Every month, our contributors submit lists of ten films fitting certain topics. Each month, we feature an alphabetical list of films along with commentary explaining our selections. There will also be an itemized list at the end of each of our individual selections.

There are few decades that can rival the 1930s in terms of quality and the 1960s were one of them, with dozens of noteworthy films, each changing the landscape of cinema for decades to come, the 1960s were a treasure trove of films directed by the aging veterans of Hollywood’s Golden Age as well as a new crop of talented up-and-coming filmmakers. The two directors who managed to secure multiple films on the list were both of this latter variety. Stanley Kubrick’s (Dr. Strangelove and 2001: A Space Odyssey) career hit its peak in the 1960s (with a handful of films made in the 1960s) and would go on to create only five more films before his death, each tackling a different genre with aplomb. The second filmmaker, Mike Nichols, was truly a new find. Both of his first two films, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Graduate each made the list.

Among films to receive multiple citations, only two landed all four of our recommendations. Lawrence of Arabia, the epic to which all others are compared, and Psycho, the horror thriller to which all others are compared. These two iconic films are unsurprising in their inclusion here. The other films with multiple listings are six in number. They are Dr. Strangelove, The Lion in Winter, The Manchurian Candidate, Midnight Cowboy, The Sound of Music, and They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?. This array of thrillers, costume dramas, comedies, and musicals are also among the legendary films of this decade.

After the break, dig into our setups and follow that by reading about each film.

The Introductions

Wesley Lovell: As the decades progress, it is becoming increasingly difficult to select films for this list. Perhaps that’s because I’ve seen more in these latter decades than I had in previous; however, even in those years, it was easier to narrow even among two dozen potential candidates. This set was even more challenging simply because a case could be made for the likes of The Best Man, La Dolce Vita, Who’s Afraid of Viriginia Woolf?, and a myriad others to be included and on a different day I might have substituted them in.
Peter J. Patrick: The 1960s was the decade in which I agreed most with the Best Picture Oscar winners – eight out of ten – so it should be no surprise that six out of my top ten films of the decade were Oscar winners and three of the other four were Oscar nominees. Missing from my list are West Side Story, My Fair Lady, In the Heat of the Night, and Oliver! as well as all ten Best Foreign Language Film winners including The Virgin Spring, Sundays and Cybele, 8½, Closely Watched Trains, and Z, all of which I wish I had room for.
Tripp Burton: The 1960s were the great transition in cinema, where Hollywood mastered the classic movie artform and then brought in a new era of filmmaking. It was also the solidification of many of the great foreign directors, and as cinema became more accessible worldwide, we saw it all begin to converse with each other. This may be my favorite decade of filmmaking.
Thomas LaTourrette: The movies that most stood out for me from the sixties were the dramas, and most of those are historical rather than modern day. The comedies did not make the cut, though a couple of musicals did. When it came down to the end, the surprisingly gentle film on racism, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?, came close to making the list. It may be a slightly sappy film, but boasts a very strong cast who use subtleties to get their points across. I was surprised at how well it has held up. As always, there was not enough time to see as many films as I wanted. So Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 8½, The Miracle Worker, Closely Watched Trains, and A Taste of Honey will have to wait for another day. No foreign films made my list this time, though La Dolce Vita came close. Like last month’s The Seventh Seal, it boasted some striking imagery and scenes that held me fascinated, though in the end I finally found it a bit too confusing to include here. All of the films boast strong performances with actors nominated and often winning in every single one of them.

The Apartment (1960)

(dir. Billy Wilder) Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Wilder’s greatest film is filled with his trademark cynicism but also with a great deal of heart. Jack Lemmon is perfection as the schlemiel who lends his apartment key to his insurance company executives who in turn promote him within the company. Shirley MacLaine is also at the top of her game as the elevator operator torn between smooth operator Fred MacMurray and nice guy Lemmon. The dialogue right up to the last line is sheer perfection.

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

(dir. Arthur Penn) Commentary By Tripp Burton – The film that changed Hollywood forever, ushering in a new, more violent American myth, is one of the rare films that is as wonderful as it is important. Bonnie and Clyde feels new and fresh even today, filled with wonderful performances and a script that crackles.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

(dir. Stanley Kubrick) Commentary By Wesley Lovell – Stanley Kubrick’s rich and darkly comic look at a political environment that could lead to mutually assured destruction in the nuclear age holds renewed meaning in a modern mindset as the wheels of power fall under the control of megalomaniacs and the mentally unhinged. It is a cautionary tale about putting our faith in charismatic leaders whose understanding of the ramifications of their actions is under new assault. This was the only comedy Kubrick ever made and it set the tone for much of what came after it. It was a well made, adroit film that amuses still.

