MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > The Best 1960's movies, ever:

The Best 1960's movies, ever:


West Side Story (my all time favorite, hands down.)



The following films are also favorite 1960's films of mine, in no particular order:

Bonnie & Clyde

Barbarella

Easy Rider

Sound of Music

Lawrence of Arabia

2001: A Space Odyssey

Dr. Zhivago

Georgy Girl

Midnight Cowboy

Gimme Shelter

The Two of Us

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Sword in the Stone

The Misadventures of Merlin Jones

The Incredible Journey

Mary Poppins

The Music Man

Merrill's Marauders

A Hard Day's Night

Bon Voyage

The Bible

Hawaii

Casino Royale (the original one, with Sean Connery)

Goldfinger

You Only Live Twice

Thunderball

In the Heat of the Night

To Sir with Love

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[deleted]

Hi, Dazed. Although I've heard of "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning", I've never seen it. Ditto for "Billy Liar".

As for "A Taste of Honey", "A Kind of Loving", and "Alfie", I've admittedly never heard of these particular films, much less seen them. Thanks for your info. Sorry I didn't respond sooner.

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[deleted]

Thank you, Dazed.

There are all kinds of 1960's movies, and people have different interests regarding film.

I've always thought of the 1960's films as exuberant, brilliant classic films that are beautifully photographed, have lots of style and substance, and have real stories behind them.

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"Kitchen sink" genre. I've never heard that expression. Can you enlighten me?

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[deleted]

Loved A Taste of Honey!
I like Rita Tushingham. I don't know what it is about her, but she's interesting to watch.

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[deleted]

Can't pick one.

Once Upon a Time in the West
Lawrence of Arabia
Sanjuro
Cool Hand Luke
To Kill a Mockingbird
Virgin Spring
Judgement at Nuremberg
Breathless
8 1/2
Persona
Bell De Jour
Man For All Seasons
Woman in the Dunes
Harikiri
Yojimbo
La Dolce Vita
Persona
Onibaba
Through a Glass Darkly


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A Man for All Seasons is one of my all time favorite movies since I was a kid. Paul Scofield's performance was powerful.

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Agreed.

I saw it when I was a kid too. At that time didn't really know what was going on with everything but
loved it. I still watch it every few years.

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I haven't seen "A Man for All Seasons" since it first came out.

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Oh you have to watch it again. The blu ray is really good. Not perfect but really good. For some reason it's very expensive right now on Amazon but maybe you can find it on eBay. I own the blu ray and it's one of my go to movies. With large screen tvs this and many movies like it really need to be watched on blu ray otherwise they look terrible on a large screen HD or 4k TVs.

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/A-Man-for-All-Seasons-Blu-ray/70457/#Review

Awesome performances, great acting, great story and very quotable.


I am commanded by the king to be brief, and since I am the king's obedient subject, brief I will be. I die His Majesty's good servant, but God's first.


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One thing about Blu-Ray DVD players: A decent one can be rather expensive--even more expensive than the regular DVD players.

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I've also seen "Man for All Seasons", when it first came out, when I was a teenager. I couldn't understand what it was about, but I enjoyed it. I've forgotten this particular film.

"La Dolce Vita", "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Once Upon a Time in the West" were also quite good.

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IMO- It holds up beautifully. As good today as it was the first time I saw it.

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Get the blu ray and watch it again for the first time. Paul Scofield is amazing and so powerful in this role.

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/A-Man-for-All-Seasons-Blu-ray/70457/#Review

Awesome performances, great acting, great story and very quotable.


I am commanded by the king to be brief, and since I am the king's obedient subject, brief I will be. I die His Majesty's good servant, but God's first.

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[deleted]

LOL. I love you Dazed.
Funny thing is I was going to comment but I figured you get sick
of hearing from me. You are getting your money's worth on that cloak.

Love those movies. Especially Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.

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[deleted]

I actually thought the links were a nice touch.
The whole posting a link thing really sucks.

You'd be the last person I would pity. Believe me.

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My fave is Cool Hand Luke, but there are way too many pre-1970 movies I haven't seen.

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One thing about pre-1970's movies is that the photography was more consistent, with a smoother grain, and not all dotted pixtels like today's photos/movies are.

Many of the pre-1970's films, especially those in the 1960's, had more style, and more substance in the form of a comprehensive story to them.

I'm not sure if I ever saw "Cool Hand Luke" on TV, or not. I might have. That one starred Paul Newman, didn't it?

I forgot to add "Exodus" to my list. I enjoyed "Exodus" when I saw it on TV and once on video, although I found it a bit on the schmaltzy side. The book on which it was based was better.

