Best Films of 1968

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Mark Harris' Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood (Penguin, on sale now) is about how a fresher, nervier, less formal kind of filmmaking found its stride in 1967 when The Graduate and Bonnie and Clyde -- stories about misfits saying no to the man in their own peculiar madcap way, and unmistakable metaphors about the social rumblings of the time -- were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.

Charlie Bubbles, If...

The other three nominees were the more traditional-minded Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, In The Heat of the Night and Dr. Doolittle, and it wasn't too surprising when In The Heat of The Night finally won, given the industry's tendency to ratify middlebrow. But the official respect paid to The Graduate and Bonne and Clyde was historic. It meant that the square, hold-your-horses mindsets of old-school Hollywood were being pushed aside by the industry's younger players, many of whom were in their late 20s, 30s and early 40s. Hence Harris's use of the word "revolution."

But the following year everything kind of rolled back. The Best Picture nominees of 1968 all felt traditional, soft or somehow confined -- the heavy-handed Oliver!, the passionate but stodgy Funny Girl, the sharply written and wonderfully acted but talky-theatrical The Lion In Winter, Paul Newman's indie-flavored character portrait Rachel, Rachel, and Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet. These were not the best films of the year -- they were films that seemed to most comfortably fit some kind of lazy Best Picture "definition" that probably calmed on some level. Traumatic political events had rocked the country that year, and a lot of people wanted to settle down and chill.

By today's reckonings, a list of the best films of 1968 would have to include Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Peter Yates' Bullitt, Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West, Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby, Francois Truffaut's Stolen Kisses, Richard Lester's Petulia, Lindsay Anderson's If..., Ingmar Bergman's Shame, Claude Chabrol's Les Biches, John Cassavetes' Faces, Claude Berri's The Two of Us, Trufffaut's The Bride Wore Black, Luis Bunuel's Belle du Jour, Milos Forman's The Fireman's Ball, Don Siegel's Madigan and Coogan's Bluff, George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, Jean Luc Godard's La Chinoise, George Dunning's Yellow Submarine and Albert Finney's Charlie Bubbles.

What am I missing? Don't say The Thomas Crown Affair because it hasn't aged well.

If I'd been the emperor of Hollywood the five Best Picture nominees of 1968 would have been 2001: A Space Odyssey, Rosemary's Baby, If..., The Lion in Winter and Petulia. But the Kubrick would have won.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on February 18, 2008 at 5:09 PM

comment #1

thevisceral says ...

I thought Les Biches sucked frankly.

Posted by thevisceral at February 18, 2008 7:10 PM

comment #2

jaredsap says ...

I can't believe you forgot PETULIA.

Posted by jaredsap at February 18, 2008 7:26 PM

comment #3

Jeremy Smith says ...

Mel Brooks's THE PRODUCERS, the Maysles' SALESMAN, Pennebaker's MONTEREY POP, De Palma's GREETINGS, Bogdanovich's TARGETS, and Corbucci's THE GREAT SILENCE were all '68. PRETTY POISON, too.

Top five for me: ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, 2001, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, FACES and STOLEN KISSES. I guess Leone would be the winner.

Posted by Jeremy Smith at February 18, 2008 7:30 PM

comment #4

Rosebudsthesled says ...

WEEK END. Technically it was released in the US in 1968, so it's a 1968 movie. I'm taking a class on 1968 movies at my school and we're going to watch that in a week or two.

Posted by Rosebudsthesled at February 18, 2008 7:56 PM

comment #5

BurmaShave says ...

THE PRODUCERS definetly. And independant of the car chase (here we go again!), how has BULLITT aged any better than THOMAS CROWN?

Posted by BurmaShave at February 18, 2008 7:58 PM

comment #6

gruver1 says ...

Wells to Jaredsap: "Petulia"...God! I don't know what I was thinking. Thanks. Fixed it.

Posted by gruver1 at February 18, 2008 8:01 PM

comment #7

Jeremy Smith says ...

LA CHINOISE is '67, too. I'll take WEEK END every time.

Posted by Jeremy Smith at February 18, 2008 8:08 PM

comment #8

lipranzer says ...

Don't forget John Boorman's other great movie with Lee Marvin, HELL IN THE PACIFIC. It would be included in my top 5, along with WEEKEND, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, SHAME, and my top pick, 2001.

Posted by lipranzer at February 18, 2008 8:13 PM

comment #9

Joe Leydon says ...

Whenever someone dismisses In the Heat of the Night, I always ask myself: (1)Does this person have any sense of historical context, and appreciate what a ballsy movie it was to make in 1967? (2)Has this person seen In the Heat of the Night lately? Trust me: It holds up much better than a lot of "cutting edge" movies from the '60s and '70s. Try watching Easy Rider, and you'll see what I mean.

