Vintage '65
Saturday, September 26, 2020 at 3:16PM by Nathaniel R
The Supporting Actress Smackdown 1965 Episode arrives on October 9th, so you have until October 8th to watch the four movies and vote on them. Let's talk context...
Great Big Box Office Hits: 1)The Sound of Music 2) Doctor Zhivago 3) Thunderball 4) Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines 5) The Great Race 6) That Darn Cat 7) Cat Ballou 8) What's New Pussycat? 9) Shenandoah 10) Von Ryan's Express
Oscar's Best Pictures: The Sound of Music and Doctor Zhivago (10 noms / 5 wins each) led by the two Julies, battled it out at the Oscars The other Best Picture nominees were Ship of Fools (8 noms / 2 wins), Darling (5 noms / 3 wins) another Julie Christie vehicle, and A Thousand Clowns (4 noms / 1 win). But what would have been nominated if the Best Picture race were 10 wide...
which 5 of these 8 films do you think would have made a 10 wide field?
Surely A Patch of Blue would have made it given its intense drama, socially progressive nature, and 5 nomination tally. We also think western comedy Cat Ballou would have made it as unlikely as that might sound, genre-wise, given that it scored 5 nominations including Editing, Writing and a Best Actor win. Despite its grim topic, The Collector's combo of Directing, Writing and Actress nominations makes us want to guess that one, too. This is further afield but its our no guts no glory guess that survival drama The Flight of the Phoenix would have placed, given that its two nominations were for Editing and Acting (and it had also been Best Picture nominated at the Globes). That leaves ONE spot open. Would it have been biblical epic The Greatest Story Ever Told, biopic epic The Agony & Ecstacy, adventure comedy epic The Great Race all scored 5 nominations but were ignored in "top" categories, while Othello had 4 (!!!) acting nominations but was basically just a filmed play and The Spy Who Came In From the Cold had the curious combo of Art Direction and Best Actor nods.
Films that endured in some way that were neither Oscar nominees nor blockbusters: Roman Polanski's Repulsion starring Catherine Deneuve, Akira Kurosawa's Red Beard, Agnes Varda's Le Bonheur, Jean-Luc Godard's Pierrot Le Fou, documentary The Endless Summer, Frankie & Annette musical comedy Beach Blanket Bingo, The Beatles movie Help!, and the John Wayne western Sons of Kate Elder
Magazine Covers for Context:
Julie Andrews was the biggest star of the year, winning the Oscar early in the year (Mary Poppins) and headlining a second consecutive mega-blockbuster with The Sound of Music. Elizabeth Taylor, 007 Sean Connery, and Natalie Wood were also magazine favourites.
Other stars featured in this visual roundup: Kathleen Nolan, Mary Tyler Moore, Eartha Kitt, Sean Connery, Monica Vitti, Ruby Dee, Ann-Margret, The Supremes, Diana Sands, Barbra Streisand, Grace Kelly, Brigitte Bardot and Jeanne Moreau. (Julie Christie is conspicuously absent but '65 was her breakout year so she's presumably all over '66 magazines; sometimes the media follows audience sensations rather than attempting to create them.)
Mix Tape (Random Hits of '65):"Mr Tambourine Man " and "Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There is a season)" The Byrds, "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pi Honey Bunch)" The Four Tops, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" The Rolling Stones, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" The Righteous Brothers, "Downtown" Petula Clark, "Help!" "Yesterday" and "Ticket to Ride" The Beatles, "My Girl," The Temptations, "Stop! In the Name of Love" and "Back In Your Arms Again" The Supremes, "Unchained Melody" The Righteous Brothers, "Help me Rhonda" and "California Girls" The Beach Boys, "Thunderball" Tom Jones, and "I Got You Babe" Sonny & Cher.
Dune's first edition, hardcover
Literature: Some famous books that arrived in 1965 that were eventually adapted into movies included "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander, "Georgy Girl" by Margaret Foster, "Dune" by Frank Herbert (which won the Nebula), "Midnight Cowboy" by James Leo Herlihy, In comic books the characters of Fritz the Cat, Beast Boy (later of the Teen Titans), and The Sentinels (X-Men hunting robots) are introduced all of whom would eventually hit movies or television. '65 also introduces the doomed Gwen Stacy into the Spider-Man comics, the only rival for Mary Jane's dominance in Spider-Man's girl mythology though she's barely been a blip in the movies.
