Dawn's favorite Movie actors and their films of the "60's".

Clint Eastwood:
1964 A Fistful of Dollars
1965 For a Few Dollars More
1966 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
1967 Le streghe
1968 Hang 'Em High
Coogan's Bluff
Where Eagles Dare

In 1963 Eastwood's co-star on Rawhide, Eric Fleming, rejected an offer to star in an Italian-made western, A Fistful of Dollars. Knowing that he could play a cowboy Harrison suggested Eastwood, who saw the film as a wonderful opportunity.

Eastwood later spoke about the transition from a television western to A Fistful of Dollars: "In Rawhide I did get awfully tired of playing the conventional white hat. The hero who kisses old ladies and dogs and was kind to everybody. I decided it was time to be an anti-hero." Eastwood, created the Man with No Name character, who smoked cigars.

The film was the beginning of spaghetti westerns and Eastwood became a major star in Italy and he also performed in, For a Few Dollars More (1965). Two months later Eastwood began work on the third Dollars film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, in which he again played the, Man with No Name.

The Dollars trilogy was not shown in the United States until 1967 when A Fistful of Dollars opened in January, For a Few Dollars More in May, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in December. All the films were successful and turned Eastwood into a major film star. Stardom brought more "tough guy" roles for Eastwood. Next, he signed up to perform in the western, Hang 'Em High (1968). Across between Rawhide and Leone's westerns. Using money earned from the Dollars trilogy Leonard helped establish Eastwood's production company, Malpaso Productions, named after the Malpaso Creek on Eastwood's property in Monterey County, California.

While Eastwood was working on his next film, Coogan's Bluff, Jennings Lang arranged for Eastwood to meet Don Siegel, a Universal contract director who later became one of Eastwood's close friends, that would last for more than ten years. Coogan's Bluff also became the first of many collaborations with Argentine composer Lalo Schifrin, who would later score the jazzy themes to Eastwood's films. Eastwood created the prototype for his role as a cop of the Dirty Harry films.

Next he went on to perform in, Where Eagles Dare(1968), about a World War II squad parachuting into the mountains.

Eastwood then performed in his only musical of his career, Paint Your Wagon (1969). Eastwood and fellow non-singer Lee Marvin play gold miners who share the same wife. It was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

Rock Hudson:
Seconds (1966)
Lover Come Back (1961)
Ice Station Zebra (1968)
Send Me No Flowers (1964)

In the 60s Hudson, performed in many romantic comedies such as: Pillow Talk, the first of several co-starring with Doris Day. This was followed by Lover Come Back, Come September, Send Me No Flowers, Man's Favorite Sport?, The Spiral Road, and Strange Bedfellows. Along with Cary Grant was regarded as one of the best-dressed male stars in Hollywood. He also performed in the science-fiction thriller, Seconds (1966). The film flopped but it later gained cult status, and Hudson's performance is often regarded as one of his best. He also tried his hand in the action genre with Tobruk (1967), the lead in 1968's spy thriller Ice Station Zebra, a role which he said was his personal favorite, and the western, The Undefeated (1969).

Kirk Douglas:
Spartacus (1960)
Seven Days in May (1964)
War Wagon, The (1967)
Lonely Are the Brave (1962)

Douglas, was a major box office star in the 60s, performing in many westerns such as, In Lonely Are the Brave (1962), his own favorite of his performances, Douglas plays a cowboy trying to live by his own code, much as he did in real life.

Douglas played many military men like in the films: Town Without Pity (1961), The Hook (1963), Seven Days in May (1964), Heroes of Telemark (1965), In Harm's Way (1965), Cast a Giant Shadow (1966), Is Paris Burning (1966). Douglas played the lead with an all-star cast in, Spartacus (1960). He was also the executive producer. Douglas also performed in comedies, such as in the film, For Love or Money (1963).

Douglas made a couple of films in the 60s with Burt Lancaster: The List of Adrian Messenger(1963)and Seven Days in May (1964).



Douglas stated that the keys to acting success are determination and application, "You must know how to function and how to maintain yourself, and you must have a love of what you do. But an actor also needs great good luck. I have had that luck."Douglas had great vitality, "It takes a lot out of you to work in this business. Many people fall by the wayside because they don’t have the energy to sustain their talent.".