Posted by Joe Leydon at February 18, 2008 8:17 PM

comment #10

lipranzer says ...

Oh, and according to the IMdB, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST is a 1969 release, and is #4 on my list for that year (behind Z, THE WILD BUNCH, and MEDIUM COOL).

Posted by lipranzer at February 18, 2008 8:21 PM

comment #11

erniesouchak says ...

Malcolm McDowell in "If..." is one of the best debut performances of all time.

Posted by erniesouchak at February 18, 2008 8:22 PM

comment #12

Jeremy Smith says ...

Joe: I think IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT holds up just fine (it's probably Jewison's best film), but "ballsy" would more aptly describe something like Anthony Harvey's DUTCHMAN, which was also released in '67.

Posted by Jeremy Smith at February 18, 2008 8:26 PM

comment #13

christian says ...

And in 69, the x-rated MIDNIGHT COWBOY was nominated for best picture. MEDIUM COOL was ignored but is imho the best American film of the 60's. Shoulda got noms for editing, cinematography, directing and picture.

Joe, EASY RIDER holds up just beautifully, man.
Seriously. The film isn't an idyllic look at gentle hippies. And watching Nicholson become a star always turns me on.

Posted by christian at February 18, 2008 8:27 PM

comment #14

Joe Leydon says ...

I would describe as ballsy a movie dealing with subject matter certain to piss off a whopping big percentage of the populace. And if you ever doubt that was the case with In the Heat of the Night, go back and look at the original newspaper ad and lobby poster art -- silhouettes designed to obfuscate the fact that a black hero figures prominently in the film. No kidding.

Also: Medium Cool (also rated X in its time) opened in New Orleans (and in other cities, I am sure) at suburban mulitplexes alongside more traditional Hollywood fare, hyped with radio ads on rock stations. I was reminded of that when I showed the film to my students last weekend. I tried to explain to them that there was a time when major studios (in this case, Paramount) had the balls to open movies like this in mainstream release. I'm not entirely sure they believed me.

Posted by Joe Leydon at February 18, 2008 9:19 PM

comment #15

Joe Leydon says ...

And again I ask: Why the hell isn't Charlie Bubbles on DVD?

Posted by Joe Leydon at February 18, 2008 9:21 PM

comment #16

BurmaShave says ...

EASY RIDER doesn't hold up well as a whole, though the final portion is still chilling. I still find FIVE EASY PIECES to be much more devastating.

Posted by BurmaShave at February 18, 2008 9:56 PM

comment #17

MickTravis says ...

Who's that handsome dude in the scarf?

Posted by MickTravis at February 19, 2008 12:29 AM

comment #18

MPNeeb says ...

For 1968 I'd nominate WITCHFINDER GENERAL (d. Michael Reeves), PRETTY POISON (d. Noel Black) and (WTH) PLANET OF THE APES (d. Frank Schaffner) in addition to the list already cited.

Posted by MPNeeb at February 19, 2008 1:07 AM

comment #19

MAGGA says ...

A year ago 2001 would have been a 68 no-brainer, but Week End somehow hits more of a chord with me now, so if it is seen as a 68 US release it might just take the price. Easy Riders I sort of like. I despise most magic-hour looks at the sixties and the uninventive choice of music when done in retrospect, but Easy Rider, while utterly incompetent as filmmaking, gets its charm from being completely overblown and obsessed with the meaning of the silly actions of these rebels, rather than being ABOUT it, and gets some authenticity as well as a cultural-historical meaning: It can not be made again, just like movies in the future ABOUT the Bush years can never describe the lowbrow thinking of our times like Juno does today, thereby possibly making Juno something of some contextual value in the future. Who knows?

Posted by MAGGA at February 19, 2008 2:18 AM

comment #20

corey3rd says ...

Planet of the Apes was robbed.

Posted by corey3rd at February 19, 2008 6:08 AM

comment #21

christian says ...

"Easy Rider, while utterly incompetent as filmmaking,"

I never thought of Lazlo Kovac's famous influential camerwork as utterly incompetent, but hey, that's me. And Nicholson incompetented himself into stardom with his few minutes of screen time.

Posted by christian at February 19, 2008 7:46 AM

comment #22

christian says ...

Of course, SKIDOO should have been nominated...

Posted by christian at February 19, 2008 7:47 AM

comment #23

Rich S. says ...

Okay, christian, I've been waiting for this. Finally caught Skidoo after I recorded it off TCM. My first time, I only made it to the part where Carol Channing strips down to her bra to seduce Frankie Avalon (yes, the rest of you read that right), and then turned it off.

But I felt I owed it to your passion to persevere, so I tried again and made it all the way through. Two weeks later, and I still can't get Harry Nilson's Skidoo song out of my head. It's not a good film. In fact, it's not even bad enough to be good in a goofy sort of way. But it is unique, I'll give you that. And I'll give you props for your passionate support (I watched your YouTube intro before I watched it). But, seriously, WTF?

