By way of introduction I'm approaching this topic thusly: first, I'll be visiting the Wikipedia entry for every year listed below, and second, I'll be working my way down through the lists of Oscar winners until I find a) two movies I haven't seen before, and b) two movies also available on YouTube. Yes, I could get movies through a variety of other legal and illegal methods, but these entries are intended for a more general audience, and some of the streaming services and torrents don't work as well in certain countries.
Besides, I'm lazy sometimes. Using VPNs, torrent clients and sites which force me to click off a thousand pop-ups is exhausting.
...oh, and one more thing -- since I'm basing this on the Academy Awards, be aware that all of the movies below came out the year before they won the award.
1960
1. Best Supporting Actress: Shelley Winters: The Diary of Anne Frank
This one hits differently in 2025. Fascism and its close cousin ethnic nationalism are forces guiding American politics now, and immigrants, those "huddled masses yearning to breathe free," now find themselves the objects of renewed suspicion.
Besides Best Supporting Actress, The Diary of Anne Frank also won two other Oscars, one for Best Art Direction - Black and White, and one for Best Cinematography - Black and White. In 1959 movies were facing stiffer competition from TV, and a shift away from black and white was well under way. By the time the 40th Academy Awards were held in 1968, the Academy had stopped making a distinction between color and black and white films altogether.
Shelley Winters? I don't think she adds much to this movie. True, she perfected "high strung verging on hysteria," but her role in this The Diary of Anne Frank is rather marginal. In 1959 the studio system still prevailed, and it could be that someone higher up simply decided that Winters was due for an award. I'm not saying this to diminish her as an actress, but I don't think she deserved an Oscar for this particular film.
With respect to the movie overall I'd say that it's definitely good, though you'll want to watch it in two sittings. The inevitable scene of their discovery near the end is very gripping, and one gets a strong sense of what the family patriarch truly lost after the war ended.
2. Best Foreign Language Film: Black Orpheus
Greek myth plays itself out in the midst of Rio's Carnaval. It's an indisputably good movie, if a little obscure/arty at times. I can't help but wonder if the positive reception this one received isn't more due to its unabashed sexuality than whatever depth or interest the story might have possessed for Western audiences back then. In 1959 America was a very sexually repressed place, and outside of Grindhouse films audiences weren't likely to see so many attractive people of color enmeshed in such a ribald narrative.
Those unfamiliar with it might want to read about the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice before watching Black Orpheus.
This film won several awards besides the Best Foreign Language Film bestowed by the Academy. It met with, however, a less than enthusiastic reception in Brazil. I can understand their discomfort with this movie. It does in many instances resort to stereotypes.
Fun, if Exploitative Fact: The French director of Black Orpheus, Marcel Camus, married first Marpessa Dawn, the female lead in Black Orpheus, and then Lourdes de Oliveira, a member of the supporting cast. He was married to de Oliveira up until his death in 1982.
1961
1. Best Foreign Language Film: The Virgin Spring
Some of those reading this might be familiar with Wes Craven's early, surprise hit The Last House on the Left. That later, more specifically horror-oriented movie was an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring.
Bergman's version is objectively better in all respects. It's concise, it was beautifully filmed, and the performances are very convincing. Unlike Craven's film The Virgin Spring is set in the Middle Ages, and setting the story in this time period gives Bergman's movie a fairy tale quality that, in my opinion, works much better.
2. Best Documentary: The Horse with the Flying Tail
Not sure how this Disney-produced film won Best Documentary, but maybe there was less competition in 1961. It's completely contrived and totally devoid of nuance, but if you're looking for a completely predictable movie with a completely predictable final act (right down to the national anthem), this is the movie for you.
It's one of the more whitebread films I've seen in a while. Oh, and if you look real hard you'll notice the actor who gets flayed a quarter of the way through The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.
1962
1. Best Documentary: The Sky Above, The Mud Below (a.k.a. "Sky Above and Mud Beneath")
Strange to think of half of New Guinea as being "Dutch," but yes, in 1961 the Dutch still controlled that part of the world. At that point in time Eddie and Alex Van Halen were kids living on the island of Java, long before they'd become internationally known rock stars.
The Sky Above, The Mud Below details a French expedition to New Guinea, referred to in the film as "a blank space on the map." If you've seen other examples of this type of documentary nothing will be that surprising here: intrepid explorers, mostly naked native peoples, extremely staged "scenes of discovery," and battles with the elements - it's all familiar territory.
I don't think we saw much that was new in the documentary genre until Werner Herzog. Up to that point the genre very formulaic, though there may be inventive documentaries from the time period I haven't yet seen.
2. Best Documentary (Short Subject): Project Hope
Speaking of Indonesia, Project Hope documents a medical exchange between the United States and that (relatively) new nation. The onboard milk machine seems like a strange idea, but I suppose there was some science behind it. Hopefully in the age of Trump we can keep this kind of thing going.
1963
1. Best Foreign Language Film: Sundays and Cybele
The acting is good, it's well written and well directed, but I'm a bit reluctant to recommend this one. It's too much like a pedophile's wet dream.
A Frenchman recently returned from the Indochina Conflict strikes up a friendship with a young girl. There's certainly nothing wrong with that, but yeah, anyone acting like the Frenchman in this movie - a man admittedly damaged from his experiences in the war - would end up on the wrong kind of list given enough time.
2. Best Documentary: Black Fox
The life and times of Adolph Hitler. Like most documentaries on the subject it's certainly food for thought, even if the juxtaposition of World War II footage and Goethe's Reynaud the Fox doesn't always work.