Stage: At the 19th annual Tony Awards, new shows Fiddler on the Roof and The Subject Was Roses win Best Musical and Best Play respectively. Other new plays that season include The Odd Couple by Neil Simon and The Owl and the Pussycat by Bill Manhoff. Later in the year and eligible for the 1966 Tony Awards, the musicals Man of La Mancha and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever premiere.
Showtune to Go: Liza Minnelli doing "Sing Happy" from Kander & Ebb's Flora the Red Menance. She was only 19 years old and still best known as Judy's daughter in 1965 when she won the Tony, the first step towards her eventual EGOT. She'd also win her Oscar and Tony singing Kander & Ebb in Cabaret and the TV special Liza with a Z.
Reader Comments (26)
On that TV Guide cover second row from the bottom, that's Hullabaloo dancer Donna McKechnie on the left - five years before Company and Dark Shadows, and ten years before A Chorus Line...
Ditch A Thousand Clowns and Ship Of Fools (Heck, blasphemy I know, but even Doctor Zhivago) so we have a lineup with A Patch Of Blue and Cat Ballou (two pictures I immensely enjoy) then it would be a lineup i'd bring up unprompted to praise.
You really think "The Co!lector" would have had a shot? That seems like a stretch.
Christine -- hmm. perhaps you're right. This is why i ask for multiple opinions. I agree that the subject matter isn't really there thing but those were some big nominations so maybe.
Kitt, Vitti, Bardot, Moreau, and the Supremes gracing magazine covers in one calendar year. It’s sad to think that era of celebrity is long gone. Also, that photo of Diana Sands and Alan Alda is kinda hot.
It’s hard to say which movies would’ve made a 10-wide field since it’s a strange year. I feel like Cat Ballou and The Collector are pretty safe bets. Outside of that, your guess is as good as mine.
I've often wondered and never understood why Christie's nomination and win were for Darling and not Zhivago.
I haven't seen either (I know, I know), so maybe it's clear if you watch Darling, but the hit romantic epic seems like an easier move to put over the Academy than the mod Brit flick.
I really like how you went through the whole pop culture of 1965.
Is Julie Christie the most beautiful person to have worked the earth ? She's definitely one of the greatest actresses and she gave two really great prrformances in Darling and Doctor Zhivago.
liza’s grammy was non-competitive so her egot isn’t technically complete
[streisand also fails to egot due to her honorary tony]
Loves these roundups! They really give us a feeling for the year being discussed.
I lean towards The Collector not snagging a nomination because of the darkness of its story, though Wyler's name at the helm might have done the trick.
I wonder if perhaps Bunny Lake is Missing could have been a dark horse pick because of its pedigree, directed by Otto Preminger and starring Olivier. It didn't garner much traction but sometimes they pick something out of left field.
Someone questioned Julie Christie being nominated for Darling instead of Doctor Zhivago but I don't think it strange. Zhivago is epically big and lush but Darling's Diana Scott asks so much more of her.
I think if there were 10 nominees, there would be a slot for the token foreign film. In 1965 is comes down to two losers in the Foreign Film category from the year before. Woman in the Dunes has that Best Director nomination. It is truly one of the monumental achievements of film history, but I wonder if it wasn't the beneficiary of a strategy to block a nominee who might possibly win, or at least get a lot of votes - in this case Stanley Kramer for Ship of Fools. The other possibility is Umbrellas of Cherbourg with its 4 nominations, including Screenplay (!). I think this shows genuine enthusiasm for it, and I would bet that it could have even secured a Best Picture slot. Otherwise, Cat Ballou, The Collector, A Patch of Blue and Flight of the Phoenix would be my guesses.
At first glance, I thought that top picture of Julie Christie was Alison Williams.
That is Barbra in that GQ magazine cover, isn't it?
That was certainly the Golden Age of Broadway. All of those great shows!
