Anime 1: The 1960s and Still Earlier Examples

To start with, I'm leaning heavily on the Wikipedia article.  My own introduction to anime began in the 80s, and I have no doubt that a lot of the anime I then regarded as "new" was actually old news in Japan.

At the time I doubt many American kids even glimpsed the long and distinguished history that this art form had up to that point.  We knew that the robots were cool, we regarded some of the imported and often inadequately translated manga as intriguing, but that was about it.

So consider this entry as more of an attempt to supplement my own faulty education.  I'm hoping to understand some of the trends that led to the anime I knew as a boy, and perhaps to also find through lines from the oldest examples of anime to more recent efforts.  I may not get there but I'll try.

Some of the motivation for this entry also comes from the tokusatsu shows I've been watching.  At a certain point in the 80s improved animation techniques and storytelling methods led to anime's supplanting the live-action tokusatsu shows to some extent, and I'd like to take a better look at how that might have happened.

1. Katsudo Sashin (1907)

This is considered to be the first anime.  It's a simple, short loop of a student writing four characters on a blackboard.

2. Namakura Gatana (1917)

Ten years later Jun'ichi Kouchi, one of the three "fathers of anime" produced this extremely short silent film about a dim-witted ronin.  A lot of the animation from this period was lost in a great fire that took place in 1923, and Namakura Gatana was only recently rediscovered in 2008 at an antique shop in Osaka.

3. Ugokie ko Ri no Tatehiki  (1933)

This is one of the first anime to incorporate sound (the sound in the Namakura Gatana clip above was added later).  It's a fairly incomprehensible tale of shape-changing spirits playing tricks on each other, but its incomprehensibility is comparable to many American cartoons of the same time period.

4. Momotaro: Sacred Sailors (1945)

Japanese Imperial propaganda!  This is one of the weirdest things I've seen in a while, being a Disney-influenced discourse on Japan's right to liberate Asian people from their Western oppressors.  Watching funny animal friends pack parachutes, bayonet Allied opponents and dictate terms to captured Westerners is a very surreal experience.  The weirdest part is the fable about the island off the coast of Goa which somehow mandated Japan's divinely inspired mission.

I fell asleep in the middle of this one and had the strangest dreams.  After I woke up I had to go back and watch the parts I missed just to convince myself that yes, this movie actually happened.

5. Three Tales (1960)

This was the first anime ever shown on (Japanese) television.  It was aimed squarely at children and the animation is extremely primitive.  Historic, yes, but not really worth watching.

6. Instant History (1961-1964)

The first anime television series.  Like Three Tales this was aimed at kids and there's little in it to interest adults.  The video linked above is more of a discussion of the show with clips shown in the background.

7. Astro Boy (1963-1966)

The great granddaddy of them all, this anime's influence on subsequent creations cannot be underestimated.  The original manga's creator, Osamu Tezuka, created a host of memorable characters, everything from this show's titular character to Black Jack and Kimba the White Lion.

I watched the first five episodes.  Astro Boy is still an endearing character, and this show is both very wacky and a lot of fun.  Watching it in 2026 brought Steven Spielberg/Stanley Kubrick's 2001 film A.I.: Artificial Intelligence to mind.  I wonder, could Astro Boy have been an influence on Kubrick's much later film?

8. Gigantor (1963-1966)

Like Astro Boy above this series takes place in the year 2000.  How does it feel to live in the distant future?

It's not entirely clear whether Gigantor (a.k.a. "Iron Man 28," a.k.a. "Tetsujin 28") has a mind of his own or if the boy is controlling him.  Whichever the case, Gigantor and his youthful controller seem to be battling a shadowy criminal organization reminiscent of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. from the James Bond movies.  It's worth noting that the Ian Fleming novels appeared a few years before the manga which inspired the anime, and that Dr. No hit theaters a year before the anime aired on television.

I had a Gigantor toy when I was little.  It was a prized possession.

9. Speed Racer (a.k.a. Mach GoGoGo) (1967-1968)

Color is nice, but it's also a leap forward in terms of animation.

Speed Racer follows the travails of first name Speed last name Racer as he attempts to secure his father's place in the auto industry.  In hindsight it might seem an unlikely hit in the States, but it happened to appear at just the right moment in American culture, when young men were entertaining thoughts about cars, girls, and racing.  There's also another Bond connection, in that the Mach 5 was to some extent inspired by Bond's Aston Martin in the movie Goldfinger.

For the record I LOVE the 2008 film.  I think it captures the silliness of the anime perfectly.

