You may be asking yourself why a book about the films of the 1970s – a revolutionary decade for American cinema – would take its name and dominant cover image from a disaster movie of all things, when there are so many iconic classics that better represent the time, that bear genuine resonance today. TAXI DRIVER. THE EXORCIST. STAR WARS.

But Ron Hogan has good reason for titling his book THE STEWARDESS IS FLYING THE PLANE!: AMERICAN FILMS OF THE 1970S. As he explains in the introduction, we often look back at the ’70s as camp, ignoring the good. Example: The STEWARDESS in question – actress Karen Black – is a punchline today, but back then, she was an Oscar nominee and regularly turned out solid work in solid films.

STEWARDESS is full of those solid films, but does not discrimnate against the not-so-solid or so-viscous-it-sticks-to-your-shoes. The book is an equal-opportunity discusser, as it should be. And while it may begin with an interesting interview with director Peter Bogdanovich (who, although he doesn’t always make great movies, he clearly knows movies) that could double as a Seventies Cinema 101 course, Hogan doesn’t put forth a thesis, because his book is more a celebration than an examination.

Divided into genre-specific chapters (i.e. “Science Fiction,” “Hard Crime” and that most pure-’70s of all, “Disasters”), the book touches upon the highs and lows of each during that 10-year span. Hogan’s brief words wrap each chapter up in a tidy bow, both preventing scattershot commentary and placing it in a historical context without digging for Deep Meaning. He’s smart enough to let the movies speak for themselves via still photographs – hundreds and hundreds of them, beautiful and huge; artistically, the book’s design is award-worthy. The captions are entertaining, packed as they are with amusing bits of trivia, from Malcolm McDowell’s lifelong fear of eyedrops, post-CLOCKWORK ORANGE, to the kid from THE OMEN winning his part by hitting director Richard Donner in the balls.

Somewhere between a film book and a coffee-table book, STEWARDESS works either way. With its profiles of “Ultra-Cool Actors” like George Kennedy and Pam Grier, and attention paid to B-movie underdogs like GOD TOLD ME TO director Larry Cohen (who today remains more interesting than most A-list helmers), Hogan’s debut reads like an afternoon chat with a fellow film-loving friend – drinking beers, shooting the shit, debating the merits of AIRPORT 1975. Sounds like a good time to me.

Buy it at Amazon.