Cary Grant:
Charade (1963)
Father Goose (1964)
Walk Don't Run (1966)
That Touch of Mink (1962)

In the mid-1950s, Grant formed his own production company, Granart Productions, and produced a number of movies in the 60s such as: That Touch of Mink and Father Goose (1964).




In 1963, he also performed opposite Audrey Hepburn in the film, Charade (1963). His last feature film was Walk, Don't Run.

Grant was the first actor to "go independent" by not renewing his studio contract.  Because of this he decided which movies he was going to perform in, he also had the choice of the directors and his co-stars and at times even negotiated a share of the gross, something uncommon at the time.

Fred MacMurray :
Apartment, The (1960)
Absent Minded Professor, The (1961)
Son of Flubber (1963)
Follow Me, Boys! (1966)

In the 1960s, he starred in My Three Sons, which ran for 12 seasons, making it one of America's longest-running TV show. MacMurray, stared in 1961 as Professor Ned Brainerd in Disney's, The Absent-Minded Professor and in its sequel, Son of Flubber, in 1964.



MacMurray, had a provision in his "Sons" contract that all his scenes be shot first. This freed him to pursue his film work and golf . It's also interesting to note that two character names on "My Three Sons" were named after his real life children, Rob (as in Rob Douglas) and Katherine (Kate); he often referred to his TV son Robbie as 'Rob' and later TV daughter-in-law Katie Douglas as 'Kate.'

He was a staunch supporter of the Republican Party. He joined Bob Hope and James Stewart to campaign for Richard Nixon in 1968.

He was one of the wealthiest actors of the 60s and MacMurray usually brought a brown bag lunch to work. Friends and business associates referred to him as "the thrifty multimillionaire."

Jack Lemmon :
Apartment, The (1960)
Odd Couple, The (1968)
Great Race, The (1965)
Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

Lemmon, was a favorite actor of director Billy Wilder, who felt Lemmon had a natural tendency toward overacting. In the Wilder biography Nobody's Perfect quotes the director as saying, "Lemmon, I would describe him as a ham, a fine ham, and with ham you have to trim a little fat". The biography also quotes Jack Lemmon as saying, "I am particularly susceptible to the parts I play... If my character was having a nervous breakdown, I started to have one".

He also had a longtime working relationship with director Blake Edwards, starring in in the 60s films: Days of Wine and Roses (1962), The Great Race (1965) and That's Life! (1986).

Days of Wine and Roses (1962) was one of his favorite roles. He portrayed Joe Clay, a young, fun-loving alcoholic businessman. In that film, Lemmon delivered the line, "My name is Joe Clay ... I'm an alcoholic." Three and a half decades later, he admitted on the television program, Inside the Actors Studio, that he was not acting when he delivered that line, that he really was a recovering alcoholic at the end of his life.


Lemmon's production company JML produced Cool Hand Luke in 1967. Paul Newman was grateful to Lemmon for his support and offered him the role later made famous by Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid but Lemmon turned it down. He did not like riding horses and he also felt he'd already played too many aspects of the Sundance Kid's character before.

Lemmon often performed in films with Walter Matthau. Among their pairings was 1968's The Odd Couple, as Felix Ungar (Lemmon) and Oscar Madison (Matthau).

William Holden:
Wild Bunch, The (1969)
Paris - When It Sizzles (1964)
Casino Royale (1967)
Devil's Brigade, The (1968)

Holden was forced by studio contracts to perform in films such as, Paris When It Sizzles (1964), also co-starring Audrey Hepburn. By the mid-1960s, his career was beginning to fade.

Robert Redford:
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
This Property Is Condemned (1966)
Barefoot in the Park (1967)
Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969)

Redford, made his screen debut in the film, War Hunt (1962). Later he was cast in larger roles in movies such as, In Inside Daisy Clover (1965) with Natalie Wood, they also performed together in the film, This Property Is Condemned (1966). The same year saw his first teaming with Jane Fonda in, The Chase. Fonda and Redford were paired again in the film, Barefoot in the Park (1967) also the film, The Electric Horseman (1979).

Redford was cast in the film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), scripted by William Goldman, in which he was paired for the first time with Paul Newman. The film cemented his screen image as an intelligent, reliable, good guy.




Redford did have a few box office flops, Downhill Racer (1969) and Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969).