I love these look backs, Nathaniel. Thank you!
forever1267 -- yup, that's Barbra. making magazine covers before she ever made a movie ;)
Ken -- but i'm not sure there's a foreign slot. We've had expanded years a lot lately and it's not a given that there will be a foreign entry. ,,, that said UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG is a smart guess. weird that i didn't think of it cuz i love that movie so much.
Mike -- if you see Darling you'll understand. It's really a meaty meaty part whereas Doctor Zhivago is the movie star part.
Everyone -- fun fact: Kathleen Nolan who is the magazine covergirl in that first TV GUIDE cover up top is the mother of one of our panelists this session, the actor Spencer Garrett :)
"The Great Race" is sure overlong but still a rewatchable comedy classic... to have seen it make the cut for Best Picture wouldn't have been puzzling at all... I wonder why Jack Lemmon wasn't nominated, though, for either Lead or Supporting, he was hilarious in a double role.
I know nowadays it’s difficult to speak calmly about him and so about his films but I adore Polanski’s Repulsion, which I guess it opened stateside in 1965, though it’s from 1964. It boasts a star turn from Deneuve but I have a passion for YVONNE FURNAUX who plays her sister
This is still one of the best topics for a post,all that work to do,thanks,
Year of the Julies or Year of the Cats?
6) That Darn Cat
7) Cat Ballou
8) What's New Pussycat?
People tend to forget that the critics mostly disliked ZHIVAGO. It got those Oscar nominations as a result of popular success, not critical success. I wonder what a more recent example of that would be.
People forget just how huge THUNDERBALL was. In adjusted income, it would be a 500 million to 600 million grosser in the United States, in other words, it sold more tickets than any bond film before or since. It was really the height of Bondmaina.
Jackie dated on of Liz’s Best Friends? (One of the headlines I saw on a featured trash magazine). Did they actually pull poor Jackie into these rags, considering the gruesome way she lost her husband.
I think there is only about a five year age difference between our two Julies, but they seem to represent the old guard and the new in Hollywood at the time. You only have to look at Julie Andrews winning the Oscar wearing white opera gloves, and Julie Christie winning wearing a gold mini skirt to see the difference.
Darling must have seemed quite mod and hip at the time, and that coupled with Lee Marvin's win in Cat Ballou is one of my favorite duos winning in history. I just wish there had been room for Omar Sharif to sneak in as a nominee. He really carried that huge movie and other people have been nominated for far less.
But it's so fun to look back at all of this and I think it's because so many of these people are still with us, both Julies of course, plus Sean Connery, DVD, Ann-Margret, Diana Ross, Barbra, etc. It's going to be tough going when they all leave us soon.
Dan - A recent example of Oscar success despite critical disapproval is, *shudder*, Bohemian Rhapsody.
Not that Bohemian and Zhivago are comparable in the slightest, mind you.
Fun to see Dina Sands (along with Alan Alda) on a cover! I remember you guys raved about her in your smackdown podcast covering 'The Landlord' which made me interested in her short, but successful career.
Umbrellas I wish was a heavy hitter at the academy but only one non English language film had been nominated to that point so it might've not been a top contender.
The Julie battle easily goes to Andrews in 65. Christie is fine in Darling although I will freely admit that the film was probably more a zeitgeist pick at the time. Christie would go to give even greater performances and Andrews as Maria is an iconic turn in musical motion picture history.
There was such a great amount of international films in the 60's that the majority of what I consider the best in cinema for the year have nothing to do with America. Other films people should check out if they want to see the best films released in 65 would be:
The Hill - Sidney Lumet proving once again why he's one of the greats. It also features the performance Sean Connery should've won his oscar for
Onibaba
The Pawnbroker
The Train
King and Country - No one had a better year than Tom Courtenay in 65.
Contempt
Who Killed Teddy Bear? - Sal Mineo is one of the great talents lost in cinematic history. He was excellent in much more than just Rebel
The Leather Boys
@Shmeebs Perfect example. Thanks.
I wouldn't take away the great Julie Christie's Oscar for the world, but it really should have been back-to-back for Andrews. As ubiquitous as The Sound of Music still is today, no one can deny her brilliance here.
There's no way that Andrews is better doing a musical star turn in TSOF than Christie's multi-faceted, glowing performance in Darling.