10. Dororo (1969)

Osamu Tezuka's influence on anime and manga cannot, again, be underestimated.  He was behind Astro Boy, he was behind Princess Knight, and he was behind Dororo, perhaps the darkest and most disturbing of his many creations.

In Dororo a young orphan befriends a wandering swordsman out to recover lost body parts from a host of demons.  It's bloody, it's unsettling, and I loved it.  If you're in the mood for something weird I hightly recommend this one.

11. Princess Knight (1967)

No idea what Osamu Tezuka was smoking when he created this one but I sure would like some.  This show made me feel HIGH.

Also not sure how this tale of a gender-bending princess would be received in 2026.  She has to dress up like a boy, OK, but what about that scene with "the creator" passing out genders?  And what pantheon does that "creator" belong to, exactly?  Princess Knight's sidekick is an angel, but in the same conversation they mention Roman gods?

I dunno, this one's a headscratcher for sure.  So weird it's worth watching, but perhaps not worth thinking about too deeply.

12. The Golden Bat (1967)

Quite possibly the world's first superhero?  Depictions of the character predate Batman and Superman.

The anime arrived shortly after a live action adaptation featuring none other than Sonny Chiba.  

The story?  Well, most of the episodes I watched don't make complete sense, but apparently a girl is able to summon an Atlantean superman after discovering his tomb and reviving him in the lost capital of that vanished civilization.  The Golden Bat then proceeds to battle Nozo, a being with four differently colored eyes bent on world domination, and over the course of 52 episodes manages to best this adversary.

Notes on All of the Above:

A. I watched at least five episodes of #7-#12 above.  Dororo was my favorite by far.  I could watch all of them again except for maybe Princess Knight, which is hard to watch without the aid of drugs.

B. The 1960s anime discussed above might have been the most popular/influential, but there are dozens more shows that aren't discussed in this entry - everything from Attack No.1 to Cyborg 009.

C. Momotaro: Sacred Sailors is worth a look.  It offers a unique insight into Imperial Japan at the end of WWII.

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Still More 60s Movies 4

Worth Seeing

1. Nothing But a Man (1964)

An eloquent statement on the personal cost racism exacts in the deep South.  Star Ivan Dixon says a lot without necessarily saying a lot, and the supporting cast consists of many famous names who weren't so famous at the time.

This was Yaphet Kotto's first movie.  He doesn't have a big role, but even as a younger man he had those laser eyes that would prove so memorable in films such as Across 110th Street, Live and Let Die and Ridley Scott's Alien.

This was also Motown's first movie soundtrack, and if you look closer you'll notice Gloria Foster, who'd go on to appear as "Oracle" in the Matrix trilogy.

2. The Rain People (1969)

Francis Ford Coppola's portrait of a woman desperate to escape the confines of domestic life.  Shirley Knight is excellent in the lead role, and James Caan adds a lot of pathos as a disabled man she picks up in the midst of her journey.

In this movie, as in Never On Sunday (below) we see a new approach to telling a story on film.  The Rain People wasn't a huge financial success, but I imagine it went a long way toward both cementing Coppola's reputation and setting the stage for many of the younger directors that followed in Coppola's wake.

3. Never On Sunday (1960)

Very racy for the time period.  Not only does this film center around an unrepentant prostitute, but this character and her various male companions are shown in various states of undress.

Melina Mercouri stars as a woman who happily exchanges sexual favors with men of her choosing, while the director and Mercouri's husband, Jules Dassin, co-stars as an American trying and failing to teach her the error of her ways.  Playing out in the background is an estrangement between Western ideals of Greece and what that country actually is (or was).  Never On Sunday is a compelling tale of how idealization falls flat in the face of reality, and after its release Mercouri would be awarded Best Actress at Cannes.

She'd go on to become Greece's Minister for Culture in 1981.

4. In the French Style (1963)

An American woman falls in and out of love with Paris.  Jean Seberg carries the lead role like nobody's business, and script is pitch perfect.  It's a captivating look at both gender stereotypes and "modern" relationships.

Around the time of this film's release Seberg was appearing in many of the French New Wave movies.  Her earliest years in Hollywood were something of a disappointment, but by the time she returned from France her star was on the rise.

5. The Nanny (1965)

Screen legend Betty Davis stars as a nanny who's more than she appears to be.  The dynamic between her character and the family's young son is riveting to watch, and the film's conclusion stayed with me.  It moves slowly but it's worth the effort.

6. Pretty Poison (1968)

Anthony Perkins plays a delusional man just released from a psychiatric facility, with Tuesday Weld as a high school student with ulterior motives.  This movie reminded me why I love the original Psycho so much, and also of how Perkins, when given the right role, could elevate an indifferently directed movie.

