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Best Films of the '60sby Ari, Brian, and Pete
Part One
The Arrangement - Elia Kazan: Elia Kazan’s adaptation of his own novel is one of his best films, among the most powerful and emotionally complex drama’s of the decade, and one of the best performed movies you can find thanks to exceptional work by legends Kirk Douglas, Faye Dunaway, and Deborah Kerr. Kazan paints a dark and sorrowful portrait of suburbia in the '60s; how seemingly ordinary and successful life is really a ticking bomb that’s primed to explode. Douglas plays a wealthy businessman who has lost his soul to the corporate empire where he works, lives with a wife (Kerr) he doesn’t love anymore, and thirsts for the woman (Dunaway) who truly understands him. After a near-death experience, does his life rapidly crumble with his family and work, or does he achieve the spiritual enlightenment he so desperately needs? The screenplay is brilliantly written by Kazan, and his direction is passionate and immediate. One of the best films of the '60s. Terribly underrated.
The Bad Sleep Well and High and Low - Akira Kurosawa:
Two Kurosawa masterpieces with Toshiro Mifune that aren’t related to samurai in any way. The Bad Sleep Well is arguably the best revenge film ever made. The story revolves around a man who is set to ruin the corporate evil that killed his father by marrying into the head family and slowly blackmailing their top officials. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, indeed. Mifune does some of his best work as the vengeful Nishi, pushing his morality to the limits in order to get even with people without honor or humanity. The film is shot like a noir and has the length of an epic, and my oh my does it have a riveting conclusion. Then there’s High and Low, which is one tense, brilliantly crafted thriller that essentially birthed the police procedural as we know it today. This time it’s Mifune as a successful businessman who’s the target of a crazed kidnapper out to steal his fortune and bring him ruin. The film unfolds in two sections, the first being the kidnapping and ransom, the second being the police investigation of the criminal. Kurosawa contrasts upscale life above the city in the first half with gritty Tokyo streets in the second, taking you through a symbolic world of heaven and hell that is every bit as compelling and cinematic as his best work. Tatsuya Nakadai co-stars. And talk about riveting endings.....
I am Cuba - Mikheil Kalatozishvili: Hands down the most visually spectacular film ever made. From a pure visual standpoint, this is unparalleled in the history of film. Today we see long, extended tracking shots like those featured in Children of Men, which as impressive as they are, use powerful computer technology to enhance the overall effect of the image. In the '60s, there was no CGI to guide the filmmakers through a complex shot, no computer trickery to hide transitions. It’s no exaggeration when I say that the tracking shots in I am Cuba dwarf the ones seen in Children of Men. The camera just keeps tracking, impossibly, through various locations and sets as if it had a mind of its own. I have no idea how it was done, and at this point I don’t even want to know. Why ruin the fun? The camera is constantly moving, the cuts are very few. Shots last for many minutes without an edit. The narrative is told through four vignettes about revolution in Batista’s Cuba during the late '50s, and it has a realism and intensity that also dwarfs most films, which is, not surprisingly, the sort of passion and vigor that defines effective propaganda.
Hour of the Wolf and Shame - Ingmar Bergman: Two very different but equally accomplished Bergman masterworks. Hour of the Wolf is a horror film......a horror film I actually like! This is exactly what gives the genre its appeal: atmosphere, mood, suspense, theme. It’s not about excessive violence and torture and all the shit that people respond to today. Like The Shining or Rosemary’s Baby, the disturbing nature of the story and unnerving cinematic technique creates the terror, which in this case, is considerable. Max Von Sydow stars as an artist tortured by his own demons and secrets, and Liv Ullmann is his wife who thinks she’s prepared for his confessions and history. They live on a remote Island that also holds a few mysteries, or more directly, the stuff nightmares are made of. Hour of the Wolf is a gothic thriller that plunges into the surreal with the power and mastery we now expect from filmmakers like David Lynch. It’s definitely one of Bergman’s most entertaining and intriguing movies. Shame is much more of what people expect from this great artist - a bleak, emotionally devastating, and all around downer that never relents. It's a war film, or more specifically, a film about how people react and survive while their country and home is being invaded and destroyed. Liv Ullman and Max Von Sydow again play the leads. It’s an ugly portrait of the effects of war, but it’s something you’ll never forget.
