3 Best Movies & Shows Released in The 1960s

If we were to list down the best of the best movie musicals ever made, most of the titles would probably come from the Golden Age of Hollywood. But we’d be remiss to forget that just a few years later, all the way across the pond, came The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, a French romantic musical from Jacques Demy. It's certainly in the running for the most gorgeous musical ever made, with the bold, dreamy colors, incredible camera work, stylish costumes, and two beautiful leads front and center, but what makes Cherbourg great is the lush composition made by Michel Legrand. With the sweeping violins and the tragic lyrics of Devant le Garage, to the catchy, jazzy Scène du Garage that starts off the film, Les Parapluies de Cherbourg brings together sublime visuals and sound into one of the greatest musicals ever made.

Genre: Drama, Romance

Actor: Anne Vernon, Catherine Deneuve, Dorothée Blanck, Ellen Farner, Harald Wolff, Jacques Demy, Jean Champion, Marc Michel, Michel Legrand, Mireille Perrey, Mirelle Perrey, Nino Castelnuovo, Paul Pavel, Rosalie Varda

Director: Jacques Demy

Rating: Not Rated, PG-13

Based on a stage play of the same name, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a masterful example of how vital blocking is in movies. The film takes place in a few locations--a New England home, the yard, and a roadhouse a few miles away--and is shot in simple black and white. There are only four characters here. And yet, the film feels dynamic, volcanic even--every scene erupts with so much anger, passion, love, and frustration. The characters move about like they’re in a highly charged dance, and each of their lines feels like a dagger straight to the heart. You could easily see how this worked as a play, but Mike Nichols (The Graduate, Charlie Wilson's War) translates it smartly into film. The camera is as restless as the characters, and each frame is a thoughtful decision of what to show and what not to show, betraying their actual ignorance despite their academia. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? remains a classic for a reason: it set the standard for a lot of dialogue-heavy, raw-honest films these days, but it’s also simply a riot to watch.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Agnes Flanagan, Elizabeth Taylor, George Segal, Richard Burton, Sandy Dennis

Director: Mike Nichols

Rating: NR

Rife with controversy and released after one of the leads’ death, it’s no wonder that The Misfits was commercially panned upon release despite the big names on its cast. But make no mistake– it’s a pretty good movie. It’s not the usual movie that the leads would have made, but maybe it’s because of this that Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Cline delivered some of their best performances. At first glance, the film presents their usual star personas, but the story twists their usual plots in a melancholic, eerily prophetic way, culminating in a last-ditch effort around the desert that gets them to question what they have become. Classic film fans might find it tough to watch the film without thinking about the later tragedies the actors faced in real life, but The Misfits marked a shift for the Hollywood studio system, eventually garnering a reputation as a cult classic.

Genre: Drama, Romance, Western

Actor: Clark Gable, Eli Wallach, Estelle Winwood, James Barton, John Huston, Kevin McCarthy, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Rex Bell, Thelma Ritter

Director: John Huston

Rating: NR