Top Ranked Films of the 60s (all polls)
by LawrenceJoseSinclair | created - 30 Jun 2011 | updated - 01 Jul 2011 | PublicI took all the film polls I could find, and threw them all into a spreadsheet, and ranked the results. I posted the Top Ranked 1000 Films first, then an alphabetical list of all 2260 titles that made polls. I'm now posting sub-lists like this one. The complete and original lists can be found at [link]http://worldsbestfilms.blogspot.com[/link] .. Our motto is: "Your results may vary"
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
G | 149 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
After uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter
Votes: 719,852 | Gross: $56.95M
Great film, from my favorite director, Stanley Kubrick, and my favorite science fiction author, Arthur C. Clarke, who didn't believe in evil and never had 'bad guys' in his novels. Thankfully, this changed forever the way sf films had to look.
2. Psycho (1960)
R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin
Votes: 718,595 | Gross: $32.00M
The shower scene is one of the best edited sequences in all of cinema; unfortunately the film loses steam after that, but is still studied in film schools.
3. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
PG | 95 min | Comedy, War
An unhinged American general orders a bombing attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn
Votes: 518,440 | Gross: $0.28M
This might be Kubrick's best, certainly the best-paced. My favorite comedy and favorite 'war film' rolled into one; Peter Sellers should have won a best acting Oscar, and Sterling Hayden is also unforgettable, ranting about our 'precious bodily fluids'.
4. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Approved | 218 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins
Votes: 314,492 | Gross: $44.82M
One of the greatest adventure (and war) epics, this film transports viewers out of their reality and into the great Saharan desert, and it also explains how modern Arabia got that way.
5. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Approved | 178 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè
Votes: 811,557 | Gross: $6.10M
For me, this film is excruciating to watch, every scene is overwrought and drawn out, and driven by inane pan flute music. Sergio Leone's best for me is Once Upon a Time in America, a gangster epic.
6. 8½ (1963)
Not Rated | 138 min | Drama
A harried movie director retreats into his memories and fantasies.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimée, Claudia Cardinale, Sandra Milo
Votes: 125,235 | Gross: $0.05M
Fellini's most artistic film may not be his most accessible to the masses, but it's still great art. His La Dolce Vita is #11 on this list.
7. Au hasard Balthazar (1966)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama
The story of a mistreated donkey and the people around him. A study on saintliness and a sister piece to Bresson's Mouchette.
Director: Robert Bresson | Stars: Anne Wiazemsky, Walter Green, François Lafarge, Jean-Claude Guilbert
Votes: 22,837 | Gross: $0.04M
The dangerous life of a little donkey named Balthazar; received a perfect "100" rating at Metacritics, tied for 1st there (Lawrence of Arabia and Wizard of Oz are two it's tied with).
8. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
PG-13 | 166 min | Western
A mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards
Votes: 349,191 | Gross: $5.32M
Another overlong spaghetti western from Leone, this one is more interesting b/c he cast blue-eyed Henry Fonda as a ruthless killer.
9. The Battle of Algiers (1966)
Not Rated | 121 min | Drama, War
In the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.
Director: Gillo Pontecorvo | Stars: Brahim Hadjadj, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Samia Kerbash
Votes: 65,693 | Gross: $0.06M
Unbelievable re-creation of the Algerian fight for independence from France, a primer on urban terrorism.
10. Jules and Jim (1962)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, Romance
Decades of a love triangle concerning two friends and an impulsive woman.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre, Vanna Urbino
Votes: 44,433
For many, this is Francois Truffaut's best, I prefer The 400 Blows but both are cinamatic art that should be 'must-see' material.
11. La Dolce Vita (1960)
Not Rated | 174 min | Comedy, Drama
A series of stories following a week in the life of a philandering tabloid journalist living in Rome.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée, Yvonne Furneaux
Votes: 78,227 | Gross: $19.52M
Fellini's study of the decadent lives of theater people is my favorite of his.
12. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
PG-13 | 126 min | Drama, Thriller
An American POW in the Korean War is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury
Votes: 79,847
The original version, which is one of John Frankenheimer's best; his other must sees are the more action-packed The Train and Ronin.