Eh... You Could Watch It, I Guess

7. Me, Natalie (1969)

Al Pacino's first movie!  He was around 29 when they filmed this.

Me, Natalie is a coming of age story centered around a young woman insecure about her looks.  It's melodramatic in a Judy Blume kind of way, and also somewhat predictable, but I enjoyed it.

8. Modesty Blaise (1966)

The UK government hires the enigmatic criminal (?) Modesty Blaise to retrieve a shipment of diamonds (?).  That's what I got out of it anyway.  It's an extremely arty movie, featuring a lot of globular lighting and people lounging around minibars in robes.  If you liked Danger: Diabolik you might like this one too, but be warned that it's far less coherent than that later Italian film.

This movie was developed from a comic strip popular at the time, and in Modesty Blaise the director was attempting to lampoon the spy craze which resulted in films like this one, Danger: Diabolik and Dr. No.

9. Gidget Goes to Rome (1963)

The precocious, boy-crazy Gidget journeys from sunny Malibu to worldly Rome.  This was the third and final Gidget movie, featuring Cindy Carol as Gidget.  The various characters' ideas about love and marriage will seem extremely dated in 2025, but I found their relative "innocence" very refreshing.

10. "She" (1965)

Speaking of Dr. No, this one features a former Bond girl, a lost Egyptian city and a couple faces you might recognize from any number of Hammer horror films.

It has some redeeming features but it's grindingly slow.  It was a big hit at the time, and led to a 1968 sequel, The Vengeance of She, but in my opinion "She" isn't worth the effort.

11. The Split (1968)

Parts of this movie don't make much sense.  Why hire Donald Sutherland's character just to shoot out some tires with a sniper rifle?  Why test Ernest Borgnine's fighting skill?  Why take the money out in an ambulance?  Why sit there for the duration of the game when they could have taken all the money once the game was over?  Why would Gene Hackman's character have any reason to trust or cooperate with Jim Brown's character?  Why?  Why?  Why?

The Split is frustrating that way.  It starts out well enough, and Quincy Jones' score is great, but the heist is a nonevent and the way in which the criminals turn on one another afterward is completely mystifying.  Jim Brown is good in the lead role, but he deserved a better movie.

How Bored Are You?

12. Goodbye Again (1961)

A young American pursues a much older woman around Paris.  It's alright as this kind of movie goes, but it felt too much like a play to me and Anthony Perkins was far from convincing.  He was coming off Psycho when this was filmed, and yes, he won at Cannes for his performance in Goodbye Again, but his acting in this movie was a little too cartoonish, and out of step with what the other actors were trying to do.

The ending is depressingly memorable though.  Ingrid Bergman, alone, staring into that mirror.  Yeah, that one's going to stay with me.

13. Creation of the Humanoids (1962)

After an atomic war eliminates 92% of mankind the survivors are left to rely on a race of robots for their continued existence.

It's super slow, crushingly talky and extremely low budget.  Kinda fun if you're in that kind of mood, but this one was never going to win any Academy Awards.

The book it was adapted from is probably very good.  Many of the discussions in this movie are reminiscent of present discussions regarding AI and automation.

14. The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)

Kinda convenient how her head just came off like that.

The Brain That Wouldn't Die is exactly the sort of movie that freaks me out -- surgery, transplantation, and the ethical issues related to both -- but as it is it's very hokey and impossible to take seriously.  Johnny Got His Gun continues to give me nightmares, decades after having first seen it, but The Brain That Wouldn't Die is another kind of animal altogether.  It's Frankenstein on a lower budget, but I think you'll find that watching it can be enjoyable.

Oh, and for the record the transplantation of a human head onto another body is still beyond the reach of medical science, the biggest obstacles being keeping the brain alive during the procedure, fusing two different spinal cords, and transplant rejection.  It is technically possible to keep a human head biologically functional apart from its body, but so far we only have highly controversial experiments on animals as evidence to that effect.

15. Mr. Sardonicus (1961)

A peasant turned nobleman becomes a "ghoul" after a traumatic experience involving his father's death.  It's well acted and the dialogue is much better than what you'll find in The Brain That Wouldn't Die, but Mr. Sardonicus is somehow less memorable for all that.

I would recommend, however, skipping ahead to the last few minutes of this movie.  The "vote" conducted by Mr. Sardonicus' host is a fun idea.

The producer and director of this film, William Castle, was known as "The King of Gimmicks."  He was the driving force behind movies such as The Tingler, House on Haunted Hill and Bug.  I hereby refer you to his Wikipedia entry for details on all his weird and wonderful promotional stunts.

