1960 BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!

This is my choice (choices) for Best Picture for the year 1960.  My criteria is that I can only use films that are on the 1001 list. To make it a little easier on myself, I am using the rules of the first Academy Award and name a winner for Best Picture (won by Wings for 1927-1928) and Best and Unique and Artistic Picture (won by Sunrise from 1927-1928). 

And the nominees on the entries from 1960 for every edition of 1001 Movie You Must See Before You Die are...
Eyes Without a Face
Le Trou
Rocco and His Brothers
La Dolce Vita
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
Shoot the Piano Player
L'avventura
The Young One
The Cloud-Capped Star
The Housemaid
Psycho
Black Sunday
Peeping Tom
The Apartment
Spartacus

And the winner for the Best Picture of 1960 is…Psycho

                    

 Psycho

I've seen it a dozen times. Norman Bates in that hotel.Janet Leigh in the shower. Mamma in the cellar. It's with me forever. Can't not pick this one.

Psycho

And the Award for Unique and Artistic Picture of 1960 is...uh...uh...
This year's category for Unique and Artistic Picture is the one I couldn't decide on. I'm going to have to think this one out.

Eyes Without a Face is a good B-Horror movie, but in a year with Psycho and Peeping Tom, it just isn't going to make it.

Le Trou, the prison escape movie that I found totally absorbing is a real possibility.

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, good film about working class Brits may have won in other years, but not the winner in this unusually strong year.

Shoot the Piano Player is my favorite of the Francois Truffaut films that I've seen, though may be to stuck in the gangster genre to win the artistic award.

L'avventura and La Dolce Vita, two landmark art films and among their respective director's best!

The Young One, Different and worthwhile Luis Bunuel, but not going to win this time.

The Cloud-Capped Star, recommended film, though I like director Ghatak's Subarnarekha more.

The Housemaid, another horror film ahead of its time from this year! What is it about 1960?

Black Sunday, Italian horror film. Nice B-picture, but not really the one to win.

Psycho, Could have one the award in this category, but I chose to give it the other award. So gotta keep looking!

Peeping Tom, Killer film in some ways more ahead of its time than Psycho. Decisions! Decisions!

The Apartment and Spartacus, two favorite films of mine in their own right. What to do?

Rocco and His Brothers, epic tale of 1960 Italy and a families struggle to make it....Excellent film! Ugh!

And the winner for Unique and Artistic Picture is...Peeping Tom
Whereas Psycho was a stylish upgrade of B-movie horror, Peeping Tom was Michael Powell's "so far ahead of its time it isn't even funny" slasher film. Since I couldn't really make up my mind for award, I thought it would be right to have two horror films in a year of innovative and influential films in this genre.

Peeping Tom

Let's move on before I change my mind again!

1946 BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!

This is my choice (choices) for Best Picture for the year 1946.  My criteria is that I can only use films that are on the 1001 list. To make it a little easier on myself, I am using the rules of the first Academy Award and name a winner for Best Picture (won by Wings for 1927-1928) and Best and Unique and Artistic Picture (won by Sunrise from 1927-1928). 

Unlike 1945, 1946 gave me too many choices instead of too few.

And the nominees on the entries from every edition of 1001 Movie You Must See Before You Die are...
The Best Years of Our Life
Brief Encounter
Paisan
The Postman Always Rings Twice
My Darling Clementine
The Stranger
Beauty and the Beast
The Big Sleep
The Killers
A Matter of Life and Death
Great Expectations
Notorious
Black Narcissus
It's a Wonderful Life

And the winner for the Best Picture of 1946 is…It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life

There were so many worthwhile choices from this year, but how could I not go with the story of George Bailey, Bedford Falls and a guardian angel named Clarence? How many times have I seen this movie? Too many to count and it always hits the spot the right way. It's got to be the winner. The other category was a little harder.

It's a Wonderful Life

And the Award for Unique and Artistic Picture of 1946 is...A Matter of Life and Death

A Matter of Life and Death

Labeling which films should be categorized as Unique and Artistic is difficult. Maybe that's one reason the Academy dumped this award after one year.

A Matter of Life and Death doesn't have the epic narrative arc of the The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp or the scenic romanticism of I Know Where I'm Going!, but A Matter of Life and Death is the Powell/Pressburger film of the three that I enjoyed the most.