Commentary By Tripp Burton – Stanley Kubrick’s dark satire seems more real and possible today than when it was made. Kubrick knew he had comedic gold with Peter Sellers, who is at his best, but was smart enough to surround him with wonderful dramatic actors like George C. Scott and Sterling Hayden treating this with pure honesty and stakes. It is as scary as it is funny, and makes you wish that Kubrick had made more out and out comedies.

Federico Fellini’s 8½ (1963)

(dir. Federico Fellini) Commentary By Tripp Burton – Fellini is not my favorite director, but there is something so truthful in the absurdity of his paean to filmmaking that grabs me every time. There are points where this film seems to transcend cinema, and it certainly feels like something that no one else has ever equalled in film history. It is personal yet universal, and a film you have to see to understand.

The Graduate (1967)

(dir. Mike Nichols) Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Dustin Hoffman in his star-making role as the young college grad with no idea of what to do next, Anne Bancroft as the bored middle-aged wife of his father’s business partner who seduces him, and Katharine Ross as the innocent daughter of his seductress form one of filmdom’s most memorable triangles as Simon and Garfunkel play on the soundtrack. It remains a comedic gem from start to finish.

Hud (1963)

(dir. Martin Ritt) Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – Of all the disaffected young man films that Paul Newman did during the sixties, and there were a number, I thought this one held together the best. A young rancher enjoys his time carousing, fighting with his father, flirting with the housekeeper, and trying to teach his young nephew the wrong ways to get through life. Filmed in stark black-and-white, the film boasts powerful performances from Newman, Patricia Neal, Melvyn Douglas, and Brandon de Wilde. The first three were nominated for Oscars, with Neal and Douglas winning. It is not a cheery film, but a memorable one.

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

(dir. Norman Jewison) Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – This was a somewhat of a surprise Best Picture winner, but the tense murder mystery filled with lots of racism was also quite deserving. Sidney Poitier portrays a Philadelphia homicide detective who just happens to stumble into a murder investigation in Sparta, Mississippi. The police chief, played by Rod Steiger, reluctantly asks him to join the investigation, but comes to rely on his expertise. The exchanges between the two characters are electric with both actors at the top of their form. Steiger won a well-deserved Oscar, and Poitier was surprisingly not nominated, though he may have split votes for a nomination with his other two films of the year, To Sir, with Love and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

(dir. David Lean) Commentary By Wesley Lovell – David Lean’s epic adaptation of T.E. Lawrence’s acclaimed novel uses Peter O’Toole to great effect as it explores the English officer who united diverse Arab tribes in an assault against the Turks in the midst of World War I. It’s a gorgeous piece of filmmaking with stunning visuals, a heart of fury, and a sharp mind in what would come to define a genre for decades to come.

Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – If there is one film that should be seen on a large screen in a dark theatre, this one is it. The majestic sweep of its imagery is matched by Robert Bolt’s literate screenplay and the star-making performances of Peter O’Toole and Omar Sharif. Sharif’s mirage laden entry is alone worth the price of admission. There are also memorable supporting performances from the likes of Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, José Ferrer, Claude Rains, and Arthur Kennedy.

Commentary By Tripp Burton – Films don’t get much bigger than Lawrence of Arabia, but films this big usually aren’t smart enough to still focus on one small story. By hunkering down on only the story of T.E. Lawrence, and by always focusing on the man instead of the world around him, the film manages to cover broad ideas and sweeping vistas while always feeling like you are watching a personal character study. It does everything right, from the direction and script to the legendary visuals and music score, and is the classic of epic filmmaking.

Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – This was a period of epics, and David Lean certainly knew how to film them. His use of desert vistas was amazing. He also elicited superb performances from the cast, most notably Peter O’Toole and Omar Sharif. Neither had been the first choices for their roles, but each made the part his own. Both were Oscar nominated and perhaps should have won, though O’Toole was up against Gregory Peck for To Kill a Mockingbird and it finally was his year to win, though O’Toole was better. The battle scenes are terrific and the sense of scale of the desert is amazing. This is definitely one to see on a big screen.

The Lion in Winter (1968)

(dir. Anthony Harvey) Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Inspired writing, casting, and direction came together to produce this anachronistic yet incomparable look at late 12th Century England. Peter O’Toole as Henry II, Katharine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine, Antony Hopkins, John Castle and Nigel Terry as their three sons vying to be Henry’s successor, and Timothy Dalton as the King of France are all quite marvelous. John Barry’s majestic score is one of his best.

Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – This has long been one of my favorite movies, and watching it again for this list did nothing to diminish its place in my heart or its worthiness for inclusion in this list. Perhaps the best bickering family drama out there. It helps that they are all royalty and played to the hilt by Katharine Hepburn (almost never better), Peter O’Toole (in a role that should have won him the Oscar), and the incredibly young Anthony Hopkins and Timothy Dalton among others. Surprisingly not a success on Broadway, it was brought to roaring life by the cast, perfect direction, an Oscar-winning script, and fine location shooting. Talk of family betrayals, who should inherit, and who should be locked away in prison are just a few of the topics broached in this film, with most characters given a chance to shine.

A Man for All Seasons (1966)

(dir. Fred Zinnemann) Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – This is a magnificently filmed version of a stage play that could have been static in the wrong hands. Paul Scofield brilliantly portrays 16th Century lawyer/philosopher/saint Thomas More in his battle of wits with Robert Shaw’s towering Henry VIII, a battle that would end with his beheading. The cinematography, production and costume design, and editing are all first-rate as are the supporting performances of Wendy Hiller, Susannah York, and more.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

(dir. John Ford) Commentary By Tripp Burton – John Ford was the master of the Western, but with The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance he shredded everything that he had helped to create. Here, there is no truth behind the myths of the cowboy and we don’t really know what we thought we knew. Ford does all of this while also giving us one of his most entertaining Westerns, with an all-star cast led by John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, and Lee Marvin.

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

(dir. John Frankenheimer) Commentary By Wesley Lovell – John Frakenheimer’s political drama is about a brainwashed soldier returning home a hero who may become a political pawn in a Communist scheme to assassinate at a foreign nation’s command. While star Lawrence Harvey and co-stars Frank Sinatra and Janet Leigh all yield solid performances, the entire film hinges on the villainous turn of Angela Lansbury as Sen. John Iselin’s wife whose machinations are more devious than any you might expect. It is a taut political thriller that may have traded on the threat of Communism to gain its payoff, but feels resonant still today.

Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – This 1962 thriller has all sorts of twists and turns involving brainwashing, Communists, sleeper cells, and assassinations. It could have been a turgid mess, but director John Frankenheimer keeps things moving along at a brisk pace as the audience waits for the next plot twist. The film also offers Angela Lansbury her best role on the big screen. As the calculating mother of a medal of valor winner, she is cool, conniving, and frightening. It’s a difficult role, but she pulls it off amazingly well. It would truly be a lesser film without someone of her caliber in the role. Roger Ebert described the film as “inventive and frisky” which is true as one rarely knows what to expect of it next.

Mary Poppins (1964)

(dir. Robert Stevenson) Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – “It’s a jolly holiday with Mary” are very true lyrics. It may be a children’s film, but it still has a hold on me. The practically perfect nanny is played to sweet perfection by Julie Andrews in her film debut, and she deservedly won an Oscar for it. Dick Van Dyke may not have mastered a true cockney accent, but he is great fun as the chimney sweep Burt. The movie boasts a fun score, great dancing, and surprising visual effects. The animated parts are memorable too. Watching them jump into a chalk drawing or Dick van Dyke dancing with penguins brought a smile to my face when I was a child and it still does. It is fun to see on television, but it is more of a treat to see on a big screen.

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

(dir. John Schlesinger) Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – It took an Englishman to perfectly capture the look of late 1960s New York in this adaptation of James Leo Herlihy’s novel about a Texas kid who comes to the Big Apple to make it as a stud for hire and fails miserably at his goal. Jon Voight in the title role and Dustin Hoffman as his only friend, a grimy, tubercular con man, are sheer perfection in roles that both defined and sustained their careers for years. John Barry’s score is another great one.

Commentary By Tripp Burton – A film that feels more like the 1970s revolution to come than anything else in the 1960s, Midnight Cowboy now is most known as the only X-Rated film to win Best Picture at the Oscars. It is surprising how humane and delicate the film is, though, under the veneer of filth and grime that director John Schlesinger puts on screen, and how interested in the humanity of Joe Buck and Ratso Rizzo the film is. It’s one of the great bromances in film history.

Oliver! (1968)

(dir. Carol Reed) Commentary By Wesley Lovell – Carol Reed’s adaptation of the stage musical take on Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist into an epic big screen musical was a wondrous event filled with wonderful songs, luscious backdrops, and a heart of passion, speaking out against poverty in a forceful and potent way. Led by a stirring Ron Moody as Fagin, leader of a band of pickpockets, the film is a rich, bountiful production that has been unfairly maligned over the years and is one of the best musical adaptations of the period.

