Top Ten 1960s
Tuesday, June 18, 2013 at 5:30PM I still have a lot more to see from the 1960s but this top ten, more than most apart from the 1980s is a combination of films I fell for as a child on television in the 70s and 80s and films I love now as an adult. I'm bookending with two Natalie Wood features -- the first actress I ever loved -- though I recognize that they are more personal favorites than perfect films. That caveat aside I do find Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice to be grossly undervalued since it's essentiall a comedy about its time and therefore "light" and "dated" . Still, I absolutely insist, it's a wonderful wonderful light and dated thing. At the top of the list West Side Story has been my favorite film of all time for as long as I remember being conscious of movies so it'll just have to keep on being so -- it's fundamentally part of who I am -- flaws and all (and yes, I can see its flaws).
Natalie & Deneuve, the greatest of the 60s screen beauties
top ten
01 West Side Story (1961)
02 Persona (1967)
03 Psycho (1960)
04 The Sound of Music (1965)
05 Bonnie & Clyde (1967)
06 Hud (1963)
07 They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)
08 [Cheating w/ a Deneuve Double] The Umbrellas of Cherbrough (1965) & Belle de Jour (1967)
09 The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
10 Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)
pick a film, any film
i'll only be satisfied with a top 17
11 Rosemary's Baby (1968)
12 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
13 Splendor in the Grass (1961)
14 La Dolce Vita (1960)
15 Mary Poppins (1964).... coming up soon on "Hit Me..."
16 Playtime (1967)
17 Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
and affectionate nods to...
Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962), Breathless (1961), Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? (1962), My Fair Lady (1964), 8 ½ (1963), Darling (1965), The Apartment (1960), Bay of Angels (1963), and Rachel Rachel (1968).
Which films define you and which films can't you live without... from the subcategory of the 1960s of course?
Previous Top Ten Quickies
1930s | 1950s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2010s (thus far)
and don't forget to like the film experience on facebook
Reader Comments (73)
TOP THIRTEEN (no particular order):
1. From Russia with Love
2. Charade
3. The Producers
4. 2001: A Space Oddyssey
5. Planet of the Apes
6. Once Upon a Time in the West
7. The Lion in Winter
8. Psycho
9. Bonnie and Clyde
10. Rosemary’s Baby
11. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
12. The Graduate
13. To Kill a Mockingbird
HONORABLE MENTION
The Misfits
The Man who Shot Liberty Valance
The Best Man
Dr. No
Goldfinger
Alfie
Thunderball
A Man for All Seasons
For a Few Dollars More
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Anne of the Thousand Days
Inherit the Wind
West Side Story
The Manchurian Candidate
Dr. Strangelove
Volvagia - I AM CUBA is an astonishingly great movie. Just barely missed by top 10.
I Am Cuba would totally be in my Top 20. Jaw-dropping, both in terms of beauty and logistics
The Apartment, Hud, and 8 1/2 are my faves. I would one day love to see Lawrence of Arabia on the big screen. (I fell in love with 8 1/2 because I got that chance.)
My all-time favorite movie is Umbrellas of Cherbourg. My second-favorite movie of all time is Peeping Tom. So the '60s are very good to me.
Others in no particular order:
They Shoot Horses, Don't They
Repulsion
La Dolce Vita
The Apartment
Two for the Road
Becket/Lion in Winter (O'Toole double feature cheating)
Les Demoiselles du Rochefort
Anne of the Thousand Days
Honorable mention to a kind of obscure Burt Lancaster movie called The Train which I just watched a few weeks ago and have been thinking about since. Terrific little movie.
Top Ten:
1. Doctor Zhivago
2. In Cold Blood
3. The Sound of Music
4. The Graduate
5. Hud
6. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
7. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
8. The Collector
9. Darling
10. Rosemary's Baby
Almost made it: Two For the Road, Mary Poppins, Tom Jones, Midnight Cowboy, The Pumpkin Eater, Star!, The Night of the Iguana, Petulia, Take the Money and Run
Special Mention: Tender Is the Night
My favorites tend to match most everyone else really. I think of the 60s as being chock full of guilty pleasures, at least the Hollywood movies. I've seen many of them over and over (yes, even Thoroughly Modern Millie!). I guess I'd go with:
The Sound of Music
Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (so sue me)
The Manchurian Candidate
The Young Girls of Rochefort (I like the colors, mood, and dancing more than Umbrellas)
Darling
Dr. Zhivago
Two For The Road (my favorite unsung Audrey Hepburn movie)
Funny Girl (starring my favorite star and swoony object of lust from the decade: Barbra & Omar)
Too many to name, but I'm loving L'eclisse right now. Living for Monica Vitti.