The Swimmer - Frank Perry: Burt Lancaster stars in arguably his best performance as the charming but self-destructive Ned Merril, a man who takes an unfortunate journey down the memories of his tragic past. This is another film that deals with suburban life, this time through Merril’s lonely, troubled, mysterious soul. It’s a metaphorical journey, the hero’s odyssey turned all-out nightmare. Merill appears to us out of nowhere and he's practically naked except for his swim trunks. Who is he? Where has he come from? He appears in his old neighbors' backyard and takes a swim in their pool. They’re glad to see him, they converse for a bit, they share a few laughs. It’s here that Merril has a vision while overlooking the valley - a “river” of pools that lead back to his home. At first things are grand, his other neighbors are happy to see him (how long has it been?), and his adventure seems like a great idea. But as he gets closer and closer to his home, things become far more complex, hostile and shockingly sad. When Lancaster finally reaches his vacated house and violently bangs on the door, it’s impossible to contain your emotion.
Harakiri and Kwaidan - Masaki Kobayashi: I’ve written about both of these films, Harakiri in full review and Kwaidan in brief, but there’s really not enough I can say about how good they are. Harakiri and Kwaidan have very little in common besides their overall craftsmanship. One is a samurai film about a vengeful man rejecting the code he’s supposed to swear by, the other is an operatic horror film about spirits and demons. Harakiri is shot in dark black and white photography, Kwaidan in glorious technicolor. Kobayashi was a very thematic and visual storyteller, which is probably the reason I respond so strongly to his work. Neither film is lacking in power, but it’s Harakiri that really stands out for its emotional heights, while it’s the visual mastery of Kwaidan that makes it so special. Great films.
Il Posto - Ermanno Olmi: Ermanno Olmi’s excellent coming of age drama about a youth’s entrance into a corporate world of monotony and soullessness. How do you remain young, spirited, and hopeful once you’ve become yet another insignificant part of an enormous machine? How do you remain individual? How do you live on when every single day consists of the same tedious activity? Il Posto raises some of these questions with its depiction of corporate life seen through the eyes of one of its newest victims, a shy young boy who takes a job because he will be “set for life”. It’s his first job as you can see, and it’s the first time he's encountered anything outside of the comfort of his family. An adult world is an entirely new thing to him, so it’s to his relief that he meets a sweet girl of his age also applying for a job at the same office. Olmi directs the film with subtlety and humor, but the overall tone is quietly sad and deeply personal. This is Italian Neo-Realism at its best.
The Night of the Iguana - John Huston:
Extraordinary adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play with Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, and Deborah Kerr at their very finest. Burton is a defrocked clergyman who winds up as a tour guide in Mexico, haunted by his failures and on a path to quick self-destruction. After losing his cool, he takes his tour bus to a hotel overlooking the coast, owned by his old friend played by Gardner. There he meets the daughter of a poet (Kerr) and engages in a great many conversations about his existence in order to find some inner hope of meaning or personal enlightenment, while also contending with his angry customers and a sexually charged under-aged girl (Sue Lyon, better known as Lolita). The film is provocative and compelling, directed with Huston’s usual excellence and command. But it’s the performances that really shine brightest here, with particularly strong work from Richard Burton and Deborah Kerr, two of the greatest stars of their day.
From Russia With Love and Goldfinger and Thunderball - Terrence Young, Guy Hamilton My favorites of the Connery Bond films represent the best of '60s escapism. As much as I love Daniel Craig, Connery is Connery, and no one will ever replace him. He’s too charming, too cool, too iconic. Thunderball is my absolute favorite, From Russia With Love has Robert Shaw in a classic performance, and Goldfinger is, well, Goldfinger. What’s not to love here?
