George’s (extended) birthday party: pick of the flicks and top of the pops ~ 1960-64
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Although not regaled with the psychedelia, revolutionising folk rock and significant social change of the latter half, the first half of the 1960s were nonetheless fascinating and dramatic themselves. The rise of the civil rights movement in the States, the wave of satire and fading of deference to the British Establishment in the UK, the evolution of rock ‘n’ roll and the spread of Nouvelle Vague (‘New Wave’) across European cinema ensured that the times were undeniably changing from the ’50s, and Anglo-American culture becoming more like that which we’re familiar with today – not least in film and music.
So then, peeps, here’s, yes, the latest in an ambitious extension of George’s Journal‘s celebration of its recent fourth birthday (see here and here) – its absolute top picks from among the movies and songs of each year of the early ’60s. You may not agree with all the choices, but hopefully you’ll agree with me on the diverse quality (and appreciate the work that’s gone into the post, of course). Enjoy, folks…
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on film and song titles for video-clips…
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1960
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Kennedy versus Nixon; US spy plane shot down over USSR and pilot imprisoned;
Macmillan’s ‘Wind of Change’; To Kill A Mockingbird published; Lady Chatterley obscenity case;
Cassius Clay wins Olympic gold; The Flintstones makes TV debut
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Film:
La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life)
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Directed by: Federico Fellini/ Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimée, Anita Ekberg, Yvonne Furneaux, Magali Noël, Alan Cuny, Annibale Ninchi, Walter Santesso and Nico/ Country: Italy/ 180 minutes/ (Social comedy-drama)
What George says: More a collection of sequences – like many of the best of Fellini’s films – La Dolce Vita may lack a narrative drive, but that’s unquestionably made up for by its writer-director’s keen eye for beautiful black-and-white visuals and stark, unflinching irony. Although adored for its style and the early ’60s European cool it positively oozes, it’s actually a sly critique of the decadent, soulless, Roman ‘sweet life’ it so artfully showcases – and outstandingly so.
What the critics say: “[Fellini] has an uncanny eye for finding the offbeat and grotesque incident, the gross and bizarre occurrence that exposes a glaring irony. He has, too, a splendid sense of balance and a deliciously sardonic wit that not only guided his cameras but also affected the writing of the script. In sum, it is an awesome picture, licentious in content but moral and vastly sophisticated in its attitude and what it says” ~ Bosley Crowther
Oscar count: 1 (Best Foreign Language Film; also winner of the Palme d’Or award at 1960’s Cannes Film Festival)
Oscar’s Best Picture pick this year: The Apartment
The public’s pick this year: Spartacus (US box-office #1)
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George’s runners-up: 2. À Bout De Souffle (Breathless);
3. The Apartment; 4. Spartacus; 5. Peeping Tom
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And the rest: L’Avventura (The Adventure); Butterfield 8; Elmer Gantry; The Entertainer; The League Of Gentlemen; Psycho; Saturday Night And Sunday Morning; Sons And Lovers
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Song:
The Twist ~ Chubby Checker
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Writers: Hank Ballard and The Midnighters/ Released: June 1960
What George says: Simple as a tin of baked beans it may be (even with that middle-eight sax solo to break up the repetitive verses and choruses), The Twist is nonetheless a quite simply perfect song. Honestly, if this came on in a nightclub even today, how could you resist breaking out into a dance (‘The Twist’ itself, naturally – the dance at the centre of the craze it launched into the stratosphere)? The answer is, of course, you couldn’t. There’s no way on Earth you could.
