Cinema60

When A Hard Days Night exploded onto the scene in 1964, its charm and success was simply ripe for some good ol’ fashioned bootlegging. What followed was half a decade of wannabe music movies – specifically, movies in which pop bands play themselves while still following a strictly scripted plot. Mainly these were vehicles for British boy bands, but eventually they started to extend over to the Americas – where they warped from wholesome to hippie.

In this season finale, Bart and Jenna tackle several of these band movies head on – and with Head on. It’s an episode full of high highs (marijuana and LSD) and low lows (Herman’s Hermits and Freddie and the Dreamers), but quite frankly they’re all a treat as its such a decade-specific genre. Get ready for a whole lot of restless youths, square plots, stoner humor, and screaming, adoring fans.

The following films are discussed:

• Ferry Cross the Mersey (1964)
Directed by Jeremy Summers
Starring Gerry & The Pacemakers, Mona Washbourne, Cilla Black

• Having a Wild Weekend (1965)
Catch Us If You Can
Directed by John Boorman
Starring The Dave Clark Five, Barbara Ferris, Yootha Joyce

• Help! (1965)
Directed by Richard Lester
Starring The Beatles, Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron

• Hold On! (1966)
Directed by Arthur Lubin
Starring Herman’s Hermits, Shelley Fabares, Sue Ane Langdon

• The Cuckoo Patrol (1967)
Directed by Duncan Wood
Starring Freddie & The Dreamers, Kenneth Connor, Victor Maddern

• Good Times (1967)
Directed by William Friedkin
Starring Sonny & Cher, George Sanders, Norman Alden

• Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter (1968)
Directed by Saul Swimmer
Starring Herman’s Hermits, Sheila White, Sarah Caldwell

• Head (1968)
Directed by Bob Rafelson
Starring The Monkees, Victor Mature, Annette Funicello

Also mentioned:

• The Ghost Goes Gear (1966)
Directed by Hugh Gladwish
Starring The Spencer Davis Group, Nicholas Parsons, Sheila White

• Los chicos con las chicas (1967)
Directed by Javier Aguirre
Starring Los Bravos, Enriqueta Carballeira, Manolo Gómez Bur

• Dame un poco de amooor...! (1968)
Directed by José María Forqué
Starring Los Bravos, Rosenda Monteros, Luis Peña

In a follow up to the Ukrainian National Cinema episode, Cinema60 finally addresses the beautiful, surreal and unfairly banned films of Sergei Parajanov and Yuri Ilyenko – two figures that are essential to the story of what was getting made in that region while it was under Soviet control. In the case of Parajanov, his films of the ‘60s are amongst the most striking and influential ever made. In the case of Ilyenko, a lesser known but equally astonishing filmmaker, his unique visual sense of rhythm and movement are a sight to behold. Together, they made Shadows of the Forgotten Ancestors, a film that launched both of their careers towards a path of subversive, politically charged cinema that got them in trouble with Soviet authorities for decades to come.

In this episode, Bart & Jenna start with Parjanov’s straightforward Soviet Realist films from the early 60s, and then jump into the more radical work of Parajanov and Ilyenko in the later ‘60s. Hopefully our hosts’ struggles to make sense out of these challenging films will encourage listeners to be less fearful of the unknown – an entirely rewarding journey for those to attempt it.

The following films are discussed:

• Ukrainian Rhapsody (1961)
Українська рапсодія (Ukrainskaya rapsodiya)
Directed by Sergei Parajanov
Starring Olga Reus-Petrenko, Eduard Koshman, Yuriy Gulyayev

• Flower on the Stone (1962)
Цветок на камне (Tsvetok na kamne)
Directed by Sergei Parajanov & Anatoly Slesarenko
Starring Inna Burduchenko, Lyudmila Cherepanova, Boris Dmokhovsky

• Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1965)
Тіні забутих предків (Tini zabutykh predkiv)
Directed by Sergei Parajanov
Cinematography by Yuri Ilyenko
Starring Ivan Mikolaychuk, Larisa Kadochnikova, Tatyana Bestayeva

• A Spring for the Thirsty (1965)
Криниця для спраглих (Krynytsya dlya sprahlykh)
Directed by Yuri Ilyenko
Starring Dmitri Milyutenko, Larisa Kadochnikova, Feodosiya Litvinenko

• Kyiv Frescoes (1966)
Киевские фрески (Kiyevskiye freski)
Directed by Sergei Parajanov
Starring Tengiz Archvadze, Vladimir Artman, Alexandr Kotchekov

• Hakob Hovnatanyan (1967)
Հակոբ Հովնաթանյան
Directed by Sergei Parajanov

• The Eve of Ivan Kupalo (1968)
Вечір на Івана Купала (Vechir na Ivana Kupala)
Directed by Yuri Ilyenko
Starring Boris Khmelnitskiy, Larisa Kadochnikova, Yefim Fridman

• The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
Նռան գույնը (Sayat Nova)
Directed by Sergei Parajanov
Starring Sofiko Chiaureli, Melkon Alekyan, Vilen Galstyan

In 1966, somewhere along the United States-Mexico border, a man wearing a tattered Union uniform drags a coffin across the desert… and into the hearts of the Italian moviegoing public. What was it about this mix of blood, violence, sweaty masculine tusslin’, and steely blue eyes? With just one film, Sergio Corbucci inspired over thirty five remakes, sequels, and rip-offs – the first two even in the same year the original film came out.