A Woman is a Woman - Jean-Luc Godard My favorite film by Godard is perhaps his most outrageous. A Woman is a Woman....how do you describe this film? It’s a romantic musical comedy about the battle of the sexes with Anna Karina and Jean-Paul Belmondo. Karina wants to have a child, her boyfriend doesn't. She flirts with Belmondo along the way. Madness ensues. The film has wild musical interludes, very bizarre comedic ideas, and lots of bright colors. It terms of mood and tone, it’s the polar opposite of Contempt. It’s easily Godard’s most entertaining movie, certainly one of his most confounding, and absolutely one of his most creative. Sublime.
Seconds - John Frankenheimer Highly disturbing Frankenheimer thriller with Rock Hudson as a man given a chance to start a new and prosperous life after a miraculous surgery. His identity is changed, he moves to an upscale new house near the ocean, he meets a beautiful woman and falls in love. Is this paradise on Earth? Or is it a system of control so complex and powerful that nothing is as it really seems? Seconds is horrifying on every level, perhaps the best example of '60s paranoia put on film. It’s not a happy experience. It’s reeeeally not a happy experience. There are films that end badly and there are films that leave you utterly shocked, shaken, and scared half to death. Seconds is the latter. This was one of the most uncompromising films of the '60s, and it still retains all of its power today. The claustrophobic black and white photography intensely conveys the disturbing nature of the story. Exceptional work.
Les Biches - Claude Chabrol Frederique (Stéphane Audran, Chabrol’s wife at the time) notices a beautiful young street artist (Jacqueline Sassard) at the beginning of Claude Chabrol’s stylish drama Les Biches, decides to take her in and offer the luxuries of a wealthy lifestyle, and names her "Why". The two women form an intense relationship that becomes more about obsession and sexuality than pure love and affection. When an architect comes to visit them, he and Why become immediately attracted to each other and fall in love. Instead of allowing this to develop, Frederique seduces the architect and succeeds in ruining whatever innocence they had. What are the exact motivations of the characters? It’s difficult to really say. Chabrol gives little insight into the characters, spending most of the time establishing the style and mood of the story rather than properly explaining why the women do what they do. It’s unusual yet captivating, sexually provocative but distant. The filmmaking is superlative, really, with beautiful imagery and Chabrol’s careful, deliberate pacing. One of the most intriguing films of the French New Wave.
The Trial - Orson Welles:
Surreal masterpiece by Orson Welles, adapted from the Franz Kafka novel. One of the most frustrating things about the films of Orson Welles is that many of them are incomplete or were altered by confused studio executives. While The Trial suffers from poor sound mixing and some odd dubs (Welles dubbed 11 voices according to imdb), the film is still one of great achievements in his extraordinary career, and a representation of his unedited vision. Josef K (Anthony Perkins) wakes up to find the police in his home. He is to be arrested and put on trial for.....what? He doesn’t know and neither do we. The dialogue in the film is circular and strange, as if we’re in a nightmare we can't escape. Perkins is well cast as the bewildered lead, traveling from one surreal location to another, looking for answers but getting nothing but questions. From a purely visual standpoint, The Trial may very well be Welles’s most impressive film. The obscure angles and incredible sets create an increasing sense of paranoia, confusion, and isolation. Co-starring the great Jeanne Moreau, and with Orson Welles as The Advocate.
La Notte and L’Eclisse - Michelangelo Antonioni: The second and third films in a thematic trilogy that began with the brilliant L’Avventura. While La Notte isn’t the most ambitious of the three films in terms of scope, it’s perhaps the most intimate and emotionally resonant story in the trilogy. It stars Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau as a married couple on the rocks. At a friend’s party that lasts the night, Mastroianni flirts with the idea of infidelity once he meets a beautiful woman (Monica Vitti). But Eyes Wide Shut this is not. La Notte is more concerned with the idea of lost love and middle-aged aimlessness. It’s beautifully made and extremely sophisticated, a film that takes itself seriously without caring if it seems pretentious or not (it’s not, but I’ve heard otherwise). L’Eclisse is much more mysterious and distant, but it’s those qualities that make it so appealing and singular. This time Monica Vitti has just broken up with her boyfriend, only to meet a charming young man (Alan Delon) who could possibly be what she’s looking for. L’Eclisse is open to your own interpretation of the events that unfold, far more unclear and unusual than your typical narrative. I look at the film as a metaphor for loneliness and alienation, about feeling separate and disconnected from the things that happen around you on a daily basis, even if that thing is romance or love. It’s a fascinating film that only improves on subsequent viewing, and it has one of the most ambitious and daring endings I’ve ever seen.
