The pop culture is a reflection of the social and political mores of the times. The 1960’s were a heyday in Hollywood movie making. Part of that is, in my opinion, because of the depth of talent in acting, directing and script writing. Part of it is technological advancements. Of course, home video equipment wasn’t available for another decade, so your movie watching was done either in a theater, or on television.
The period from 1960 – 1965 was very different from the second half of the decade, which was one of social and political upheaval. 1960 was the year that JFK was elected President, and the U.S. entered the Vietnam war. Civil Rights became a movement in the early 60’s, JFK was shot, and manned space exploration began. Cigarette smoking was not just socially acceptable, but popular.
The music I remember from this time is Roy Orbison, Brenda Lee, Everly Brothers, Elvis, Ricky Nelson, Bobby Darin, Lesley Gore, The Four Seasons, Beach Boys and Motown. The Beatles made their debut in this period too.
The movies – just in 1960 – Psycho, The Magnificent Seven, Exodus, The Apartment, Elmer Gantry. Others that I remember from this time are The Birds, Breakfast At Tiffany’s, The Hustler, Judgment At Nuremberg, The Manchurian Candidate, The Longest Day, Cape Fear, Days of Wine and Roses, To Kill A Mockingbird, Charade, My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, Zorba The Greek, Pink Panther.
My favorite movie from this period is Doctor Zhivago, a masterpiece of Cinematography, music, and acting. Who can forget the eyes of Julie Christie, handsome Omar Sharif, the beauty of the Russian countryside, the horror of war?
1966-1969 was a period of social and political upheaval. The small things that I remember (some good, some bad):
- Pantyhose were created. Garter belts were a thing of the past.
- Dress codes gradually loosened – for women at least. We were able to wear slacks to class and in the workplace.
- Brassieres became optional (for some of us).
- The birth control pill was introduced
- Television broadcasts were now in color
Major political events were the marches for Civil Rights, riots in Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities, the assassinations of MLK and Bobby Kennedy, the protests against the Vietnam War.
The music of the times (in my memory): The bands of the British invasion, and popular folk music groups/folk-pop groups like Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, The Mama’s & the Papas. Also hard rock, like Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Doors, Steppenwolf.
The movies reflect the times, as well.
- Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff?
- Fahrenheit 451
- The Graduate
- Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?
- To Sir, With Love
- Bonnie & Clyde
- In Cold Blood
- Planet Of The Apes
- Rosemary’s Baby
- The Odd Couple
- Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
- Midnight Cowboy
- Easy Rider
- Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
What are your favorite movies from the 1960’s? Here is a list of favorites (with clips) at PJ Lifestyle:
Stella's Place 
What a fun topic – thanks, Stella! I’m going to have to clear a few cobwebs to remember back that far, but as I was reading I thought of how music (music delivery) has changed over the years as well. I had a babysitter who had a turntable record player in her car – boy did that needle jump around haha! Then we had hi-fi, and then cassette, then 4-track and 8-track players – reel to reel for the ProTip types. And records Everywhere…they would get so scratched, we would tape pennies or a rock to the needle arm to add weight so it would grind through the grit and play.
Movies – anything Cary Grant. Lawrence of Arabia. Hitchcock thrillers. Wow – so many. We still watch these films around our house, as we have a really awesome library system in our county (13 branches and an online system to inter-lib loan with delivery to the local branch) and my kids have grown to love watching Real Hollywood Stars – people with true acting talent. Marilyn. A Hard Days Night. Albert Finney in Tom Jones (LOL). So many –
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In 1960, we were watching all of the marvelous movies of the 1940’s and 1950’s. Cary Grant was my absolute favorite (I was 13 at the time)!
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I miss the whole concept of the “schoolgirl crush” – back then, if we liked a movie star, we Might get our hands on a photo of them to keep in our room or use as a bookmark. Later in the 70s the magazines started (TigerBeat, Teen-whatever and the like) so Once a Month we could get our hands on new pictures and news, or sometimes the coveted 11×17 fold-out centerfold! Other than that, all we had was whatever showed up in the newspaper – the rare images of Hollywood life. Just cheesy stuff, but those items were so rare they were precious.
And instead of being constantly barraged with images and tweets and posts telling us every single thing that the stars were doing, we (I should stop saying We and say I – I’m only speaking for myself, but I remember it was the same for my friends so I’ll keep saying we) would have a few clipped pictures of them, or the memories of them in movies (because we only got to see specific movies when they came to town – they weren’t on tv, and no Netflix/Hulu or dvd). Those images were the basis of some Great Imaginings – in my daydreams I would either play the actress of a movie with my star, or pretend other scenarios…it was so childish, so innocent, and so much Fun. Back in that world people actually had private thoughts – things they kept to themselves.
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Very neat subject 🙂
I was just the right age for Sesame Street when it premiered. I loved Oscar the Grouch from the first time I saw him, I loved his attitude and that he didn’t care about what the other characters thought.
Then I heard this yesterday
Then there’s Oscar the Grouch. Sure, it looks as though he’s still living in a metal trashcan. It’s only an affectation. In fact, his new accessory dwelling unit tucked in front of Elmo’s building includes recycling and composting receptacles. And this is only one of his micro-units on Sesame Street. Oscar is now splitting his time between his classic vintage-themed can and newer interconnected recycling and composting bins around the neighborhood.
http://www.citylab.com/housing/2016/01/oscar-the-grouch-lives-in-a-recycling-bin-now/423786/
Curse you political correctness!