Dave, thanks for the tip of the hat to Millie...one of my favorite movies ever. No lie, seen it about 12 times.
brookesboy & dave -- i love Millie too. but it's so NOT good. but i dont care :)
OMG I AM CUBA
Now THAT is a great movie. I love how PTA brilliantly used that same shot by the pool in Boogie Nights. I read that in some review and that took me to I am Cuba. And then I saw the other masterpiece by Kalatazov, The Cranes Are Flying. Having seen I Am Cuba first, I think Kalatazov's passion really are cranes. Not the animals.
I Am Cuba is such a Hit me with your best shot material... Just sayin
Cal -- i thought about doing THE CRANES ARE FLYING for this series. Christ that movie is beautiful. but i was worried people wouldn't be able to find it.
Oh boy.
Here we go:
1.) Rosemary's Baby/The Battle of Algiers
Ivan's Childhood
Ballad of A Soldier
8 1/2
Dr. Strangelove
2001: A Space Odyssey
Andrei Rublev
Le Samourai
Bonnie & Clyde
Eyes Without a Face
Others: Psycho, Head, Peeping Tom, Jules et Jim, Pierrot le Fou, Band of Outsiders, Playtime, Z, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, La Dolce Vita, The Good The Bad & The Ugly, Repulsion, The Innocents, The Apartment, Vivre sa Vie, Army of Shadows, Night of the Living Dead, Rocco & His Brothers, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, If...., Lolita, Cleo from 5 to 7, Cool Hand Luke, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Hard Day's Night, Faster, Pussycat!! Kill!! Kill!!, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Cinderfella, Contempt, Belle du Jour, Masculin et Feminin, Hud, The Hustler, The Producers, Yojimbo and The Wild Bunch
Kalatozov is one of the unsung greats. Both I Am Cuba and Cranes Are Flying are masterpieces, and one of his early films - Salt for Svanetia - is also just astonishing.
01. Persona
02. 2001: Space Odessey
03. Bonnie & Clyde
04. Dr. No
05. Whos Afraid of Virginia Wolf?
06. Lawrence of Arabia
07. Psycho
08. Lolita
09. The Birds
10: Spartacus
This is just a random selection of favourites that I could watch repeatedly, but there are more. Believe me. I'm not even listing the most egregious guilty pleasures like "Hello Down There" (Look at the cast list for this one and tell me that you are not curious) and "Girls Happy" (Elvis and Shelley Fabres!). I am a celluloid degenerate.
Victim (Tops. First Pick. Hands down.)
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Wild River (This may have been the first film that I can remember watching. It changed everything)
I Could Go On Singing
Breakfast at Tiffany's (Despite Mickey Rooney)
The Birds (The Colours in this film are so deep, and Tippi playing Debussy. Ah.)
2001: A Space Odyssey (I love it more with every viewing)
Lawrence of Arabia
Viva Las Vegas
Bells Are Ringing (I love Judy Holliday in this, and Dean Martin's no slouch either)
Hot Millions
The Assassination Bureau
Village of the Damned
Reflections in a Golden Eye
Andrei Rublev, Here's Tour Life(Jan Troell), The Red and the White, Dita Saxova, Face of Another, Woman in the Dunes, Muriel, Pigs and Battleships, Profound Desire of the Gods, Midnight Cowboy, The Wild Bunch, Ride the High Country, El Cid, Au Hasard Balthasar, Eclipse, Alphaville, China Is Near, Zorba the Greek, Elektra, Knife in the Water, Jules and Jim, The Miracle Worker, Fighting Elegy, Army of Shadows, Le Samourai.
Lawrence of Arabia
Psycho
2001: Space Odyssey
Persona
The Birds
Last Year at Marienbad
Rosemary's Baby
Jules and Jim
The Manchurian Candidate
In Cold Blood
I can think of another half dozen to throw in, too, like:
Splendor in the Grass
L'avventura
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
La Dolce Vita
Long Day's Journey into Night
Midnight Cowboy
Nathaniel, I would really support something Russian/Sovietic here. They have a tradition of visually stunning movies and any movie by Kalatazov, Paradjanov, Tarkovsky, etc, etc would be a good choice.
my top 10 would be in no particular order: they shoot horses dont they( i love Susannah York's performance in this one),midnight cowboy, the graduate, rosemarys baby,once upon a time in the west, repulsion,persona(though any Bergman film could be here),west side story, splendor in the grass, belle de jour. others would be: the apartment,lawrence of arabia,my fair lady,blow up,in the heat of the night,bonnie and clyde,the nutty professor(!!) many more just cant think of them now
Psycho
Lawrence of Arabia
Hud
Rachel, Rachel
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Innocents
The Whisperers
Rosemary's Baby
Dr. Strangelove
Bonnie and Clyde
Victim
The Servant
The Fox
The Incident
Midnight Cowboy
we all got different favs - equally as good no doubt - but sorry it s the old arsehole analogy!
And all u bawbags earlier missed the Great Escape , Bullit etc Is this just for so called know it alls or doe she anybody have a bit of class. McQeen didn't even have to try & was most captivating on screen. Watch some proper films people