michelle, Barbara Rhoades, Bernie Hamilton, Arnold Williams, Van Kirksey, Bob Minor, Al Jones, Craig T. Nelson

June 27, 1973

Sssssss

Director: Bernard L. Kowalski
Cast: Strother Martin, Dirk Benedict, Heather Menzies-Urich, Richard B. Shull, Tim O’Connor, Jack Ging, Kathleen King, Reb Brown, Ted Grossman, Charles Seel, Ray Ballard, Charlie Fox, Felix Silla, Noble Craig

July 1973

The MacKintosh Man

Director: John Huston
Cast: Paul Newman, Dominique Sanda, James Mason, Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen, Michael Hordern, Nigel Patrick, Peter Vaughan, Roland Culver, Percy Herbert, Robert Lang, Jenny Runacre, John Bindon, Hugh Manning, Wolfe Morris, Noel Purcell, Donald Webster, Keith Bell, Niall MacGinnis, Eddie Byrne, Shane Briant

July 25, 1973

The Day of the Jackal

Director: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Edward Fox, Terence Alexander, Michel Auclair, Alan Badel, Tony Britton, Denis Carey, Adrien Cayla-Legrand, Cyril Cusack, Maurice Denham, Vernon Dobtcheff, Jacques François, Olga Georges-Picot, Raymond Gérôme, Barrie Ingham, Derek Jacobi, Michael Lonsdale, Jean Martin, Ronald Pickup, Eric Porter, Anton Rodgers, Delphine Seyrig, Donald Sinden, Jean Sorel, David Swift, Timothy West

July 30, 1973

Heavy Traffic

Director: Ralph Bakshi
Cast: Voices of Joseph Kaufmann, Beverly Hope Atkinson, Frank DeKova, Terri Haven, Mary Dean Lauria, Jacqueline Mills, Lillian Adams, Jamie Farr, Robert Easton, Charles Gordone, Michael Brandon, Morton Lewis, Bill Striglos, Jay Lawrence

August 8, 1973

The Stone Killer

Director: Michael Winner
Cast: Charles Bronson, Martin Balsam, Jack Colvin, Paul Koslo, Norman Fell, David Sheiner, Stuart Margolin, Ralph Waite, Alfred Ryder, Walter Burke, Kelley Miles, Eddie Firestone

August 8, 1973

Night Watch

Director: Brian G. Hutton
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey, Billie Whitelaw, Robert Lang, Tony Britton, Bill Dean, Michael Danvers-Walker, Rosario Serrano, Pauline Jameson, Linda Hayden, Kevin Colson, Laon Maybanke, David Jackson

August 10, 1973

American Graffiti

Director: George Lucas
Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Wolfman Jack, Bo Hopkins, Manuel Padilla Jr., Beau Gentry, Harrison Ford, Jim Bohan, Jana Bellan, Deby Celiz, Lynne Marie Stewart, Terence McGovern, Kathleen Quinlan, Tim Crowley, Scott Beach, John Brent, Gordon Analla

August 11, 1973

Jesus Christ Superstar

Director: Norman Jewison
Cast: Ted Neeley as Jesus Christ, Carl Anderson, Yvonne Elliman, Barry Dennen, Bob Bingham, Larry Marshall, Josh Mostel, Kurt Yaghjian, Paul Thomas, Pi Douglass, Robert LuPone, Jonathan Wynne, Thommie Walsh, Richard Molinare, David Devir, Jeff Hyslop, Richard Orbach, Shooki Wagner

August 15, 1973

Enter the Dragon

Director: Robert Clouse
Cast: Bruce Lee as Lee, John Saxon as Roper, Jim Kelly as Williams, Kien Shih as Han, Ahna Capri, Bob Wall, Angela Mao, Betty Chung, Geoffrey Weeks, Bolo Yeung, Peter Archer, Li Jen Ho, Marlene Clark, Allan Kent, William Keller, Mickey Caruso, Pat E. Johnson, Darnell Garcia, Mike Bissell, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Steve Sanders Muhammad, Donnie Williams, Yuen Biao

August 19, 1973

High Plains Drifter

Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill, Mitch Ryan, Jack Ging, Stefan Gierasch, Ted Hartley, Billy Curtis, Geoffrey Lewis, Scott Walker, Walter Barnes, Paul Brinegar, Richard Bull, Robert Donner

