Film was facing increased competition from television, which meant moviegoers needed bigger stories and bigger budgets("Cleopatra" doesn't make the cut) to lure them away from the small screen and into the drive-in on Friday night. There's a good chance you were seeing a musical or a Western if you bought a ticket between 1960-1969. You got to know Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor very well, while Hitchcock and Kubrick(among many others) raised the bar ridiculously high on the other side of the camera. We don't suck up to foreign films around here, this is America, so I apologize to Fellini lovers and the French New Wave. Lists are important. Otherwise, the world is chaos. I hope you enjoy reading, and later watching, my 60 greatest films of the '60s.
60(tie). "The Children's Hour"(1961)
We have a tie for the final spot on the list(1961 technically makes this the 61 greatest movies of the '60s). Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine run a private school for girls, until one of them starts a rumor that the pretty pair are lesbians- a rather risqué plot for JFK's first year in office. William Wyler's absorbing drama is ripe for rediscovery.
60(tie). A Raisin in the Sun"(1961)
Sidney Poitier became our first prominent black leading man in the thick of the Civil Rights Movement. So, why haven't you seen any of his movies? The struggles of his downtrodden family makes "Sun" as relevant and relatable today as it was over half a century ago.
59. "The Sand Pebbles"(1966)
'The King of Cool' Steve McQueen was one of the decade's champions, and I prefer his stint in the U.S. Navy in 1920s China over the more popular "Bullitt". Director Robert Wise(get used to that name) should have a rep that matches the size of his numerous successes. Richard Attenborough, Mako, Richard Crenna and Candice Bergen costar.
58. Anne of the Thousand Days"(1969)
Richard Burton barnstorms around this regal costume drama as King Henry VIII. French-Canadian cutie Genevieve Bujold should have found greater fame with her fiery portrayal of his scorned second wife Anne Bolyn(mother of Elizabeth I). "Days" rewarded my patience after a slow start. Ignore that 42% on RT.
57. "Romeo and Juliet"(1968)
The general concensus seems to be that Italian director Franco Zeffirelli made the best big-screen adaptation of Shakespeare's immortal tale of star-crossed lovers. The Montagues and the Capulets still can't keep them apart after 420 years. I watched these tortured teens do themselves in with daggers and poison way before I understood the self-destructive pull of young love.
56. "The Fortune Cookie"(1966)
Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau share the screen for the first time in a comedy directed by Billy Wilder. Enough said.
55. "A Thousand Clowns"(1965)
You think you hate going to work everyday? Meet Jason Robards' leisure expert Murray Burns. Long before Jeffrey Lebowski rejected the rat race, this fed-up former writer defiantly defended his right to do absolutely nothing. "Clowns" is a quirky ode to unconventionality, starring one of the greatest actors that never gets talked about.
54. "Elmer Gantry"(1960)
A crazed Burt Lancaster landed the Best Actor Oscar as an evangelical con man carving a path through small-town America. Don't put any more dollar bills in that church basket. Or better yet, find something better to do on Sundays at noon. "Gantry" gutted religious zealotry before your grandparents were dragging your parents in front of some pitiful priest.
53. "Butterfield 8"(1960)
A 27 year old Liz Taylor officially succeeded Marilyn Monroe as our premier screen goddess. The brunette beauty rarely had a better showcase for her talent and appeal as an upscale escort that pays a heavy price for her chosen profession. Taylor was the biggest female film star of the 1960s, "B8" will show you why.
52. "Lolita"(1962)
Leave it to Stanley Kubrick to shake us out of our staid '50s picket fence conformity. While it may seem tame now, there was a time when lusting after teenage girls was taboo stuff. Mason gives voice to many a men's secret desires, while Peter Sellers shows off his penchant for multiple roles. It wouldn't be the last time he did that for SK...
51. "Cactus Flower"(1969)
A 23 year old Goldie Hawn stole all of our hearts(and the Best Supporting Actress Oscar) in this sleeper comedy that's holding up quite well. Walter Matthau's adulterous doctor doesn't deserve the devotion of the bubbly blonde starlet, whose success went way beyond her happy hippie origins. Hawn's undeniable charm would make her a pleasing presence in movies for the next thirty-plus years.