Don't Bother?

16. Smashing Time (1967)

NOT funny, in any way, shape or form.  There are two kinds of British humor (or is it "humour?"): the clever, ironic kind and the crude, somewhat repressed, somewhat sexual kind exemplified in Smashing Time.  Smashing Time is most definitely NOT Monty Python, but rather a film about people engaging in senseless food fights, spraying one another with liquid manure, and rape-like scenarios present for comedic effect.

For what it's worth Smashing Time details the exploits of two girls newly arrived in London, both looking for fun, excitement, fame and fortune.  In the course of their journey they find all four, but by the end of the film they've decided that life in swinging London isn't for them, and that it's time to return whence they came.  The glimpses of Carnaby Street fashions are interesting, but that's about it.

Those with keen eyes will notice the band Tomorrow in the opening credits.  Unfortunately none of Tomorrow's music actually ended up in the film, and the band would implode soon thereafter.  Steve Howe, the guitarist for Tomorrow, would go on to form Yes in 1968.

17. First Spaceship on Venus (a.k.a. "The Silent Star") (1960)

I'm only placing this above Mission: Stardust (below) because a) "Sumiko" is more attractive to me than whoever plays the blondish alien in Mission: Stardust, and b) it is, on average, weirder and less "logical" than the other film discussed below.

Oh, and it's also: c) an East German-Polish co-production, and d) an adaptation of a short story by Stanislaw Lem, one of my favorite science fiction writers.  In terms of science fiction cinema it's a pioneering film in many ways, which isn't to say that it's "good" in the way movies at the top of this entry are good.  Inventive?  Sure, but definitely not good.

18. Mission Stardust (1967)

Science fiction via the Italian film industry.  None of the plot elements bear thinking about, but most mystifying of all is why the crime lord character thinks he can capture the alien spaceship.

If you're ever wondering why the original Star Wars was so popular give this film a look.  It's everything George Lucas' movie was trying not to be.

19. The Wild Angels (1966)

Several years before Easy Rider, Peter Fonda starred in this Roger Corman picture about a neo Nazi biker gang.  It's NOT awesome, and Nancy Sinatra proves that no, not all singers are destined to become noted actresses, but it is historic in a sense.  Some credit it with restarting the biker genre in the 60s, especially in connection to the rising counterculture, but I have doubts about this claim.  There were plenty of other biker movies both before and after this one, and in my opinion saying that The Wild Angels is/was so influential is a stretch.

20. The Creeping Terror (1964)

A space monster resembling a pile of discarded rugs disrupts the daily schedules of several residents of a small town.  The weakest point of this movie isn't its low budget, but rather the narration, which all but suffocates the story it's trying to tell.

Wikipedia describes this movie as "a cult film."  I don't know what cult that is or why anyone would want to join it.

And speaking of cults, the infamous Spahn Ranch, hideout formerly used by the Manson Family, was where The Creeping Terror was filmed.

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Still More 60s Movies 3

Still More 60s Movies 3

1. Black Sunday (a.k.a. "The Mask of Satan") (1960)

Barbara Steele was FINE.  "Bride of the Devil" or no, she was FINE.

The Premise: Two travelers wake a slumbering vampire on their way through scenic Moldavia.

Overall: Another horror classic from Mario Bava.  This movie has more atmosphere than most horror movies today, and could easily serve as a template for how to make a great scary film with a limited number of sets, costumes and other resources.  The Italians, at the height of their powers, contributed a lot to the genre.

Fun Fact: This movie was Bava's directorial debut.  It was in many ways a direct response to Hammer Films' 1958 movie Dracula, though I think Black Sunday is the better film of the two.

2. John and Mary (1969)

Ah, the late 60s.  So many battle of the sexes-type movies.

The Premise: A man and a woman come to terms after a one night stand.

Overall: The voiceovers were completely unnecessary, but Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow are great together.  A little too much like a play for my taste, but charming regardless.

Peter Yates, it should be said, not only directed 1968's Bullitt but also went on to direct several notable movies during the 70s.  The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Mother, Juggs & Speed, The Deep and Breaking Away are all worth a look.

3. The Flight That Disappeared (1961)

The Premise: Three passengers aboard a plane are confronted with the consequences of future decisions.

Overall: A very schlocky attempt at science fiction that doesn't make much sense.

4. Boom! (1968)

The Premise: Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor chew their way through a Tennessee Williams play, this particular Tennessee Williams play being about a rich, reclusive woman living on an island.

Overall: I'm guessing a lot of alcohol (and a lot of whatever else was available) was consumed by both stars in the course of filming.  It's weird enough to be interesting, but to call this film a vanity project would be an understatement.