August 22, 1973

Raw Meat

Director: Gary Sherman
Cast: Donald Pleasence, Norman Rossington, David Ladd, Sharon Gurney, Hugh Armstrong, June Turner, Clive Swift, James Cossins, Heather Stoney, Hugh Dickson, Christopher Lee

September 1973

The Big Feast

Director: Marco Ferreri
Cast: Marcello Mastroianni, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret, Ugo Tognazzi, Andréa Ferréol, Solange Blondeau, Florence Giorgetti, Michèle Alexandre, Monique Chaumette, Henri Piccoli, Maurice Dorléac, Simon Tchao, Louis Navarre, Bernard Menez, Cordelia Piccoli, Jérôme Richard, Patricia Milochevitch, James Campbell, Eva Simonet

September 19, 1973

The Spook Who Sat by the Door

Director: Ivan Dixon
Cast: Lawrence Cook, Janet League, Paula Kelly, J.A. Preston, Paul Butler, Don Blakely, David Lemieux, Byron Morrow, Jack Aaron, Joseph Mascolo, Elaine Aiken, Beverly Gill, Bob Hill, Martin Golar, Jeff Hamilton, Margaret Kromgols, Tom Alderman

September 21, 1973

The Outfit

Director: John Flynn
Cast: Robert Duvall, Karen Black, Joe Don Baker, Robert Ryan, Timothy Carey, Richard Jaeckel, Sheree North, Felice Orlandi, Marie Windsor, Jane Greer, Henry Jones, Joanna Cassidy, Tom Reese, Elisha Cook Jr., Bill McKinney, Anita O’Day, Archie Moore, Tony Young, Roland La Starza, Edward Ness

October 1973

Mean Streets

Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, David Proval, Amy Robinson, Richard Romanus, Cesare Danova, Victor Argo, George Memmoli, Lenny Scaletta, Jeannie Bell, Murray Moston, David Carradine, Robert Carradine

October 14, 1973

Badlands

Director: Terrence Malick
Cast: Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates, Ramon Bieri, Alan Vint, Gary Littlejohn, John Carter, Bryan Montgomery, Gail Threlkeld, Charles Fitzpatrick, Howard Ragsdale, John Womack Jr., Dona Baldwin, Ben Bravo

October 13, 1973

The Paper Chase

Director: James Bridges
Cast: Timothy Bottoms, Lindsay Wagner, John Houseman, Graham Beckel, James Naughton, Edward Herrmann, Craig Richard Nelson, Robert Lydiard, Lenny Baker, David Clennon, Regina Baff, Irma Hurley, Bill Moher, Blair Brown, Richard Whelan

October 16, 1973

The Way We Were

Director: Sydney Pollack
Cast: Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford, Bradford Dillman, Lois Chiles, Patrick O’Neal, Viveca Lindfors, Allyn Ann McLerie, Murray Hamilton, Herb Edelman, Diana Ewing, Sally Kirkland, Marcia Mae Jones, Don Keefer, George Gaynes, Eric Boles, Barbara Peterson, Roy Jenson, Brendan Kelly, James Woods, Constance Forslund, Robert Gerringer, Susan Blakely, Edward Power

October 19, 1973

Westworld

Director: Michael Crichton
Cast: Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, James Brolin, Norman Bartold, Alan Oppenheimer, Victoria Shaw, Dick Van Patten, Linda Gaye Scott, Steve Franken, Michael T. Mikler, Terry Wilson, Majel Barrett, Anne Randall, Julie Marcus, Sharyn Wynters, Anne Bellamy, Chris Holter, Charles Seel, Wade Crosby, Nora Marlowe

November 21, 1973

The Holy Mountain

Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Cast: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Horacio Salinas, Zamira Saunders, Juan Ferrara, Adriana Page, Burt Kleiner, Valerie Jodorowsky, Nicky Nichols, Richard Rutowski, Luis Lomeli, Ana De Sade, Chucho-Chucho

November 29, 1973

Hell Up in Harlem

Director: Larry Cohen
Cast: Fred Williamson, Julius Harris, Gloria Hendry, Margaret Avery, D’Urville Martin, Tony King, Gerald Gordon, Bobby Ramsen, James Dixon, Esther Sutherland, Charles MacGuire, Ty Randolph