Where Eagles Dare - Brian G. Hutton: Epic WWII mission thriller with Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton as allied forces sent to infiltrate a Nazi fortress. This film pretty much obliterates anything you see in escapist adventure today. No joke, this is the real deal, a film so well-constructed and well-performed that it’s impossible to not be completely engrossed and thrilled. Fantastic score, astonishing set-pieces, a few nifty twists....and did I mention it stars Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton? I love Guns of Navarone, but this is better.
Kill! - Kihachi Okamoto: And finally we come to Kihachi Okamoto’s brilliant samurai comedy starring Tatsuya Nakadai, that is, quite frankly, one of the most pleasurable and entertaining films I have ever seen. The story is based on Sanjuro, but the tone of this adaptation is entirely different from Kurosawa’s. Kill! is probably the most accessible samurai film I know of, simply because the sensibilities are so familiar to western audiences. It’s a crowd-pleasing adventure that will have you laughing and cheering....and Tatsuya Nakadai is just too cool.
2001: A Space Odyssey –Stanley Kubrick:
Surely, 2001: A Space Odyssey is not for everyone. The pacing is deliberate and unwavering, or as its detractors will claim, slow and boring. To one willing to give him or her over to Kubrick’s film, 2001: A Space Odyssey is nothing short of a masterpiece in every conceivable manner of the word. A moving, thought provoking, critical moment of movie-making history, 2001 is mesmerizing in each frame, from the beginning of mankind’s evolution to its step into a new, profound world, universe and sense of being. Kubrick unites music with an array of images that can cause goose bumps (the use Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra”), but the auteur, with equal meticulousness, can create tension like no other by allowing a vast emptiness of sound to envelop the film. The movie’s technical prowess is a sure achievement - an astronaut’s upside down work out on the space ship, a trip through speeding stars and galaxies that bends the mind. To speak of 2001 in only such terms would be cold, mirroring HAL’s programming. The questions Kubrick’s adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s novel raises are its legacy. Repeat viewings enliven the plot but promote the ideas Kubrick was interested in discussing. What does it mean to be human? What is the true nature of technology? Why does mankind always seek the unknown? The subjects live on nearly 40 years after 2001’s release.
The Apartment – Billy Wilder: Jack Lemmon’s C. C. Baxter is a master of the useless fact. He knows how many people live in New York City, other people’s social security numbers and the exact amount of workers who sit alongside him at his insurance company, 31,259. Baxter’s life becomes ever complicated the more successful and messy his job gets. More promotions equal more problems might be the gist of it. Under Billy Wilder’s direction, along with a script by I.A.L. Diamond and Wilder, The Apartment is a tender, comical and superb film. The Apartment strides along at its finest when Lemmon, stupendous as always, spends time with Shirley MacLaine’s Fran Kubelik, his company’s elevator girl, who others would surely like to be more. Lemmon and MacLaine have a chemistry that is earnest, shy and heartfelt. An audience must give in to the standard of longing for their togetherness, a hope for the two to overcome all the sadness that stands in the way and just admit their love.
