Top 100 Films of 1960s

This is where it actually began for me. This project, that is. I began the idea to find the greatest films of all time and had initially decided to start with the 60s. I’m not really sure WHY I thought it would be the best place to start, but it was probably because this is really where modern movie-making started to take over.

The decade of duality. It was during the 1960s that the studio systems realized their power was beginning to shrink. They were having a hard time getting people to go see movies in the theater when TV was growing in quality and popularity. They clutched their position of power tightly, seeing the decline of the Hays Code and an encroaching new filmmaking style. This was representative of where the United States was as a whole: The Hippies, Civil Rights, and the Sexual Revolution all coursed through the decade while traditionalists and The Nuclear Suburban Family tried their hardest to hold on to their place in society. Sex, Drugs, and Rock N Roll protests were quickly taking the place of a wholesome Shining City on a Hill.

However, while America’s culture war, cinematic and otherwise, was raging the rest of the world was confronting these issues head-on; and this is reflected in the “world cinema” of the time. Foreign (non-American) films of the 60s explored topics such as colonialism in titles such as The Battle of Algiers and Black Girl, political revolution in the fIlms I Compagni (The Organizer) and Z, and women’s issues in Cleo From 5 to 7, Daisies, and The Big City. In some ways, it is no surprise that Europe especially was so eager to produce films with tougher subject matters; fascism had recently ravaged their continent meaning for many Europeans, WWII ended with them in shambles rather than as superpowers. The artists of the continent were working out these deep issues on film. Japanese cinema was also a powerhouse this decade, with major works such as Harakiri, The Sword of Doom, and High and Low—these are still some of the most beloved films of all time.

Still, by 1969, it was clear that major studios had lost their monopoly on mainstream filmmaking. With the Civil Rights Movement, a society dominated by hyper-consumerism, and the ever-meandering Vietnam War it was America’s turn to look inward. From this, classic titles such as Midnight Cowboy, Easy Rider, The Graduate, Cool Hand Luke, and Night of the Living Dead were born and a new era was ushered in. The 1970s is the decade most associated with “new Hollywood” and all of the grit and realism of cinema but it is important to remember that the movement started in the 1960s and was influenced by world cinema that had decided these were topics worth tackling almost a decade before American filmmakers ever tried.

This list was one that I have been pretty excited about. Even though the 60s isn’t my favorite decade for film it is certainly in the top three. The collapse of authority and the general culture war is an interesting topic to me and both the music and movies of the era are time capsules into a decade filled with deep, painful introspection. I think there is a lot that those of us in our 20s and 30s can learn from this period of time: the activism, the culture, and the questioning of authority in the 60s and 70s all seems to mirror our lives today (albeit in a very analog way) and many of the films on this list can provide us with lessons and inspiration in creating a better movement and a better future. It was hard, as always, to rank these films. Some films, such as 2001: ASO or Daisies are only on this list because other people love them/they carry historical significance. Others, such as Midnight Cowboy, I love so much they are ranked much higher than they probably merit. I wouldn’t look too hard into the rankings outside of the top and bottom 10, as they could change at any given moment, but really all of these films are worth anyone’s time.

As I do with every list, I recommend clicking here and viewing this on the Letterboxd list so you can look at it with all of the incredible (mostly hand-drawn) poster art.

100. 2001: A Space Odyssey

99. Daisies

98. Doctor Zhivago

97. The Color of Pomegranates

96. Lawrence of Arabia

95. The Parent Trap

94. Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

93. Spartacus

92. Alfie

91. The Magnificent Seven

90. The Thomas Crown Affair

89. Funny Girl

88. My Fair Lady

87. The Beatles - A Hard Day’s Night

86. The Great Escape

85. The Hustler

84. Jules and Jim

83. True Grit

82. Playtime

81. El Verdugo

80. Charade

79. Salesman

78. if….

77. Wait Until Dark

76. The Masque of Red Death

75. Memories of Underdevelopment

74. Black Sunday

73. Le Bonheur

72. Army of Shadows

71. Peeping Tom

70. The Bad Sleep Well

69. An Autumn Afternoon

68. In The Heat of the Night

67. Triumph Over Violence

66. Soleil Ō

65. West Side Story

64. Funeral Parade of Roses

63. Lucia

62. Letter Never Sent

61. Carnival of Souls

60. Titicut Follies

59. The Sorrow and The Pity

58. A Fistful of Dollars

57. Seven Days in May

56. Breakfast at Tiffany’s

55. Lillies of the Field

54. The Cincinnati Kid

53. Contempt

52. The Pink Panther

51. Goldfinger

50. Seconds

49. The Last Man on Earth

48. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

47. Alphaville

46. Bonnie and Clyde

45. Belle De Jour

44. Planet of the Apes

43. Batman

42. The Birds

41. How To Steal A Million

40. Vivre Sa Vie

39. It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

38. Blow-Up

37. The Manchurian Candidate

36. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence

35. Portrait of Jason

34. La Dolce Vita

33. Mary Poppins

32. Cleo From 5 To 7

31. Cool Hand Luke

30. Putney Swope

29. 8 1/2

28. Rosemary’s Baby

27. High and Low

26. Woman in the Dunes

25. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

24. Inherit the Wind

23. Black Girl

22. Soy Cuba

21. Psycho

20. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

19. The Big City

18. The Italian Job

17. Two Women

16. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

15. The Organizer

14. Night of the Living Dead

13. Persona

12. The Apartment

11. The Producers

10. The Sound of Music

9. The Graduate

8. Easy Rider

7. Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

6. Andrei Rublev

5. The Sword of Doom

4. Midnight Cowboy

3. Harakiri

2. Z

1. The Battle of Algiers

I hope you enjoyed this list and I hope you come back for the lists of the front half of the century. I have a decent knowledge of 50s films but before that my watch history is embarrassingly scarce. I look forward to rounding out 2020 with a deeper look into film history and finishing up the year exploring the birth/teenage years of cinema, and finding a list of 100 of the Greatest Films of All Time.