13. The Apartment (1960)
Approved | 125 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A Manhattan insurance clerk tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston
Votes: 196,922 | Gross: $18.60M
Billy Wilder was an American master, after fleeing the Nazis in Berlin (he's a half-Jewish Austrian). For this he won 3 of his 6 Oscars.
14. The Graduate (1967)
PG | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross, William Daniels
Votes: 288,507 | Gross: $104.95M
Mike Nichols' classic comedy of love, sex, and infidelity made Dustin Hoffman a star, and Anne Bancroft the ideal 'older woman' - did she single-handedly create the 'cougar' in this?
15. Persona (1966)
Not Rated | 83 min | Drama, Thriller
A nurse is put in charge of a mute actress and finds that their personae are melding together.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Margaretha Krook, Gunnar Björnstrand
Votes: 130,983
Interesting study of two beautiful Swedish women alone in a house, played by Liv Ullman and Bibi Andersson - I believe Bergman was married to each one, but not at the same time!
16. Contempt (1963)
Not Rated | 102 min | Drama, Romance
A French writer's marriage deteriorates while working on Fritz Lang's version of "The Odyssey", as his wife accuses him of using her to court favor with the film's brash American producer.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Brigitte Bardot, Jack Palance, Michel Piccoli, Giorgia Moll
Votes: 36,049 | Gross: $0.04M
This is one of the slow films from Jean-Luc Godard; I'd go with Breathless or Band of Outsiders instead.
17. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Approved | 123 min | Drama, Western
A senator returns to a Western town for the funeral of an old friend and tells the story of his origins.
Director: John Ford | Stars: James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin
Votes: 82,329
Another classic John Ford western in which a decades old mystery is revealed.
18. The Wild Bunch (1969)
R | 135 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.
Director: Sam Peckinpah | Stars: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien
Votes: 90,398 | Gross: $12.06M
19. Pierrot the Fool (1965)
Not Rated | 110 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Pierrot escapes his boring society and travels from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl chased by hit-men from Algeria. They lead an unorthodox life, always on the run.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Anna Karina, Graziella Galvani, Aicha Abadir
Votes: 36,953
Anyone else remember Flight of the Conchords' "Fou de Fas Fas"? hilarious take on French culture - haven't seen this Godard film however, he's not my favorite.
20. Masculine Feminine (1966)
Not Rated | 103 min | Drama, Romance
A romance between young Parisians, shown through a series of vignettes.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Chantal Goya, Marlène Jobert, Michel Debord
Votes: 17,337 | Gross: $0.20M
In spite of the terminally cute Anna Karina, I still didn't like this Godard film.
21. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Approved | 129 min | Crime, Drama
Atticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.
Director: Robert Mulligan | Stars: Gregory Peck, John Megna, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy
Votes: 332,983
The film of Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning novel about racial injustice and bigotry should be ranked higher.
22. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
R | 111 min | Action, Biography, Crime
Bored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.
Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman
Votes: 120,648
It's also #137 all-time. This is fun and kinda campy with a lot of humor, but I believe it's overrated at this position..
23. Repulsion (1965)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A sex-repulsed woman who disapproves of her sister's boyfriend sinks into depression and has horrific visions of rape and violence.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, John Fraser, Yvonne Furneaux
Votes: 57,289
Catherine Deneuve looks great doing just anything at all - in this she goes more than a little wacky.
24. The Leopard (1963)
PG | 186 min | Drama, History
The Prince of Salina, a noble aristocrat of impeccable integrity, tries to preserve his family and class amid the tumultuous social upheavals of 1860s Sicily.
Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale, Paolo Stoppa
Votes: 28,839
This film of Visconti's scores well in the polls, but I was always bored by it myself - judge for yourself; it certainly looks great, but hardly anything happens.
25. Yojimbo (1961)
Not Rated | 110 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Eijirô Tôno, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yôko Tsukasa
Votes: 131,401
Kurosawa said this was inspired by John Ford westerns, then Sergio Leone used the same story for A Fistful of Dollars, as a bandit plays two sides against each other in a town's power struggle.
26. Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Approved | 137 min | Drama, Horror
A young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer
Votes: 235,303
Polanski's thriller is tame by modern standards but is still a good suspense film
27. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
PG | 110 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
In 1890s Wyoming, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid lead a band of outlaws. When a train robbery goes wrong, they find themselves on the run with a posse hard on their heels. After considering their options, they escape to South America.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin
Votes: 226,779 | Gross: $102.31M
A western with bicycles and pop songs and pretty boy outlaws? not in my house!