Chart history: US #1 (September 1960 and January 1962)
Recognition: Ranked #4 for 1960, #103 for the 1960s and #298 for ‘all-time’ on acclaimedmusic.net‘s cumulatively ranked ‘top songs’ lists
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George’s runners-up: 2. True Love Ways (Buddy Holly)/ 3. Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien (Édith Piaf)/ 4. Three Steps To Heaven (Eddie Cochran)/
5. Only The Lonely (Roy Orbison)
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And the rest: Ain’t That A Kick In The Head (Dean Martin)/ Apache (The Shadows)/ At Last (Etta James)/ Cathy’s Clown (The Everly Brothers)/ Chain Gang; Wonderful World (Sam Cooke)/ Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear To Tread) (Brook Benton)/ Hit The Road Jack (Ray Charles)/ Il Cielo Una Stanza (The Sky In A Room) (Mina)/ In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning (Julie London)/ Money (That’s What I Want) (Barrett Strong)/ Poetry In Motion (Johnny Tillotson)/ Rubber Ball (Bobby Vee)/ Save The Last Dance For Me (The Drifters)/ Volare (Bobby Rydell)/ Walk, Don’t Run (The Ventures)/ Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (The Shirelles)
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1961
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First man in space; Bay of Pigs Invasion; Kennedy sends thousands of troops to Vietnam;
USSR tests largest ever atomic bomb; Beyond The Fringe switches to West End;
Catch-22 published; Barbie gets a boyfriend in Ken
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Film:
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Directed by: Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins/ Starring: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, George Chakiris, Rita Moreno, Ross Tamblyn and William Bramley/ Country: USA/
152 minutes/ (Musical)
What George says: West Side Story is the Hollywood musical as art first, entertainment second. Or, at least, it’s as close as it’ll ever get to that. That’s not just because this movie’s a terrifically faithful adaptation of Bernstein and Sondheim’s clever-clever Romeo-and-Juliet-as-down-at-heel-NYC stage show, but also because co-helmers Wise and choreographer extraordinaire Robbins marry a dynamic and beautiful/ gritty aesthetic to all the muscular hoofing and stupendous tunes. Movie musicals never get better than this.
What the critics say: “Nothing short of a cinema masterpiece. In every respect … superbly and appropriately achieved. The drama of New York juvenile gang war, which cried to be released in the freer and less restricted medium of the mobile photograph, is now given range and natural aspect on the large Panavision color screen, and the music and dances that expand it are magnified as true sense-experiences” ~ Bosley Crowther (writing in 1961)
Oscar count: 10
Oscar’s Best Picture pick this year: West Side Story
The public’s pick this year: West Side Story (global box-office #1)
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George’s runners-up: 2. Yojimbo; 3. Breakfast At Tiffany’s; 4. The Hustler; 5. The Misfits
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And the rest: The Guns Of Navarone; The Innocents; Judgment At Nuremburg; La Notte (The Night); One Hundred And One Dalmations; One, Two, Three; Såsom I En Spegel (Through A Glass Darkly); Splendor In The Grass; A Taste Of Honey; Whistle Down The Wind
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Song:
Stand By Me ~ Ben E King
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Writers: Ben E King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller/ Released: 1961
What George says: Forever causing the hearer to think of platonic instead of amorous love thanks to its association with the 1986 coming-of-age flick that borrowed its title, Stand By Me also summons up notions of lasting, loyal friendship owing to its patent gospel influences, King’s steady then soaring emotive delivery and that guiding bass-line which holds your hand right the way to the end like a buddy you know would go through hell and back with you.
What the critics say: “Stand By Me sounds like it wasn’t written, that it just always existed … played like a love song, but it wasn’t. It was a testament to friendship, one of the best of its kind in pop history. Perhaps that’s why it was also one of the most endearing songs of the rock era” ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Chart record: US #4 (#9 in 1986)/ UK #27 (#1 in 1987)
Recognition: Ranked #1 for 1961, #30 for the 1960s and #63 for ‘all-time’ on acclaimedmusic.net‘s cumulatively ranked ‘top songs’ lists/ voted #25 on the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) ‘Songs of the Century’ list (2012)
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George’s runners-up: 2. Night And Day (Frank Sinatra)/ 3. Crazy (Patsy Cline)/
4. Moon River (Audrey Hepburn)/ 5. Come Rain Or Come Shine (Frank Sinatra)
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And the rest: All Or Nothing At All (Frank Sinatra)/ America (George Chakiris and Rita Moreno)/ Baby Elephant Walk (Henry Mancini)/ Cupid (Sam Cooke)/ Big Bad John (Jimmy Dean)/ Baby It’s You (The Shirelles)/ Blue Moon (The Marcels)/ Hello Mary Lou (Rickie Nelson)/ I Don’t Know Why I Love You (But I Do) (Clarence ‘Frogman’ Henry)/ I Just Want To Make Love To You (Etta James)/ The Lion Sleeps Tonight (The Tokens)/ Mad About The Boy (Dinah Washington)/ Maria (Jim Bryant)/ Marie’s The Name (His Latest Flame) (Elvis Presley)/ My Favourite Things (John Coltrane)/ My Heart Belongs To Daddy (Julie London)/ Please Mr. Postman (The Marvelettes)/ Runaround Sue (Dion)/ Runaway (Del Shannon)/ Spanish Harlem (Ben E King)/ Tonight (Marni Nixon and Jim Bryant)/ Walkin’ Back to Happiness (Helen Shapiro)
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1962
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Cuban Missile Crisis; Marilyn Monroe dead at 33;
Macmillan’s ‘Night of the Long Knives’; Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans;
Brazil wins second consecutive World Cup; first trans-Atlantic signal sent via Telstar
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Film:
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Directed by: David Lean/ Starring: Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Claude Rains, José Ferrer, Anthony Quayle and Arthur Kennedy/ Country: UK/ USA/ 228 minutes/ (Biopic-war film)
What George says: Quite simply, the epic to end all epics – grandstand filmmaking has never scaled these dizzy heights since, and it’s hard to imagine it ever will. At its centre, Lean’s masterpiece is the consummate study of a fascinatingly brilliant but contradictory individual (brought to the very big screen by Peter O’Toole, whom would arguably never be better), but more broadly, its an intellectual think-piece on the machinations and consequences of war that’s absolutely gorgeous to look at – and listen to. It may just be the greatest film ever made.
