Cinema60

Agnès Varda was known as the “Grandmother of the French New Wave,” but really she should be known as The Queen. Not only was she the first female filmmaker to pioneer the style, but she went on to have a long and storied career, full of interesting and unique offerings. She made films right up until her death in early 2019.

During the 1960s, Varda was not only breaking down barriers of film and gender, but she was coming into her own style as one of the true auteurs. She focused primarily on telling the stories of those without the loudest voices: women, people of color and artists on the fringes of society. Join Bart and Jenna as they navigate through all of her films–shorts and features–of the decade.

The following films are discussed:

• The Fiancés of the Bridge Mac Donald [short] (1961)
Les fiancés du pont Mac Donald ou (Méfiez-vous des lunettes noires)
Directed by Agnès Varda
Starring Jean-Luc Godard, Anna Karina, Jean-Claude Brialy

• Cleo From 5 to 7 (1962)
Cléo de 5 à 7
Directed by Agnès Varda
Starring Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Dominique Davray

• Salut les Cubains [short] (1963)
Directed by Agnès Varda
Narrated by Michel Piccoli & Agnès Varda

• Happiness (1965)
Le Bonheur
Directed by Agnès Varda
Starring Jean-Claude Drouot, Claire Drouot, Marie-France Boyer

• Elsa La Rose [short] (1965)
Directed by Agnès Varda
Starring Louis Aragon, Elsa Triolet, Michel Piccoli

• The Creatures (1966)
Les Créatures
Directed by Agnès Varda
Starring Catherine Deneuve, Michel Piccoli, Eva Dahlbeck

• Uncle Yanco [short] (1967)
Directed by Agnès Varda
Starring Jean Varda, Tom Luddy, Agnès Varda

• Black Panthers [short] (1968)
Directed by Agnès Varda
Starring Huey P. Newton, Kathleen Cleaver, Stokely Carmichael

• Lion’s Love (…And Lies) (1969)
Directed by Agnès Varda
Starring Viva, Gerome Ragni, James Rado

Note: Far from Vietnam (1967) is mentioned briefly but not discussed for reasons stated in the podcast.

Bart and Jenna play Kiss Marry Kill with the year 1961.

The following films are discussed:

• Wise Guys (1961)
Les godelureaux
Directed by Claude Chabrol
Starring Jean-Claude Brialy, Bernadette Lafont, Jean Tissier

• Girl with a Suitcase (1961)
La ragazza con la valigia
Directed by Valerio Zurlini
Starring Claudia Cardinale, Jacques Perrin, Luciana Angiolillo

• The Innocents (1961)
Directed by Jack Clayton
Starring Deborah Kerr, Peter Wyngarde, Megs Jenkins

• Splendor in the Grass (1961)
Directed by Elia Kazan
Starring Natalie Wood, Warren Beatty, Pat Hingle

• Accatone (1961)
Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
Starring Franco Citti, Franca Pasut, Silvana Corsini

• Something Wild (1961)
Directed by Jack Garfein
Starring Carroll Baker, Ralph Meeker, Mildred Dunnock

Poland has produced countless under-seen masterpieces since the rise of the Łódź Film School in the ‘50s. If you don’t believe us, just ask Martin Scorsese, who lent his name and energy to a 21-film restoration project because he loves Polish movies so much.

Part of the reason Polish cinema remains relatively unknown is that during the ‘60s, the government kept careful watch on the content and distribution of films; it squashed any portrayals of youthful discontent and personal expression that could be construed as critical of the state. As a result, Poland didn’t have a “New Wave” per se, but behind that Iron Curtain they were still making some mighty fine films.

In this episode, Bart & Jenna catch you up on some of Poland’s greatest cinematic treasures from the ‘60s–including early films from writers and directors who went on to have international success.

The following films are discussed:

• Innocent Sorcerers (1960)
Niewinni czarodzieje
Directed by Andrzej Wajda
Starring Tadeusz Lomnicki, Krystyna Stypulkowska, Wanda Koczeska

• Mother Joan of the Angels (1961)
Matka Joanna od Aniołów
Directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz
Starring Lucyna Winnicka, Mieczyslaw Voit, Anna Ciepielewska

• Knife in the Water (1962)
Nóz w wodzie
Directed by Roman Polanski
Starring Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka, Zygmunt Malanowicz

• Passenger (1963)
Pasażerka
Directed by Andrzej Munk. Finished by Witold Lesiewicz
Starring Aleksandra Slaska, Anna Ciepielewska, Jan Kreczmar

• The Saragossa Manuscript (1965)
Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie
Directed by Wojciech Has
Starring Zbigniew Cybulski, Iga Cembrzynska, Elzbieta Czyzewska