Fun Fact: John Waters is a big fan of this movie.  Makes sense to me!

5. The Fast Lady (1962)

Speaking of Elizabeth Taylor, Julie Christie was among the crop of newer, younger actresses that eclipsed Taylor as the 60s wore on.  In my opinion she never appeared in anything half as interesting as Taylor's better movies, but she was very beautiful and the public is always fickle.

The Premise: A young Scotsman tries to impress a girl by buying a Bentley he's unable to drive.

Overall: It's not a movie you're likely to remember, and its zany brand of humor hasn't aged well, but it passes by pleasantly enough.

6. Thunder Alley (1967)

"Track tramps!"  They're a problem!

And is it fair to call Fabian "Elvis Lite?"  I could be wrong, but I feel like just a few years earlier Elvis would have starred in this movie.  Same look, same breezy charm.  The script would have been a little risqué for The King, but of course The Colonel could have demanded rewrites.

The Premise: A NASCAR driver accused of recklessness finds redemption in the stock car circuit.

Overall: Annette Funicello is super cute, and Fabian is an engaging lead.  The surprising thing about this movie (if you'll excuse the pun) is how racy some of the scenes are.  That party seems to be headed toward orgy town, and some of interactions between male and female characters were definitely pushing boundaries.

7. Stolen Hours (a.k.a. "Summer Flight") (1963)

Susan Hayward was in a lot of good movies.  Was she in any bad movies?  Maybe, but I haven't seen any of them... yet.

The Premise: A doctor becomes romantically involved with a terminally ill patient.

Overall: The ending is... abrupt, but aside from that it's a good movie.  My one complaint is the score, which sometimes overwhelms what's happening onscreen.

Ironic Fact: Susan Hayward herself died under similar circumstances.  Would that be dramatic irony or literal irony?  I'll let you be the judge.

8. Press for Time (1966)

The Premise: The Prime Minister's incompetent grandson goes to work for a newspaper.

Overall: Agonizingly unfunny British comedy.  This one has aged even worse than The Fast Lady above.

9. Seven Days in May (1964)

This one hits completely differently in 2025.  Trump, the discussions of the Constitution, conspiracies... it's hard not to reflect on how far short we've fallen (in some respects at least) of the ideals expressed by various characters in this film.

The Premise: Kirk Douglas uncovers a conspiracy which threatens to unseat an unpopular President.

Overall: One of the best political thrillers I've ever seen.  Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster deliver fantastic performances, and director John Frankenheimer manages to juggle a lot of plot points within the film's two hour run time.  The military jargon used in the opening scenes may test some viewers' patience, but after that point this movie hits the ground running.

Hats off to Rod Serling's screenplay.  That in itself was a major accomplishment.

Fun Fact 1: This film is, to some extent at least, science fiction.  The videoconferencing technology seen in the film wasn't used in the White House at the time, and there are indications in the movie that it could be set as late as 1986.

Fun Fact 2: John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated halfway through the production of this film, to some extent facilitating filming of the White House.  He was a big fan of the book upon which Seven Days in May was based.

10. Two on a Guillotine (1965)

I often get Connie Stevens and Debbie Reynolds confused.  It doesn't help that one of them was Carrie Fisher's actual mother while the other was her stepmother.

The Premise: A young woman spends a week in her magician father's house in accordance with his will.

Overall: This movie doesn't know what it wants to be.  At times it feels like a love story, at other times it feels like a horror picture.  Connie Stevens and Dean Jones had mountains of chemistry, but the more interesting scenes they share are overshadowed by repetitious horror cliches punctuated by Stevens' incessant screaming.

It feels like they had the ending worked out before they really had a story to get them there.

11. The Wizard of Mars (a.k.a. "Horrors of the Red Planet") (1965)

The Premise: Four astronauts crash land on Mars.

Overall: An incredibly dull movie with one of the most head scratching endings ever.  According to Wikipedia it was based on The Wizard of Oz, but... why?

12. The 7th Dawn (1964)

The Premise: Three comrades at arms find themselves at odds over the future of colonial Malaysia.

Overall: A good movie.  The love triangle subplot reminded me a bit of Graham Greene's novel The Quiet American.

Fun Fact: There are some Bond connections here.  Maurice Binder also created the iconic title sequences for the early 007 films, director Lewis Gilbert also directed You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, and Tetsuro Tanaka played "Tiger Tanaka" in You Only Live Twice.

13. Cyborg 2087 (1966)

Shades of T2, and I'm not the first to make the comparison.  In times past I've pointed out the uncomfortable similarities between James Cameron's Avatar and the novel The Jesus Incident.  In this case, however, I think the similarities are coincidental.