28. The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)
Not Rated | 137 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of Matthew. Pasolini shows Christ as a Marxist avant-la-lettre and therefore uses half of the text of Matthew.
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini | Stars: Enrique Irazoqui, Margherita Caruso, Susanna Pasolini, Marcello Morante
Votes: 13,717
Filmed verbatim with no additional narrative (and all amateur actors), Pasolini showed just how manic and insane this gospel story really is.
29. A Hard Day's Night (1964)
G | 87 min | Comedy, Musical
Over two "typical" days in the life of The Beatles, the boys struggle to keep themselves and Sir Paul McCartney's mischievous grandfather in check while preparing for a live TV performance.
Director: Richard Lester | Stars: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr
Votes: 48,109 | Gross: $13.78M
Good rock fun in this mindless entertainment; ignore the pseudo-serious plot manipulations that slow it down (a ridiculed Ringo runs away; awww...) and try to forget that it spawned "The Monkees" on tv.
30. L'Avventura (1960)
Not Rated | 144 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A woman disappears during a Mediterranean boating trip. During the search, her lover and her best friend become attracted to each other.
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: Gabriele Ferzetti, Monica Vitti, Lea Massari, Dominique Blanchar
Votes: 32,647
This is cinematic art at its highest level, an almost totally visual film without much dialogue, it's all told in the visual symbolism. All film students should study this film.
31. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A young woman separated from her lover by war faces a life-altering decision.
Director: Jacques Demy | Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo, Anne Vernon, Marc Michel
Votes: 31,360 | Gross: $0.03M
32. Easy Rider (1969)
R | 95 min | Adventure, Drama
Two bikers head from L.A. to New Orleans through the open country and desert lands, and along the way they meet a man who bridges a counter-culture gap of which they had been unaware.
Director: Dennis Hopper | Stars: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Antonio Mendoza
Votes: 116,978 | Gross: $41.73M
Even though this won the Palm d'Or at Cannes, it's still 'much ado about nothing' in my opinion, and I think filmmaker Dennis Hopper knew that as well since they had no script. I think the plot was 'let's travel around with camera and a sack of weed and see if anyone will buy it!'
33. The Hustler (1961)
Not Rated | 134 min | Drama, Sport
An up-and-coming pool player plays a long-time champion in a single high-stakes match.
Director: Robert Rossen | Stars: Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott
Votes: 86,816 | Gross: $8.28M
A compelling film, the best yet about pocket pool, featuring an incredible performance by Jackie Gleason, who made all his own pool shots.
34. Blow-Up (1966)
Not Rated | 111 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A fashion photographer unknowingly captures a death on film after following two lovers in a park.
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles, John Castle
Votes: 67,671
Interesting but not completely successful color film from Antonioni. The best part is a guitar-smashing Jeff Beck playing live with the Yardbirds, which inspired Pete Townshend and others to do that for real.
35. Playtime (1967)
Not Rated | 155 min | Comedy
Monsieur Hulot curiously wanders around a high-tech Paris, paralleling a trip with a group of American tourists. Meanwhile, a nightclub/restaurant prepares its opening night, but it's still under construction.
Director: Jacques Tati | Stars: Jacques Tati, Barbara Dennek, Rita Maiden, France Rumilly
Votes: 25,957
French mime-actor Jacques Tati is an acquired taste, a little too slow for me, but his films make the polls. Expect wry smiles not outright laughter.
36. Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
In a strange and isolated chateau, a man becomes acquainted with a woman and insists that they have met before.
Director: Alain Resnais | Stars: Delphine Seyrig, Giorgio Albertazzi, Sacha Pitoëff, Françoise Bertin
Votes: 24,889 | Gross: $0.06M
37. Belle de Jour (1967)
R | 100 min | Drama, Romance
A frigid young housewife decides to spend her midweek afternoons as a prostitute.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Michel Piccoli, Geneviève Page
Votes: 49,074 | Gross: $0.03M
Even though Catherine Deneuve plays a daytime call girl, don't expect much titillation here, but a good film
38. Rocco and His Brothers (1960)
Not Rated | 179 min | Crime, Drama, Sport
Having recently been uprooted to Milan, Rocco and his four brothers each look for a new way in life when a prostitute comes between Rocco and his brother Simone.
Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Girardot, Claudia Cardinale
Votes: 21,205
Very good gangster and boxing film from Visconti, this seems to have directly influenced Scorsese's Raging Bull
39. Viridiana (1961)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama
Viridiana, a young nun about to take her final vows, pays a visit to her widowed uncle at the request of her Mother Superior.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Silvia Pinal, Francisco Rabal, Fernando Rey, José Calvo
Votes: 26,141
40. Andrei Rublev (1966)
R | 189 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life, times and afflictions of the fifteenth-century Russian iconographer St. Andrei Rublev.
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Ivan Lapikov, Nikolay Grinko, Nikolay Sergeev
Votes: 57,070 | Gross: $0.10M
A good introduction to the often difficult films of Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky
41. Band of Outsiders (1964)
Not Rated | 95 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Two crooks with a fondness for old Hollywood B-movies convince a languages student to help them commit a robbery.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Anna Karina, Claude Brasseur, Danièle Girard, Louisa Colpeyn
Votes: 27,070 | Gross: $0.04M
For me, the most fun of any Godard film, Anna Karina is delightful, vivacious eye candy - love the Madison dance scene, the actors spent six wks rehearsing that in their spare time
42. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror, Thriller
A ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the Northeast of the United States.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman
Votes: 139,188 | Gross: $0.09M
Are you kidding? This is definitely B-level horror, post-midnight tv fare, not classic film quality.
43. The Producers (1967)
PG | 88 min | Comedy, Music
A stage-play producer devises a plan to make money by producing a sure-fire flop.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn, Kenneth Mars
Votes: 59,851 | Gross: $0.11M
Mel Brooks' funniest film, by far, thanks to the wonderfully gay Hitler played by comedian Dick Shawn - the con is to get investors, create a terrible play that goes under immediately, and pocket the money
44. Army of Shadows (1969)
Not Rated | 145 min | Drama, War
An account of underground resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied France.
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville | Stars: Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret
Votes: 25,862 | Gross: $0.74M
This gripping story of the French underground is based on true events
45. The Birds (1963)
PG-13 | 119 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette
Votes: 204,594 | Gross: $11.40M
Even for Hitchcock, this is a little over the top and not very credible, he has much better films.
46. L'Eclisse (1962)
Not Rated | 126 min | Drama, Romance
A young woman meets a vital young man, but their love affair is doomed because of the man's materialistic nature.
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: Monica Vitti, Alain Delon, Francisco Rabal, Lilla Brignone
Votes: 22,081
Part of Antonioni's unrelated b&w trilogy that began with L'avventura and finishes with La Notte. A must-see for fans of Italian cinema, the futuristic city began by Mussolini is truly space age.
47. The Samurai (1967)
GP | 101 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After professional hitman Jef Costello is seen by witnesses his efforts to provide himself an alibi drive him further into a corner.
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville | Stars: Alain Delon, François Périer, Nathalie Delon, Cathy Rosier
Votes: 57,197 | Gross: $0.04M
Another quality French gangster film of the noir persuasion.
48. Weekend (1967)
Not Rated | 105 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A surreal tale of a married couple going on a road trip to visit the wife's parents with the intention of killing them for the inheritance.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Mireille Darc, Jean Yanne, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Yves Afonso
Votes: 15,792
If you like Godard a lot, check it out, otherwise you'd be better off going to the dentist, you'll have something positive for your pain.
49. West Side Story (1961)
Approved | 153 min | Crime, Drama, Musical
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
Directors: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise | Stars: Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn
Votes: 121,233 | Gross: $43.66M
ok, so it's corny and hollywooden, especially the lead actors, but still, if I'm ever in a dance fight, if I can remember these moves I'll kick butt! saved by great music from Leonard Bernstein, plus the coolest dude in films, a suave Oscar-winning George Chakiris.
50. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
R | 113 min | Drama
A naive hustler travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune, finding a new friend in the process.
Director: John Schlesinger | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver
Votes: 120,877 | Gross: $44.79M
To me, this gritty best picture winner from Brit John Schlesinger should be ranked much higher. Even today, Dustin Hoffman says Ratso Rizzo is his finest performance.
Tell Your Friends