In this episode, as part of their once Bootleg Bond series, now expanded Genre series, Bart and Jenna make it their business to map out Django from the beginning. They start with the widely seen original and slowly make their way through a mix of western wannabes, surrealist desert violence and pure cowboy schlock. They also discuss what makes Django so appealing: is it the cathartic, unflinchingly bloody violence, or is it the leftist beating heart that many spaghetti westerns share? Why not both?

The following films are discussed:

• Django (1966)
Directed by Sergio Corbucci
Starring Franco Nero, Loredana Nusciak, Eduardo Fajardo

• A Few Dollars for Django (1966)
Pochi dollari per Django
Directed by León Klimovsky & Enzo G. Castellari
Starring Anthony Steffen, Gloria Osuna, Ennio Girolami

• Django Shoots First (1966)
Django spara per primo
Directed by Alberto De Martino
Starring Glenn Saxson, Ida Galli, Fernando Sancho

• Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! (1967)
Se sei vivo spara
Directed by Giulio Questi
Starring Tomas Milian, Marilù Tolo, Piero Lulli

• Django, Prepare a Coffin (1968)
Preparati la bara!
Directed by Ferdinando Baldi
Starring Terence Hill, Horst Frank, George Eastman

• Django the Bastard (1968)
Django il bastardo
Directed by Sergio Garrone
Starring Anthony Steffen, Paolo Gozlino, Luciano Rossi

Bart and Jenna want to tell you what their favorites films from 1961 are, but the catch is that the films can only be selected from films covered on Cinema60 so far! But first, they’re going to talk about six films from 1961 that they’ve chosen to watch in hopes that they can snazz up their Top Tens with some bonus bangers. (Aka, basically it’s just Kiss Marry Kill by a different name.)

Coincidentally, some specific topics end up popping up frequently in the episode. First and foremost, we get a lot of talk about commedia all'italiana – a ‘60s genre near and dear to our hosts’ hearts. Also broached are such subjects as
”Artists In Paris,” or “Guns Are Bad,” and “Legacies of WWII,” “Statutory Kissing,” “Staying True To Your Ideals,” and “Why Satire Rules.” It’s the trends and treasures of 1961 cinema served up for your delectation.

The following films are discussed:

• A Difficult Life (1961)
Una vita difficile
Directed by Dino Risi
Starring Alberto Sordi, Lea Massari, Franco Fabrizi

• The Guns of Navarone (1961)
Directed by J. Lee Thompson
Starring Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, David Niven

• Paris Belongs to Us (1961)
Paris nous appartient
Directed by Jacques Rivette
Starring Betty Schneider, Giani Esposito, Françoise Prévost

• Divorce Italian Style (1961)
Divorzio all'italiana
Directed by Pietro Germi
Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Daniela Rocca, Stefania Sandrelli

• My Son, the Hero (1961)
Los hermanos Del Hierro
Directed by Ismael Rodríguez
Starring Antonio Aguilar, Julio Alemán, Patricia Conde

• Call Me Genius (1961)
The Rebel
Directed by Robert Day
Starring Tony Hancock, George Sanders, Paul Massie

Once again, Cinema60 communes with the dead in order to highlight some notable opinions on film. Tonight’s ghost guest is Susan Sontag and her seminal Sight and Sound review on Ingmar Bergman’s Persona. Known primarily as an author, filmmaker and intellect, in the 1960s Sontag was just beginning her illustrious career as a writer – her essay “Notes on ‘Camp’” helped to define the camp aesthetic to the public at large. Simiarly, her 1967 review of Persona has endured throughout the ages, rising above other contemporary voices to help audiences (old and new alike) better derive meaning from Bergman’s rather abstract film.

In this episode, Bart and Jenna use Sontag’s article as a sounding board to dissect Bergman’s filmmaking and explore the depths of Persona. Easy enough for Bart, who likely would have chosen this film himself if the episode had been about his favorite ‘60s pick. Meanwhile, Jenna muses on the idea that all cinema must have a “point” – even if sometimes the point is that there is no point.

The following film is discussed:

• Persona (1966)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Starring Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Margaretha Krook

Also mentioned:

• Journey to Italy (1954)
Viaggio in Italia
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
Starring Ingrid Bergman, George Sanders, Maria Mauban

• L'avventura (1960)
Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
Starring Monica Vitti, Gabriele Ferzetti, Lea Massari

• Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
L'année dernière à Marienbad
Directed by Alain Resnais
Starring Delphine Seyrig, Giorgio Albertazzi, Sacha Pitoëff

• Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
Såsom i en spegel
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Starring Harriet Andersson, Gunnar Björnstrand, Max von Sydow

• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Directed by John Ford
Starring James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles

• Winter Light (1963)
Nattvardsgästerna
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Starring Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand, Gunnel Lindblom

• The Silence (1963)
Tystnaden
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Starring Ingrid Thulin, Gunnel Lindblom, Birger Malmsten

