TOP 5
FILMS OF 1960
FILMS OF 1960
Early Days Productions Last updated 05/16/2010
"Swiss Family Robinson" is a 1960 American feature film starring John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, and Sessue Hayakawa in a tale of a shipwrecked family building an island home. The screenplay by Lowell S. Hawley was loosely based upon the 1812 novel The Swiss Robinson by Johann David Wyss. The film was directed by Ken Annakin, shot in Tobago. It was the second feature film version of the story (the first film version was released by RKO in 1940) and was a commercial success. At the box office, the film took roughly $40,000,000 (around $287,700,000 in 2008 dollars), making it one of the most successful family films ever made. Edited from Wikipedia.
"Psycho" is a 1960 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. The novel was based on the crimes of Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein. The film depicts the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), who is in hiding at a motel after embezzling from her employer, and the motel's owner, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), and the aftermath of their encounter. Psycho initially received mixed reviews, but outstanding box office returns prompted a re-review which was overwhelmingly positive and led to four Academy Award nominations. Psycho is now considered one of Hitchcock's best films and is highly praised as a work of cinematic art by international critics. The film spawned two sequels, a prequel, a remake, and a television movie spin-off. Edited from Wikipedia.
"Spartacus" is a 1960 American historical drama movie directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the novel of the same name by Howard Fast about the historical life of Spartacus and the Third Servile War. The film stars Kirk Douglas as rebellious slave Spartacus and Laurence Olivier as his foe, the Roman general and politician Marcus Licinius Crassus. The film also stars Peter Ustinov (who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as slave trader Lentulus Batiatus), John Gavin (as Julius Caesar), Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, John Ireland, Herbert Lom, Woody Strode, Tony Curtis, John Dall and Charles McGraw. The development of Spartacus was partly instigated by Kirk Douglas's failure to win the title role in William Wyler's Ben-Hur. Not wanting to appear beaten, he decided to upstage Wyler, and create his own epic, Spartacus, with himself in the title role. Edited from Wikipedia.
"Exodus" is a 1960 epic war film made by Alpha and Carlyle Productions and distributed by United Artists. It was produced and directed by Otto Preminger from a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo from the 1958 novel, Exodus, by Leon Uris. The Super Panavision 70 cinematography was by Sam Leavitt. The music, including the frequently covered title theme, was written by Ernest Gold. The film stars Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint, Ralph Richardson, Peter Lawford, Lee J. Cobb, Sal Mineo, John Derek, Hugh Griffith, Gregory Ratoff, Felix Aylmer, David Opatoshu, Alexandra Stewart, Jill Haworth, Marius Goring, Victor Maddern and George Maharis. Director Otto Preminger helped to end the stigma of the Hollywood blacklist by hiring Dalton Trumbo to adapt the screenplay for the film. Edited from Wikipedia.
"The Alamo" (1960) is an American War film released by United Artists, starring John Wayne as Davy Crockett, Richard Widmark as Jim Bowie and Laurence Harvey as William B. Travis, and featuring Frankie Avalon, Chill Wills, Patrick Wayne, Linda Cristal, Joseph Calleia, Ruben Padilla, Richard Boone, Ken Curtis, Hank Worden, and Denver Pyle. It was photographed in 70 mm Todd-AO by William H. Clothier. The subject is the 1836 Battle of the Alamo. Wayne's mentor John Ford showed up uninvited and attempted to exert undue influence on the film. Wayne sent him off to shoot unnecessary second-unit footage in order to maintain his own authority. Virtually nothing of Ford's footage was used, but Ford is often erroneously described as an uncredited co-director. Edited from Wikipedia.
