#1960 movies

[historyguide]

The stunning Claudia Cardinale.

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[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

November: Grey Redux

Bells Are Ringing / Nancy Walters as Katherine Arnold

All the guests at the party attended by the main characters are wearing sophisticated clothing in neutral or muted shades, but this gown on Katherine Arnold (a star actress in the story) is a particular standout. It looks to be made of heavy satin in shades of grey that graduate from silver to charcoal, with a slit in the back and a built-in stole that wraps around the right arm. Matching grey pumps and diamond jewelry complete the elegant look. No wonder heroine Ella feels self-conscious about her bright red dress (although it is charming).

Costumes for this movie were by Walter Plunkett.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Peeping Tom (1960)

I’ve seen Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom on several lists of “the best slasher movies ever made”. I don’t know if it belongs among the likes of Halloween or The Burning. Not because it isn’t good. Quite the opposite; this is an excellent film. I’m saying it doesn’t belong because this isn’t really a slasher film. This psychological horror-thriller doesn’t have the masked killed, the character “in the know” or many of the other tropes you’d expect to see. Instead, it has the transitional elements that would someday become them. Semantics aside, this film stands confidently as a piece of horror history or on its own.

In London, Mark Lewis (Carl Boehm) is a photographer and aspiring filmmaker obsessed with capturing images of fear. Alone in his loft, he watches videos of the murders he's committed. As the investigators on his tail begin getting closer, he befriends Helen Stephens (Anna Massey).

It would be interesting to see Peeping Tom remade because so many aspects of it would be different if shot today. In 1960, cameras weren’t rare but they weren’t everpresent the way they are today and you could argue that we’ve become as obsessed with photography and videos as Mark. He isn’t merely shooting the last moments of his victim’s lives; he goes back to the scene of the crime the next morning to capture the looks on people’s faces when they wheel out the prostitute he murdered (Brenda Bruce). He wants to see how people react when they find the bodies. He wants to see the moment when his victims realize their lives are over again and again. Whenever he meets a woman and shows the slightest bit of interest in her, you wonder what he sees. Another victim? A kindred spirit? To a man this unhinged, is there a difference?

The thing is that Mark isn’t completely loony. Most of the time, he seems like a perfectly normal person. Perhaps a bit shy, but he has a normal job, the scenes with him and Helen are even a bit sweet - though they can make the middle feel a tad slow. You’d never guess just how disturbed he is under that facade, which makes him much scarier than someone like Jason Voorhees. This is the kind of character any psychologist would have a field day evaluating because each scene unveils a new layer of psychological complexity.

For the titular peeping tom alone, this is a great film but there are other elements to appreciate. The very first shot is from Mark’s point of view. It’s not because we’re going to have a twist reveal of his identity later; it’s so we can feel what it’s like to be him. We never see the actual murders - the camera always cuts away. This means we eagerly anticipate the scenes where Mark sits down to watch his snuff films - even if the scene just happened. Like him, we’re hoping to catch something we didn’t the first time. Every time, his reels fail to deliver what we want. It makes us look forward to the next crime. “This time, for sure” the film seems to say. For 101 minutes, we're addicts and that ending? It’s quite a shocker. You should’ve seen coming but didn’t, which makes it that much more unsettling.

Like so many horror classics before it, Peeping Tom was practically burned at the stake upon its initial release. In a way, you can sort of understand why. Even today, Mark Lewis makes your skin crawl and the idea that a “good movie” has to be “good for you” still prevails. The outrage made everyone miss the excellent storytelling and characterization at the core of Peeping Tom. This is a picture I see myself returning to, and appreciating more with every subsequent watch. (May 13, 2022)

[jaredgriffin2002]

Twilight (1960)

The First Animated Movie in United Saints

With a wicked stepmother and two jealous stepsisters who keep her enslaved and in rags, Twilight Sparkle stands no chance of attending the royal ball.

Coming Soon

[imkeepinit]

Movie poster by Fernando Albericio for the 1961 Spanish release of Psicosis. The artwork is based on the original American poster warning theatre goers that no one would be admitted to the theatre after the movie had started.

[coffeeandcinema]

L'Amour à la mer (1965). dir. Guy Gilles

[abnormes]

Jane Fonda, Walk on the Wild Side (1962)

[euphoric-mars]

looking horror right in the eyes

[marvelousmovies]

How To Succeed With Brunettes US Navy Dating Advice Training Film

[k-wame]

MASCULIN FÉMININ (1966) dir. Jean-Luc Godard · Romance/Documentary

[historyguide]

Legendary Polish actress - Kalina Jedrusik.

[roses-in-hollywood]

Marie-France Pisier in Trans-Europ-Express, 1966

[wh0-is-lily]

Anjelica Huston Photographed by Gian Paolo Barbieri, 1973🔮

[indigomood]

Walk on the Wild Side (1962) dir. Edward Dmytryk

[vintage-every-day]

Natalie Wood in 𝑾𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑺𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 (1961).

[weirdlookindog]

Jane Fonda and Anita Pallenberg in Barbarella (1968)