SMH
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So true! Like the whole Bert and Ernie thing…they started out as a great example of best buddies who didn’t always agree on everything but still got along (great lesson in that), and ended up being presented as gay. I was so angry about that –
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We grew up in an area where the nearest neighborhood theater was about 2 miles away. My older brother and I used to walk there occasionally on Saturday mornings. Our favorites were anything with Vincent Price in it. But we would generally take whatever we could get.
When “How the West was Won”, our grandparents took us older kids downtown to see it. There were 3 screens wrapped around the front of the theater. It might have been in Cinemascope? It was something unusual. That was a special gloves & hat type outing.
Usually, we would go to the drive-in during the summer. They were all priced so that you only paid for the car at that time. There were 7 of us and we usually had at least 2-3 friends along. There were sandwiches and pop in the cooler and the most heavenly musicals. South Pacific, Oklahoma, My Fair Lady. I’m sure they were not first run, at least a few years old.
And in high school, a bunch of girls would go sometimes. Thoroughly Modern Millie. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The Sting, Just too many to remember.
But my 2 favorite movies seen during the 50-60’s were GWTW (I know it was old by then) and War & Peace with Audrey Hepburn. I was a book geek and I ended up reading both books my freshman year in high school.
Thanks for starting this topic, Stella. So many good memories…
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“That was a special gloves & hat type outing. ”
Remember that! How we used to actually have reasons to get “dressed up”? It was so fun – and such a Big deal – I really miss that. I spend a fair amount of time flying, and I remember how we used to actually get dressed up to go on airplanes – ‘church clothes’ at a minimum. I fly now and see people (my son is one of them…arrgh) who actually get off the plane in Pajamas/fleece and slippers! So different –
It was such a different concept of how we looked in public – I still think it had to do with Jackie Kennedy. But even at home – Beaver Cleaver’s mom always wore a dress and pearls, even when she was hanging out in the kitchen making pot roast.
It’s been amazing to watch the change in dress code over the years – I was born in 56, so in my case it started with “Bermuda Day” at school maybe 2 or 3 times a year (I’m guessing we all remember Bermuda shorts?), and then Casual Fridays at work, and now it’s rare to see someone wearing a dress to work – and if they do, I guarantee they won’t get through the day without hearing “why are you all dressed up?” at least once during the day. I guess it’s another thing we can thank Feminism for –
I miss the old days – as Archie and Edith sang, “Girls were Girls and Men were Men”.
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Ohhh Vincent Price! And I thought of Jack Lemmon this morning, too – I think my strongest memories are more in the early 70s, but we were still watching a lot of 60s movies then.
We used to have a huge theater nearby – 1200 seats (I know this because I actually ended up meeting/helping a guy who actually Cleaned that theater overnight as a job – that was an interesting experience!), and on Saturdays they had a double-feature with an intermission where they would have limbo contests or other participation halftime-type shows. It cost 50 cents – and our parents got rid of us for at least 5 hours every Saturday, which they loved.
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and the drive-ins! Boy Granny, you’ve really got me going this morning – great post! 🙂
Just using the word “pop” (pop in the cooler) makes me melancholy – it was So rare to have soda or ice cream back then, once a week would be considered a Lot. And you’re right about piling everyone in the car for one price – along with the cooler, blankets, pillows…it was like a sleepover on wheels.
Weren’t movies almost always double-features? Sure seems I always remember there being two films (at the theater or the drive-in), because they ran those newsreels in between? Or cartoons 🙂
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The progression of film.
Video of Every Best Picture Oscar Winner Ever
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That was cool – thanks! There are a lot on that list I haven’t seen…maybe I’ll have to make 2016 the year of Best Picture winners – watch one every Saturday night (except Silence of the Lambs…don’t want to go there, I’m just fine without those thoughts/images in my mind).
I saw a similar vid once that showed the actual ceremony as they announced the Best Picture winner…it was awesome, as you could follow the styles and what we thought of as Glamour through the years.
I keep hoping that once Mr. Trump is in office, Melania will bring elegance back to the international stage. I’ve always viewed our current FLOTUS as a clotheshorse who chooses her outfits to empower certain designers (most with an agenda) over presenting any real sense of style – it would be So Nice if girls (women too!) had a role model of elegance again.
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I am a day late here (and a dollar short), but loved this post. We were not allowed to go to the movies, just for the Disney flicks like Bambi and Snow White. We were prob too young anyway, but now I think we also could not afford it. But we were allowed to ride the bus downtown to the Carnegie Free Library every Saturday, and buy a nickel York patty at Murphy’s.
When I was torrenting, I put up old TV shows, starting with Combat. My biggest requests were for the family ones – Leave It To Beaver, Father Knows Best, Flipper – and old westerns – Wanted Dead or Alive, Wyatt Earp, many others. They also wanted 70’s shows – Remington Steele, Starsky & Hutch, etc. But by far my most requested show was Route 66. Everyone worldwide wanted that show, still do. (If you see DivX torrents floating around with those old shows they are most likely mine.)
It never failed to amaze me how many people worldwide wanted those old TV shows. I also did movies from the 30s and silents, but those TV shows were the ones folks wanted.
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