Photo Credit ( Pixels )

For film, the 1960s were a crucial decade. A new generation of Hollywood directors arose as the Hays Code broke down in the early 1960s, and some studios felt their stronghold on the business was weakening. This group of directors, known as the American New Wave or New Hollywood, was greatly impacted by foreign films that started playing in theaters. It appeared like a fresh generation of directors was trying things out all across the world that would transform cinema for all time.

This decade produced a lot of movies that are regarded as “the greatest ever made,” yet a number of excellent movies have been overlooked in the discussion. The underappreciated 1960s movies listed below are worthwhile seeing for a range of reasons: These are the 1960s movies that are most underappreciated.

10

1968’s “The Girl on a Motorcycle”

Jack Cardiff is the director.

A few of the films scheduled to premiere at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival were never given a formal distribution. One of the movies that year that was also much anticipated was The Girl on a Motorcycle, which starred Marianne Faithfull in a biker movie. A newlywed woman’s life is quickly unsatisfactory to her. She gets on her motorcycle at random, drives through France and Germany, and has sexual and hallucinogenic experiences while reassessing her priorities and life.

The Girl on a Motorcycle has a relatively straightforward plot and is very similar to other motorcycle movies from the era, but what really makes it worth seeing is the stunning Marianne Faithfull. In an unexpected role that sees her transform the British singer into a biker woman yearning for independence, she is stunning as the leading lady.

9.

1968’s “Pretty Poison”

Lead director: Noel Black

Towards the end of the decade, Anthony Perkins plays a young man who isn’t as insane as his co-star, which is a welcome change from his creepiest villain role in movie history, Norman Bates, which he played in the beginning of the decade. He portrays a deranged arsonist who seduces a gullible young lady into accompanying him on “secret missions,” but the two wind up in serious trouble after she kills a security guard during one of those fictitious CIA trips. Because of this, Perkins’ character in Pretty Poison is always taken aback by how much his lovely lover Sue Ann (Tuesday Weld) pushes them both into a life of crime and by how criminal she is.

This was the director’s debut comedy, and it’s pretty dark. Tuesday Weld and director Noel Black got into such a heated argument on site that Weld later spoke negatively about the movie, yet reviewers praised the movie. A phrase like, “I met you on Monday, fell in love with you on Tuesday, Wednesday I was unfaithful, and Thursday we killed a guy together,” is difficult to forget even though it is hardly remembered these days. Sue Ann, how is that for a wild week?”

8

“Small Time” (1967)

Under Desmond Davis’s direction

Loved for being a 1960s picture about two crazy young women, Daisies is a Czech film. Admirers of that movie might also think about the British picture Smashing Time, which stars Rita Tushingham and Lynn Redgrave as two endearing comedy actresses who play young ladies who go on a series of adventures in the swinging sixties.

This humorous short film parodies consumerism and London’s growing fixation with the music business. After attempting to create a stir on Carnaby Street, the ladies record the humorous hit song “I’m So Young,” which propels them to stardom. There are lots of jokes, great British music, and stylish clothing in this parody. The film’s teenage comediennes’ “crude” acts earned it criticism from British critics, but that’s hardly the kind of reaction that contemporary audiences would expect to see two ladies having a smashing time in 1960s London.

7.

1968’s “Twisted Nerve”

John and Roy Boulting served as directors.

Twisted Nerve was a major influence in the 1960s psychological thriller genre, which witnessed the rise of several genuinely unsettling movies. Kill Bill honored Twisted Nerve by utilizing Bernard Hermann’s soundtrack as the whistle tune, even though it isn’t as good as it once was. The story revolves around a young man named Martin (Hywel Bennett), who stages mental illness in order to gain the sympathy of a girl he has a thing on, Hayley Mills. He kills anyone he believes stand in the path of his one true love when this strategy backfires.

Twisted Nerve’s representation of intellectual disability has always been highly contentious, and critics are still divided over it now. Though opinions on that subject are still up for debate, Twisted Nerve had a significant impact on the slasher movies that came after.

5

I cherish you. Toklas, Alice B. (1968)

With Hy Averback directing

The 1960s saw some of Peter Sellers’ funniest comedy performances to date. I Love You, Alice B. Toklas is a delightful comedy that is sometimes overlooked, but films like Dr. Strangelove and The Pink Panther are much more well-known and beloved. His comedy about a square person who turns into a hippie still makes a lot of people laugh because it parodies the late 1960s counterculture and the mainstream’s response to it.

I Love You by Alice B. Toklas is a great addition to the genre of “regular people get wrapped up with hippies” from the late 1960s and early 1970s. The performances and Harpers Bizarre’s unique theme tune are what really set this movie apart. The name originates from a well-known pot brownie recipe created by Alice B. Toklas, the companion of author Gertrude Stein. Don’t worry, there’s a funny scene in the film where some elderly people consume brownies with extra ingredients.

5.