The Premise: A cyborg is sent back to the year 1966 to warn a scientist about the ultimate outcome of his "radio telepathy" invention.

Overall: The budget was small and they were in a big hurry.  So bad it's actually pretty good.

Fun Fact: Actor Michael Rennie also played "Klaatu" in the original The Day the Earth Stood Still.

14. The Old Dark House (1963)

The Premise: An American car salesman living in England is entangled in his deceased friend's family drama.

Overall: Humor is a very generational thing, and I won't judge this movie too harshly in terms of whether it is or isn't funny.  The lead, Tom Postman, might be recognizable from his many, many TV appearances.

15. Danger!!  Death Ray (1967)

The Premise: A criminal organization steals a death ray.

Overall: Fans of Danger: Diabolik will be all over this one.  Italian-made, 007-style espionage cartoonishness.

16. Carnival of Souls (1962)

The Premise: A woman encounters supernatural beings following a car accident.

Overall: Well directed and well acted.  A very surprising movie, in that I was expecting run of the mill horror.  As it turns out there's an inventive side to this film that I really enjoyed.

17. Nurses for Sale (1968)*

The Premise: A German boat captain rescues a group of nurses taken hostage in South America.

Overall: By turns comedic, by turns lewd, by turns dramatic, this one's very... German I suppose?  I haven't seen many "lighter" German movies, but I'm guessing this one falls into that bracket.  It's actually not bad, though it'll have you scratching your head at times.

Fun Fact: Curt (Curd) Jurgens, the star of this movie, also played the villain in 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me.

18. Paris Blues (1961)

Martin Ritt directed a lot of good movies.  He was nominated for many awards and directed many of Hollywood's biggest stars.  My favorite of his films is probably Norma Rae.

The Premise: Two jazz musicians fall in love with two tourists in Paris.

Overall: It's an undeniably good film, but it could have done without the drug addiction subplot.  I get that they thought it would make Paul Newman's character more sympathetic, but the movie really didn't need that.

Besides this minor flaw it's a lot of fun to see Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier in a film together.  They're both great in their respective roles, with Newman exerting an arrogant charm and Poitier playing a man at odds with his country.

Fun Fact: In the original draft of the screenplay Newman ended up with Diahann Carroll's character, while Poitier ended up with Joanne Woodward.  The studio feared this interracial aspect of the story would cause controversy, and demanded script changes at the last minute.

19. The Thirteen Chairs (1969)

Sharon Tate's last movie before her murder at the hands of the Manson Family the same year.

The Premise: An Italian immigrant and an American woman living in the UK search for a chair in which a vast fortune is hidden.

Overall: A truly bad movie, and not enjoyably so.  The whole thing feels very random, as if they made up certain scenes on the spot and didn't bother to think about a larger continuity.

20. Ski Troop Attack (1960)

The Premise: It's 1944.  Ski troop(s), attack!

Overall: This one's a Roger Corman picture, so you probably know what time it is: low budget, filmed in a very short time frame, etc., etc., etc.  And no, none of the people in the cast or crew went on to become famous.

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*The release dates for this one vary.  Some say 1966, others say 1968, others say 1971.  A lot of it is composed of archival footage, so the release date is debatable.

Still More 60s Movies 2

1. Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969)

The Premise: A widow finds an unusual source of income after her husband's untimely death.

Overall: Geraldine Page is wonderfully unhinged in the lead role.  I'm not entirely sold on the premise, but it's an enjoyable movie throughout.

Fun Fact: The film's title is a reference to Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, another movie Robert Aldrich was involved with.  A third film in this "trilogy" was proposed but never made.

2. The City of the Dead (a.k.a. "Horror Hotel") (1960)

The Premise: An inexplicably trusting young woman ventures into the New England countryside looking for witches.

Overall: The fog machine was working overtime for this one.  More fog per frame than any other movie I've seen.

In The City of the Dead Christopher Lee and Co. deliver a fairly by-the-numbers horror thriller, even though Lee's character's role in the plot is interestingly ambiguous throughout.

3. The Marriage-Go-Round (1961)

The Premise: Yet another one of those "battle of the sexes romps," of which the 60s provided many examples.

Overall: The plot of this movie is one of the most contrived things ever.  A stunning Swedish woman arrives at a married couple's home, announces she wants to bear the married man's children, and for whatever reason his wife leaves them alone for an extended period of time.  Really, Susan Hayward, respect yourself more!