• Hour of the Wolf (1968)
Vargtimmen
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Starring Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Gertrud Fridh

• Shame (1968)
Skammen
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Starring Liv Ullmann, Max von Sydow, Sigge Fürst

• Duet for Cannibals (1969)
Duett för kannibaler
Directed by Susan Sontag
Starring Adriana Asti, Lars Ekborg, Gösta Ekman

• The Passion of Anna (1969)
En passion
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Starring Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson, Max von Sydow

• Brother Carl (1971)
Bröder Carl
Directed by Susan Sontag
Starring Geneviève Page, Gunnel Lindblom, Keve Hjelm

• The Point (1971)
Directed by Fred Wolf
Starring Ringo Starr, Mike Lookinland, Lennie Weinrib

• Promised Lands (1974)
Directed by Susan Sontag

• Inland Empire (2006)
Directed by David Lynch
Starring Laura Dern, Justin Theroux, Jeremy Irons

Here at Cinema60 we’ve embraced the endless task of putting a pin in the entirety of Sixties cinema. However, one area where we have been remiss in our duties is documentaries – a genre that truly came into its own during this decade. Films like Robert Drew’s Primary and Jean Rouch & Edgar Morin’s Chronicle of a Summer began to break from the popular “voice of God” expository mode, giving way to a greater variety of non-fiction documentary filmmaking techniques. By the end of the decade, the narrated newsreel style was relegated primarily to television, and movie theaters were home to the newer forms.

In this episode, Cinema60 looks at documentaries in 1969 – examining just how far the genre had progressed in ten years. Using Bill Nichols landmark text Representing Reality (1991) as a guide for describing what documentary looked like at the time, Bart and Jenna delve into the wealth of styles the genre had splintered into and take a look at some of the most exceptional documentaries ever made.

The following films are discussed:

• A Married Couple (1969)
Directed by Allan King
Starring Billy Edwards, Antoinette Edwards, Bogart Edwards

• Salesman (1969)
Directed by Albert Maysles, David Maysles & Charlotte Zwerin
Starring Paul Brennan, Charles McDevitt, James Baker

• In The Year of the Pig (1969)
Directed by Emile de Antonio
Starring Lyndon B. Johnson, Ho Chí Minh, Robert McNamara

• The Sorrow and the Pity (1969)
Le chagrin et la pitié
Directed by Marcel Ophüls
Starring Helmut Tausend, Marcel Verdier, Alexis Grave

• The Olympics in Mexico (1969)
Olimpiada en México
Directed by Alberto Isaac
Starring Enrique Lizalde, Tommie Smith, John Carlos

• Diaries, Notes and Sketches (also known as Walden) (1969)
Directed by Jonas Mekas
Starring Timothy Leary, Edie Sedgwick, Norman Mailer

Bart and Jenna are rarely afraid to dive headfirst into uncharted areas of cinema, but certain movies are just too important for them to toss around in their usual subjective way. Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers is one such landmark work that seems irresponsible to discuss without a maximum amount of context. That’s why Cinema60 invited African Studies and Decolonization scholar Christopher J. Lee to the podcast to help them unpack the history and politics of the film and the events that it depicts.

In addition, Chris wanted to talk about Ousmane Sembène’s Black Girl, another film from 1966 with a very different, but equally harsh, perspective on French colonialism in Africa. The two films, taken together, give a well-rounded visualization of the revolutionary ideas of political philosopher Frantz Fanon, whose thoughts got to the heart much of the social upheaval of the era. Listen as Chris gives a global backdrop to the rebellious spirit that inspired the big changes in the way people governed themselves, and in the way they made movies, in the mid-20th century.

The following films are discussed:

• The Battle of Algiers (1966)
La battaglia di Algeri
Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo
Starring Brahim Hadjadj, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi

• Black Girl (1966)
La noire de...
Directed by Ousmane Sembène
Starring Mbissine Thérèse Diop, Anne-Marie Jelinek, Robert Fontaine

Also mentioned:

• The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Directed by D.W. Griffith
Starring Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall

• De Voortrekkers (a.k.a. Winning a Continent) (1916)
Directed by Harold M. Shaw
Starring Dick Cruikshanks, Caroline Frances Cooke, Jackie Turnbull

• Rome, Open City (1945)
Roma città aperta
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
Starring Anna Magnani, Aldo Fabrizi, Marcello Pagliero

• Paisan (1946)
Paisà
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
Starring Carmela Sazio, Gar Moore, William Tubbs

• Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Ladri di biciclette
Directed by Vittorio De Sica
Starring Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell

• Cry, the Beloved Country (1951)
Directed by Zoltan Korda
Starring Canada Lee, Sidney Poitier, Charles Carson

• Le petit soldat (1961)
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Starring Anna Karina, Michel Subor, Henri-Jacques Huet

• Cléo from 5 to 7 (1963)
Cléo de 5 à 7
Directed by Agnès Varda
Starring Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Dominique Davray

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

• Nanny (2022)
Directed by Nikyatu Jusu
Starring Anna Diop, Michelle Monaghan, Sinqua Walls

Books discussed:

• The Stranger by Albert Camus (1942)