What the critics say: “The word ‘epic’ in recent years has become synonymous with ‘big budget B picture’. What you realise watching Lawrence of Arabia is that the word ‘epic’ refers not to the cost or the elaborate production, but to the size of the ideas and vision” ~ Roger Ebert
Oscar count: 7
Oscar’s Best Picture pick this year: Lawrence Of Arabia
The public’s pick this year: Lawrence Of Arabia (global box-office #1)
Read and see more about of Lawrence Of Arabia here
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George’s runners-up: 2. The Manchurian Candidate;
3. Jules et Jim; 4. Lolita; 5. To Kill A Mockingbird
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And the rest: Cape Fear; Days Of Wine And Roses; Dr No; Gypsy; A Kind Of Loving; The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner; The Miracle Worker; The Trial; Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?
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Song:
James Bond Theme ~ John Barry Orchestra
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Writers: Monty Norman and John Barry/ Released: October 1962
(first heard in the film Dr No)
What George says: It’s pretty much impossible to separate the visuality of the cinematic Bond from this, his aural signature – so let’s not try. Suffice to say, the James Bond Theme is the ultimate musical embodiment of big-screen classy cool swagger, excitement and danger. No action movie theme has ever come close to ‘toppling’ its Dr No-esque sleek missile-like sound.
Chart record: UK #13
Recognition: Ranked #19 for 1962, #358 for the 1960s and #1,520 for ‘all-time’ on acclaimedmusic.net‘s cumulatively ranked ‘top songs’ lists
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George’s runners-up: 2. Let There Be Love (Nat King Cole and George Dearing)/
3. The Loco-Motion (Little Eva)/ 4. Can’t Help Falling In Love (Elvis Presley)/
5. Misirlou (Dick Dale and the Del-Tones)
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And the rest: Boom Boom (John Lee Hooker)/ Crying In The Rain (The Everly Brothers)/ Do You Love Me (The Contours)/End Of The World (Skeeter Davis)/ Green Onions (Booker T. & the M.G.s)/ I Left My Heart In San Francisco (Tony Bennett)/ I Remember You (Frank Ifield)/ If I Had A Hammer (Peter, Paul and Mary)/ It Might As Well Rain Until September (Carole King)/ The Lonely Bull (Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass)/ Love Me Do (The Beatles)/ Me And My Shadow (Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr.)/ The Night Has A Thousand Eyes (Bobby Vee)/ Overture from Lawrence Of Arabia (Maurice Jarre)/ Return To Sender (Elvis Presley)/ Stranger On The Shore (Acker Bilk)/ The Stripper (David Rose and his Orchestra)/ A Swingin’ Safari (Bert Kaempfert)/ Telstar (The Tornadoes)/ Twistin’ The Night Away (Sam Cooke)/ What Kind Of Fool Am I (Sammy Davis, Jr.)/ Wonderful Land (The Shadows)
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1963
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JFK shot dead; ‘March on Washington’ and ‘I have a dream’;
‘Ich bin ein Berliner’; Profumo Affair; Douglas-Home succeeds Macmillan;
Great Train Robbery; Beatles release first album; Britain’s ‘Big Freeze’; Doctor Who debuts
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Film:
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Directed by: Joseph Losey/ Starring: Dirk Bogarde, James Fox, Sarah Miles and Wendy Craig/ Country: UK/ 112 minutes/ (Psychological drama)
What George says: A groundbreaking deconstruction of the British class system, The Servant opens not as it means to go on, playing as a smart exploration of service for the upper classes in the ‘modern’ early ’60s, before sliding into something altogether more absorbing, darker, even disturbing, as the servant (a brilliant Bogarde) turns the tables on his master (a young Fox). No question we’re along for the ride, thanks to superbly obtuse, unsettling camera angles and subtle touches of not entirely show-and-tell, as we watch the line between the classes (more than) blur just as they were starting to in the real ‘Profumo Affair‘-racked Blighty of ’63.