• Barrier (1966)
Bariera
Directed by Jerzy Skolimowski
Starring Joanna Szczerbic, Jan Nowicki, Tadeusz Lomnicki

• The Structure of Crystals (1969)
Struktura kryształu
Directed by Krzysztof Zanussi
Starring Barbara Wrzesinska, Jan Myslowicz, Andrzej Zarnecki

1964 was the year that Rock’n’Roll decided it was here to stay, at least in America’s cinemas. It was a year that represented a real turning point for movie musicals, with enduring classics of both the old style and the new style making their premieres, as well as a great number of notable others from a variety of cinematic and musical approaches. Join Jenna and Bart as they traverse the entire spectrum of ‘60s musicals in a single year–including some of their all-time favorites, a few guilty pleasures, and a couple real pieces of junk too.

The following films are discussed:

• My Fair Lady (1964)
Directed by George Cukor
Starring Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway

• Mary Poppins (1964)
Directed by Robert Stevenson
Starring Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson

• Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964)
Directed by Gordon Douglas
Starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr.

• Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
Directed by Jacques Demy
Starring Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo, Anne Vernon

• Viva Las Vegas (1964)
Directed by George Sidney
Starring Elvis Presley, Ann-Margret, Cesare Danova

• Muscle Beach Party (1964)
Directed by William Asher
Starring Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Luciana Paluzzi

• A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
Directed by Richard Lester
Starring The Beatles, Wilfrid Brambell, Norman Rossington

OTHER 1964 MUSICALS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), Roustabout (1964), Kissin' Cousins (1964), The Pleasure Seekers (1964), The Horror of Party Beach (1964), The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!? (1964), Bikini Beach (1964), Pajama Party (1964), Ferry Cross the Mersey (1964), The T.A.M.I. Show (1964)

Bart and Jenna get drunk in order to talk about the cultural impact that James Bond had in the 1960s, their love/hate relationship with the series, and of course their opinions on every Bond movie from the decade.

All Albert Finney ever wanted was to be a great character actor. As one of youngest actors to gain his success through Britain’s “angry young men” movement, his stage and film career quickly helped to define it. He actively rebelled against his boyish good looks; the idea of selling of an image of celebrity to the public, positive or not, made him deeply uncomfortable. To Albert Finney, acting was always “work," and he constantly worked against being typecast. Within the ‘60s alone he landed a variety of roles: a working class hooligan, a period drama ladies’ man, a cold blooded serial killer, an emotionally volatile architect, a jaded writer suffering from a degree of imposter syndrome, and a Picasso-obsessed stalker.

In honor of Albert Finney, who passed away earlier this year, Bart and Jenna take a look at all of the films he starred in during the 1960s. These films established what was to come for the rest of his career and offer some real unsung gems of British cinema.

Not discussed in this episode are The Entertainer (1960) and The Victors (1963), in which Finney only has brief cameos.

The following films are discussed, however:

• Saturday Night, Sunday Morning (1960)
Directed by Karel Reisz
Starring Albert Finney, Shirley Anne Field, Rachel Roberts

• Tom Jones (1963)
Directed by Tony Richardson
Starring Albert Finney, Susannah York, George Devine

• Night Must Fall (1964)
Directed by Karel Reisz
Starring Albert Finney, Susan Hampshire, Mona Washbourne

• Two for the Road (1967)
Directed by Stanley Donen
Starring Audrey Hepburn, Albert Finney

• Charlie Bubbles (1967)
Directed by Albert Finney
Starring Albert Finney, Colin Blakely, Billie Whitelaw, Liza Minelli

• The Picasso Summer (1969)
Directed by Robert Sallin (& Serge Bourguignon, uncredited)
Starring Albert Finney, Yvette Mimieux, Luis Miguel Dominguín

Bart and Jenna challenge each other to choose one film from the year 1960 that they love (“Marry”), one film they want to see (“Kiss”), and one film they hate (“Kill”).

The following films are discussed:

• Rocco and His Brothers (1960)
Directed by Luchino Visconti
Starring Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Girardot

• Strangers When We Meet (1960)
Directed by Richard Quine
Starring Kirk Douglas, Kim Novak, Ernie Kovacs, Barbara Rush

• The Sundowners (1960)
Directed by Fred Zinnemann
Starring Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Peter Ustinov

• Letter Never Sent (1960)
Directed by Mikhail Kalatozov
Starring Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Tatyana Samoylova, Vasiliy Livanov

• Cinderfella (1960)
Directed by Frank Tashlin
Starring Jerry Lewis, Ed Wynn, Judith Anderson

• The Virgin Spring (1960)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Starring Max von Sydow, Birgitta Valberg, Gunnel Lindblom

By the 1960s, the Cold War really started to heat up. Berlin became a divided city, the space race was in full swing, the war in Vietnam was escalating, children across America were made numb to “duck and cover” drills, and the Cuban Missile Crisis practically gave the world a heart attack. You’d think with the ever-looming threat of nuclear annihilation, the subject of two headstrong superpowers bent on world supremacy would be addressed in movies of the era with only the utmost seriousness, but that wasn’t exactly the case. Instead, many filmmakers found the uneasy relations between the US and the USSR to be a veritable playground for savage satire and slapstick silliness.

