To quickly recap, I've been working toward the goal of watching at least fifty titles from each calendar year as far back in time as I can go. 1965 has been my biggest challenge to date. Not only did 1965 have the most films that I needed to watch - twenty-eight - out of the entire 1960s (and most of the '50s), but I was also missing three out of the five Best Picture nominees for that year, and a whopping six out of the top ten box office earners. I came across notable title after title that I knew absolutely nothing about, and that was actually kind of fun as a movie nerd who is usually on top of everything.
My general film knowledge isn't very comprehensive before 1967, the much ballyhooed era when New Hollywood came in and the old studio system started coming apart. I've seen plenty of the older classics, but not with nearly the same amount of context. I've seen the films that were groundbreakers, but fewer of the films that were considered part of the establishment, the typical studio product. So I think this time around, the most valuable watches were titles like the Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton romance, "The Sandpiper," or the cameo stuffed bible epic, "The Greatest Story Ever Told," because they gave me a better sense of what the film landscape of the time looked like, what the major genres and themes of the day were. Also, because I will never, ever get over John Wayne as a drawling Roman Centurion. Good grief.
I have an armchair theory that the 1960s are the perfect convergence point for multiple generations of Hollywood artists. You still had a few of the silent stars around, like Elsa Lanchester ("That Darn Cat!") and Buster Keaton ("Beach Blanket Bingo"), and Jimmy Stewart was still a leading man, though noticeably graying in pictures like "Shenandoah" and "The Flight of the Phoenix." There were also a handful of faces that you still see today, like Jane Fonda ("Cat Ballou") and Terrence Stamp ("The Collecter"). I remarked in my last post about wading into '60s films that the only major star still hanging on in the same capacity, with the same kind of clout, was Clint Eastwood ("For a Few Dollars More.") I think I'd add Michael Caine ("The Ipcress File") to that list. And I had very mixed feelings seeing the "And introducing Woody Allen" credit at the beginning of "What's New Pussycat?"
Changed social mores mean that a film like "Pussycat" won't be made again in a hurry. However, I was happy to see films like "Darling" and "The Knack" tackling the gender divide in a way that still feels relevant today. Ditto "Patch of Blue," starring Sydney Poitier and Elizabeth Hartman as a complicated interracial couple where the heroine is blind. LGBT issues, alas, were barely even on the radar. Robert Redford had an early role as a gay man in "Inside Daisy Clover," and went around insisting in interviews that the character was really bisexual. And it was considered a positive portrayal simply because he wasn't killed off in the end or otherwise punished for being gay.
As with all eras in film, 1965 had its own weird little microtrends. There were the comedic race films, "The Great Race" and "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines." There was a trio of rare independent animated films, "The Man from Button Willow," "Pinocchio in Outer Space," and "Willy McBean and His Magic Machine." There were three Elvis musicals, three comedic westerns, and a whopping five AIP beach party movies - and there's a great bit in "That Darn Cat!" throwing shade at them. Sean Connery ("Thunderball" and "The Hill") was voted the most bankable star of the year by exhibitors, with Julie Andrews ("The Sound of Music") in second place.
Directors I've been happy to be getting to know better include Richard Lester ("The Knack"), Norman Jewison ("The Cincinnati Kid") and Otto Preminger ("Bunny Lake is Missing"). All of these directors made multiple films in a single year, a feat that really only Steven Soderbergh manages nowadays.
The Top Ten project will continue, but I'll be taking a break for a while for the upcoming awards season. Happy watching!
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