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1964
1. Best Short Subject (Cartoon): The Critic
Yes, Mel Brooks has three Oscars to his name. The Critic, linked above, won him his first. Give it a click? It'll only take up 3 minutes and 24 seconds of your time.
1965
1. Best Writing: Screenplay: Becket
"One can always come to a sensible little arrangement with God."
Entirely too clean for my liking. There's no way that people of that time period, rolling around in their own filth as they were, would have been able to enjoy such spotless floors.
The plot of Becket revolves around the friendship (and rivalry) between Henry II, Norman King of England and Thomas Becket, his Saxon friend and a rising star within both royal court and Catholic church. Peter O'Toole, playing Henry II chews a lot of scenery in the course of this movie, while Richard Burton, playing Thomas Becket, delivers an uncharacteristically restrained performance.
Fun Fact 1: In case "Gwendolin" looks familiar, 20 years later actress Sian Phillips would go on to play the "Reverend Mother" in 1984's Dune. While filming Becket she was still married to Peter O'Toole.
Fun Fact 2: This movie, to some extent at least, inspired a young Julia Roberts to become and actress.
1. Best Documentary: World Without Sun
Where James Cameron ventures Jacques Cousteau may have already been.
In this mildly homoerotic take on ocean exploration, the intrepid Cousteau navigates the ocean depths from his shiny new sea base. Of all the movies I've seen lately this one is probably the best to get stoned to, featuring as it does an array of colorful and bizarre fish, weird scenes of transparent containers in the water, and plenty of descents into underwater caves.
1966
1. Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Martin Balsam: A Thousand Clowns
Too much like the play it was adapted from, but the witty dialogue and an effervescent performance by James Robards keeps it interesting. Martin Balsam plays Robards' brother.
It's not a perfect movie, but this story of whimsical, individualistic people living in a serious, conformity-ridden society is worth seeing. For me the standout feature was the editing, which is very inventive given the time period.
2. Best Documentary: The Eleanor Roosevelt Story
Guaranteed to drive any and all avowed Republicans from your living room.
As for the documentary, it's mostly a series of photographs introduced by various narrators. I'm not sure why it won the Oscar, but then again 1965 was both a long time ago and a lot closer to Eleanor Roosevelt's death three years before. I suppose that to some extent a rising tide of feminism and concern for women's rights in the late 60s made this documentary ring true for many.
Food for Thought: Eleanor Roosevelt was most likely a lesbian, but historians debate whether or not she ever acted on her feelings for other women. What is known is that Eleanor disliked having sexual relations with her husband, and that FDR had a series of extramarital affairs.
1967
1. Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress: Elizabeth Taylor and Sandy Dennis: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Academia (or is it "academe?"), thwarted ambition, and bitter libations which catch in one's throat.
In my opinion there's Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton chewing scenery in a GOOD way, as in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, there's Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton chewing scenery in a NEUTRAL way, as in Cleopatra, and then there's Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton chewing scenery in a BAD way, as in Boom!
But in another way the real star of this movie is director Mike Nichols, who managed to wrest the respective performances out of both Mrs. Taylor and Mr. Burton. He enjoyed one of the longer careers in Hollywood, helming everything from this movie to Charlie Wilson's War in 2007. He elevated a lot of the material he worked with, the script of this movie included.
And yes, Elizabeth Taylor is great in this movie. She was always great, in one way or another, even when she was drunk or stoned out of her mind.
2. Best Music: John Barry: Born Free
A couple living in Kenya attempt to reintroduce their pet lion into the wild. In terms of content it's fairly standard Disney fare (though this isn't a Disney movie), but the relationship between the two married people and their indecision with regard to the cub makes Born Free more interesting than would have otherwise been the case.
For a postscript I highly recommend The Tragic Story of the Lord of Lions: Adamson of Africa. It puts a lot of Born Free into perspective.
1968
1. Best Documentary: The Anderson Platoon
A French journalist follows an American platoon through scenic Vietnam. I think this won an Oscar more for its timeliness, given that up to that point the American military wasn't as forthcoming as to how the war was really going, and the toll it was taking on both sides. It's a decent time capsule as these things go, but as a documentary there's not much in The Anderson Platoon to sink one's teeth into.
2. Best Documentary (Short Subject): The Redwoods
Only twenty minutes long and full of creepy music. This was the Sierra Club's attempt to educate the public on the imminent threat to California's remaining redwoods, and as a piece of propaganda it worked extremely well.
To be fair to the U.S. timber industry, they don't clearcut like that anymore.
1969
1. Best Actor: Cliff Robertson: Charly
A retooling of Flowers for Algernon, this film features Cliff Robertson as a mentally disabled man granted superior intelligence through a new medical procedure. If you're only familiar with Robertson as Superman's dad in 1978's Superman you'll want to check this one out. There was a lot more to him than that one role.
2. Best Documentary: Journey into Self
Condensed version of a 16-hour therapy session. As the 60s gave way to the 70s psychotherapy would become increasingly ubiquitous in the United States, and this documentary stands as evidence of that trend. People in the late 60s and early 70s were searching for truth, and they thought that with the right method they could find this truth. For some this meant joining a cult, for others it meant delving into astrology, and for still others it meant therapy sessions that sometimes did more harm than good.
Purely my opinion, but I think we sometimes put things "in the basement" for good reasons. It's not always beneficial to venture down there and start digging things up.
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