50. "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"(1967)
The resounding success of Stanley Kramer's topical triumph(it's the tenth biggest moneymaker of the decade) indicated vast improvements in this country's race relations. The smooth Sidney Poitier was officially a box office attraction and Katharine Hepburn was her usual incredible self. I can't think of better dinner companions, while Spencer Tracy's death shortly after filming lent a latent poignancy to the proceedings.
49. "The Longest Day"(1962)
This star-studded WWII ensemble adventure boasts one of the biggest casts ever assembled circa 1962(John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery). Long before "Saving Private Ryan", D-Day was depicted in impressive fashion, with Oscar-winning FX, making it the year's second highest grosser(behind "Lawrence of Arabia"). Check it out some day.
48. "The Guns of Navarone"(1961)
The men-on-a-mission movie was a '60s staple. Before there were CGI Avengers, you had Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn leading a team of Allied soldiers to blow up a Nazi stronghold in 1943. J. Lee Thompson was a populist director working at his crowd-pleasing peak. "Navarone" got a 1978 sequel and several nods from the Academy.
47. "Hud"(1963)
The only place you'll find Paul Newman's face more than you will in this article is in your local supermarket(the guy was kind of a big deal in the '60s). Paul plays a heel in rural Texas, battling his principled pop(Melvyn Douglas) for control of the family's cattle ranch, while Patricia Neal earned the Best Actress Oscar as his reluctant love interest. A sizzling cast and evocative cinematography makes Martin Ritt's drama a keeper.
46. "Lilies of the Field"(1963)
Sidney Poitier picked up the Best Actor Oscar as a good-hearted handyman helping out a group of Roman-Catholic nuns in rural Arizona. It turned out that we needed him as much as they did. If you're not humming one of Sidney's songs by the end credits, you've got a heart of stone.
45. "El Cid"(1961)
Let's hear it for the NRA's former figurehead Charlton Heston as the 11th Century Spanish folk hero. My grandfather told me about this one way before I had an interest in "old movies". Director Anthony Mann was in full command of this sprawling production, that solidified the career of the lovely Sophia Loren.
44. "Mutiny on the Bounty"(1962)
Marlon Brando was still standing tall as the seafaring captain of this handsome epic that gets unfairly lumped in with his 1960s failures. A closer inspection reveals a compelling conflict aboard the HMAV Bounty. This expensive "Mutiny" did lose money, but it also got seven Academy Award nominations.
43. "The Days of Wine and Roses"(1962)
Director Blake Edwards made a better movie than "Breakfast at Tiffany's", and it came out the following year. Jack Lemmon was often a joy to watch, and that's never been truer than in this grueling drama about the heavy tolls of alcoholism. Lee Remick is his partner in pain.
42. "The Jungle Book"(1967)
An ailing Walt Disney insured the long-term health of his empire with another colossal cartoon. Rudyard Kipling couldn't have possibly predicted the staying power of Mowgi and Baloo back in 1894. "Book" is second only to "Snow White" on the list of top-earning Disney classics(1937-1967), for providing much more than the bare necessities.
41. "101 Dalmatians"(1961)
Is "Dalmatians" better than "TJB"? It's honestly a toss-up half the time, so don't get too fixated on rankings. According to the American Kennel Club, the popularity of certain dog breeds can be greatly affected by movies like "101" for up to ten years. Just don't tell Cruella De Vil.
40. "The Birds"(1963)
Alfred Hitchcock, proving he could make any premise pliable, unleashed an unexplained killer bird attack on Tippi Hedren and a sleepy California town in this cracking thriller that signifies, with the benefit of hindsight, the end of his remarkable reign. This is probably Hitch's last essential film, and the Library of Congress, accordingly, selected it for preservation in 2016.
39. "Mary Poppins"(1964)
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. A non-sensical phrase, known the world over, that has since been added to the Oxford dictionary. Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke's chimney dance and those animated penguins should be a part of every childhood, and Walt Disney himself was the overseer of it all. Does the '60s have a more ethereal lady than P.L. Travers' magical English nanny? Emily Blunt has big shoes to fill.
38. "The Miracle Worker"(1962)
Anne Bancroft bagged the Best Actress Oscar for Arthur Penn's affecting drama about the early life of Helen Keller. In case you forgot, she was blind AND deaf, and a fifteen-year old Patty Duke's star-making role is an astonishing display of physical acting. Put away your cell phone and watch it already.