Anthony Quinn:
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Guns of Navarone, The (1961)
Barabbas (1962)
Alexis Zorbas (1964)

By the 60s Quinn, was beginning to show his age and began his transformation into a major character actor. He played a Greek resistance fighter in the film, The Guns of Navarone (1961), a ex-boxer in the film, Requiem for a Heavyweight, and Auda abu Tayi in the film, Lawrence of Arabia (both 1962). He also played the title role in Barabbas. The success of the film, Zorba the Greek (1964) which won him another Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Other films include: The 25th Hour (1967), The Magus (1968), Guns for San Sebastian with Charles Bronson and The Shoes of the Fisherman, where he played a Ukrainian pope. In 1969, he starred in the film, The Secret of Santa Vittoria .

Henry Fonda:
Once Upon A Time In The West (1968)
Longest Day, The (1962)
Battle of the Bulge (1965)
Boston Strangler, The (1968)

In the 60s Fonda, was still performing in the western television series The Deputy (1959–1961), in which he starred as Marshal Simon Fry. The 1960s also saw Fonda perform in many war and western epics, including 1962's The Longest Day and How the West Was Won, 1965's In Harm's Way and Battle of the Bulge. In the Cold War suspense film Fail-Safe (1964), Fonda played the President of the United States who tries to prevent a nuclear holocaust through tense negotiations with the Soviets after American bombers are mistakenly ordered to attack the USSR. He also performed in the light-hearted film, Spencer's Mountain (1963), which was the inspiration for the TV series, The Waltons.

Fonda , performed against type as the villain 'Frank' in, 1968's Once Upon a Time in the West.

Fonda's was good friends with Jimmy Stewart and they teamed up to work on the film, Firecreek(1968), where Fonda once again played the bad guy.

Dawn's Favorite Movie actresses and their films of the "60's".

These are my top 10 movie actresses of the 60's and the films that they performed in:

Katharine Hepburn:
1962 Long Day's Journey Into Night
1967 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
1968 The Lion in Winter
1969 The Madwoman of Chaillot

By the 1960′s Katherine Hepburn had been making films for over 30 years, with 8 Academy Award Nominations and one win. In 1960 she was nominated a 9th time for Best Actress in the film, Suddenly Last Summer, opposite Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. In 1963, she again was nominated for a tenth Oscar as Mary Tyrone in the film, Long Day’s Journey Into Night(1962). Then in 1968 and 1969, Kathrine won her second and third Oscar for Best Actress in, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and The Lion in Winter. The 1960′s introduced her to a whole new group of fans.

Video is from: (1969) The Madwoman of Chaillot, which is based on a Giraudoux play about modern society endangered by the forces of power and greed.

Fay Dunaway:
1969 The Extraordinary Seaman
1969 The Arrangement
1968 A Place for Lovers
1968 The Thomas Crown Affair
1967 Bonnie and Clyde
1967 The Happening
1967 Hurry Sundown

Her first film was in 1967 in, Hurry Sundown, but that same year, she got the leading female role in, Bonnie and Clyde (opposite Warren Beatty) which won her an Oscar nomination. Very few actresses started off their Hollywood careers with Oscar nominated roles.

It would be another ten years before she won her Oscar, but in my opinion her greatest role was that of Bonnie Parker in, Bonnie and Clyde.

Audrey Hepburn:
1967 Wait Until Dark
1967 Two for the Road
1966 How to Steal a Million
1964 My Fair Lady
1964 Paris When It Sizzles
1963 Charade
1961 The Children's Hour
1961 Breakfast at Tiffany's
1960 The Unforgiven

Audrey Hepburn, best work may have been in the 1960′s with one of her best known roles as Holly Golightly in, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, or Eliza Doolitle in, My Fair Lady (even though her voice was dubbed in the singing parts). Beautiful, elegant, Hollywood.. had very few actresses like, Audrey.

Audrey's work with UNICEF, made the organization a household name.

Elizabeth Taylor:
1969 Anne of the Thousand Days
1968 Secret Ceremony
1968 Boom!
1967 The Comedians
1967 Reflections in a Golden Eye
1967 Doctor Faustus
1967 The Taming of the Shrew
1966 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1965 The Sandpiper
1964 Becket
1963 The V.I.P.s
1963 Cleopatra
1960 BUtterfield 8
1960 Scent of Mystery

In the 1960′s Taylor was known for her beauty, but she also was very talented. She was the winner of the 1960 Best Actress award in the film, Butterfield8 as a prostitute and in 1963′s Cleopatra and in 1966 she won the Best Actress award for the second time for her performance in, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolfe. Based on the controversial play by Edward Albee, this noir-ish 1966 drama stars former real-life couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, which maybe their best performances.