What the critics say: “The Servant‘s fusion of Losey’s sensitivity to spaces and objects with Pinter’s stark approach to image and language – seen through cinematographer Douglas Slocombe’s magnificent black-and-white photography – initiated a new kind of cinema in the UK, one distinctly more ambitious than the social realism of the Woodfall films [and it] transformed Bogarde’s image, cemented Losey’s fruitful partnership with Pinter and launched the cinema careers of James Fox and Sarah Miles” ~ Nick James
Oscar count: 0
Oscar’s Best Picture pick this year: Tom Jones
The public’s pick this year: Cleopatra (global box-office #1)
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George’s runners-up: 2. 8½; 3. Le Mépris (Comtempt); 4. Billy Liar; 5. Hud
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And the rest: America, America; The Birds; Charade; From Russia With Love; Il Gattopardo (The Leopard); The Great Escape; Lilies Of The Field; Nóż W Wodzie’ (Knife In The Water); A Shot In The Dark; This Sporting Life; Tystnaden (The Silence); Tom Jones
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Song:
She Loves You ~ The Beatles
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Writers: Lennon/ McCartney/ Released: August 1963
What George says: Instantly, from that opening drum-crash, it’s utterly impossible to resist She Loves You – just as it is at any and every other point in the song. It was the chart hit from debut album Please Please Me (1963) that truly heralded the arrival of The Beatles – with its breathless urgency, brilliant melody, perfect lyrics (‘Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!’) and cheeky ‘wooos’ – and hinted at the world domination that would be theirs just one year later.
What the critics say: “What would one would tell a Martian who landed and asked the meaning of rock and roll? The first answer would be She Loves You” ~ Greil Marcus
Chart performance: US #1/ UK #1
Recognition: Ranked #4 for 1963, #39 for the 1960s and #97 for ‘all-time’ on acclaimedmusic.net‘s cumulatively ranked ‘top songs’ lists
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George’s runners-up: 2. Twist And Shout (The Beatles)/
3. Blowin’ In The Wind (Bob Dylan)/ 4. In My Room (The Beach Boys)/
5. Up On The Roof (The Drifters)
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And the rest: Anyone Who Had A Heart (Dionne Warwick)/ Be My Baby (The Ronnettes)/ Be True To Your School; Surfin’ U.S.A.; Surfer Girl (The Beach Boys)/Blue Velvet (Bobby Vinton)/ Can’t Get Used To Losing You; Days Of Wine and Roses (Andy Williams)/ Charade (Hanry Mancini and Johnny Mercer)/ Da Doo Ron Ron (The Crystals)/ From Me To You; I Saw Her Standing There; I Want To Hold Your Hand; Please Please Me (The Beatles)/ Glad All Over (The Dave Clark Five)/ The Good Life (Tony Bennett)/ A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (Bob Dylan)/ Harlem Shuffle (Bob & Earl)/ He’s So Fine (The Chiffons)/ Heat Wave (Martha and the Vandellas)/ How Do You Do It?; I Like It; You’ll Never Walk Alone (Gerry and the Pacemakers)/ I Only Want To Be With You (Dusty Springfield)/ It’s My Party (Lesley Gore)/ On Broadway (The Drifters)/ The Pink Panther Theme (Henry Mancini)/ Puff, The Magic Dragon (Peter, Paul and Mary)/ Ring Of Fire (Johnny Cash)/ Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa (Gene Pitney)/ You Are My Sunshine (Andy Williams)
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1964
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LBJ signs Civil Rights Act into law; Wilson and Labour squeeze in; Khrushchev squeezed out;
Beatles conquer America and spark ‘British Invasion’; Tokyo hosts Olympics;
Burton and Taylor marry; Rolling Stones release debut album; Radio Caroline launches
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Film:
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Directed by: George Cukor/ Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, Wilfred Hyde-White and Jeremy Brett/ Country: USA/ 170 minutes/ (Musical)
What George says: My Fair Lady‘s easily the most lavish, graceful and intoxicating of the few Hollywood musicals that are near perfectly realised. Indeed, to fall under its spell feels much like falling under that similar spell of Audrey Hepburn herself, yet in George Cukor’s adaptation of, in turn, Lerner and Loewe’s musical adaptation of Shaw’s Pygmalion (1912), the career-defining turn comes from Rex Harrison as the cocksure linguistics expert whom gets more than he bargains for in pushing Hepburn’s Cockney flowergirl several notches up the class ladder.
