About this episode
The fifth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1977 features our pick for the year’s most notable documentary, bodybuilding showcase Pumping Iron . Directed by George Butler and Robert Fiore and featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Franco Columbu and Mike Katz, Pumping Iron helped bring bodybuilding into the mainstream as a respected sport. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Richard Eder in the New York Times ( https://www.nytimes.com/1977/01/19/archives/film-muscles-galorebulging-mystique.html ), Gene Siskel in the Chicago Tribune , and Pauline Kael in The New Yorker Please like, share, rate and comment on the show and this episode, and tune in for the next 1977 installment featuring Josh’s personal pick, Robert Benton’s The Late Show .