December 1973

Fantastic Planet

Director: René Laloux
Cast: Jennifer Drake, Eric Baugin, Jean Topart, Jean Valmont, Sylvie Lenoir, Michèle Chahan, Yves Barsacq, Hubert de Lapparent, Gérard Hernandez, Claude Joseph, Philippe Ogouz, Jacques Ruisseau

December 1, 1973

Serpico

Director: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Al Pacino as Serpico, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire, Barbara Eda-Young, Cornelia Sharpe, Tony Roberts, John Medici, Allan Rich, Norman Ornellas, Edward Grover, Albert Henderson, Hank Garrett, Damien Leake, Joseph Bova, Gene Gross, John Stewart

December 5, 1973

The Seven-Ups

Director: Philip D’Antoni
Cast: Roy Scheider, Victor Arnold, Jerry Leon, Ken Kercheval, Tony Lo Bianco, Larry Haines, Richard Lynch, Bill Hickman, Lou Polan, Matt Russo, Joe Spinell, Robert Burr, Rex Everhart, David Wilson

December 14, 1973

Papillon

Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Cast: Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Victor Jory, Don Gordon, Anthony Zerbe, Robert Deman, Woodrow Parfrey, Bill Mumy, George Coulouris, Ratna Assan, William Smithers, Val Avery, Gregory Sierra, Vic Tayback

December 16, 1973

Sleeper

Director: Woody Allen
Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, John Beck, Mary Gregory, Don Keefer, John McLiam, Bartlett Robinson, Chris Forbes, Mews Small, Peter Hobbs, Susan Miller, Lou Picetti

December 17, 1973

The Laughing Policeman

Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Cast: Walter Matthau, Bruce Dern, Louis Gossett Jr., Albert Paulsen, Anthony Zerbe, Val Avery, Cathy Lee Crosby, Mario Gallo, Joanna Cassidy, Shirley Ballard, William Hansen, Jonas Wolfe, Paul Koslo, Louis Guss, Frances Lee McCain, David Moody, Ivan Bookman, Clifton James, Gregory, Warren Finnerty

December 20, 1973

The Sting

Director: George Roy Hill
Cast: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning, Ray Walston, Eileen Brennan, Harold Gould, John Heffernan, Dana Elcar, Jack Kehoe, Dimitra Arliss, Robert Earl Jones, James Sloyan, Charles Dierkop, Lee Paul, Sally Kirkland

December 25, 1973

Magnum Force

Director: Ted Post
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Hal Holbrook, Mitch Ryan, David Soul, Tim Matheson, Kip Niven, Robert Urich, Felton Perry, Maurice Argent, Margaret Avery, Richard Devon, Tony Giorgio, Jack Kosslyn, Bob March, Bob McClurg, John Mitchum

December 25, 1973

The Exorcist

Director: William Friedkin
Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowran, Jason Miller, Linda Blair, William O’Malley, Barton Heyman, Peter Masterson, Rudolf Schündler, Gina Petrushka, Robert Symonds, Arthur Storch, Thomas Bermingham, Vasiliki Maliaros

December 26, 1973

Top Grossing Films of 1973

Rank	Title	Studio	Actors	Gross
1.	The Exorcist	Warner Bros.	Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, and Linda Blair	$89,000,000
2.	The Sting	Universal	Paul Newman and Robert Redford	$78,212,000
3.	American Graffiti	Universal	Richard Dreyfuss and Ron Howard	$55,128,000
4.	Enter the Dragon	Warner Bros.	Bruce Lee	$25,000,000
5.	Papillon	Allied Artists	Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman	$22,500,000
6.	The Way We Were	Columbia	Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford	$22,457,000
7.	Magnum Force	Warner Bros.	Clint Eastwood	$20,100,000
8.	Robin Hood	Walt Disney Productions	Roger Miller, Phil Harris, Andy Devine, Peter Ustinov and Terry-Thomas	$18,000,000
9.	Last Tango in Paris	United Artists	Marlon Brando	$16,711,000
10.	Paper Moon	Paramount	Ryan O’Neal, Madeleine Kahn and Tatum O’Neal	$16,559,000
11.	Live and Let Die	United Artists	Roger Moore and Jane Seymour	$15,925,000

Highest Grossing Films Source: Wikipedia