It must be admitted, however, that Julie Newmar gives the 60s equivalent of a boner-inspiring performance here, and I fully understand why subsequent generations of drag performers were so fascinated by her.  But aside from her performance this movie is, largely, an embarrassment.  I'm not saying that it's Susan Hayward's or James Mason's fault, but yeah, it hasn't aged well.

In Case You Didn't Already Know: Julie Newmar would go on to play Catwoman in the Batman TV show later in the decade.

4. Birds Do It (1966)

The Premise: Soupy Sales plays janitor in a rocket laboratory.

Overall: The one thing I can really, truly say in this movie's favor is that the actress playing the head scientist's daughter is hot.  As for the rest... well, I suppose it depends on how amenable you are to screwball comedy.

Fun Fact 1: That "hot daughter" (Beverly Adams) went on to marry noted hair stylist Vidal Sassoon.

Fun Fact 2: This was the only time Soupy Sales starred in a film.  He despised this movie, and spent the rest of his life criticizing it.

Fun Fact 3: Soupy Sales' two sons, Tony and Hunt Sales, went on to form the band Tin Machine with David Bowie.

5. Surf Party (1964)

To some extent The Beatles would kill this scene, but hey, it was fun while it lasted.

Anyone else remember a 1987 movie Back to the Beach?  That movie was predicated upon movies like this one, all part of the early to mid 60s surf craze.

The Premise: Bobby Vinton teaches three wayward girls how to surf.

Overall: Harmless fun, and one of those "time capsule films" that says a lot about the era that produced it.

6. The Explosive Generation (1961)

The Premise: High school students stage a protest after their teacher's suspension.  His transgression?  Talking about S-E-X!

Overall: The ending isn't convincing, but up until the last five minutes it's an engaging movie.  William Shatner, by the way, plays the teacher.  The Explosive Generation was his fourth film appearance and his first starring role.

7. Riot (1969)

With both Jim Brown and Gene Hackman in the cast you know the 70s aren't far off.  Jim Brown, it should be said, more than holds his own in the presence of Gene Hackman, who'd go on to become one of the major stars of the 70s.

The Premise: Several prisoners stage a riot inside an Arizona prison.

Overall: It's a good movie, better movie than many of the other movies discussed here.

Buzz Kulik, the director, also oversaw The Explosive Generation above.  The best known of his films is probably the made-for-TV Brian's Song.

8. Operation Atlantis (1965)

The Premise: James Bond via the Italian film industry.

Overall: The plot goes absolutely nowhere and makes almost no sense.  Most damning of all, that one evil henchmen barely brings his wicked-looking claw thing into play.

9. Dementia 13 (a.k.a. "The Haunted and the Hunted") (1963)

The Premise: Death and horror on an Irish estate.

Overall: It may surprise you to know that Francis Ford Coppola directed this one.  It was his very first movie, made under the auspices of Roger Corman.  After a brief stint with Corman at American International Pictures, he'd go on to Warner Bros., where he'd direct You're a Big Boy Now, Finian's Rainbow and The Rain People.  After The Rain People he'd move to Paramount, where he'd direct The Godfather between 1971 and 1972.

Dementia 13 is... OK.  To its credit it's very short, and it offers an interesting look at a big name very early in his career.  It was filmed for a little over $22,000, which wasn't much even in the 60s, though Coppola did do a lot with the meager resources at his disposal.

Fun Fact: A remake of this movie was released in 2017.

10. What a Way to Go! (1964)

The Premise: Shirley MacLaine works her way through a series of wealthy husbands.

Overall: The cinematic equivalent of fluff.  It's pleasant fluff, but yeah, it's fluff.

Fun Fact: This movie was originally conceived as a vehicle for Marilyn Monroe, but she died before filming began.

Sad Fact: Actress Teri Garr, who passed away recently, appears in this for a second.

11. Goodbye Charlie (1964)

The Premise: A womanizer survives his own murder in the body of a woman.

Overall: Given the current dialogue surrounding gender and gender identity this movie has aged like wine.  Much of it seems very prescient.

It might remind modern viewers of Blake Edward's 1991 movie Switch, which was based on the same play, but where that movie's awkward this one exerts a breezy charm.

Critics weren't kind to this film.  I, however, think it's great.  In 1964 they were obviously walking a tightrope with regard to the subject matter, and in my opinion they did a masterful job.

Fun Fact: Ellen Burstyn is in this.  Goodbye Charlie was, by some accounts, her first movie role.

12. The Millionairess (1960)

The Premise: Sophia Loren puts her considerable sex appeal to use as a rich woman seeking a poor husband.