The plot of a doomed pilot that is snatched from the jaws of death accidentally and finds his true love is pretty similar plotwise to the later Heaven Can Wait. The film's fantasy elements and use of color and black and white film give the film an otherworldly effect similar to The Wizard of Oz. The section of the film with the pilot trying to make a case to stay on earth could have ventured into over sentimentalization, but never does. In fact, his trial before jurors from the after-life might be the highlight of the film.

The leads of David Niven and Kim Hunter in the film are fine. But the two performers that really stand out are Raymond Massey as the celestial prosecutor and Roger Livesy (who was in the other two films I mentioned and has one of the greatest screen voices of all-time) as the doctor.

A Matter of Life and Death

A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (1946, GREAT BRITAIN)

ALL THIS AND WORLD WAR II MONTH

(Post 3 of 10)

A Matter of Life and Death

A Matter of Life and Death doesn't have the epic narrative arc of the The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp or the scenic romanticism of I Know Where I'm Going!, but A Matter of Life and Death is the Powell/Pressburger film of the three that I enjoyed the most.

The plot of a doomed pilot that is snatched from the jaws of death accidentally and finds his true love is pretty similar plotwise to the later Heaven Can Wait. The film's fantasy elements and use of color and black and white film give the film an otherworldly effect similar to The Wizard of Oz. The section of the film with the pilot trying to make a case to stay on earth could have ventured into over sentimentalization, but never does. In fact, his trial before jurors from the after-life might be the highlight of the film.

The leads of David Niven and Kim Hunter in the film are fine. But the two performers that really stand out are Raymond Massey as the celestial prosecutor and Roger Livesy (who was in the other two films I mentioned and has one of the greatest screen voices of all-time) as the doctor.

From the Soundtrack of All This and World War II

I guess it shows how popular Leo Sayer was in 1976 that he actually got three tracks on the All This and World War II soundtrack. Leo's hits of the era include When I Need You, How Much Love and the undeniably catchy You Make Me Feel Like Dancing.

And his version of I Am the Walrus isn't as bad as you might think.

I Am the Walrus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJBKlG1grJg

The Long and Winding Road

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DhFaY0XnW8

Let it Be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEX8nydydSI

Who said you can't find a picture of Leo Sayer

with one of the Beatles?

Here's Leo with George Harrison

PEEPING TOM (1960), GREAT BRITAIN, BLACK NARCISSUS (1946, GREAT BRITAIN)

(Rod and Chip Go To the Movies, Part 4: The Awakening)

The names have been changed to protect the innocent. The events depicted are real…sort of.

Sometime in the 80’s…

Rod and I came out of The Silver Screen Theater breathing a sigh of relief. After the fiasco a couple of weeks ago involving our unwitting viewing of the gay oriented films Satyricon and Sebastiane, our recent Silver Screen double feature viewing of Peeping Tom and Black Narcissus provided a welcome relief.

“Can you believe Peeping Tom was made over twenty years ago?” I asked Rod.

Rod rubbed his chin as he thought my question over. “It kind of puts Blood Beach and New Year’s Evil in their proper place on the movie quality food chain. Oh, and did you catch the nude scene? It was only for about a second. But I clearly saw breasts.”

“No way, that was a 1960 movie. You were just imagining things.” I said.

“I know what I saw,” Rod said, holding his position.

I told him that if he imagined he saw a brief nude scene, than a nude scene it was. I didn’t want to argue the point. When I asked him about the other film we saw, Black Narcissus, he looked much more puzzled.

“That was a tough nut to crack,” he said. “Beautiful looking film. I wasn’t sure of the point. I have to admit when that nun shed her habit and put on her lipstick it was pretty darn sexy.”

“We got to get you a girlfriend, pronto.” I snickered as I said it, but I actually found the scene a bit provocative as well.

“Back to your original question,” Rod said. “I wasn’t really sure of the point of Black Narcissus, but just by definition of it being shown at the Silver Screen, it had to have a point. Am I not right, Chip old man? That’s the comfort in seeing a movie here. You know they're not going to show something like Chu Chu and the Philly Flash or Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen. What they show will have significance to someone, somewhere in someway. Comprende?”

I nodded as I thought he had actually made a good point. As we left the theater, I grabbed the Silver Screen calendar.

“Before you continue with your metaphysical philosophy on film choice, why don’t we take a peek at the coming attractions,” I said.

I looked at the calendar for a moment before all feeling left my hand and dropped the calendar to the sidewalk.

Rod picked it up and looked at it. “What’s the matter with you, are you-Oh, my God!”

Rod and I sat down at the same time on the bench outside the box office.

“It’s over. Can you believe it? This is the last movie,” Rod said.