37. "The Lion in Winter"(1968)
When Katharine Hepburn(collecting her THIRD Best Actress Oscar) squares off with Peter O'Toole in a stately setting, it's the audience that wins. "Winter" boasts early screen appearances by Anthony Hopkins and Timothy Dalton in this absorbing story of a fucked-up marriage that spawned some seriously entitled offspring.
36. "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance"(1962)
John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart are an old-school film buff's dream team in John Ford's classy deconstruction of Western myths. If you don't know who REALLY shot Liberty Valance(Lee Marvin in his screen breakthrough), then you need to seriously brush up on '60s cinema.
35. "Goldfinger"(1964)
Gold paint. Pussy Galore. Oddjob. Laser beams coming uncomfortably close to crotches. This is where Bond became seriously iconic, and the fifty-five year old franchise is still striving for moments that match it's '60s Connery-led conception.
34. "Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"(1964)
The threat of nuclear war isn't supposed to be humorous. Stanley Kubrick made it so, in the best black comedy ever(some say the best comedy period, that subject is so subjective). Peter Sellers and George C. Scott are such a scream, that it's hard to believe there was ever a time when taking the piss out of politics wasn't a common practice. "Strangelove" is as funny as any Donald Trump speech/tweet.
33. "The Dirty Dozen"(1967)
Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, George Kennedy, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland. You're going to know these names. Who says "Jaws" was the first 'summer' movie? A dozen convicted killers are recruited by the U.S. Army for a WWII suicide mission in German-occupied France. The explosive results would be mimicked for many years after.
32. "The Odd Couple"(1968)
This Neil Simon landmark cemented the Lemmon-Matthau tandem, and, for my money, simply trumps nearly everything that passes for 'comedy' in the 21st Century. Felix and Oscar will still be bickering in a NYC apartment in the 31st Century if pop culture continues to be so well preserved.
31. "True Grit"(1969)
John Wayne had to wait thirty years for any formal recognition despite having more fervent followers than arguably anyone in the industry dating back to 1939's "Stagecoach". When the titanic tough guy became a Best Actor Oscar winner for his eyepatch-wearing U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn(his last great role), there wasn't a dry eye in the house(not even the Duke's). "Grit" was remade, respectfully, by the Coen brothers and Jeff Bridges in 2010.
30. "Oliver!"(1968)
Every child should be required to sit down in front of 1968's Best Picture winner by age ten. I'm reviewing the situation, and finding a disturbing lack of appreciation for older films. How about 'no video games/online access' for those unacquainted with this pint-sized London orphan and his pick-pocket pals?
29. "The Wild Bunch"(1969)
The dying days of the Wild West are vibrantly(and violently) recalled in Sam Peckinpah's pop Western. William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Ben Johnson and Warren Oates are a quartet for the ages as anachronistic outlaws in 1913, and "Bunch" is bookended by two magnificent shoot-outs that make it one of the most modern films on this list.
28. "Funny Girl"(1968)
Barbra Streisand's fame increased enormously thanks to this winning William Wyler musical. It's hard not to root for her ugly duckling Fanny Bryce through her unlikely road to superstardom and stormy marriage to Omar Sharif. Every chick on the planet should love this movie.
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| I miss his smile, too. |
27. "Cool Hand Luke"(1967)
Paul Newman was THE actor of the '60s. Don't bother disputing that, I've done my homework. His unflappable convict quickly became an anti-establishment icon, that legions of defiant youths unapologetically latched onto. Fifty hard-boiled eggs, an impromptu boxing match and numerous escape attempts are just a few of the reasons that this Florida chain gang is a go-to flick for every baby boomer.
26. "The Great Escape"(1963)
Speaking of escapes, we're back to another guy that helped us do just that more times than not. Steve McQueen left our mortal coil way too soon, but not before appearing in 29 movies that inspire the sort of undying devotion reserved for a select group of dead celebs. "Escape" is the best one, and I'd climb on the back of that motorcycle again in a heartbeat. Powered by Elmer Bernstein's bouncy score, director John Sturges staged more fun than should have been allowed in a German POW camp.
25. "Spartacus"(1960)
Stanley Kubrick's most straightforward and conventional film nevertheless catapulted the fabled director to the forefront of Hollywood shot-callers. A barrel-chested Kirk Douglas was impressed with Stanley's work on "Paths of Glory"(as were we), and invited him to bring his grandeur and keen eye to a slave revolt in ancient Rome. Some film fans will argue that Kirk and Kubrick's three-hour epic bested "Ben Hur"(1959's Best Picture). You decide.