1960’s “Never On Sunday”

Lead director: Jules Dassin

One of those early 1960s movies that seems like it could have been made today is Never on a Sunday. It is difficult to imagine Never on Sunday was published in 1960 given its contemporary perspectives on sex work and female emancipation. The story revolves around an American scholar of Greek philosophy and literature, portrayed by Jules Dassin. He meets Ilya (Melina Mercouri), a free-spirited sex worker, while on vacation in Greece. He finds her so fascinating and enjoyable that he doesn’t think she could possibly like having sex! She doesn’t care that he is trying to “save” her.

Jules Dassin acted as the film’s writer, director, and main character, the American attempting to save Ilya. Although he plays a fantastic role in the movie, Melina Mercouri deserves all the credit—she is the star, writer, and director. Later, Dassin reworked Never on Sunday into a Broadway musical, and Melina Mercouri came back to play the same part.

4

1960’s “Peeping Tom”

Michael Powell is the director.

Carl Boehm in the role of Mark Lewis, clutching a gadget in the Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors image of “Peeping Tom”

Peeping Tom is known for being the movie that shocked viewers in the 1960s and ended Michael Powell’s career. Because of this, it took some time for reviewers and viewers to recognize the genius of this voyeuristic horror movie. The picture uses Powell’s characteristic style and bright color scheme, and it features a straightforward yet terrifying premise.

The story revolves around Carl Boehm, an ambitious filmmaker who kills his subjects. Because he is fascinated with the concept of fear, he mounts a weapon on his camera to record the terror his victims experience just before they pass away. Critics and audiences were incensed by the voyeurism, terror, and eroticism. The horror movie was even more terrifying because it was based on British realism in other ways. For one of the first occasions, viewers saw a monster that resembled them in both appearance and behavior. Though viewers now won’t hold their pearls with the same fervor, the terror is still there.

Date of Release

May 16, 1960

Head

Powell, Michael

Ensemble

Miles Malleson, Esmond Knight, Martin Miller, Maxine Audley, Brenda Bruce, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey, and Karlheinz Böhm

Duration

A total of 101 minutes

3.

“What a Great Direction!” 1964

Under J. Lee Thompson’s direction

In the 1960s, Shirley MacLaine was a comic mainstay. A hilarious comedy full of oddball moments, What a Way to Go! is sure to please contemporary audiences. Following Marilyn Monroe’s unavailability for the role for which it was created, Shirley was cast. As a result, Shirley gets a wonderful leading role as a woman who wants a straightforward existence with a modest man but constantly falling in love with wealthy men.

Beyond the absurdity, What a Way to Go!’s vivid colors and creative 1960s style are a visual feast. Every man presents Shirley with a distinct lifestyle, complete with unique outfits and props. What a Way to Go! offers satisfying visuals that make the film worth seeing through, even if the comedy isn’t hilarious to you.

2.

“Targets” (1966)

Under Peter Bogdanovich’s direction

Peter Bogdanovich, one of the key figures in the independent American film movement, made his feature film debut with Targets. He was imaginative, together with Polly Platt, his co-producer, despite certain restrictions from Roger Corman. The two filmmakers had previously collaborated with Corman on another project. Corman was going to produce their new project, but Corman needed two days of work from Boris Karloff according to their contract. As a result, Platt came up with the concept of having Karloff basically portray himself, a former horror movie star who believes that the real world has gotten scarier than the movies. The plot of a decent young man (Tim O’Kelly) who goes crazy and commits a mass shooting parallels the character’s quest to comprehend his place in a modern society that horrifies him.

There’s a sense that this movie could have been written and made now. In a society when mass shootings are becoming more and more prevalent, this is one of the rare movies that shows such incidents. Targets, a 1968 movie that feels remarkably contemporary in every way, is presumably why it has attracted so much more attention and appreciation in the decades after its first release.

1.

“Petulia” (1967)

Richard Lester is the director.

Due to the 1968 Cannes Film Festival cancellation, which almost prevented this ultimate masterpiece from having its world debut, it was almost lost. In this movie, Lester collaborates with Nicolas Roeg, the cinematographer who would later helm Don’t Look Now, producing some of his best work to date. Petulia has consistently received high praise from critics despite having a small theatrical run. “Petulia made me desperately unhappy, and yet I am unable to find a single thing wrong with it,” observed Roger Ebert, who gave it four stars.

What type of movie was it, according to Ebert? The movie centers on Julie Christie’s crazy socialite Petulia, who tries to woo George C. Scott, a middle-aged guy who recently got divorced and is having a hard time adjusting to life in the fast changing late 1960s. Beginning in the midst of the narrative, Petulia is then stitched together chronologically in both directions, like to a hallucinogenic memento. One of the few movies on the hippie movement that was shot in San Francisco during the Summer of Love is this one. Consequently, the movie was able to get appearances from Big Brother and the Holding Company and The Grateful Dead, contributing to its meta-commentary on the generational divide amongst its protagonists.