Black Sunday – Mario Bava: Barbara Steele has the eyes of a tempting demon goddess, which is a compliment. After years of working as a cinematographer, Mario Bava became a director, using Steele’s beauty and unique look in Black Sunday, a traditional gothic tale of a murdered witch reborn and seeking out the descendants of her execution. As a narrative, Black Sunday is flawed but decent. The visuals, however, are its master strokes. A Bava film resembles no other, scary and inviting, embodied by Steele in the flesh. Steele’s witch screams with vitriol at her captors, tying her up to be given a startling mask laced with spikes, driven into her skull by a gargantuan hammer. The surreal sight is Bava at his rawest, invoking the style of James Whale and inspiring a legion of Italian directors in his wake, from Dario Argento to Lucio Fulci. Steele is otherworldly, an idol of horror, with bottomless black hair and deeper eyes. A one of a kind work by a one- of-a-kind film maker.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – Sergio Leone: As Tuco might say, there are two kinds of people in this world, those that know that Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is the king of cinematic cool and those that don’t. Surely, Leone’s sensational picture stands the test of time for an array of impressive feats. First, the performance honed from gravel: Clint Eastwood’s Blondie, the man with no name but a wicked shot as the “Good”. The “Bad” is Lee Van Cleef’s stern and vicious Angel Eyes. The “Ugly” is none other than Eli Wallach’s loveable mess of a wanted man, Tuco. The trio play off each other with playful and menacing precision. Leone directs the story, following the men’s search for an enormous fortune where each needs the other for some truth of its whereabouts, gloriously utilizing his trademark close-ups, a sweeping visual scope and an amazing ability for contrasting imagery. The finest two occurrences are the first sight of literally greener pastures, a source of hope and rebirth, featuring scattered fallen soldiers amidst its magnificence, plus the masterful moment when Tuco is brutally interrogated to the sound of a heavenly choir made up of army men. The latter hits a note of richness by way of Leone’s equally loved composer, Ennio Morricone. Iconic is not a strong enough word to illustrate Morricone’s score, unforgettable and enthralling. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is often imitated in every sense, it will never be duplicated.
The Hustler – Robert Rossen:
Layered with contrasting emotions, a notable cast and precise pacing, Robert Rossen’s The Hustler is a complete, fantastic film. Paul Newman’s “Fast” Eddie Felson is one of the actor’s best known characters, one he fills with insecurities and doubt, despite an immense talent. Stepping up from mere hustles, Eddie takes on the alleged best pool shooter in the country, Minnesota Fats, a colossal presence put forth by Jackie Gleason. The crackling dialogue meshes with the film’s various personalities, each distinct and suffering in their own way. Eddie’s talent, looks and wit are admirable but one would be hard pressed to find a sole person who would like to be him. Riddled with loneliness, Eddie shrugs off notions of love, appearing to believe it a fallacy people make up to feel better about their sad lives. Rossen, whose other work never achieved the level of The Hustler, allows the melancholy to lift at the right times, like Eddie fondly speaking of the jubilations he feels when doing something he knows he is exceptional at. Eugen Schufftan’s cinematography adds to the theme of never being content by filling the frame with a busy yet isolated tone, echoing the hollowness of each small victory anyone in The Hustler grasps.
In the Heat of the Night – Norman Jewison: Norman Jewison’s adaptation of John Ball’s novel about Philadelphian Detective Virgil Tibbs has several standout scenes that stand so tall, most Americans know of them before ever seeing them. Legendary Sidney Poitier’s proud and loud declaration of, “My name is Mr. Tibbs,” alongside his slap of a racist white man, bestow upon In the Heat of the Night a vivid place in American cinema. Surrounding the investigation of the murder of a rich white factory owner, Jewison’s picture discusses racism at a time when the civil rights movement was in full effect on the streets of America. Poitier's performance is widely renowned and justifiably so. The charisma and power he exudes on screen is palpable. Rod Steiger’s role as Bill Gillespie, the Police Chief of the Mississippi town home to the investigation, is on par with Poitier here, as a man taken aback by Tibbs’ authority, but who eventually works with and befriends the fellow officer of the law.
Ivan’s Childhood – Andrei Tarkovsky: Many movies delve into the horrors of war. What makes Andrei Tarkovsky’s Ivan’s Childhood so special is its ability to show how such atrocities can be for the young. 12 year old Ivan is an orphan, a boy positive that he can do some good amidst the fighting of World War II. Deciding that he can use his small stature to become a great spy, Ivan convinces a group of soldiers of his abilities, planning a mission into enemy Nazi territory. The journey is a mighty one, which Tarkovsky shoots with elegance, grace and equal parts revulsion. Lifting the fine acting, script and themes of such violence’s impact on a nation’s youth is the imagery, which swerves from dreamlike to heart wrenchingly honest in the slightest of cuts. Tarkovsky’s first feature may not be his best, and certainly not his most well known. Yet, with the aid of cinematographer Vadim Yusov, Ivan’s Childhood is assuredly Tarkovsky’s most visually captivating piece.