Overall: Yes, it's Peter Sellers doing brownface again.  This time he plays an Indian Muslim (?) living in London.  I can't fault his acting ability, but the brownface aspect of this movie won't translate well for modern viewers.

This said, The Millionairess isn't bad.  The plot is somewhat preposterous, and one gets the feeling that the ending of the play which inspired the movie was more impactful, but when the lovers are inevitably (re)united it's truly heartwarming.

13. The Plunderers (1961)

The Premise: One outlaw helps out another in the Old West.

Overall: It ambles along pleasantly enough.  Doesn't exactly stick in the memory though.

Fun Fact: John Saxon is in this for a bit.

14. Stagecoach (1966)

The Premise: Several misfits flee a Western town for Cheyenne, Wyoming during a period of social unrest.

Overall: An excellent movie, and surprisingly gory given both the time period and the fact that it was filmed on a bigger budget.  The (extremely beautiful) Ann-Margret leads an impressive cast, and even beyond her obvious beauty this film has a lot to recommend it.

15. Guns at Batasi (1964)

The Premise: A group of British subjects find themselves cornered in colonial Africa.

Overall: Richard Attenborough chews A LOT of scenery in this one, sometimes at the expense of the other players, but on the whole it's an entertaining, nuanced look at the policy and politics at work in the British Empire.  I particularly enjoyed the exchanges between Attenborough's character and the Member of Parliament.  "Enlightened savages," "dangerous adversaries" or a competing civilization?  Even now people are making these distinctions, often without pausing to consider the prejudices at work in our perceptions of other cultures.

Fun Fact: This was Mia Farrow's second movie and first credited screen appearance.  She took over the part from Britt Ekland.  Ekland was married to Peter Sellers at the time, and his jealousy over the onscreen love affair between Ekland's character and John Leyton's character forced Ekland to fake an illness in order to exit the production.

16. Satan Never Sleeps (1962)

Sounds like a horror movie but isn't.

The Premise: Two missionaries in China contend with Red Army soldiers newly arrived in their province.

Overall: Not one of William Holden's better movies.  The Catholicism vs. communism dialogue wears out its welcome, and the Red Army characters are little more than thugs intent on destruction.  To make matters worse, this whole movie was shot in England and Wales, two places that look absolutely nothing like China.

The director claimed studio interference was the source of this movie's many, many inconsistencies, but I doubt giving him full control over the final product would have made Satan Never Sleeps much better.

17. 13 West Street (1962)

The Premise: A man seeks justice -- or is it satisfaction? -- after he's assaulted by several teenagers.

Overall: 13 West Street feels more like a movie from the 50s.  It's a decent effort with regard to film noir, and Alan Ladd is good in the lead, but it flubs the ending.

Fun Fact 1: This movie was based on a novel by the name of The Tiger Among Us.  The author of that novel, Leigh Brackett, wrote an early draft of The Empire Strikes Back, elements of which are present in the finished film.

Fun Fact 2: Ted Knight is in this.  Remember him?  The bad guy from Caddyshack?

18. The Mark (1961)

Like13 West Street above another movie that feels like something from the previous decade.  This one could also be classified as film noir, and Rod Steiger appears in both films.

The Premise: An ex-convict fresh from a rather peculiar type of group therapy attempts to adjust to life on the outside.

Overall: The best written movie I've seen in a long time.  The plot is tightly constructed and holds together very well.

19. Victim! (1961)

The Premise: Murder mystery in which various characters' sexuality is on trial.

Overall: This is EXACTLY the kind of movie they wouldn't have been made in the States during the same time period.  Thankfully the British were ready to step up and say something real about legislated morality.  Like The Mark above it treads on dangerous ground, but I'm glad that it did so.

20. The Cape Town Affair (1967)

The Premise: James Brolin (father of Josh!) stars as a pickpocket caught up in a communist conspiracy.

Overall: Brolin and costar Jacqueline Bissett have almost zero chemistry, and despite being hot she's wasn't (isn't?) a very good actress.  It's somewhat interesting to see shots of South Africa in 1967, but aside from that this film just plods onward to its inevitable conclusion.

Fun Fact 1: This movie features both Brolin and Bisset's first starring roles.  And yes, in case you're wondering, Brolin was later considered for the role of James Bond, a character he often resembles in the course of The Cape Town Affair.  He screen tested for the part just before the filming of 1983's Octopussy, but Roger Moore's return to the franchise after a period of uncertainty put an end to that.

Fun Fact 2: Who is this Claire Trevor person, and why does she have billing over both Brolin and Bisset?  Claire Trevor starred in a number of very famous Hollywood movies between the 30s, 40s and 50s, and in 1949 she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

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