Video: 1960 BUtterfield 8 movie Trailer.

Jane Fonda:
1969 They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
1968 Barbarella
1968 Spirits of the Dead
1967 Barefoot in the Park
1967 Hurry Sundown
1966 Any Wednesday
1966 The Game Is Over
1966 The Chase
1965 Cat Ballou
1964 Circle of Love
1964 Joy House
1963 Sunday in New York
1963 In the Cool of the Day
1962 Period of Adjustment
1962 The Chapman Report
1962 Walk on the Wild Side
1960 Tall Story

Her stage work in the late 1950's help prepared her for her film career in the 1960s. She averaged almost two movies a year throughout the decade, starting in 1960 with Tall Story, in which she recreated one of her Broadway roles as a college cheerleader pursuing a basketball star, played by Anthony Perkins. Period of Adjustment and Walk on the Wild Side followed in 1962. In Walk on the Wild Side Fonda played a prostitute, and earned a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer.

Fonda's breakthrough came with the film, Cat Ballou (1965), in which she played a schoolmarm turned outlaw. This comedy Western received five Oscar nominations. Soon after she performed in the comedies, Any Wednesday (1966) and Barefoot in the Park (1967).

In 1968 she played the lead role in, Barbarella, directed by her French film director husband Roger Vadim. The film, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) earned her first Oscar nomination. Fonda was very selective by the end of the 1960s, turning down lead roles in Rosemary's Baby and Bonnie and Clyde.

Video from: Barefoot in the Park.

Marilyn Monroe:
1960 Let's Make Love
1961 Misfits
1962 Something's Got to Give

Marilyn, had no real acting techniques. It was only Marilyn, a "star" and "sex symbol" of the "60's".

Her last completed film, The Misfits, was directed by John Huston and costarring Clark Gable, Montgomery Clift, Eli Wallach and Thelma Ritter. Shooting taking place in the hot Northern Nevada desert. Monroe was frequently ill and unable to perform. Making the film was a difficult experience for all the actors; in addition to Monroe's illness, Montgomery Clift had frequently been unable to perform and by the final day of shooting, Thelma Ritter was in hospital suffering from exhaustion. Gable, commenting that he did not fell well, left the set without attending the wrap party. Within ten days Gable had died from a heart attack. Gable's widow, Kay, commented to Louella Parsons that it had been the "eternal waiting" on the set of The Misfits that had contributed to his death.

In 1962 Monroe began filming Something's Got to Give. It was to be directed by George Cukor, and co-starred Dean Martin and Cyd Charisse.

On May 19, 1962, she attended a birthday celebration of President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden, at the suggestion of Kennedy's brother-in-law, actor Peter Lawford. Where Monroe performed "Happy Birthday".

Monroe returned to the set of, Something's Got to Give and filmed a scene in which she performed nude in a swimming pool. Commenting that she wanted to "push Liz Taylor off the magazine covers", she gave permission for several partially nude photographs to be published by Life. Monroe was dismissed and was replaced by Lee Remick, and Dean Martin refused to work with any other actress.

Following her dismissal, she gave an interview to Cosmopolitan and was photographed at Peter Lawford's beach house sipping champagne and walking on the beach. She next posed for Vogue in a series of photographs that included several nudes. Published after her death, they became known as "The Last Sitting".

In the final weeks of her life, Monroe was planning future film projects, and to continue negotiations on the film, Something's Got to Give.. Among the projects was a biography of Jean Harlow filmed two years later with, Carroll Baker. Starring roles in, Irma la Douce and What a Way to Go! were also discussed. A film version of the Broadway musical, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, and an unnamed World War I–themed musical co-starring Gene Kelly were also discussed, but the projects were never to be.

Brigitte Bardot:
1969 Les femmes
 1968 Shalako
1968 Spirits of the Dead
1967 Two Weeks in September
1965 Dear Brigitte
1965 Viva Maria!
1964 Agent 38-24-36
1963 Contempt
1962 Love on a Pillow
1962 A Very Private Affair
1961 Famous Love Affairs
1961 Please, Not Now!
1960 The Truth
1960 It Happened All Night

Brigitte's, "sex kitten" beauty took the US by storm. In 1965 she performed as herself  in, "Dear Brigitte" (1965) with James Steward (she only appeared in one scene).



