Not a great movie by anyone's definition, but at 12 I was pretty head over heels over James Garner. So it was terrific by my standards. Cash is a rich guy who buys failing businesses on the cheap. It's mostly about the glamour of James and Natalie Wood and their chemistry together. But it sort of confirms the MAD MEN life style and their attitudes.
I think I've posted before that 1959's THE BEST OF EVERYTHING has a really strong mid-century Mad Men vibe. Once we start moving into the hippie/Vietnam/anti-hero sixties, that's a whole other type of movie.
It is pretty hard to pick a movie that represents the 1960s because there were pictures like CASH MCCALL and BLUE HAWAII at the beginning, and films like EASY RIDER and WOODSTOCK at the end.
All the time, Bill. The studio system knew how to shape stars. Yes, at least two sixties, Elgin. Maybe three. Yes, and I remember reading it still, Deb.
Patti, as for 60s movies, _The Graduate_ was (and remains) my all-time favorite; perhaps it came out just at the right time in my life (i.e., my 22-year old and former college student psyche found oh so much to admire and understand in the film, even though I had no Mrs. Robinson in my life -- well, one cannot have everything!).
Summing the '60s in film...well, not possible, but some of the ones that reflect the '60s as I understand it and barely understood it at the time (and could gather as I cam of age in the '70s):
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT MEDIUM COOL CATCH US IF YOU CAN I'll go along with THE APARTMENT DR. STRANGELOVE, and PATHS OF GLORY was a VietNam film before most Americans were aware of VietNam and even such bubblegum as THE EXPLOSIVE GENERATION carried with it the full freight of the anxious insistence to the youth that The Future Was In Their Hands, only to demonstrate that it wasn't really. HIGH SCHOOL the verite documentary did that as well. ROSEMARY'S BABY PERSONA
I was born in 1963, so I was barely there in the 60s. The first movie I ever saw in a theatre was THE JUNGLE BOOK. I'd say it is still the best movie Disney has ever made.
Then there's THE T.A.M.I. SHOW. As far as concert movies go, this blows MONTEREY POP and WOODSTOCK right out of the water.
The first five James Bond movies, of course. Not very good, I'm afraid, but so very 60s.
And also -
Early 60s: The Intruder
Mid 60s: Faster Pussycat...Kill! Kill! Fantastic Voyage The Ipcress File Harper Morgan, a Suitable Case for Treatment Batman: The Movie
Late 60s: Point Blank Medium Cool The Blow-Up The Thomas Crown Affair Midnight Cowboy
You know, one of the more left-field feminist movies of the 1960s was CARNIVAL OF SOULS. I'm hard-pressed to think of a 1960s film that challenges patriarchal condescension and predation as thoroughly as the 1940s CAT PEOPLE does, though perhaps I'm simply being dense there.
Great choices, I would add THE GRADUATE and Bergman's sixties films, which made a huge impact on me at least. Also my perennial favorite GOODBYE COLUMBUS. The standout is THE APARTMENT for me. Maybe my all time favorite film.
And from the How Could I Forget This One department: THE L-SHAPED ROOM. That one really smacked me upside the head when I was 11 or 12. Haven't seen it again as an adult. But the likes of GEORGIE GIRL and ALFIE and, backhandedly, THE KNACK (AND HOW TO GET IT) certainly supplemented it for me.
I think I've posted before that 1959's THE BEST OF EVERYTHING has a really strong mid-century Mad Men vibe. Once we start moving into the hippie/Vietnam/anti-hero sixties, that's a whole other type of movie.
ReplyDeleteIt is pretty hard to pick a movie that represents the 1960s because there were pictures like CASH MCCALL and BLUE HAWAII at the beginning, and films like EASY RIDER and WOODSTOCK at the end.
ReplyDeleteYou know you're a geezer when you watch a trailer and think, "There aren't any movie stars like that anymore."
ReplyDeleteAll the time, Bill. The studio system knew how to shape stars.
ReplyDeleteYes, at least two sixties, Elgin. Maybe three.
Yes, and I remember reading it still, Deb.
I must admit I've never seen this one.
ReplyDeleteEarly 60s - The Apartment or Breakfast at Tiffany's.
Mid 60s - The Sound of Music or A Man For All Seasons.
Late 60s - 2001: A Space Odyssey or Easy Rider.
Jeff M.
I liked this one, both for the stars and the settings. Good pick, Patti!
ReplyDeleteI've long said there isn't a Sixties as a decade so much as there is Sixties Part 1 and Sixties Part II.
Patti, as for 60s movies, _The Graduate_ was (and remains) my all-time favorite; perhaps it came out just at the right time in my life (i.e., my 22-year old and former college student psyche found oh so much to admire and understand in the film, even though I had no Mrs. Robinson in my life -- well, one cannot have everything!).
ReplyDeleteSumming the '60s in film...well, not possible, but some of the ones that reflect the '60s as I understand it and barely understood it at the time (and could gather as I cam of age in the '70s):
ReplyDeleteIN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT
MEDIUM COOL
CATCH US IF YOU CAN
I'll go along with THE APARTMENT
DR. STRANGELOVE, and PATHS OF GLORY was a VietNam film before most Americans were aware of VietNam
and even such bubblegum as THE EXPLOSIVE GENERATION carried with it the full freight of the anxious insistence to the youth that The Future Was In Their Hands, only to demonstrate that it wasn't really. HIGH SCHOOL the verite documentary did that as well.
ROSEMARY'S BABY
PERSONA
I was born in 1963, so I was barely there in the 60s. The first movie I ever saw in a theatre was THE JUNGLE BOOK. I'd say it is still the best movie Disney has ever made.
ReplyDeleteThen there's THE T.A.M.I. SHOW. As far as concert movies go, this blows MONTEREY POP and WOODSTOCK right out of the water.
The first five James Bond movies, of course. Not very good, I'm afraid, but so very 60s.
And also -
Early 60s:
The Intruder
Mid 60s:
Faster Pussycat...Kill! Kill!
Fantastic Voyage
The Ipcress File
Harper
Morgan, a Suitable Case for Treatment
Batman: The Movie
Late 60s:
Point Blank
Medium Cool
The Blow-Up
The Thomas Crown Affair
Midnight Cowboy
You know, one of the more left-field feminist movies of the 1960s was CARNIVAL OF SOULS. I'm hard-pressed to think of a 1960s film that challenges patriarchal condescension and predation as thoroughly as the 1940s CAT PEOPLE does, though perhaps I'm simply being dense there.
ReplyDeleteGreat choices, I would add THE GRADUATE and Bergman's sixties films, which made a huge impact on me at least. Also my perennial favorite GOODBYE COLUMBUS.
ReplyDeleteThe standout is THE APARTMENT for me. Maybe my all time favorite film.
And from the How Could I Forget This One department: THE L-SHAPED ROOM. That one really smacked me upside the head when I was 11 or 12. Haven't seen it again as an adult. But the likes of GEORGIE GIRL and ALFIE and, backhandedly, THE KNACK (AND HOW TO GET IT) certainly supplemented it for me.
ReplyDeleteLove all of these. Also THE GIRL WITH THE GREEN EYES.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've caught that one yet, despite the synopsis sounding familiar. Perhaps I saw part of it once.
ReplyDeleteLord Love a Duck.
ReplyDelete