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Yep, Paul Newman. I know what you mean about the photography. I first saw Cool Hand Luke on DVD maybe 10 years ago, or more, and it was just a vanilla release, not some remastered version.

I was honestly very surprised at how crisp and clear the picture was. It looked like it had been shot by the best camera in the world, better than modern cameras... Maybe as if it had been shot by an IMAX camera.

Was there some shift in film stock after the 60's? Maybe a major celluloid company went out of business? Or perhaps did movies start using a smaller-format film stock and cheaper cameras?

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Maybe I did see "Cool Hand Luke" on TV but I just don't remember it. It's possible that there may have been some shift in film stock after the 1960s, but I just don't know. Many, if not most of the films that were pre-1970, were filmed in 70mm. There are very few 70mm prints left, unfortunately. That's too bad, because that's the most beautiful way to experience a great classic film.

During the Reagan years, the SCOTUS voted, by one vote, to allow films to be made for VCR's. Then came the DVD's, and now there's also Blu-Ray DVD's. One thing about Blu-Ray, however, is that it's absolutely necessary to have a decent Blu-Ray DVD player in order to play the DVD Blu-Ray films, or it won't work, if one gets the drift.

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Well, that would do it. 70mm is a huge clarity advantage over 35mm, due to the larger format of the stock. IMAX is 70mm, so that makes sense that I felt like CHL was shot on IMAX.

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From what I understand, however, 70mm films are very hard to come by, especially nowadays. It's really too bad, because 70mm really does bring out the most wondrous and wonderful aspects of given films.

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"What we have here is a failure to communicate". Cool movie.

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Cool Hand Luke is an excellent movie. While you're at it though, don't forget Hud.

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Looked it up, sounds like an intriguing one to watch. Thanks for the recommendation. Hadn't ever heard of it.

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It's a good one. I hope you get around to watching it.
While we are into Paul Newman, and I know that I am, I haven't seen The Hustler mentioned on anyone's list. It's another excellent movie from the 60's.

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Without a doubt: "Splendor In The Grass"

Others:

A Summer Place (actually Nov. '59 but close enough)

The Manchurian Candidate (original)

To Kill A Mockingbird

The Guns of Navarone

The Great Escape

Doctor Zhivago

Mary Poppins

Spartacus

And of course, The granddaddy of movies which stayed with you forever: "Psycho" which I never watched again!

Edit: I forgot "Two Women" (Sophia Loren!!)

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Thanks for the list, kspkap. Those are neat movies, also. I forgot about "Spartacus", however.

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In Cold Blood
Rosemary's Baby
Psycho
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

I'm just adding to the list of other greats that have already been listed.

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Although I never did see either "In Cold Blood", or "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?", I did see both "Rosemary's Baby" and "Psycho" on TV, long after they were both out of date.

I enjoyed "Psycho", and I immediately recognized Simon Oakland, who'd also played Officer Krupke in the film version of "West Side Story".

I feel that the movie version of "Rosemary's Baby" was a tad overrated, however. I liked the book on which it was based much better.

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I agree.The book is usually always better.

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Island of Terror (1966). A sci-fi genre favourite.

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Cushing had better horror films than this one

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Well for me IT'S HIS FUCKIN' BEST. Too bad you didn't name any of your choices. I guess they aren't much "better", then.

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The horror of seeing his CGI in Rogue One is the best horror moment.

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There was never a Casino Royale film with Connery. Maybe you're thinking of that weird one with David Niven and Peter Sellers or Dr. No.

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I remember seeing "Casino Royale" (the original one) back in 1965. I never did see "Dr. No", and I don't think that either David Niven or Peter Sellers were in "Casino Royale."

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The Battle of Algiers
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
The Misfits
A Child Is Waiting
Persona
Birdman of Alcatraz
Elmer Gantry
The Swimmer
The Professionals
The Incident
Loneliness of a Long-Distance Runner
Au Hasard Balthazar
David and Lisa
Ladybug, Ladybug
Il Sorpasso
Red Beard
Dry Summer

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I never saw "Battle of Algiers", or most of the other movies on your list, but I did see "Loneliness of a Long-Distance Runner", which I liked a great deal.

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I think you'd love it... It's on YouTube (in full)

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Okay, thanks, BillHicksFan. How long a film is "Battle of Algiers", btw? Just curious.

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You're welcome... It's 2 hours long.

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Thanks, BillHicksFan. I did watch the trailer of "Battle of Algiers" on youtube. It looks like a rather intense, but good, interesting film.

I remember when "Battle of Algiers" was very, very popular, and it was the "in" thing to go and see it. I didn't get to see it when I was a teenager during the 1960's, but it's never too late. Thanks for the info on the length of the film.

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