She prefers life outside of stardom. The Paparazzi constantly hounded her with their cameras. After her life in the spotlight, Brigitte went on to become a leading spokesperson for animal rights and started the "Foundation Brigitte Bardot".

Goldie Hawn:
1969 Cactus Flower
1969 Five the Hard Way (unconfirmed)
1968 The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band.

Hawn, began her acting career as a cast member of the comedy Good Morning, World during 1967-1968, her role was the girlfriend of a radio disc jockey, with a stereotype "dumb blonde" personality. Her next role, was as one of the regular cast members on the 1968-1973 comedy show, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. On the show, she would break out into giggles in the middle of a joke, and deliver a perfect performance a minute later. Hawn, was known as the "60s It" girl.

Hawn's Laugh-In personaiity was used in the film, Cactus Flower. Hawn had made her feature film debut in a bit role as a giggling dancer in the 1968 film, The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, in which she was billed as "Goldie Jeanne", but in her first major film role, in Cactus Flower (1969), she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as Walter Matthau's suicidal fiancée.




 

Sharon Tate:

Sharon Tate had performed only bit parts, but was considered a beautiful and rising actress. Tate met film director Roman Polanski then starred in Valley of the Dolls, followed by, The Wrecking Crew with Dean Martin.

1969 The Wrecking Crew
1967 Valley of the Dolls
1967 The Fearless Vampire Killers
1967 Don't Make Waves
1966 Eye of the Devil

Ava Gardner:
1968 Mayerling
1966 The Bible: In the Beginning...
1964 The Night of the Iguana
1964 Seven Days in May
1963 55 Days at Peking
1960 The Angel Wore Red

Ava Gardner, is thought of as one of the most beautiful actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age. In 1966, Gardner tried out for the role of Mrs. Robinson in the film, The Graduate (1967).

In 1968, she made what some consider to be one of her best films, Mayerling, in which she played the Austrian Empress Elisabeth of Austria opposite James Mason as Emperor Franz Joseph I.

Dawn's Top 21 Favorite 60s movies.

The 60s was the decade of "Far Out" music: the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield, the Who. The 60s was also a time of great social change. Movies, also began to change during this time. This is my "Groovy" list of top 21 films of the 60's. I hope at the end of this post you will have a great feel for what movies were like in the 60's.

1. Psycho - (1960, Alfred Hitchcock) (Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh). Psycho, is onethe greatest horror films ever made. The story, acting and cinematography are unforgettable. The soundtrack is also perfect. The shower scene in 1960s, seeing a nude women being murdered in a shower was something that was quite shocking.

2. To Kill a Mockingbird - (1962, Robert Mulligan) (Gregory Peck, Mary Badham). I don't think you can watch this film without being affected by it. To Kill a Mockingbird , is remembered for many reasons, but the date that the film was released, 1962, during the beginning of the civil rights movement in America, really stands out for me..

3. Bonnie and Clyde - (1967, Arthur Penn) (Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway). Besides being a great movie, "Bonnie and Clyde" was an important 1960's landmark film. Its violent ending helped end of the Hayes code, which had been a huge restrictor of artistic freedom and it helped shape the '60's image of the anti-hero.

4.The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - (1966, Sergio Leone) (Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Eli Wallach). In the 1960s, Spaghetti Westerns were very popular. These films were produced by Italians and Spaniards and shot in their countries with American stars like: Clint Eastwood or Henry Fonda.

5. The Graduate - (1967, Mike Nichols) (Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross).Most of American films were very conservative until the 60's. Nothing scandalous was shown in films, and many serious topics were not talked about in the movies… yet. "The Graduate" is the perfect mix of old and new. It's the 'bridge' that separates the standard American films from the more experimental ones that would become popular in the 1970's.

6. The Apartment - (1960, Billy Wilder) (Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine). The Apartment was one of the first film to deal with sexual harassment. Typical for 1960s, there are no women in any managerial positions.

7. Easy Rider - (1969, Dennis Hopper) (Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson). Not many films have documented an era of American culture the way it was for the young people of the era. Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper's story of two men who go in search of America and 'freedom' is a sign of the times.