Playtime (1967)

(dir. Jacques Tati) Commentary By Tripp Burton – Playtime isn’t necessarily Jacques Tati’s funniest film, but there is a joyful humor that permeates the film that leaves you with a smile at every turn of the film. It is probably the most visually accomplished comedy of all-time, putting detail into every inch of every frame and giving every gag time to develop. You could watch this film a hundred times and see a hundred different films, and it is a masterpiece of filmmaking from a filmmaker we don’t always give enough credit to.

Psycho (1960)

(dir. Alfred Hitchcock) Commentary By Wesley Lovell – Alfred Hitchcock’s horror film redefined an era, introducing cinemagoers to slasher films in a way that no other film has, establishing much of what is expected from such films. Built on the unnerving performance of Anthony Perkins as the lecherous innkeeper Norman Bates whose maternal issues form a foundation for his misdeeds, the film is best known for the skillfully edited shower sequences in which Janet Leigh as Marion Crane is brutally murdered by Bates’ mother because of his lustful attraction to her. Yet, there’s more at the heart of this classic horror film than meets the eye.

Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Hitchcock’s first horror film was also his last great movie. Filmed with his television crew on the road and on the Universal backlot, the film’s sense of dread is something that all makers of horror films strive for, but seldom manage to get so perfectly right. As with most of the director’s great films, the box office phenomenon was shamefully overlooked on most critics’ ten best lists as well as on Oscar’s list of best films.

Commentary By Tripp Burton – The influence of Psycho is so wide-reaching — it invented the slasher genre, every modern horror film and thriller seems to stem from it, and the shower scene has been parodied and referenced more than any other scene in film history — that it is easy to forget just how scary the film itself is. Alfred Hitchcock cut back on most everything in this film, giving us only the bare bones of a story that feels cheap and fast, but that only makes it more terrifying. All of this comes together with Anthony Perkins’ iconic Norman Bates. Perkins is giving a performance that seems to be doing very little, but has so much going on behind the eyes that it never really leaves you.

Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – This might not be the most typical Alfred Hitchcock film, but it is certainly his most famous. Working from a not-well-received pulp novel, Hitchcock created a tense and frightening film. Janet Leigh plays a woman who makes the fatal error of stopping at the wrong place for the night. At first the hotel owner, Anthony Perkins, seems sweet and kind of shy, before becoming truly creepy. Showers, mothers, and taxidermy will never seem quite the same after this film. The film received mixed reviews when first released, but was a huge box office success. It did earn Hitchcock an Oscar nomination for his direction, but once again he did not win. It is the most studied of all his films.

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

(dir. Roman Polanski) Commentary By Wesley Lovell – Roman Polanski’s approach to horror was not new to the filmmaker, his earlier Repulsion having gained a reputation as a high water mark of the genre, topped even that with his redefinition of the paranormal genre. Enabling a new era of preternatural horror that would peak just five years later with The Exorcist, Polanski is as much responsible for the rebranding of horror to a modern audience as Hitchcock was eight years earlier. This film stands on its own as a creepy, terrifying trip through an apartment complex with a sinister plot bubbling underneath.

The Sound of Music (1965)

(dir. Robert Wise) Commentary By Wesley Lovell – Robert Wise’s adaptation of the hit stage musical has towered over its source material since its premiere. The most successful film musical of all-time is the one to which all successors are measured. Cementing the stardom of lead Julie Andrews, who had less than a year earlier debuted to Oscar-winning acclaim in Mary Poppins, as she plays a novitiate who becomes governess to a septet of children and falls in love with them and their widowed father, played brilliantly by Christopher Plummer, before fleeing through the Alps to safety. Filled to the brim with iconic songs, each given resonance by Andrews, the film was also well acted, directed, and designed.

Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – This still compulsively watched film was for a time the biggest box-office hit of all time thanks to the millions of repeat viewers around the world in its first three years of release. Rodgers & Hammerstein may have written better musicals (Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I) but no one ever made a better film out of any of them than Robert Wise, Julie Andrews, and company here.

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969)

(dir. Sydney Pollack) Commentary By Wesley Lovell – Sydney Pollack’s exploration of the world of competitive dance marathons is a potent film about a disparate group of dancers all trying to win a contest that takes its toll on each both physically and emotionally. A most unusual film, it is nevertheless fascinating, tense, and gut-wrenching. At the core of this are the terrific performances of Jane Fonda and Michael Sarrazin ably supported by Susannah York, Gig Young, Red Buttons, Bonnie Bedelia, Michael Conrad, Bruce Dern, Al Lewis, and myriad others. It’s a film that deserves to be seen at least once, just to get a glimpse into a world that most of us would find so foreign, but to those competitors feels so important.

Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – Set during a depression era dance marathon, this is a startling film as the characters are desperate to win a contest that spans weeks. The characters are mostly sympathetic, and it is hard to watch them as time passes and the grueling and continual dancing tires them out. The film is superbly cast with strong turns from Jane Fonda, Michael Sarrazin, Gig Young, Red Buttons, Susannah York, and Bonnie Bedelia among others. The general transformation of the characters over weeks is brilliantly handled. The film was nominated for nine Oscars, but surprisingly not for Best Picture, a record it still holds for most nominations without the big one. It might be the least known of the films on my list, but is not one that should be overlooked.

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

(dir. Robert Mulligan) Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – This beloved film version of Harper Lee’s novel provided Gregory Peck with the role of his career as the gentle small-town Depression-era Southern lawyer who provides life lessons for both his young children and his town at large. Seen through the eyes of the kids (Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, John Megna), the film still provides valuable life lessons for all. Robert Duvall impresses as the mysterious Boo Radley.

Tom Jones (1963)

(dir. Tony Richardson) Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Most people today know this film only from Richardson’s boneheaded 1989 director’s cut which severely damaged the film’s ending by excessive trimming. Thankfully the original has now been restored on home video so modern audiences can get a gander at what took audiences by storm when the film was first released. Albert Finney, Susannah York, Hugh Griffith, and Edith Evans head a superb cast ably supported by John Addison’s sparkling score.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

(dir. Stanley Kubrick) Commentary By Wesley Lovell – Stanley Kubrick’s seminal science fiction spectacle took the genre into a new direction, becoming the blueprint for all that would come after. Set primarily aboard a space station orbiting the Earth, it was a treatise both on the necessity and the risks of scientific advancement. Never one to ignore wonder and awe, 2001 is one of the most painterly of Kubrick’s film, establishing elements of the genre from which many would borrow while telling a deep and captivating story

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

(dir. Jacques Demy) Commentary By Tripp Burton – Jacques Demy made joyous films, but nothing is more joyful than the first two-thirds of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, a perfect romance brought to life with color and music like no other film. Then the film drops a bittersweet ending on you, and it becomes as devastating as it was life-affirming earlier.

West Side Story (1961)

(dir. Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise) Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – The music by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim was well known to audiences by the time the film was released as the Broadway album had been a major hit. Audiences were probably not prepared for the stylistic dance movement by director and choreographer Jerome Robbins, which is now such an integral part of the show. Loosely based on Romeo and Juliet, the story concerns rival gangs who fight turf wars with each other and then have to deal with a love affair between the rivals. The gang members seem awfully clean cut by today’s standards, but the settings have a suitably grubby feel. A section of New York City was going to be torn down to build Lincoln Center, so the filmmakers had full use of several square blocks to film in, which added a lot of character to the movie. The songs are memorable, even if the actors were dubbed, and it remains an exciting film to watch.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

(dir. Mike Nichols) Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – This was Edward Albee’s first major Broadway success and it was transformed into a powerful movie. Mike Nichols made an assured debut as a film director with this almost claustrophobically-shot picture. The four characters are often shot in striking close up and there is no way to escape them. The bickering and aggressive leads are played to the hilt by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and they were never better in a film together. George Segal and a superb Sandy Dennis play the younger couple who have no idea what they are getting into when they are invited over for drinks. The barbs fly and soon the claws are out as the film builds towards its wrenching conclusion. It is not always easy to watch, but it is riveting.

The Wild Bunch (1969)

(dir. Sam Peckinpah) Commentary By Tripp Burton – Sam Peckinpah was a master of masculinity on film, and with The Wild Bunch he created as manly a film as had ever been seen at that point. That meant that it was also the most violent film ever made. But Peckinpah was smart enough to know that the violence had to be held up by a great film, and even without the blood and carnage, this would be one of the best westerns ever. The Wild Bunch reinvented cinema and is one of the most influential films ever.

Z (1969)

(dir. Costa-Gavras) Commentary By Wesley Lovell – Costa-Gavras’ potent political thriller is a thinly disguised account of the events surrounding the assassination of Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis and the cover-up that followed. Jean-Louis Trintignant plays a magistrate tasked with investigating the details of the events and attempting to bring to justice those who were responsible, all while being stonewalled at every opportunity. A rebuke of the military dictatorship of the 1960s, Z is the kind of riveting drama that deserves more attention than it currently has, having faded in American consciousness despite its Best Picture Oscar nomination.