Was 1962 the Best Year For Movies? A New Book Says Yes (1 Viewer)

[Garysb]

From Deadline

From ‘Lawrence Of Arabia’ And ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ To The Debut Of James Bond, Was 1962 The Greatest Movie Year EVER? A New Book Says Yes

Looking for some good movies to keep you occupied while self-quarantining at home these days? How about watching some certified classics like Lawrence Of Arabia, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Miracle Worker, The Manchurian Candidate, Sweet Bird Of Youth, The Longest Day, Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? , The Music Man, Birdman Of Alcatraz, Dr. No (the first James Bond film), Days Of Wine And Roses, Jules And Jim, Divorce Italian Style, Lolita? I could go on and on with these films and several others which all have one thing in common. They were all released in 1962.


And now with so much time on your hands you can see for yourself why film critic Stephen Farber and veteran exhibition executive Michael McClellan are out to prove that 1962 is in hindsight – 58 years later – unquestionably the best year ever in the history of cinema. And with the publication of their new book “Cinema ’62: The Greatest Year At The Movies” they make a pretty convincing case. An amazing bunch of movies, domestically and internationally came out that year, a watershed moment in the history of cinema and perfect for streaming in dark times.

https://deadline.com/2020/03/lawren...vie-year-ever-a-new-book-says-yes-1202893779/

 

[JoeDoakes]

1939 or1974

 

[Robert Crawford]

From Deadline

From ‘Lawrence Of Arabia’ And ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ To The Debut Of James Bond, Was 1962 The Greatest Movie Year EVER? A New Book Says Yes

Looking for some good movies to keep you occupied while self-quarantining at home these days? How about watching some certified classics like Lawrence Of Arabia, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Miracle Worker, The Manchurian Candidate, Sweet Bird Of Youth, The Longest Day, Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? , The Music Man, Birdman Of Alcatraz, Dr. No (the first James Bond film), Days Of Wine And Roses, Jules And Jim, Divorce Italian Style, Lolita? I could go on and on with these films and several others which all have one thing in common. They were all released in 1962.


And now with so much time on your hands you can see for yourself why film critic Stephen Farber and veteran exhibition executive Michael McClellan are out to prove that 1962 is in hindsight – 58 years later – unquestionably the best year ever in the history of cinema. And with the publication of their new book “Cinema ’62: The Greatest Year At The Movies” they make a pretty convincing case. An amazing bunch of movies, domestically and internationally came out that year, a watershed moment in the history of cinema and perfect for streaming in dark times.



https://deadline.com/2020/03/lawren...vie-year-ever-a-new-book-says-yes-1202893779/

I edited your post about this book to include only excerpts from that article because you copied the entire article without any active link to that site in which the article originated from. Let's give Deadline some copyrighted respect as we can read the entire article on their site by clicking on the link I added. Also, I'm moving this thread to Movies.

By the way, didn't we had this same discussion not too long ago in another thread?

 

[ScottHM]

The best year for movies is 2020, because I can watch most of those "old" movies whenever I want to.
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[jcroy]

The best year is when one is age 13.

I have to wonder what are the ages of the authors who wrote this book. From some googling, I suspect these guys are possibly retired in their 70s or older. If this is indeed the case, then they were possibly teenagers in 1962.

 

[Lord Dalek]

The best year is when one is age 13.

Aside from The Matrix, 1999 wasn't that great TBQH.

 

[Thomas T]

Yes, we've had this "discussion" before and I'll repeat what I said before. The greatest year for cinema was 1960. A year of bona fide classics and influential films and even many genre films that may not be classics but nonetheless influential.

The Alamo (John Wayne)
The Apartment (Billy Wilder)
L'Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni)
Bad Sleep Well (Akira Kurosawa)
Bells Are Ringing (Vincente Minnelli)
Black Sunday (Mario Bava)
Breathless (Jean Luc Godard)
Brides Of Dracula (Terence Fisher)
Comanche Station (Budd Boetticher)
La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini)
Elmer Gantry (Richard Brooks)
The Entertainer (Tony Richardson)
Exodus (Otto Preminger)
Eyes Without A Face (Georges Franju)
Home From The Hill (Vincente Minnelli)
House Of Usher (Roger Corman)
The Housemaid (Kim Ki Young)
Inherit The Wind (Stanley Kramer)
Lady With The Dog (Iosif Kheifits)
Last Voyage (Andrew Stone)
Little Shop Of Horrors (Roger Corman)
Magnificent Seven (John Sturges)
Never On Sunday (Jules Dassin)
Peeping Tom (Michael Powell)
Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock)
Purple Noon (Rene Clement)
Rocco And His Brothers (Luchino Visconti)
Saturday Night And Sunday Morning (Karel Reisz)
Sergeant Rutledge (John Ford)
Shoot The Piano Player (Francois Truffaut)
Sons And Lovers (Jack Cardiff)
Spartacus (Stanley Kubrick)
Swiss Family Robinson (Ken Annakin)
Testament Of Orpheus (Jean Cocteau)
13 Ghosts (William Castle)
Thousand Eyes Of Dr. Mabuse (Fritz Lang)
Time Machine (George Pal)
Tunes Of Glory (Ronald Neame)
Two Women (Vittorio De Sica)
La Verite (Henri Georges Clouzot)
Village Of The Damned (Wolf Rilla)
Virgin Spring (Ingmar Bergman)
When A Woman Ascends The Stairs (Mikio Naruse)
Where The Boys Are (Henry Levin)
Wild River (Elia Kazan)
Young One (Luis Bunuel)
Zazie Dans Le Metro (Louis Malle)