8. A Hard Day's Night - (1964, Richard Lester) (The Beatles, Wilfrid Brambell, Norman Rossington). There has never been and never will be another band like the Beatles. The Beatles capture a time that can never be repeated.

9.The Sound of Music - (1965, Robert Wise) (Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer). Is the feel good family film, during a era when civil rights, the space program and the Vietnam War were in the headlines.

10.Planet of the Apes - (1968, Franklin J. Schaffner) (Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowell). This movie changed modern day science-fiction films forever.

11. The Birds - (1963, Alfred Hitchcock) (Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy). Hitchcock, dirested some great films in the 1960s, inspiring all modern horror pictures with PSYCHO. 3 years later, he made a movie that goes into the supernatural.

12. The Hustler - (1961, Robert Rossen) (Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, George C. Scott). The Hustler" is very much a film of the 60's, when  filmmakers were trying to get away from the WWII era, with its strict conformity to American values. In this film, Bert Gordon and Minnesota Fats represent the establishment. Eddie Felson, is out to beat the establishment. But.. the establishment beats Eddie, one way or another. His idealism is useless. He must conform to the establishment's rules, expressed in the film as "character", or give up his dreams.

13. My Fair Lady - (1964, George Cukor) (Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Wilfrid Hyde-White). A Beautifully made film of a  Broadway musical of a bygone age.

14. Goldfinger - (1964, Guy Hamilton) (Sean Connery, Gert Fröbe, Honor Blackman).  Goldfinger, had the most memorable characters and scenes I can remember over four decades of Bond films. A treasure among the films of the 1960s.

15. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - (1969, George Roy Hill) (Paul Newman, Robert Redford). The film is about friendship between Newman and Redford, from the opening to the final scene… Sundance seems closer to the traditional Western character... He is strong, silent, willing to face confrontations and shoot it out… Butch is charming and brave, who has never killed anyone, and tries to avoid showdowns…

16. Rosemary's Baby - (1968, Roman Polanski) (Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon). Rosemary's Baby  showcases a couple of  the most memorable performances: Mia Farrow as Rosemary Woodhouse. She looks like she is physically ill from her pregnancy . And Ruth Gordon, as Minnie Castevet, the always friendly, but giving you the feeling that, hidden behind her kindness. So, if you think a horror film needs shock moments, vampires, werewolf, serial killers or blood . You will change your mind after watching this film.

17. Breakfast at Tiffany's - (1961, Blake Edwards) (Audrey Hepburn, George Papard. Audrey is very believable as Holly because her character is someone who is pretending to be sophisticated girl from humble beginnings. Once in a while you will hear in her voice the "country-girl" drawl, and you will see through her. George Peppard is also very handsome and believable as the "starving" writer who also has to sell himself out in order to earn a living.

18. Point Blank - (1967, John Boorman) (Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Keenan Wynn). A huge influence on all the tough-loner-looking-for-revenge, movies to come. What's really interesting is how Marvin's unemotional and seldom speaking character will keep you watching.

19. Bullitt - (1968, Peter Yates) (Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Vaughn). Steve McQueen, plays a intense, low-key cop.  The film Bullitt, features the famous car-chase scene that set the standard .

20. From Russia With Love - (1963, Terence Young) (Sean Connery, Robert Shaw, Daniela Bianch). From Russia With Love ,is filled with nonstop action and adventure, and a intelligent plot that showcased the world was like in 1963. Capitalist and Communists are set to work against each other by SPECTRE, an organization which does not give any special considerations to economic systems, but wishes to weaken the balance of world power and take control . Great acting performances from not only Sean Connery, but Robert Shaw, Pedro Armendariz, and Lotte Lenya.

21. Cape Fear - (1962, J. Lee Thompson) (Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, Polly Bergen). Cape Fear, is riveting from first scene to last. It's well shot, the acting is excellent. It is an very interesting complex scary film.

Please click here to view my other "Groovy 60's" movie picks.

Don't Make Waves (1967).

Don't Make Waves (1967), which starred Tony Curtis, Claudia Cardinale and Sharon Tate. The film is based on the 1959 novel, Muscle Beach, by Ira Wallach. Directed by Alexander Mackendrick, the film showed a series of romantic triangles between the cast members living the Southern California life style. I think this film is fun to watch because it perfectly captures the Southern California scene in mid-sixties, a very interesting time. Please look for my list of favorite 60s films, which I will post up soon.