24. "Judgment at Nuremberg"(1961)
The Nuremberg Trials of 1948 were recreated in riveting fashion by director Stanley Kramer. Maximillian Schell won the Best Actor Oscar for his emotionally-charged courtroom speeches, although Spencer Tracy could have just as easily won. Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich and Montgomery Clift also turn in nomination-worthy work.
23. "Easy Rider"(1969)
Dennis Hopper, previously a bit player in a number of hits, became an enduring cult hero when he directed and starred in this seminal snapshot of a raging counterculture that could no longer be ignored by LBJ and Richard Nixon. The irascible rebel couldn't have realized that he was paving the way for a 'New Hollywood'- one with a rocking soundtrack and ideas that didn't sit too well with clean-cut conservative types. Hopper and Peter Fonda just want to ride their motorcycles through the open countryside with money they scored in a drug deal. A young Jack Nicholson, in his breakthrough role, shared their disinterest in playing by the rules. He had a pretty nice career.
22. "West Side Story"(1961)
When you're a jet, you're a jet. Robert Wise's "WSS" may be the most worshiped musical of them all. With all due respect to the luminous Natalie Wood(her memory lives on), sassy Best Supporting Actress Rita Moreno is a consistent scene-stealer. "Story" has ten Oscars(more than any other musical), including Best Picture.
21. "Doctor Zhivago"(1965)
David Lean's lovely WWI-set drama is more than worthy of three hours and seventeen minutes of your precious time(admit it, you're averaging four hours a week on Facebook). Omar Sharif and Julie Christie's Russian romance is the emotional core of a sprawling story with eye-popping production values. The winner of five Academy Awards(Adapted Screenplay, Score, Cinematography, Art Direction and Costume Design), "Zhivago" was also the second-biggest box office hit of the year.
20. "The Sound of Music"(1965)
The most financially successful film of the 1960s was a genuine phenomenon that you just had to be a part of. The hills are alive with the sounds of Julie Andrews, and she's been a national treasure ever since the one-two punch of Maria and Mary Poppins. The von Trapp family really did escape Austria in 1938, in case you needed reminding of the serious undercurrent to all the music. Robert Wise claimed the Best Picture/Director combo(again) and generated $163 million for Christopher Plummer's career-making classic.
19. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"(1969)
Here's the deal- if you were a male between the ages of 8-12 in 1970, this was your favorite movie, and it might still be. Paul Newman and Robert Redford were the two coolest men on Earth for a few years, and their lifelong fame was assured as carefree outlaws in this enormously popular Western. The dynamic duo would reunite with director George Roy Hill with similarly crowd-pleasing results in 1973's "The Sting". That freeze-frame is still among the more famous movie endings.
18. "Midnight Cowboy"(1969)
The first(and last) X-rated movie to win Best Picture was the beginning of one era and the end of another. With the Hayes Code and it's oppressive censorship officially shut down, a fresh band of emboldened filmmakers were free to push boundaries and explore material that was inconceivable when Eisenhower and Truman were running things. Joe Buck and Ratso Rizzo weren't the kind of characters that audiences were used to seeing up close. Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman brought these dirty degenerates to life in vivid fashion in John Schlesinger's naughty NYC-set drama. Waldo Salt's screenplay was based on the salacious 1965 novel from James Leo Herlihy.
17. "From Russia with Love"(1963)
The second Bond movie is the best(even Daniel Craig thinks so), and I'm officially naming it the best film of 1963(sorry, "Tom Jones"). There's much to love about "Russia", from the Istanbul setting to Desmond Llewelen's debut as Q to Robert Shaw's blonde baddie and Lotte Lenya's shoe. Director Terence Young improved upon "Dr. No" to establish many of the series' hallmarks. That train scrap may be the first great movie fight scene.
16. "The Hustler"(1961)
The 1950s were over the moment Paul Newman strutted into that pool hall as 'Fast' Eddie Felson. The world of high-stakes billiards may be an imaginary one, but the drama is very real, thanks to director Robert Rossen capturing an intimacy and a rawness unseen since Brando's best work. Jackie Gleason and Piper Laurie both landed signature film roles as Eddie's rival and tragic lover. The 1986 Scorsese-directed sequel "The Color of Money" finally netted Newman the Best Actor Oscar.