• Prison Notebooks by Antonio Gramchi (1947)

• Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon (1952)

• God's Bits of Wood by Ousmane Sembène (1960)

• The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon (1961)

• Frantz Fanon: Toward A Revolutionary Humanism by Christopher J. Lee (2015)

In the immortal words of Betty Rizzo: “Watch it, hey, I’m Doris Day – I was not brought up that way!” While teen stars could always be counted on to keep their pants on in the dying days of Old Hollywood comedy, Doris Day was a unique figure in that she played adult working women who were continually thrown into the most lustful of situations, and never worried audiences that she’d come out the other side without her virtue intact. As one of the biggest box office draws of the era, movie-goers would eagerly await her latest bedroom adventures in which she narrowly escapes certain fornication as frequently as James Bond narrowly escapes certain death. And, like Bond, there’s never any doubt that she’ll get her man.

In this episode, Bart and Jenna delight in some 1960s romcom frivolity as Doris Day turns down every leading man from Rock Hudson and James Garner, to Cary Grant and Rod Taylor. She also manages to do battle with a host of mechanical foes, from Automats and car washes to city-wide blackouts and robot vacuum trash dogs. Our intrepid hosts treat these movies with the seriousness they deserve.

The following films are discussed:

• Lover Come Back (1961)
Directed by Delbert Mann
Starring Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Tony Randall

• That Touch of Mink (1962)
Directed by Delbert Mann
Starring Doris Day, Cary Grant, Gig Young

• Move Over, Darling (1963)
Directed by Michael Gordon
Starring Doris Day, James Garner, Polly Bergen

• Send Me No Flowers (1964)
Directed by Norman Jewison
Starring Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Tony Randall

• The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)
Directed by Frank Tashlin
Starring Doris Day, Rod Taylor, Arthur Godfrey

• Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? (1968)
Directed by Hy Averback
Starring Doris Day, Robert Morse, Patrick O’Neal

In the year 1960, Federico Fellini premiered La Dolce Vita and changed cinema forever. That sounds like hyperbole but it’s really just fact; it was the film that not only spawned a thousand knock-offs, both contemporary and legacy, but launched Fellini’s own career into the stratosphere. Known for his dream-like films, fantastical visuals, introspective storylines and iconic Nino Rota scores, the ‘60s truly defined his unique voice as a director. In finally tackling Fellini, Cinema60 has stared into the face of God and emerged with the heaviness that comes with the gaining of great knowledge and the irrevocable loss of youthful innocence.

In this episode, Bart and Jenna spend almost 30 minutes breaking down La Dolce Vita in great detail and then happily move on to the rest, because they’re all great too. Sure, the two heavy hitters here cast a long shadow over Fellini’s extensive body of work and over the entirety of ‘60s arthouse cinema. But the others that we cover are treasures in their own right – shining even more brightly due their comparative underexposure. I turns out, watching each of these films in order tells a rather gripping story of both the evolution of Fellini as an artist and of the self-immolating ambitiousness of the decade itself.

The following films are discussed:

• La dolce vita (1960)
Directed by Federico Fellini
Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée

• Boccaccio '70 (1962)
Segment: "Le tentazioni del Dottor Antonio"
Directed by Federico Fellini
Starring Anita Ekberg, Peppino De Filippo, Antonio Acqua

• 8½ (1963)
Directed by Federico Fellini
Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimée, Claudia Cardinale

• Juliet of the Spirits (1965)
Giulietta degli spiriti
Directed by Federico Fellini
Starring Giulietta Masina, Sandra Milo, Mario Pisu

• Spirits of the Dead (1968)
Histoires extraordinaires - segment: "Toby Dammit"
Directed by Federico Fellini
Starring Terence Stamp, Marina Yaru, Salvo Randone

• Fellini Satyricon (1969)
Directed by Federico Fellini
Starring Martin Potter, Hiram Keller, Max Born

Bonus Topics:

• Spirits of the Dead (1968)
Histoires extraordinaires - segment: "Metzengerstein"
Directed by Roger Vadim
Starring Jane Fonda, Peter Fonda, Serge Marquand

• Spirits of the Dead (1968)
Histoires extraordinaires - segment: "William Wilson"
Directed by Louis Malle
Starring Alain Delon, Brigitte Bardot, Katia Christine

• Fellini: A Director's Notebook (1969)
Directed by Federico Fellini
Starring Federico Fellini, Giulietta Masina, Marcello Mastroianni

After Godzilla leapt to the big screen in 1954, he quickly became Japan’s most recognizable pop culture expression of lasting trauma and remorse over the nuclear end of their involvement in WWII. In the 1960s, Godzilla-inspired kaiju movies took this same metaphor of an unstoppable destructive force that indiscriminately kills both the innocent and the guilty with equal fury, and made it fun! Carlo Vanstiphout of Back Row Cinema and CRUD Buddies shares his expertise on his favorite era of Japanese monster movies and help us understand how Japan learned to stop worrying and love the atomic monsters. While Godzilla is discussed in detail, Carlo focuses mostly on Big G’s Toho friends, as well as a certain fire-powered turtle and a stone giant from Daiei (Toho Studio’s main kaiju competition).