Midnight Cowboy – John Schlesinger: It is hard not to imagine Harry Nilsson’s “Everybody’s Talkin’ At Me” when thinking of Midnight Cowboy. The two are linked for life and are a fantastic couple. Schlesinger’s tale is of two men living in New York, the crippled Ratso, played with remarkable skill by Dustin Hoffman, and prostitute Joe Buck, the never better Jon Voight. An odd bond forms between them, distinctly different men who somehow feel so right together in a movie that plays its emotional strings with exquisiteness. Working from Waldo Salt’s adaptation of James Leo Herlihy’s novel, Schlesinger and company weave a movie that can be darkly comic and intensely poignant. Midnight Cowboy famously garnered an X rating, which by today’s standards seems laughable. Now movies with homosexuality and male prostitution would not get an X-rating, they would be produced by Adam Sandler and likely star Rob Schneider or maybe Sandler himself. It is not that a film like Midnight Cowboy would be impossible to make today, just so many studios would shy away from the tale and one would have to dig deep to find such a treasure.
Peeping Tom – Michael Powell: Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom lives as one of cinema’s most infamous works, an odd place for it to be. Legend tells that the movie, about a man who murders women while filming them with his tripod, ruined the career of Powell, leaving behind a director who was never able to work again or at least with any true studio backing. The scenario has been a baffling one. In truth, Peeping Tom acts as a weird hybrid of two of Alfred Hitchcock’s best known pictures, Rear Window and Psycho, the second which arrived on the scene the same year as Powell’s film. Notions of madness and voyeurism are at the heart of Peeping Tom, and one can not help but wonder that if it was labeled a Hitchcock production, would the movie have ever suffered the backlash it received. Either way, what remains is a creepy, calculated thriller. The frightening nature of the deaths is shot in a manner to invite the viewer in on the horrific happenings, as victim and pursuer. Carl Boehm’s obsessive killer as one of horror’s dearly underrated monsters of a human. All Peeping Tom’s facets leave one shamed into getting any joy out of movie mayhem of its ilk.
Persona – Ingmar Bergman:
Amongst the 1960s films that are often cited as pretentious gobbledegook, Persona may receive more accusations than any other. An art piece for sure, Ingmar Bergman’s picture is a treat to watch time and again, even if a full understanding of the core plot can feel distant. Following the relationship of two women, a nurse and the actress she looks after, Persona slides along the frame with meticulousness and splendor under Bergman’s eye, with two lead performances by Bibbi Anderson and Liv Ullmann that are deep and intimate. Themes of identity and humanity, common points of discussion in Bergman’s career, surface here but echo a fervor and distinctiveness so that Persona seems to both encapsulate the director’s work and still be wholly separate from films like The Seventh Seal and Cries and Whispers. Freeing himself of all standard narrative structures, Bergman flourishes, envisioning one of the cinema’s best known scene’s, the merging of Bibbi and Ullman’s faces, a striking, visceral experience to see.
The Sound of Music – Robert Wise: One of moviedom’s finest musicals with possibly the most joyous, if not best, performance of them all. The Sound of Music echoes on decades later with magnificence and passion. Celebrated director Robert Wise orchestrates the well known tale of the von Trapps escape from Nazi occupied Austria with a booming zest that only true cynics could not be enraptured by. Adapted from the Rogers and Hammerstein stage musical, the gem of The Sound of Music is surely Julie Andrews, a queen of a woman with a voice that inspires instant admiration and love. Few movies can carry such a clear melodramatic nature and yet hit the precise emotional notes it needs, and with Andrews as Maria, Wise and company zip through nearly three hours with speed, humor, tears and endlessly singable songs.
