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| 1960s in film | |
|---|---|
| Decade | 1960s |
| Years | 1960–1969 |
| Notable films | Psycho; Breathless; 2001: A Space Odyssey; The Graduate; Lawrence of Arabia; Dr. Strangelove; The Godfather (note: 1972 is outside decade) |
| Notable directors | Alfred Hitchcock; Jean-Luc Godard; Stanley Kubrick; Federico Fellini; Akira Kurosawa |
| Notable actors | Marlon Brando; Audrey Hepburn; Sophia Loren; Catherine Deneuve; Clint Eastwood |
1960s in film The 1960s in film saw a global reshaping of cinematic form and industry practice as filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Jean-Luc Godard, Federico Fellini, and Akira Kurosawa intersected with stars like Marlon Brando, Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Clint Eastwood, and Catherine Deneuve. Influences from Italian Neorealism, French New Wave, Japanese New Wave, and British New Wave converged with studio responses in Hollywood, producing innovations in narrative, editing, and production that affected awards and box office across the United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Japan, and India.
The decade opened amid postwar realignments involving United Nations membership dynamics, Cold War tensions such as the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis, and cultural shifts marked by the Beat Generation and the Civil Rights Movement that informed films by John Frankenheimer, Sidney Lumet, Gillo Pontecorvo, and Elia Kazan. Studio systems like Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., and 20th Century Fox faced challenges from independent producers such as Luciano Salce allies and distributors like United Artists, while national film boards including the British Film Institute and the National Film Board of Canada supported alternative forms. Film festivals such as Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, and Berlin International Film Festival became launchpads for directors including Luchino Visconti, François Truffaut, and Ingmar Bergman.
Auteurism championed by critics at Cahiers du Cinéma and figures like André Bazin elevated directors including Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Eric Rohmer, and Claude Chabrol; parallel movements included Italian Neorealism residues in the work of Vittorio De Sica and Roberto Rossellini, and the radical aesthetics of Japanese New Wave figures such as Nagisa Ōshima and Shohei Imamura. Genre reinventions included psychological horror by Alfred Hitchcock and Roman Polanski, satire by Stanley Kubrick and Peter Sellers, and the emergence of the Spaghetti Western led by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood. New approaches to sound and montage were advanced by technicians associated with RCA, Panavision, and laboratories in Hollywood and Rome.
Box office successes and critical landmarks included Psycho (1960) by Alfred Hitchcock, Breathless (1960) by Jean-Luc Godard, Lawrence of Arabia (1962) by David Lean, Dr. Strangelove (1964) by Stanley Kubrick, The Graduate (1967) by Mike Nichols, and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) by Stanley Kubrick. International hits such as 8½ by Federico Fellini, Black Orpheus by Marcel Camus, Yojimbo by Akira Kurosawa, and popular commercial vehicles like My Fair Lady by George Cukor and Goldfinger by Guy Hamilton featured major box office returns for Warner Bros. and United Artists. Regional cinema successes included Pather Panchali screenings associated with Satyajit Ray and popular Bollywood musicals from Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, and Shammi Kapoor.
Directors who defined the decade included Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Jean-Luc Godard, Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, David Lean, Ingmar Bergman, François Truffaut, Sergio Leone, and Mike Nichols. Actors and performers who rose to prominence included Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve, Peter O'Toole, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, Peter Sellers, and Julie Andrews. Producers and studio executives such as Darryl F. Zanuck, Jack Warner, and independent figures like Samuel Goldwyn Jr. shaped production and distribution strategies.
The decade advanced widescreen processes from CinemaScope and Todd-AO to broader adoption of Panavision lenses and anamorphic formats used by directors like David Lean and Stanley Kubrick; color processes including Eastmancolor and developments at Technicolor changed cinematography for films by Satyajit Ray and Federico Fellini. Advances in special effects and optical printing were driven by technicians collaborating with studios such as MGM and effects houses servicing NASA themed productions; sound innovations included multitrack recording in studios influenced by EMI and postproduction workflows in Hollywood. The collapse of classical censorship codes in United States markets followed legal decisions influenced by cases invoking the First Amendment and pressures from distributors like United Artists and Paramount Pictures.
National cinemas flourished: French New Wave auteurs such as Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, and Claude Chabrol produced films that circulated at Cannes Film Festival and inspired auteurs in United Kingdom and United States; Italian auteurs including Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti, and Sergio Leone reshaped European markets; Japanese masters Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu (active earlier but influential), and Kenji Mizoguchi legacies informed contemporary directors Nagisa Ōshima and Shohei Imamura; Indian cinema by Satyajit Ray, Raj Kapoor, and Guru Dutt reached international festivals. New waves also emerged in Brazil with Glauber Rocha and in Poland with Andrzej Wajda and Roman Polanski's Polish roots, reshaping art cinema circuits.
Major awards recognized decade achievements at institutions such as the Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or, and the Venice Film Festival Golden Lion, honoring films like Lawrence of Arabia, My Fair Lady, 8½, and A Man for All Seasons by Fred Zinnemann. Critics at publications tied to Cahiers du Cinéma, Sight & Sound, and The New York Times elevated auteur discourse around Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Stanley Kubrick, and Federico Fellini, while regional critics' circles in Los Angeles and London debated the cultural impact of works by Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, and Akira Kurosawa.
Category:Film by decade