In this episode, Bart and Jenna navigate the anxiety, arrogance, doubts, patriotism, and humanist longings expressed through comedy during this time of heightening global tension.

The following films are discussed:

• One, Two, Three (1961)
Directed by Billy Wilder
Starring James Cagney, Horst Buchholz, Pamela Tiffin

•The Mouse on the Moon (1963)​
Directed by Richard Lester
Starring Margaret Rutherford, Ron Moody, Bernard Cribbins

• Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden

• John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! (1965)
Directed by J. Lee Thompson
Starring Shirley MacLaine, Peter Ustinov, Richard Crenna

• The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! (1966)
Directed by Norman Jewison
Starring Carl Reiner, Eva Marie Saint, Alan Arkin

• The President's Analyst (1967)​
Directed by Theodore J. Flicker
Starring James Coburn, Godfrey Cambridge, Severn Darden

• The Diamond Arm (1969)​
Directed by Leonid Gaidai
Starring Yuriy Nikulin, Nina Grebeshkova, Andrey Mironov

Any discussion of modernism in ‘60s films has to begin with Jean-Luc Godard, the era’s single-most important innovator in the language of popular cinema. But because the mere mention of his name can cause certain movie lovers to bristle and run as far away as possible, we decided to tackle his occasionally difficult output in the most approachable way possible. So in this episode, we focus on the films Godard made with his greatest star and muse: Anna Karina.

No matter how discursive and inscrutable the lightly plotted cinema of Godard can get, Karina always brings the charm, intelligence and humor, effectively turning his potentially alienating distancing techniques and cinematic experiments into pure subversive pleasure. Cinema60 celebrates Anna Karina, who stands out as the perfect ‘60s woman in a decade of few notable roles worthy of actresses with significant charisma or talent.

The following films are discussed:

• Le Petit Soldat (The Little Soldier) (1963)
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Starring Anna Karina, Michel Subor, Henri-Jacques Huet

• A Woman is a Woman (Une femme est une femme) (1961)
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Starring Anna Karina, Jean-Claude Brialy, Jean-Paul Belmondo

• Vivre Sa Vie (My Life to Live) (1962)
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Starring Anna Karina, Sady Rebbot, André S. Labarthe

• Band of Outsiders (Bande à part) (1964)
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Starring Anna Karina, Sami Frey, Claude Brasseur

• Pierrot le Fou (1965)
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Starring Anna Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Samuel Fuller

• Alphaville (1965)
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Starring Anna Karina, Eddie Constantine, Akim Tamiroff

• Made in U.S.A. (1966)
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Starring Anna Karina, László Szabó, Jean-Pierre Léaud

• The Oldest Profession (Le plus vieux métier du monde) (1967)
Episode: “Anticipation, ou l'amour en l'an 2000”
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Starring Anna Karina, Marilù Tolo, Jacques Charrier

For our second episode, we’re focusing on one actor’s career through the decade: Clint Eastwood. Despite the fact that he got his start in 1950s television serials, the Clint Eastwood we all know and love was ‘born’ in 1964. His persona as a grimacing badass gunslinger was a carefully constructed character written by Sergio Leone for his distinctive Man With No Name series.

Bart and Jenna watch every film Clint Eastwood made in the 1960s, investigating the triumphs and stumbles he took trying to break away from his white-hat television roles in order to build his black-hat film career.

The following films are discussed:

• A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
Directed by Sergio Leone
Starring Clint Eastwood, Gian Maria Volontè, Marianne Koch

• For a Few Dollars More (1965)
Directed by Sergio Leone
Starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volontè

• The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966)
Directed by Sergio Leone
Starring Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef

• The Witches (1967)
Episode: “Una Sera Come le Altre”
Directed by Vittorio De Sica
Starring Clint Eastwood, Silvana Mangano

• Hang ‘Em High (1968)
Directed by Ted Post
Starring Clint Eastwood, Inger Stevens, Pat Hingle

• Coogan’s Bluff (1968)
Directed by Don Siegel
Starring Clint Eastwood, Susan Clark, Tisha Sterling

• Where Eagles Dare (1968)
Directed by Brian G. Hutton
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Richard Burton, Mary Ure

• Paint Your Wagon (1969)
Directed by Joshua Logan
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Lee Marvin, Jean Seberg