Please click here to view Monty's " Dont Make Waves" movie review.

Video: First of 10.



The score was composed by Vic Mizzy. Jim McGuinn and Chris Hillman wrote the title song, "Don't Make Waves," performed by The Byrds over the opening credits.

Sharon Tate told her husband Roman Polanski that her experience working on this film was tense, and it was worsened when a stuntman drowned when he parachuted into the Pacific Ocean.

The film was Sharon Tate's third to be produced, but is considered to be her debut. MGM ran a huge campaign that was based on Tate and her character, Malibu, and life-sized cardboard cutouts of Tate wearing a bikini were placed in cinema foyers throughout the United States. It was also linked to a widespread advertising campaign by Coppertone which also featured Tate.

The Malibu Barbie doll, first produced in 1973, was based on Tate and her character, Malibu.

Please click here to learn more about Sharon Tate.

In American Prince, his 2009 autobiography, Tony Curtis wrote of making Don't Make Waves: "The plot was utterly ridiculous, but I agreed to appear in the film because I got a percentage of the gross."

Please click here to learn more about Tony Curtis.

Oscar Blogathon: Best Actress 1963: Natalie Wood in, Love with the Proper Stranger(1963).

Natalie Wood, had a long Hollywood career. Her versatility served her well, maybe because she began performing in movies by the age of four and was a successful child actor in films such as, Miracle on 34th Street (1947). She also gave a wonderful performance in, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She then starred in the musicals: West Side Story (1961) and Gypsy (1962). She also received Academy Award nominations for her performances in the films, Splendor in the Grass (1961) and Love with the Proper Stranger(1963). A Romantic/comedy/ drama. Directed by Robert Mulligan. Cast: Natalie Wood, Steve McQueen, Edie Adams, Herschel Bernardi and Harvey Lembeck. The film is also the screen debut of Tom Bosley. The film's title song, written by Elmer Bernstein and Johnny Mercer, was recorded by Jack Jones.

The film begins, when Angie Rossini a Italian-American girl, finds herself pregnant after a "one night stand". The father is a musician named, Rocky Papasano and when she finds him, he does not remember her. All she wants from him is to give her enough money to help pay for an abortion.

Rocky comes up with the money for the abortion, but.. it turns out the abortionist is not a doctor. Rocky, refuses to let her go through with the abortion. He seems to really care about her and his concern brings them closer together. After meeting her brothers, Rocky says that he is ready to "take his medicine" by marrying her. Angie feelings are hurt and refuses, Angie wants a love relationship, with "bells and banjos."

Angie decides that it is best to move out on her own and begins to date her friend, Anthony. Rocky and Angie, cant seem to forget each other and Angie, invites him to dinner, where he makes advances towards her.



Angie says she doesn't want to make the same mistake and throws him out. The next day, Rocky waits for her outside Macy's, where she works, ringing bells and playing a banjo. Will he win her over?

I find it amazing that Natalie was just 25 years old at the time and to this day remains the youngest person to ever receive 3 Academy Award nominations. Love with the Proper Stranger, is a wonderful movie and before you know it you find yourself really hoping that they will get together. Wood's performance shows the most vulnerable side of this character. You may think, this film sounds like it is a great"chick flick", but... the story is has some wonderful comedic scenes that may appeal to the guys, too.

Please click here to read Natalie Wood's past reviews.

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961).

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). Romantic comedy. Cast: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Martin Balsam, and Mickey Rooney. The film was directed by Blake Edwards. It was loosely based on the novel of the same name by Truman Capote. Orangey as "Cat" (trained by Frank Inn). Hepburn's performance of "Moon River" helped composer Henry Mancini and lyricist Johnny Mercer win an Oscar for Best Song.

The story begins in the early morning hours, as a taxicab pulls up at Tiffany's and Holly Golightly, enjoys her "Breakfast at Tiffany's" while looking in the window. At her apartment building, Holly sneaks away from her date from the night before, who has been waiting in his car all night.

The next morning, Holly is awakened by her new neighbor Paul Varjak, ringing the door bell. After feeding her pet cat she calls "Cat", Holly visits with Paul, as she quickly dresses for her visit to Sing Sing prison. This is a weekly routine from which she earns $100 for a visit with mob boss, Sally Tomato.