In this episode, Carlo navigates through the several dozen kaiju movies made in the Sixties and chooses six that he truly enjoys and thinks best represent what was happening in the genre at the time. Left to their own devices, Bart and Jenna could have blundered through these movies and perhaps drawn a few conclusions about the appeal of rubber monsters in the ‘60s. But thankfully Carlo is on hand to explain what the hell is going on in these colorful, outrageously fun, and often perplexing batch of films.

The following films are discussed:

• Mothra (1961)
モスラ
Directed by Ishirô Honda
Starring Furankî Sakai, Hiroshi Koizumi, Kyôko Kagawa

• Frankenstein vs. Baragon (a.k.a. Frankenstein Conquers The World) (1965)
フランケンシュタイン対地底怪獣
Directed by Ishirô Honda
Starring Nick Adams, Kumi Mizuno, Tadao Takashima

• Daimajin (1966)
大魔神
Directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Starring Miwa Takada, Yoshihiko Aoyama, Jun Fujimaki

• Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (a.k.a. Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster) (1966)
ゴジラ・エビラ・モスラ 南海の大決闘
Directed by Jun Fukuda
Starring Akira Takarada, Kumi Mizuno, Chôtarô Tôgin

• King Kong Escapes (1967)
キングコングの逆襲
Directed by Ishirô Honda
Starring Rhodes Reason, Mie Hama, Linda Miller

• Gamera vs. Guiron (1969)
ガメラ対大悪獣ギロン
Directed by Noriaki Yuasa
Starring Nobuhiro Kajima, Miyuki Akiyama, Christopher Murphy

Having already gotten to the end of the decade while playing Kiss Marry Kill, it was time for a change. Welcome to Top Ten, where Bart and Jenna each choose three movies – one they think they’ll love, one they know they love, and one wildcard choice – in hopes of adding to their top ten ranking of the year in question. So… not terribly dissimilar to Kiss Marry Kill.

In this episode, Bart and Jenna play Top Ten with the year 1960, focusing on foreign films they know and/or expect to love. From the most arthouse of arthouse choices, to some deeply cynical satires, all of their selections are worth your time – even if they didn’t all make it into the final rankings.

The following films are discussed:

• Late Autumn (1960)
秋日和
Directed by Yasujirô Ozu
Starring Setsuko Hara, Yôko Tsukasa, Mariko Okada

• The Naked Isalnd (1960)
裸の島
Directed by Kaneto Shindô
Starring Nobuko Otowa, Taiji Tonoyama, Shinji Tanaka

• Purple Noon (1960)
Plein soleil
Directed by René Clément
Starring Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet, Marie Laforêt

• The Good Girls (1960)
Les bonnes femmes
Directed by Claude Chabrol
Starring Bernadette Lafont, Clotilde Joano, Stéphane Audran

• The Wheelchair (1960)
El cochecito
Directed by Marco Ferreri
Starring José Isbert, Pedro Porcel, José Luis López Vázquez

• The White Dove (1960)
Holubice
Directed by Frantisek Vlácil
Starring Katerina Irmanovová, Karel Smyczek, Vjaceslav Irmanov

The legendary Harry Alan Towers: independent film producer, part-time pimp and full-time opportunist. Britain’s answer to Roger Corman, Towers started off the 60s believing that your brain is the most powerful sexual organ. By the end of the Sixties, he accepted – like everybody else in the biz did – that, nope, your junk is. Turned on by the literary bone fides he’d get by adapting great books into great movies, Towers instead turned his attention instead to noted hate-crime enthusiast Sax Rohmer. His pet project focused on the most evil man who never lived: Dr. Fu Manchu.

In this episode, Bart and Jenna sidestep Bootleg Bond by focusing on Fu Manchu films, a revival franchise that never would have existed if not for ‘60s Bond Mania. Jenna moans and bitches about how much she can’t stand these admittedly dated and racist films even if she kinda secretly enjoys the pop-mod styled misandrist villains. And to his utter delight, Bart finally gets his vengeance for all of the Eurospy trash Jenna forced him to watch. You have not heard the last of…!

The following films are discussed:

• The Face of Fu Manchu (1965)
Directed by Don Sharp
Starring Christopher Lee, Nigel Green, Tsai Chin

• The Brides of Fu Manchu (1966)
Directed by Don Sharp
Starring Christopher Lee, Douglas Wilmer, Tsai Chin

• The Million Eyes of Sumuru (1967)
Directed by Lindsay Shonteff
Starring Shirley Eaton, Frankie Avalon, George Nader

• The Vengeance of Fu Manchu (1967)
Directed by Jeremy Summers
Starring Christopher Lee, Douglas Wilmer, Tsai Chin

• The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968)
Directed by Jesús Franco
Starring Christopher Lee, Richard Greene, Tsai Chin

• The Girl from Rio (1969)
Directed by Jesús Franco
Starring Shirley Eaton, Richard Stapley, George Sanders

• The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969)
Directed by Jesús Franco
Starring Christopher Lee, Richard Greene, Tsai Chin

In search of thought provoking astral projections from across the galaxy, the USS KINO60 has launched triumphantly for what will be remembered as a utopian journey through the stars. Cosmonauts Bart and Jenna have reported some bumpy viewing conditions and unstable nuke-happy alien civilizations, but for the most part their mission has remained stylish and largely made up of primary colors. We wish them the best – glory to the conquerors of the universe!

