MY TOP 30 MOVIES FOR 1961 (in list order)
Cheeky Bunuel, Akira and Mifune's Oriental western, masterful courtroom drama, and the gangs are singing in the streets. In List order...
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31 titles
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsSilvia PinalFrancisco RabalFernando ReyViridiana, a young nun about to take her final vows, pays a visit to her widowed uncle at the request of her Mother Superior.The wicked Bunuel at his subtle best...
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneEijirô TônoTatsuya NakadaiA crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town.The master and servant come up with another Samurai classic...
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsSpencer TracyBurt LancasterRichard WidmarkIn 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazis judged for war crimes.A piece of history done right by Hollywood...
- DirectorErmanno OlmiStarsSandro PanseriLoredana DettoCorrado AprileBursting with big dreams and plans, an Italian teen goes to Milan to work in a big impersonal corporate office, where he becomes disillusioned and drained of all his individualism.Olmi's magical observational style works a treat here...
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsJeanne MoreauMarcello MastroianniMonica VittiA day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship.A relationship under the amazing Antonioni microscope...
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsAnna KarinaJean-Claude BrialyJean-Paul BelmondoAn exotic dancer is desperate to become a mother and accepts her reluctant boyfriend's suggestion that she be impregnated by his best friend.Godard, Karina and Belmondo, what more can I say...
- DirectorJerome RobbinsRobert WiseStarsNatalie WoodGeorge ChakirisRichard BeymerTwo youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.Perfect dance number for the rebel in all of us...
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsDavid NivenGregory PeckAnthony QuinnA team of Allied saboteurs is assigned an impossible mission: infiltrate an impregnable Nazi-held Greek island and destroy the two enormous long-range field guns that prevent the rescue of 2,000 trapped British soldiers.One of my childhood favourites that was enjoyed with my father and brother...
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsClark GableMarilyn MonroeMontgomery CliftA divorcée falls for an over-the-hill cowboy who is struggling to maintain his romantically independent lifestyle.Huston does well and Monroe does really act...
- DirectorBryan ForbesStarsAlan BatesBernard LeeHayley MillsWhen an injured wife murderer takes refuge on a remote Lancashire farm, the owner's three children mistakenly believe him to be the Second Coming of Christ.Innocent minds at play with religion...
- DirectorMartin RittStarsPaul NewmanJoanne WoodwardSidney PoitierDuring the 1960s, two American expatriate jazz musicians living in Paris meet and fall in love with two American tourist girls.Not only does it make you want to go to Paris, but it makes you want to go back to the Jazzy Paris of the 1960's...
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsHarriet AnderssonGunnar BjörnstrandMax von SydowRecently released from a mental hospital, Karin rejoins her emotionally disconnected family in their island home, only to slip from reality as she begins to believe she is being visited by God.Bergman takes a series look at mental health...
- DirectorPietro GermiStarsMarcello MastroianniDaniela RoccaStefania SandrelliA married Sicilian baron falls in love with his cousin and vows to wed her, but with divorce illegal he must concoct a crime of passion to do away with his wife.An enjoyable Italian romp...
- DirectorRobert RossenStarsPaul NewmanJackie GleasonPiper LaurieAn up-and-coming pool player plays a long-time champion in a single high-stakes match.Gleason puts on a surprising performance, matching the brilliance of Newman...
- DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsAudrey HepburnGeorge PeppardPatricia NealA young New York socialite becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her apartment building, but her past threatens to get in the way.Hepburn, Hepburn, Hepburn...
- DirectorElio PetriStarsMarcello MastroianniMicheline PresleCristina GaioniAlfredo Martelli is picked up by the police at his apartment without justification. In the precinct, he slowly discovers what the investigation is about as we discover details about his life.Marcello is perfect...
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsDavid NivenAlberto SordiAmedeo NazzariIn 1941 during the desert war in Abyssinia the Italian captain Blasi and the British major Richardson alternate between being bitter enemies or best friends depending on the circumstances.Surprisingly funny...
- DirectorJacques DemyStarsAnouk AiméeMarc MichelJacques HardenA bored young man meets with his former girlfriend, now a cabaret dancer and single mother, and soon finds himself falling back in love with her.Demy cleverly interweaves restless lives in a French seaport town...
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsRock HudsonKirk DouglasDorothy MaloneAt a Mexican ranch, fugitive O'Malley and pursuing Sheriff Stribling agree to help rancher Breckenridge drive his herd into Texas where Stribling could legally arrest O'Malley, but Breckenridge's wife complicates things.The actors hold it together, but it sometimes gets a little too soapy...
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsMaureen O'HaraBrian KeithSteve CochranAn ex-army officer accidentally kills a woman's son and tries to make up for it by escorting the funeral procession through dangerous Indian territory.Peckinpah sharpening his directing skills...
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsFranco CittiFranca PasutSilvana CorsiniA pimp with no other means to provide for himself finds his life spiraling out of control when his prostitute is sent to prison.Pasolini takes to the seedy streets...
- DirectorJack ClaytonStarsDeborah KerrPeter WyngardeMegs JenkinsA young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted.Eerie when I was young...
- DirectorMarlon BrandoStarsMarlon BrandoKarl MaldenPina PellicerAfter robbing a bank in Mexico, Dad Longworth absconds with the loot leaving his partner Rio to be captured by the Rurales. Rio escapes prison but struggles with his conflicting desires to love Dad's stepdaughter Louise and to get revenge.Brando at the helm for an interesting western...
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsRock HudsonGina LollobrigidaSandra DeeYounger generation vs. "older" folks on vacation at an Italian villa.A silly farce romping through the picturesque of Italy's Ligurian coast...
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsCharlton HestonSophia LorenRaf ValloneThe fabled Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (a.k.a. El Cid) overcomes a family vendetta and court intrigue to defend Christian Spain against the Moors.Spectacle visually, and I'm talking about Loren...
- DirectorClyde GeronimiHamilton LuskeWolfgang ReithermanStarsRod TaylorBetty Lou GersonJ. Pat O'MalleyWhen a litter of Dalmatian puppies are abducted by the minions of Cruella De Vil, the owners must find them before she uses them for a diabolical fashion statement.Cute Disney...
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsAnthony QuinnSilvana ManganoArthur KennedyGovernor Pontius Pilate gave the populace a choice to spare either Barabbas, a criminal, or Jesus, condemned as a heretic, from crucifixion. The masses chose Barrabas, and he is haunted by the image of Jesus for the rest of his life.It always fascinated as a child brought up in a strict Christian setting...
- DirectorVittorio De SicaStarsNicola Rossi-LemeniElli DavisFernandelIn Naples, a voice from the skies announces one morning that the final judgment will be at 6 p.m. on that day. What follows is a series of vignettes depicting various people's reactions (or lack there of) to the announcement.De Sica just saved by Sordi and Gassman...
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsDelphine SeyrigGiorgio AlbertazziSacha PitoëffIn a strange and isolated chateau, a man becomes acquainted with a woman and insists that they have met before.Amazing to look at...
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsVincent PriceBarbara SteeleJohn KerrIn the sixteenth century, Francis Barnard travels to Spain to clarify the strange circumstances of his sister's death after she had married the son of a cruel Spanish Inquisitor.Corman pulls it off with the help of Price and Steele...
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsCliff RobertsonDolores DornBeatrice KayA teenager who witnesses the murder of his father vows to exact revenge on the four mobsters involved in the killing.A bit clunky now, but showed Fuller's potential...