The Great Escape - John Sturges:
Based on a real incident that took place during World War II, this film is one of our all-time American classics. The cast is incredible, featuring Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Garner, Richard Harris, and Donald Pleasance. In a German POW camp, imprisoned soldiers from The US, France, Poland and the UK band together and dig a tunnel underground which runs just outside the camp. The story is all about the comraderie and the relationships the men have with each other leading up to the breakout. It's entertaining, funny and action packed. One of my favorite scenes is the potato liquor party. The big motorcycle chase with McQueen is memorable as well.
X: The Man With X Ray Eyes - Roger Corman: Ray Milland is Dr. James Xavier, a scientist working on a secret experiment that will give humans X-Ray vision. Xavier tests the liquid on himself by dropping it into his eyes and he begins to see the results. But the side effects turn him psychotic. Roger Corman's sharp direction and FX work showed how imaginative and creative low budget films could be. This is certainly one of my personal favorite Drive-In films of the early '60s, and one of my favorite Corman films.
The Killers - Don Siegel: Adapted from a short story by Ernest Hemingway. Two hitmen (Lee Marvin & Clu Gulagher) are hired for a job and kill their mark, Johnny North (John Cassavetes). The older hitman (Marvin) is bothered by this job because North showed no sign of resistance, he seemed as if he was already dead. The two hitman become investigators and try to piece together what North's background story was. I actually like this version more than the earlier 1946 Robert Siodmak film noir, because, well, it's directed by Don Siegel. I love the overall look and it has some of my very favorite stars in it. Clu Gulagher gives a standout performance as the eccentric hitman Lee. Ronald Reagan does a fantastic job as the film's main villain and Angie Dickinson is hot as ever as Johnny North's squeeze.
The Wild Bunch - Sam Peckinpah: A legendary work of genre cinema from genius Sam Peckinpah. The tale of a group of aging outlaws (played by William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Edmond O'Brien, Ben Johnson, Warren Oates) who know their way of living is coming to an end. This film has so many poetic and sentimental scenes juxtaposed with extreme violence. Peckinpah uses slow-motion during the action scenes turning them into bloody ballets - a technique we would later see show up in the films of Hong Kong director John Woo. The climax is one of the bloodiest shootouts ever put on film. An ultra-violent yet heartfelt farewell to the Old West.
Bullitt - Peter Yates: Featuring one of cinema's most exciting car chases. It's also the film that cemented Steve McQueen as an A-list Hollywood superstar. A nicely directed crime-thriller from Peter Yates.
Lady in a Cage - Walter Grauman: A darkly funny potboiler starring Olivia DeHavilland as a well to do, handicapped woman named Mrs. Hilyard, who gets accidentally stuck inside her home's elevator. When she rings the emergency alarm for help, an old wino in the alley next to her home hears the ringing and investigates. When he sees she's alone, he breaks into her house and steals some items. He brings them to a pawn shop, and some small time punks (one of them a young James Caan doing his best Brando imitation) follow him back and the craziness begins.
The Dirty Dozen - Robert Aldrich: Robert Aldrich's World War II Men On A Mission film is pure dynamite, and starring some of the most popular actors of the 60s: Lee Marvin, John Cassavetes, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown., Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, George Kennedy. The story follows a group of Army criminals who get a reprieve only if they accept a deadly mission into Nazi occupied France. We get to know the criminals as they fight with each other and with their head officer, Major Reisman (Marvin). The group turn from a bunch of misfit losers into super-sharp soldiers who prove they've got what it takes for their dangerous mission. The film is just a lot of fun to watch.
The Flim Flam Man - Irvin Kershner: A little known gem from the end of the '60s with the great George C. Scott as Mordecai Jones, a legendary grifter who travels around the Southeast United States plying his trade. Along the way he meets a young man named Curly Treadaway (Michael Sarrazin), who is AWOL from the Army. The two begin a friendship/partnership in the "backstabbing, cork screwing and dirty dealing" biz. A hilarious film that mixes slapstick comedy with Southern Fried charm. Featuring an incredible cast of character actors like Slim Pickens, Woodrow Parfrey, Jack Albertson, Alice Ghostley, Albert Salmi and Harry Morgan. The score by Jerry Goldsmith is one of my favorites.