15. "In the Heat of the Night"(1967)
The first buddy cop movie? You learn something new every day. Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger must put aside their differences to solve a murder in the deep South(one of them isn't too welcome there). Norman Jewison's scorching drama won't seem groundbreaking to modern audiences that have been fed a hundred similar police procedurals, but I'm here to tell you that Virgil Tibbs slapped some sense into more than one backwards bigot. "Night" was an instant hit that overcame heavy competition at the Academy Awards(winning Best Picture and Actor for Steiger). Poitier would reprise his most popular role in two sequels, while a TV series ran for seven seasons.
14. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"(1966)
A 33 year Liz Taylor reached the zenith of her five-decade-long career with her transformative turn as the fiery Martha in this airtight adaptation of Edward Albee's Tony-award winning play. Her beau Richard Burton, George Segal and Sandy Dennis were immortalized alongside the '60s queen as the verbal fireworks erupt. This quartet delivered an acting masterclass, with the late, great Mike Nichols making the best directorial debut since Sidney Lumet shot "12 Angry Men".
13. "Rosemary's Baby"(1968)
Roman Polanski's pulse-pounding breakthrough was a good five years ahead of it's time. A Satanic cult in NYC wants Mia Farrow's baby. Our waifish heroine slowly learns she can trust absolutely no one(including her own husband John Cassavetes) as she scrambles to keep her unborn child away from the forces of evil, led by the seemingly benign Best Supporting Actress winner Ruth Gordon. "Baby" still bests it's countless imitators, staying comfortably near the top of any list of superior shockers.
12. "The Graduate"(1967)
Mike Nichols' coming-of-age blockbuster is a cultural touchtone, and simply one of the greatest comedies ever produced. Conflicted college grad Benjamin Braddock was having a quarter-life crisis before all these bored millennials were even born, and Dustin Hoffman seemed destined for superstardom in the kind of role that any young actor would kill for. Who could resist Anne Bancroft's Mrs. Robinson? Who would want to?? Fun fact- Simon & Garfunkel gave us the movie soundtrack.
11. "Planet of the Apes"(1968)
Now you know where the "Apes" juggernaut originated. Charlton Heston may be best known as the human center of Franklin Schaffner's ridiculously-durable franchise-starter. A popcorn B-movie with a brain? An apt description, and those damn, dirty apes are more dominant than ever. Four sequels followed in the '70s(sans Heston), as well as a 2001 remake and a 2010s reboot trilogy.
10. "My Fair Lady"(1964)
Audrey Hepburn may be the SECOND most lionized lady in cinema history(behind MM), and her inherent goodness was on full display in George Cukor's enchanting Best Picture winner. The rags-to-riches story finds her Eliza Doolittle wrapped up with Rex Harrison(think twice about letting a woman in your life) to the delight of everyone that went to the movies in 1964. "Lady" won Best Picture that year, for being the best musical in a decade loaded with many good ones.
9. "A Man for All Seasons"(1966)
"I die the King's good servant, and God's first". Director Fred Zinnemann's grand treatment of Saint Thomas More, one of the noblest men in the back pages of history books, has more zest than most new movies you can name. English theater titan Paul Schofield opposed the King(Robert Shaw) and paid the ultimate price. "Seasons" is a sensational movie night for any seasoned film lover.
8. "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"(1966)
The great Clint Eastwood reached a level of esteem from which he has never slipped by the concluding chapter of Sergio Leone's "Dollars" trilogy. As good as the first two installments are(released in 1964 and '65, kind of like "LOTR"), "TGTBATU" is on another plane. Clint is every inch the movie star and the clear successor to John Wayne as the enigmatic Man With No Name. Eli Wallach should've gotten a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nod as his Mexican ally/enemy during a Civil War gold-hunt. If you don't love the tense three-way standoff in the last ten minutes(the villainous Lee Van Cleef brings up the rear), then you don't love movies.