Posted by Rich S. at February 19, 2008 7:58 AM

comment #24

christian says ...

You just need to see it again, Rich. And again. Plus, allow me to hand you this purple micro-dot capsule. You're going on a trip...

Posted by christian at February 19, 2008 8:01 AM

comment #25

Gordie Lachance says ...

FYI-

Paramount has just discontinued the dvd for "Medium Cool", so if you don't already own it, start scouring your local dvd shops.

Posted by Gordie Lachance at February 19, 2008 8:57 AM

comment #26

T. S. Idiot says ...

Christian's love for Skidoo is immortalized in Foster Hirsch's outstanding Preminger bio.

Posted by T. S. Idiot at February 19, 2008 9:15 AM

comment #27

christian says ...

For which I am eternally grateful to Foster.
An it is a fantastic book.

Posted by christian at February 19, 2008 9:55 AM

comment #28

George Prager says ...

"I thought Les Biches sucked frankly."

So did I. I guess that makes me a plagarist. LION IN WINTER sucks as well (saw it a couple of months ago).

"And independant of the car chase (here we go again!), how has BULLITT aged any better than THOMAS CROWN?"

It doesn't have that cheesy split screen crap. And it has Norman Fell, who is timeless.

The song "I Will Take You There" which is in SKIDOO is fantastic.

As far as 1968 is concerned, after the ones people have already listed: TARGETS, WILD IN THE STREETS, NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY, PSYCH-OUT, VIXEN!, THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER, THE GREEN SLIME (the most comical monsters this side of INDEPENDENCE DAY), SPIDER BABY, DANGER: DIABOLIK, THE SWIMMER (c'mon, NICK NOLTE...how about a remake!), TEORAMA, HEAD...these are all well worth checking out.

Posted by George Prager at February 19, 2008 10:12 AM

comment #29

George Prager says ...

And IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT holds up better than most movies from last year. It's still awesome. So may great scenes that I still look forward to watching.

Posted by George Prager at February 19, 2008 10:14 AM

comment #30

christian says ...

THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER at least got Alan Arkin his second best actor nom. He's great.
And is RACHEL RACHEL even available on DVD?

Posted by christian at February 19, 2008 11:09 AM

comment #31

Joe Leydon says ...

Wild in the Streets was the very first movie I ever reviewed for a professional, non-school publication. (I was 15 going on 16 at the time.) Granted, it was the Clarion Herald, the weekly Catholic newspaper in New Orleans, but it was still a real weekly that people paid money for, not my school paper or even a suburban giveaway paper. I used to have the soundtrack LP. And I think I've posted this already, but: Just a few months back, I noticed that Target was using a song from the movie -- "(Nothing Can Change) The Shape of Things to Come" -- in TV spots.

Posted by Joe Leydon at February 19, 2008 12:55 PM

comment #32

christian says ...

That still shocks me. I have the WITS soundtrack -- purchased in Austin way back when in fact -- but the movie is a cynical bummer. Hal Holbrook is pretty great tho. Some of the most naturalistic scenes of any AIP film from the era. And dig Richard Pryor as Stanley X...

Posted by christian at February 19, 2008 1:14 PM

comment #33

Joe Leydon says ...

And, gosh, what the hell ever happened to Christopher Jones? He was (fleetingly) big enough to get cast in a David Lean movie -- and then, the express lane into obscurity. Too bad. (Actually thought Ryan's Daughter was under-rated back when I saw it in the '70s. Don't know what I would think about it now.)

Posted by Joe Leydon at February 19, 2008 2:32 PM

comment #34

Edward says ...

I love George Romero. I think Knightriders is one of his masterpieces and there's nothing that compares to Dawn of the Dead. It's a great script. That all being said, Night has some great moments, but overall I don't think it's aged well.

Posted by Edward at February 19, 2008 3:04 PM

comment #35

T. S. Idiot says ...

A surprised reporter spotted Woody Allen leaving a screening of The Green Slime and asked for an explanation, with our Woody claiming he went to see the cinematography.

Posted by T. S. Idiot at February 20, 2008 5:28 AM

comment #36

christian says ...

That might be the greatest movie story I've ever heard.

Posted by christian at February 20, 2008 9:25 AM

comment #37

Cadavra says ...

Christopher Jones had (according to Sam Arkoff) some mental issues, exacerbated by drug use, and after suffering a nervous breakdown, voluntarily retired from acting. Except for a cameo in MAD DOG TIME, he's turned down all offers to return, including the role of Zed in PULP FICTION.

Posted by Cadavra at February 20, 2008 9:55 AM

comment #38