In this episode, Bart and Jenna take a peak at some choice sci-fi genre flicks from behind the Iron Curtain. What started off as a look at the inspirations for 2001: A Space Odyssey morphed into an excuse to watch Ikarie XB-1 and settled in nicely with a dude standing on Venus shooting various Godzillas with a handgun. Please enjoy this peek into the optimistic future we could be living in right now if it weren’t for the selfish capitalist pigs who hate peace and cooperation.

The following films are discussed:

• Silent Star (a.k.a. First Spaceship on Venus) (1960)
Der schweigende Stern
Directed by Kurt Maetzig
Starring Yôko Tani, Oldrich Lukes, Ignacy Machowski

• Planet of Storms (1962)
Планета бурь
Directed by Pavel Klushantsev
Starring Vladimir Yemelyanov, Georgi Zhzhyonov, Gennadi Vernov

• Encounter in Space (1963)
Мечте навстречу
Directed by Mikhail Karyukov & Otar Koberidze
Starring Larisa Gordeichik, Boris Borisyonok, Otar Koberidze

• Icarus XB-1 (1963)
Directed by Jindrich Polák
Starring Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker

• The Andromeda Nebula (1967)
Туманность Андромеды
Directed by Evgeniy Sherstobitov
Starring Vija Artmane, Sergey Stolyarov, Nikolai Kryukov

• Mission Mars (1968)
Directed by Nicholas Webster
Starring Darren McGavin, Nick Adams, George De Vries

Kicking off our fifth season are the films of Robert Wise, arguably the most important director of the sixties – that is if you’re going by box office profits. Despite the musical genre not being one he ever associated with before this decade, Wise almost single-handedly shaped the evolution of the Hollywood Musical. Previously known for his noirs and a few notable sci-fi and horror films, by the 1960s he became the director for two of the biggest movie musicals of all time.

In this episode, Bart and Jenna cover these two Best Picture-winning films along with several other notable films that he made this decade – a couple of which are a highly prized by film lovers as his two mega-blockbusters. Though widely regarded as a gifted director with many beloved classics to his name, it’s hard to put a finger on any distinct personality or trademarks he brings to his uniformly solid but varied films. Bart and Jenna attempt to pinpoint what, if anything, makes a film identifiably “Wisean” – a tought feat when you’re trying to link up The Sound of Music with a depressingly realistic, toxic love and divorce drama.

The following films are discussed:

• West Side Story (1961)
Directed by Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins
Starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno

• Two for the Seesaw (1962)
Directed by Robert Wise
Starring Robert Mitchum, Shirley MacLaine, Edmon Ryan

• The Haunting (1963)
Directed by Robert Wise
Starring Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Russ Tamblyn

• The Sound of Music (1965)
Directed by Robert Wise
Starring Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker

• The Sand Pebbles (1966)
Directed by Robert Wise
Starring Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Mako

• Star! (1968)
Directed by Robert Wise
Starring Julie Andrews, Richard Crenna, Michael Craig

Starting in the mid 1940s and continuing through the 1960s, Egypt experienced a Golden Age of cinema. With the third largest private film production system in the world, Egypt acted as Hollywood to most all Arabic speaking countries; producing commercially minded hit after hit, with crowd pleasing stories, star players and big wig directors. Yet, as with most industries during the time, by the 1960s the bottom had started to fall out – The Nasser regime nationalized the industry in 1966, bringing a close to what had been a rather free wheeling time of cinematic exploration and focusing more on political mindedness and general entertainment.

In this episode, Bart and Jenna dive into a positive who’s who of Egyptian cinema. This dazzling array of famous Egyptian directors, films, and actors includes young Omar Sharif, Shukry Sarhan and Soad Hosny, bombshells Shadia and Hind Rostum, multiple Naguib Mahfouz adaptations, and even two films that broke through to the Western world: the Muslim Crusade epic Saladin and the internationally celebrated The Night Counting The Years. Not only do these foreign films not feel so foreign, but it turns out this might have been the most rewarding watch of the entire podcast season – all thumbs up!

The following films are discussed:

• The Beginning and the End (1960)
بداية و نهاي
Directed by Salah Abu Seif
Starring Omar Sharif, Sanaa Gamil, Farid Shawki

• A Rumor of Love (1961)
إشاعة حب
Directed by Fatin Abdel Wahab
Starring Omar Sharif, Soad Hosny, Youssef Wahbi

• Chased by the Dogs (1962)
اللص والكلاب
Directed by Kamal El Sheikh
Starring Shadia, Shukry Sarhan, Kamal Al-Shennawi

• Saladin (1963)
الناصر صلاح الدين
Directed by Youssef Chahine
Starring Ahmed Mazhar, Salah Zulfikar, Nadia Lutfi

• The Sin (1965)
الحرام
Directed by Henry Barakat
Starring Faten Hamama, Zaki Rostom, Abdullah Gaith

• The Postman (1968)
البوسطجي
Directed by Hussein Kamal
Starring Shukri Sarhan, Seif Abdelrahman, Zizi Mostapha

• The Night of Counting the Years (1969)
المومياء
Directed by Shady Abdel Salam
Starring Nadia Lutfi, Ahmed Marei, Ahmad Hegazi

The Korean War is aptly known in America as the “Forgotten War.” During the 1960s, the subject took in its last cinematic hurrah before getting overshadowed by the rising unpopularity of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. Meanwhile, South Korea was experiencing a fabled “Golden Age” of cinema that followed the civil war and continued into the ‘60s – one that had some of its most famous hits rather cruelly lost to time. At Cinema60, we’ve largely ignored the Combat Film genre on whole… until now!