Neither one of us said anything else for the next minute until a man in a three-piece suit came up to us.

“Hey, I know you guys,” the man said. “I saw you at the Rhodes for Motel Hell and for Il Sebastiane here couple of weeks ago.”

Being still in a state of shock, it took a moment for us to recognize him as the man who was dressed as Frank-n-Furter at the Rhodes Halloween week and the man who was with another man he referred to as his husband during the showing of the infamous Sebastiane the week after. It’s funny how the embarrassment of seeing that film suddenly seemed so unimportant.

“Oh, hello. You look different.” I said to him, though my mind was still on the closing of the theater.

“Well, I wouldn’t get much business as an accountant if I dressed like a queen from nine to five, would I? Anyway, my real name actually is Frank. You probably don’t believe it, but it's true.”

He stuck his hand out for us to shake. After we shook his hand, he joined us on our bench.

“A shame this place is being shut down, isn’t it?” he said.

“What happened Frank? Why are they taking away our theater?” Rod asked.

“Georgia-Pacific bought it, I believe. The venerable old movie house just doesn’t do enough business anymore. People want to see second run movies, they just rent a videocassette these days.”

I looked at him like he was crazy. “Videocassettes? Like I have Eight-Hundred dollars to buy one of those players or sixty more to buy a movie. And I want to see it on the big screen anyway. What the hells the matter with people?”

“I know. I know.” Frank said as he tried to comfort me by patting my hand. “You’re preaching to the choir, honey.”

As if suddenly waking out of a trance, Rod grabbed me by my shirtsleeve. “At least we still have the Rhodes. They aren’t planning to shut that down I imagine.”

Frank handed Rod a copy of the Arts and Entertainment section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he had just pulled out of his breast pocket.

Rod looked down the pages and began to read: Atlanta’s Rhodes theater will be showing the 1938 Spencer Tracy-Clark Gable movie Test Pilot this weekend.

Rod looked up. “You see! They’re still in business.”

“Keep reading.” Frank said.

The Rhodes is showing this film because it was the first film it showed in 1938, so the management thought this would be a fitting final farewell before the Rhodes goes under the wrecking…

Rod pulled his head from the paper and looked skyward before looking back and finishing…before the Rhodes closes its doors for good and goes under the wrecking ball.

Rod handed the paper back to Frank who casually tossed it to the ground.

The three of us sat on the bench and starred across the parking lot at the venerable Oxford Bookstore, wondering if even that Atlanta institution might one day be vulnerable to the greed of land developers.

“So, what do we do now?” I asked.

Frank turned to us and put out his hand to emphasize his point. “And they’re moving Rocky Horror from Garden Hills to Northlake Plaza next week. Can you believe it? Me..in suburbia”

Rod showed a little interest “I’ve never seen it. You, Chip?”

I shook my head.

Frank let out a laugh that came close to registering as a squeal. “Oh, my. A couple of virgins, huh? Well come down to Northlake next Saturday, midnight.”

“We might as well,” Rod said. “Our social options seem to be suddenly limited.”

Frank stood up. “I got to run. I’ll look for you kids. Remember Rocky Horror. It’ll make you forget about this disappointment. Come dressed up if you dare. I’ll copy an extra script for you if you want to participate. Hey, you’d make a good Eddie,” Frank said looking my way as he left the two of us on our bench.

“What did he mean by that?” I asked Rod

“Oh, I’m not sure. I’m not sure of anything anymore. My whole worldview has been decimated into fragments.”

I took one last look at the calendar. “Peeping Tom and Black Narcissus have one more showing tomorrow. You want to come back?”

“We’ve already seen these two, but I guess we could come tomorrow and watch them again. One more chance to…no, that would be prolonging the agony. I’m done. It’s time to move on.” Rod sighed.

“I guess you’re right. Guess I’ll save up for a video cassette player.”

“Guess the first movie you’ll get will be Pillow Talk. You’ll be able to watch it anytime you want.”

“Shut up about Pillow Talk already!”

Rod laughed and I couldn’t help but smile a little too, though I was not smiling at his endless need to make fun of the movie Pillow Talk. I was instead thinking of all the great movie moments that I had experienced at the greatest theater in the world over the last few years.

We both turned our gaze to the Silver Screen marquee one last time before driving away.

IN OUR NEXT EPISODE OF ROD AND CHIP GO TO THE MOVIES...WE SEE ROD AND CHIP GOING TO THE MOVIES DURING THE 90'S, BUT WILL IT BE FOR THE LAST TIME?