Wealthy Emily Failenson, arrives at the apartment and is introduced as Paul's "decorator". Holly later drops by Paul's apartment to escape another date and sees Failenson leave money on a table.

Paul is invited to Holly's party, where he meets Jose da Silva Pereira, a rich Brazilian and Rusty Trawler, one of the richest American's under 50. Paul, also meets Holly's "agent" O. J. Berman who tells Paul that Holly is a "real phoney".

After becoming fast friends, Paul joins Holly when she visits Sally at Sing Sing. One afternoon, Paul hears Holly playing guitar and singing "Moon River" from her windowsill. This is when they first realize that they are attracted to each other. Unfortunately Holly, is a "free spirit" a independent, adventurous woman who lives for the moment. Will her love for Paul turn her life around?



These two actors performances are what make the film memorable. One of my favorite scenes is when, Holly and Paul agree to spend the day together, visiting the library and going to Tiffany's, where Paul has the ring from a box of Cracker Jacks engraved. Below is the movie trailer, Breakfast at Tiffany's .



Fun Facts:

In the novel, there is no mention of anything romantic going on between Holly Golightly and the character who is named Paul in the film (in the novel, he is nameless). The character of Paul's "decorator", Mrs Emily Eustace Failenson or Patricia Neal, does not feature in the book and was originated in the film.

In the novel, Mag Wildwood, a model with a stuttering problem, moves into Holly's apartment after Holly falls out with the novelist upstairs. In the film, Mag appears as a stuttering guest who arrives at Holly's party with Rusty Trawler.

The film changed the novella's unresolved, open ending to a more conventional "Hollywood" romantic happy ending.

Capote, who sold the film rights of his novella to Paramount Studios, wanted Marilyn Monroe to play the role of Holly Golightly in the film. Barry Paris references a quote by Capote: "Marilyn was always my first choice to play the girl, Holly Golightly." Screenwriter Axelrod was hired to "tailor the screenplay for Monroe." When Lee Strasberg advised Monroe that playing a prostitute would be bad for her image, she turned it down. When Hepburn was cast instead of Monroe, Capote remarked: "Paramount double-crossed me in every way and cast Audrey."

Kim Novak was asked to play the role of Holly Golightly, but she turned it down, for fear of being typecast as a scared sex kitten.

Originally producers Martin Jurow and Richard Shepherd had picked John Frankenheimer as the director, but Hepburn said: "I've never heard of him" and he was replaced on her request.

Most of the exteriors were filmed in New York City, except the fire escape scenes and the alley scene at the end in the rain where Holly puts Cat out of the cab and then Paul and Holly look for Cat. All of the interiors, except for portions of the scene inside Tiffany's, were filmed on the Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood.

It was rumored that the film's on-location opening sequence, in which Holly looks into a Tiffany's display window, was extremely difficult for director Blake Edwards to shoot. Crowd control, Hepburn's dislike of pastries, and an accident that nearly electrocuted a crew member are all said to have made filming the scene a challenge.

Audrey Hepburn said the scene where she throws Cat into the rainy street was the most distasteful thing she ever had to do on film.

George Peppard was a student of Method acting, a style Hepburn found difficult to work with. Nonetheless, the two actors remained close friends until her death.

Holly's couch is really an old-fashioned bathtub split in half. In some scenes, you can still see the gold handles at one end and the legs on the bottom.

Hepburn as Holly, carrying an over sized cigarette holder, is considered one of the most iconic images of 20th century American cinema.

Orangey, a red tabby cat, was owned and trained by animal trainer, Frank Inn. Orangey (credited under various names) performed in film and television in the 1950s and early 1960s and was the only cat to win two Patsy Awards (Picture Animal Top Star of the Year, an animal actor's version of an Oscar) - the first for the title role in Rhubarb (1951), a story about a cat who inherits a fortune, and the second for his performance in, Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). Other appearances included a regular role as "Minerva" on the television series, Our Miss Brooks (1952-1958). The cat was also credited as "Jimmy" and "Rhubarb".

Filmography:

Rhubarb (1951) (uncredited) .... Rhubarb
This Island Earth (1955) (uncredited) .... Neutron
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) (uncredited) .... Cat
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) (as Cat)
Gigot (1962) (uncredited)
The Comedy of Terrors (1964) (as Rhubarb the Cat) .... Cleopatra
Village of the Giants (1965) (uncredited) .... Giant Cat