My Top 10 Movies from the 1960's Part one

I figure if I'm going to be writing essays and reviews on movies I should begin by giving you guys a taste of what films I love by doing these lists. I start with the 1960's because of how trans formative the decade was for the movie industry. I will follow this up with my top 10 films of the 1970's. As always if you agree or disagree I'd love to hear your opinions, and please let me know if you think I missed some out. But without further ado, in no particular order, my top 10 movies of the 1960's.

1. Psycho (1960)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring the little known Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh, this movie is a stalwart in any list of the best thrillers of all time. The film has the usual Hitchcock set-up; where a normal person makes a that from then on lead to much more drama. It's a useful formula, useful in this case to keep us ignorant to the whole film. Hitchcock sets up expectations for Marion Crane, the typical heroine of a Hitchcock film, and soon enough destroys them with a scene you may have thought of taking your morning shower, so iconic was the sequence. From then on the audience is played like an instrument; Hitchcock could have stood blindfolded before an audience and conducted every face and noise they made so masterfully was it created, and so powerfully were we manipulated. The whole film is a masterclass in tension, dialogue, editing, composing, cinematography and acting that it would be irresponsible to have never seen it.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

1. The Apartment (1960)

Billy Wilder is far too often remembered for Sunset Blvd. and Some Like It Hot. This film, starring the wonderful Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine is what I feel is his masterpiece. Billy Wilder is the greatest screenwriter of all time, and here he shows why. Perhaps the trickiest tightrope in screenwriting, to manage comedy and drama so effortlessly, to never weigh one down with the other, is what makes this film timeless. Jack Lemmon plays the insurance man who borrows his apartment to his superiors for there affairs in search of promotion whilst falling in love with elevator girl Miss Kubelik. The film is about loneliness, and the ironic comedy that comes with pretending not to be. It plays like a comedy until both characters let their facades fade and show their vulnerability. When Baxter mentions her broken mirror Miss Kubelik replies "Yes, I know. I like it that way. Makes me look the way I feel". The movie creeps up on you that way.

My Rating: 10 out of 10.

1. The Graduate (1967)

Directed by Mike Nichols and a terrific cast of Dustin Hoffman, Katharine Ross and one the best actors of all time, Anne Bancroft. Hoffman's Benjamin is the graduate, fresh out of college is under pressure to choose his next step in his life when he is seduced by the beautiful Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), and begins an affair with her until he falls in love with her daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross). The film could easily be a throwaway comedy. Instead the writing is smart enough to give each character a purpose and point of view, and the actors elevate the writing further. Katharine Ross is illuminating on screen, and Anne Bancroft has more presence in this than any actress' performance that came before her. The film is a comedy, and a hilarious one at that. Beyond that though is the point of view of the whole film. Perhaps arising from the rebellious nature of the 60's the film ends uncertainly, with two scared kids on a bus to nowhere. The film in this sense, is about fearlessness, about taking initiative, about not becoming our parents through fear of failing something.

My Rating: 10 out of 10

1. Guess who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

Directed by Stanley Kramer, the film takes place in one afternoon in San Francisco where Katharine Houghton brings her new partner Sidney Poitier to dinner to meet parent Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey. The film is less of a film than a play, and in lesser hands, one could assume this film would dissipate and grow boring with such little action. Instead, it's in the hands of several greats. Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey give performances that will sit with you for some time, entrenched even more after Spencer Tracey's monologue at the end of the film, given with the knowledge he hasn't long to live, and that this will be his final screen performance. The monologue is one that outlines the films message. That love is the strongest of all forces when it comes to deciding who should be together and who shouldn't, and the film takes pleasure in destroying any notion of prejudice an audience member might have. I'd love to say the message was dated, and the issue's in the film aren't as poignant today as they were but they are. Yet, we leave with a hope that their love for each other will endure, and if we choose to include and not exclude, then so will ours.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

1. Sanjuro (1962)

Directed by Akira Kurosawa, the film stars Toshiro Mifune as the disbanded samurai who chooses to help a young clan save one of their uncles who is being held captive by a corrupt superintendent. The movie is often seen as the lesser movie to the more famous Yojimbo (1961) for it's quiet and simple story and characters where Yojimbo was loud and convoluted. The movie is similar in how Toshiro Mifune plays a drifting Samurai who on the surface is callous and abrasive. He seemingly joins the clans efforts just for the excitement. But underneath the comedic abrasiveness, lies a warrior that cannot escape the life of violence and war that seems to follow him. He chooses however, to fight for justice. Before a duel now legendary in japanese film history, the powerful warrior asks his inferior "must we fight?". "yes, you're treacherous. You made a fool of me" he replies. Here lies the conflict within the discipline these men practice. He must do what's right to save the uncle, but he doesn't want to kill. The other man was humiliated, so must kill whoever is responsible. Sanjuro takes no pleasure in killing anymore, yet he must. The film is simple and subtle, but it's just as powerful as any.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

Let me know what you think of my list so far. Part two will be up soon so follow if you're interested.

Thank you,

Tom