Hell in the Pacific - John Boorman: Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune star as two marooned soldiers battling each other on an island during World War II. These two legends are a joy to watch as they try to survive the island and each other. Mifune is the disciplined honorable Japanese soldier, Marvin is the loud, brash, irritating American soldier. The film is also very comedic thanks to Marvin's sharp wit. A classic film from director John Boorman.
Raisin in the Sun - Daniel Petrie: Based on the stageplay by Lorraine Hansbury. Sidney Poitier gives a knockout performance in this film. It tells the story of a man's struggle with his lot in life and what it is to live as a black family in America. The film takes place almost entirely in the family's small apartment. Co-starring Ruby Dee, Claidia McNeil, Diana Sands and an early performance by Louis Gossett Jr.
Faces - John Cassavetes:
One of the first John Cassavetes films I saw, and I was sucked into it as I watched. Cassavetes (aka the American Godard) made incredible works about everyday people. This film examines the rocky, off-kilter relationships between men and women and also the older, upper-class lifestyle. Cinema verite at its best.
The Odd Couple - Gene Saks: A hysterically funny film about two divorced friends based on the stageplay by Neil Simon. Jack Lemmon is Felix Ungerer, an obsessive compulsive news writer, and Walter Matthau is Oscar Madison, a sloppy sports reporter. What I love most about this film is the script. Simon wrote so well that almost any actor could play his characters and look great. Although, that being said, Matthau and Lemmon were truly unique guys. They had such a great chemistry with each other and were friends in real life. A classic story about two good friends with completely opposite personalities.
Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill! - Russ Meyer: Russ Meyer's black and white cinematic explosion of female prowess is one of the most exciting and offbeat cult films of the '60s. The women are beautiful, the dialogue is funny as hell, and the direction is as sharp as a knife. Director John Waters (Polyester) named this his favorite film ever.
Girl With a Suitcase - Valerio Zurlini: The beautiful Claudia Cardinale (The Professionals, Once Upon A Time In The West) stars as Aida, a lonely, desperate prostitute who drifts from one uncaring lover to the next. Reviewed here.
Man's Favorite Sport? - Howard Hawks: No one made comedies like Howard Hawks, and this film is another sidesplitting screwball farce that's a partial remake of Bringing Up Baby, but substitutes Rock Hudson and Paula Prentiss for Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. The score is one of my favorites, adding another layer to the zaniness taking place on-screen. Hudson plays the irritated man and Prentiss plays the sexy and flirtatious woman. So much fun to be had with this film.
What's Up Tiger Lily? - Woody Allen: Woody Allen's first film project was a bit of an experiment. He took a '60s Japanese spy film and redubbed the voices, turning the espionage plotline into a farce about a stolen egg salad recipe. The dialogue is off the wall funny and is pure Woody humor. Featuring a wacky score by the hippie group The Lovin Spoonful. This is one of the first films that got me into Woody Allen. Although his later films were certainly better, this one is an early gem that I love to revisit again and again.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Peter R. Hunt: This is one of my favorite James Bond films and it doesn't even star Sean Connery or Roger Moore. Nope, Secret Service stars the one-timer George Lazenby. I think Lazenby did a fantastic job as 007 and I really wished he had been able to do more films in the series. Co-starring Telly Savalas as Blofeld.
Danger Diabolik - Mario Bava:
Based on the Italian fumetti. This is a perfect example of what a "cult film" should be. The film can be viewed in many ways, to some it may be an over-the-top comic book film, to others it's a pop-art masterpiece. Personally, I feel this film shows Mario Bava's genius as a director and visual stylist. With Diabolik, Bava's ingenuity was at top form, and he used the tools of film to create a classic work of pop culture cinema. He brought the same love and respect he had for his gialli and gothic horror stories to the fumetti, giving viewers a delightfully magical adventure into the world of Italy's most beloved anti-hero.
Continue to Part II
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