What the critics say: “It is both a great entertainment and a great polemic. It is still not sufficiently appreciated what influence it had on the creation of feminism and class-consciousness in the years bridging 1914 when Pygmalion premiered, 1956 when the musical premiered, and 1964 when the film premiered. It was actually about something” ~ Roger Ebert
Oscar count: 8
Oscar’s Best Picture pick this year: My Fair Lady
The public’s pick this year: Mary Poppins (global box-office #1)
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George’s runners-up:
2. Dr Strangelove Or: How Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb;
3. Mary Poppins; 4. Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg);
5. A Hard Day’s Night
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And the rest: Bande À Part (Band Of Outsiders); Becket; Il Deserto Rosso (The Red Dessert); A Fistful Of Dollars; Goldfinger; The Pawnbroker; Zorba The Greek; Zulu
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Song:
Downtown ~ Petula Clark
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Writer: Tony Hatch/ Released: November 1964
What George says: Taking on mid-’60s folk-rock and US soul (both enjoying dizzying rises of their own) and coming out on top because of its brilliant fusion of big band sound with a big, bouncy melody and Petula’s big, big vocals, Downtown is an ebullient, irresistible slice of (then) modern metropolitan-themed, ice-cool perfect pop.
Chart performance: US #1/ UK #2
Recognition: Won the Grammy Award for ‘Best Rock and Roll Song’ (1965)/ won the Ivor Novello Award for ‘Outstanding Song of the Year’ (1964)/ ranked #30 for 1964, #331 for the 1960s and #1,397 for ‘all-time’ on acclaimedmusic.net‘s cumulatively ranked ‘top songs’ lists
Read more about how Downtown is one of the ultimate UK chart hits here
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George’s runners-up: 2. Baby Love (The Supremes)/ 3. You Really Got Me (The Kinks)/ 4. Oh, Pretty Woman (Roy Orbison)/ 5. Walk On By (Dionne Warwick)
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And the rest: All Day And All Of The Night (The Kinks)/ Almost There (Andy Williams)/ Baby, Please Don’t Go; Gloria (Them)/ And I Love Her; Can’t Buy Me Love; A Hard Day’s Night; I Feel Fine; If I Fell (The Beatles)/ As Tears Go By (Marianne Faithfull)/ Baby I Need Your Loving (The Four Tops)/ Chim Chim Cher-ee (Dick Van Dyke)/ The Crying Game (Dave Berry)/ Dancing In The Street (Martha and the Vandellas)/ Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood; House Of The Rising Sun (The Animals)/ Fly Me To The Moon (Frank Sinatra)/ Fly Me To The Moon (Julie London)/ The Girl From Ipanema (Astrud Gilberto)/ Goldfinger (Shirley Bassey)/ I Could Have Danced All Night; Show Me (Marni Nixon)/ Don’t Worry Baby; I Get Around; When I Grow Up (To Be A Man) (The Beach Boys)/ I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself; Wishin’ And Hopin’ (Dusty Springfield)/ I’m Into Something Good (Herman’s Hermits)/ Just One Look (The Hollies)/ Leader Of The Pack (The Shangri-Las)/ Move Over, Darling (Doris Day)/ My Girl (The Temptations)/ My Guy (Mary Wells)/ On The Street Where You Live (Bill Shirley)/ Saturday Night At The Movies; Under The Boardwalk (The Drifters) / She’s Not There (The Zombies)/ The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss) (Betty Everett)/ A Spoonful Of Sugar (Julie Andrews)/ Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! (Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke)/ (There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me (Sandie Shaw)/ Viva Las Vegas (Elvis Presley)/ A World Without Love (Peter and Gordon)/ Yeh, Yeh (Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames)
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And coming soon…
George’s pick of the flicks
and top of the pops ~ 1965-69
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George's Journal 