7. "Once Upon a Time in the West"(1968)
Sergio Leone's OTHER Western epic has only grown in stature since Charles Bronson's silent, revenge-seeking drifter first rolled into town. "West" is one of those movies that separates the film freaks from everyone else, and if you have to be told about Leone's legendarily long takes, Henry Fonda's heel turn, Ennio Morricone's magnificent score, and Italian goddess Claudia Cardinale, then you're probably not one. It's never too late to unlearn what MTV taught us, though. This is a brooding meditation of a bygone era, that richly rewards adventurous viewers with two hours and 44 minutes to spare. Anyone with even the faintest interest in the finer points of filmmaking needs to see it at least once.
6. "Bonnie and Clyde"(1967)
Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, both at the height of their beauty, blazed a trail through the Great Depression AND the cinematic landscape in Arthur Penn's game-changing crime drama. American audiences lost their collective innocence the moment these immoral lovebirds hit the road to pull over a dozen robberies and play target practice with anybody that had a problem with that. It turned out that sex and violence and breaking the law is cool, and only Beatty fully realized this(he was the driving force behind the project). The vast influence of "B&C" could be felt for so long after, many started to forget where it all began. Those bloody squibs were here to stay. Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons, Michael J. Pollard and Gene Wilder make up the notable supporting cast.
5. "To Kill a Mockingbird"(1962)
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. Until you've climbed inside of his skin and walked around in it". Sage words, from the mouth of Atticus Finch in this towering adaptation of Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Gregory Peck picked up the Best Actor Oscar for being the personification of quiet dignity. I listen to him as intently as his daughter Scout(Mary Badham) did, in 1930s Alabama, and we don't appear to be doing much better today with regards to racism, poverty, and the criminal justice system. You shouldn't need to be told that "Mockingbird" remains one of the best dramas ever made.
4. "The Apartment"(1960)
Billy Wilder's wonderful comedy got the decade off to a very strong start. Jack Lemmon never bettered his work as nervous office drone C.C. Baxter, and as you should know by now, that's REALLY saying something, while Shirley MacLaine made a strong case for career longevity. I could hang out in Baxter's apartment all day, because there's enough good humor and heart there for ten movies. Nominated for ten Academy Awards, and the winner of five, including Best Picture/Director/Screenplay.
3. "Lawrence of Arabia"(1962)
David Lean's glorious tribute to British diplomat T.E. Lawrence's WWI adventures has accurately been described as celluloid perfection- a reputation it's held onto for over half-a-century. Peter O'Toole was virtually unknown when he climbed on that camel, only to be carried off to the world stage. Maurice Jarre's majestic score set new standards that have rarely been reached, making the French composer one of Lean's key collaborators(he scored all of Lean's subsequent ventures). Delectable desert landscapes, a sharp script and a cast that includes Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn and Omar Sharif are among the many virtues of 1962's Best Picture. Go watch it already.
2. "2001: A Space Odyssey"(1968)
The greatest pure sci-fi movie this side of "Blade Runner" made Stanley Kubrick a reclusive rock star godlike auteur(a director's director), with mind-blowing visuals married to ambiguous, thought-provoking themes that captured the imagination of a public already entranced by 'The Space Race'. I don't think we're any closer to comprehending the limitless potential of technology now than we were in April 1968. In many ways, we're still those primitive apes in that oddly compelling opening, and HAL, the eerie supercomputer, is closing in fast. Somehow, Stanley knew, and "2001" represents a giant leap forward in the evolution of filmmaking, sparking the brains of Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ridley Scott, James Cameron, and Chris Nolan. Literally, nothing has been the same since.
1. "Psycho"(1960)
Alfred Hitchcock's crowning achievement is permanently engrained in the collective consciousness. It's also the best film of the 1960s. To say that the psychosis of knife-wielding, mother-obsessed hotel owner Norman Bates was unsettling would be a massive understatement, and Hitch can be rightly credited with kick-starting an entire genre the moment Janet Leigh's shower got interrupted(if you can think of a more famous movie moment, let me know). Armed with a creepy 1959 novel of the same name, an economical $800,000 budget and Bernard Herrmann's haunting score, 'The Master of Suspense' enhanced his already-enormous rep with the most profitable black-and-white movie ever. Responding to political pressure, many networks refused to air Anthony Perkins and his disturbing stare for years after it's release. The passage of time would find the Bates Motel a yearly destination for a growing number of late-night viewers that were decidedly more flexible on the onscreen decency debate. The pendulum had swung toward tasteful violence and edge-of-your-seat thrills, and it never swung back.
*2,081 films were released in the 1960s. But who's counting?