In this episode, Bart and Jenna take the opportunity to dig a little deeper into the war and “Golden Age” that time forgot. Watching three American films about the Korean War side-by-side with three films from South Korea on the same subject, they parse propaganda from profundity, patriotism from personal morality, and savagery from psychosis from two different nationalistic perspectives. While our two hosts don’t necessarily see eye-to-eye on the entertainment value of the genre or what makes a film pro- or anti- war, there’s an unexpected amount of agreement on which of these films is worth a look and which you can skip.

The following films are discussed:

• All the Young Men (1960)
Directed by Hall Bartlett
Starring Alan Ladd, Sidney Poitier, James Darren

• Five Marines (1961)
오인의 해병
Directed by Kim Ki-duk
Starring Choi Mun-lyong, Shin Yeong-gyun, Hwang Hae

• War Hunt (1962)
Directed by Denis Sanders
Starring John Saxon, Robert Redford, Sydney Pollack

• The Marines Who Never Returned (1963)
돌아오지 않는 해병
Directed by Lee Man-hee
Starring Jang Dong-hwi, Lee Dae-yeob, Ku Bong-seo

• The Hook (1963)
Directed by George Seaton
Starring Kirk Douglas, Robert Walker Jr., Nick Adams

• Red Scarf (1964)
빨간 마후라
Directed by Shin Sang-ok
Starring Choi Eun-hie, Shin Yeong-gyun, Choi Mu-ryong

With a starting list of over 15,000 features and documentaries to choose from, it’s unlikely that the Cinema60 team will ever run out of movies to watch and discuss from their chosen decade. But Bart and Jenna have crossed a significant finish line with today’s episode. Starting with Episode 5 back in March of 2019, Cinema60 has regularly put out “grab bag” episodes where your hosts pick three movies each from a given year - one they’ve never seen but are itching to watch, one they absolutely adore and have been itching to talk about on the show, and one terrible movie that they’re itching to disparage for your listening pleasure. They call these episodes “Kiss, Marry, Kill,” and you are about to listen to their tenth and final round of the game, having now gone through every year of the Sixties.

Jenna has chosen to keep things light and funny and has chosen three notable comedies from 1969 for discussion. Bart, on the other hand, has taken the opportunity to choose several firsts for Cinema60: their first Iranian film, their first kaijû movie, and, most importantly, their first Éric Rohmer film! So while Bart gushes for perhaps too long about what is arguably the best film by his favorite filmmaker, Jenna makes a tripartite bid to pull comedies out of the genre ghetto and defends their right to stand alongside any serious artsy movie you care to name.

The following films are discussed:

• The Cow (1969)
Gaav
Directed by Dariush Mehrjui
Starring Ezzatolah Entezami, Mahin Shahabi, Ali Nassirian

• Cactus Flower (1969)
Directed by Gene Saks
Starring Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman, Goldie Hawn

• My Night at Maud’s (1969)
Ma nuit chez Maud
Directed by Éric Rohmer
Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Françoise Fabian, Marie-Christine Barrault

• Take the Money and Run (1969)
Directed by Woody Allen
Starring Woody Allen, Janet Margolin, Jackson Beck

• All Monsters Attack (1969)
Gojira-Minira-Gabara: Oru kaijû daishingeki
Directed by Ishirô Honda
Starring Kenji Sahara, Machiko Naka, Tomonori Yazaki

• The Magic Christian (1969)
Directed by Joseph McGrath
Starring Peter Sellers, Ringo Starr, John Cleese

Partially due to his desire to not get typecast after his most famous role, as well an urge to escape the pressure put on him by the studios to not be so ‘out’ about his homosexuality, Perkins ran away from Hollywood and ended up having one of the strangest careers of any major star in the 60s. Fortunately, his self-imposed exile in France resulted in a bunch of movies that are exactly the kind of thing that the hosts of this podcast are always looking for: lost treasures that every cinephile should know about but not enough do. Pretty much all of these film are worth seeking out, but tune in and find out about at least a couple that rank as all-timers for the Cinema60 crew.