 

[jcroy]

Except for Psycho and Spartacus, I have never seen those other films. Frankly, I probably wouldn't even be aware of their existence if it wasn't listed.

 

[Michel_Hafner]

Except for Psycho and Spartacus, I have never seen those other films. Frankly, I probably wouldn't even be aware of their existence if it wasn't listed.

You are missing out big time.

 

[Robin9]

Except for Psycho and Spartacus, I have never seen those other films. Frankly, I probably wouldn't even be aware of their existence if it wasn't listed.

In one way, you're very lucky: all those films being new treats in store!

 

[Keith Cobby]

We all have our favourite years, 1962 isn't one of mine.

 

[Alan Tully]

The best year is when one is age 13.

I have to wonder what are the ages of the authors who wrote this book. From some googling, I suspect these guys are possibly retired in their 70s or older. If this is indeed the case, then they were possibly teenagers in 1962.

That's not too far wrong. That makes it 1963 for me, a nifty year for movies, but as time goes on, all of the sixties output looks pretty good. It's a fun but hopeless task trying to pick the best year for films, it's all so subjective. Obviously no year in this century, but I'm probably showing my age there.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

We all have our favourite years, 1962 isn't one of mine.

The case for 1962 is pretty good. "Lawrence" is arguably the greatest movie ever made, and a year with "Dr. No", "Manchurian Candidate" and "Lolita" is gonna seem pretty strong.

I'm less wild about some of the other highly-regarded movies from 1962, though. "Mockingbird" is good but not great, IMO, and "Days of Wine" is mostly awful.

I never really thought of 1962 as a fave year, but it's awfully good overall!

 

[Colin Jacobson]

The best year is when one is age 13.

That'd be 1980 for me.

"Empire Strikes Back" is a fave from that year but otherwise, there's not a single 1980 film that I truly love.

I like some such as "Caddyshack" and a few others, but honestly, it was a pretty blah year!

 

[TravisR]

Obviously no year in this century, but I'm probably showing my age there.

Give it 20 or 30 years and people will be saying that 2019 was the best year ever because of Avengers Part 4 (or 5?).

 

[Colin Jacobson]

The best year for movies is 2020, because I can watch most of those "old" movies whenever I want to.
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The article is about the best year for new release movies.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Aside from The Matrix, 1999 wasn't that great TBQH.

"Fight Club"
"Toy Story 2"
"Sixth Sense"
"American Beauty"
"Office Space"
"Mummy"
"Tarzan"
"Iron Giant"
"Bowfinger"
"Being John Malkovich"
"Dogma"
"Green Mile"
"Galaxy Quest"
"Talented Mr. Ripley"

Looks like a pretty good year to me!

 

[Robert Crawford]

The case for 1962 is pretty good. "Lawrence" is arguably the greatest movie ever made, and a year with "Dr. No", "Manchurian Candidate" and "Lolita" is gonna seem pretty strong.

I'm less wild about some of the other highly-regarded movies from 1962, though. "Mockingbird" is good but not great, IMO, and "Days of Wine" is mostly awful.

I never really thought of 1962 as a fave year, but it's awfully good overall!

Man, I want to debate you, but nevermind as you're entitled to your opinion.

 

[Rob_Ray]

As a fan of classic old-style studio filmmaking, 1962 and the early sixties in general, were a depressing time for me, as a filmgoer. Now, as time compresses and marches on, I find the films of 1962 much more appealing, but, at the time, it was so sad. The studios were all in bad times, theater attendance was plummeting, 20th Century Fox was a ghost town near bankruptcy and the other studios were on life support. Even though the list of films released that year do, in hindsight, look impressive, I can't call 1962 a golden year.

 

[Lord Dalek]

"Fight Club"
"Toy Story 2"
"Sixth Sense"
"American Beauty"
"Office Space"
"Mummy"
"Tarzan"
"Iron Giant"
"Bowfinger"
"Being John Malkovich"
"Dogma"
"Green Mile"
"Galaxy Quest"
"Talented Mr. Ripley"

Looks like a pretty good year to me!

September-September means half your list came out when I was 14.

Whoops.