The following films are discussed:

• Tall Story (1960)
Directed by Joshua Logan
Starring Anthony Perkins, Jane Fonda, Ray Walston

• Psycho (1960)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles

• Goodbye Again (1961)
Aimez-vous Brahms?
Directed by Anatole Litvak
Starring Ingrid Bergman, Yves Montand, Anthony Perkins

• Phaedra (1962)
Directed by Jules Dassin
Starring Melina Mercouri, Anthony Perkins, Raf Vallone

• Five Miles To Midnight (1962)
Le Couteau dans la plaie
Directed by Anatole Litvak
Starring Sophia Loren, Anthony Perkins, Gig Young

• Two Are Guilty (1963)
Le glaive et la balance
Directed by André Cayatte
Starring Anthony Perkins, Jean-Claude Brialy, Renato Salvatori

• Agent 38-24-36 (1964)
Une ravissante idiote
Directed by Édouard Molinaro
Starring Brigitte Bardot, Anthony Perkins, Grégoire Aslan

• The Fool Killer (1965)
Violent Journey
Directed by Servando González
Starring Anthony Perkins, Edward Albert, Henry Hull

• The Champagne Murders (1967)
Le scandale
Directed by Claude Chabrol
Starring Anthony Perkins, Maurice Ronet, Yvonne Furneaux

• Pretty Poison (1968)
Directed by Noel Black
Starring Anthony Perkins, Tuesday Weld, Beverly Garland

Also mentioned:

• The Trial (1962)
Le procès
Directed by Orson Welles
Starring Anthony Perkins, Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider

• Is Paris Burning? (1966)
Paris brûle-t-il?
Directed by René Clément
Starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, Charles Boyer, Leslie Caron

We’re back in the world of Bootleg Bond, navigating the vast number of rip-offs and spoofs that tried to cash in on the 007 craze.

In this episode, Cinema60 goes to Italy to scout out Agent 077 – the ever forgettable Eurospy with the ever changing name and face. Marvel as he shoots men, slaps women, skis mountains, flies helicopters, saves the world from nuclear meltdown and remains wholly unengaging throughout.

These six utterly disposable entertainments aren’t really the point here, though. The real meat of episode is Bart & Jenna’s philosophical inquiry into the true nature of knockoff cinema and what these films mean to their largely accidental audience. Moreover, they scrutinize the Italian film industry of the ‘60s that thrived on producing hundreds upon hundreds of cheap genre pictures and lousy imitations of hit films for international distribution, and ask the same men responsible for giving us the cinematic masterpieces of Fellini and Antonioni the crucial question: Cosa diavolo…?

The following films are discussed:

• Mission Bloody Mary (1965)
Agente 077 missione Bloody Mary
Directed by Sergio Grieco
Starring Ken Clark, Helga Liné, Mitsouko

• From the Orient with Fury (1965)
Agente 077 dall'oriente con furore
Directed by Sergio Grieco
Starring Ken Clark, Margaret Lee, Fabienne Dali

• 077 - Special Mission Lady Chaplin (1966)
Missione speciale Lady Chaplin
Directed by Alberto De Martino & Sergio Grieco
Starring Ken Clark, Daniela Bianchi, Helga Liné

• Secret Agent Fireball (1965)
Le spie uccidono a Beirut
Directed by Luciano Martino
Starring Richard Harrison, Dominique Boschero, Wandisa Guida

• Killers Are Challenged (1966)
A 077, sfida ai killers
Directed by Antonio Margheriti
Starring Richard Harrison, Mitsouko, Wandisa Guida

• Fury in Marrakesh (1966)
077 - Furia a Marrakech
Directed by Mino Loy & Luciano Martino
Starring Stephen Forsyth, Dominique Boschero, Mitsouko

In many ways, the story of Francis Ford Coppola in the 1960s is a true parallel to the story of the dissolution and subsequent restructuring of Hollywood throughout the decade. Coppola got into the film industry quickly after graduating college, he started in nudie flicks and worked his way up through various low budget Roger Corman pictures. After earning his MFA in film from UCLA in 1967, he graduated to working on blockbusters – only to find himself drawn to a style of independent film later known as New Hollywood.

In this episode, Bart and Jenna pinpoint what it is about Francis Ford Coppola that’s continually inspirational, and debate which of his many masterful films are their favorites - but then remember they’re supposed to be talking about all his ‘60s juvenilia instead. Listen as they brave a handful of lighthearted nudie flicks, mediocre genre cash-ins, a couple of fascinating failures and one genuinely great film.

The following films are discussed:

• Tonight for Sure (1962)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola & Jerry Schafer
Starring Karl Schanzer, Don Kenney, Marli Renfro

• The Bellboy and the Playgirls (1962)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola & Fritz Umgelter
Starring June Wilkinson, Don Kenney, Karin Dor

• Battle Beyond the Sun (1962)
Directed by Mikhail Karyukov and Aleksandr Kozyr & Francis Ford Coppola
Starring Ivan Pereverzev, Aleksandr Shvorin, Konstantin Bartashevich

• The Terror (1963)
Directed by Roger Corman & Monte Hellman & Francis Ford Coppola & Jack Hale & Dennis Jakob & Jack Nicholson & Jack Hill
Starring Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight

• Dementia 13 (1963)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Starring Luana Anders, Bart Patton, Patrick Magee

• You're a Big Boy Now (1966)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Starring Peter Kastner, Elizabeth Hartman, Geraldine Page

• Finian's Rainbow (1968)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Starring Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele

• The Rain People (1969)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Starring James Caan, Shirley Knight, Robert Duvall