Film Dictionary

June 10, 1970

Saturday Night And Sunday Morning (1960) ***

A young factory worker (Albert Finney) has an affair with a married woman. An incisive portrait of the working class milieu in Britain.

Black Sunday (1960) ****

Excellent horror film directed by Mario Bava.

In medieval Sweden, cruel bandits murder a young girl. Later, they spend the night in the house of the girl's parents. This film, directed by Ingmar Bergman, was remade by Wes Craven in 1972 as "Last House On The Left".

North To Alaska (1960) ****

Sparks fly when three male gold diggers from Alaska meet a female gold digger from Seattle. Enjoyable, surprising and very original western starring John Wayne and Capucine.

The Sundowners (1960) ***

An Australian western ("southern" ?) about a family without a farm.

Hideout In The Sun (1960) ***

The Apartment (1960) ***

Oscar-winning comedy starring Jack Lemmon as a naive, but ambitious clerk who lends his appartment to his horny boss (Fred MacMurray).

The Unsent Letter (1960) ***

Revenge Of The Virgins (1960) ***

The Bad Sleep Well (1960) ***

Akira Kurosawa freely adapted Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and set it among Japanese businessmen and gangsters.

Mill Of The Stone Women (1960) ***

The Devil's Eye (1960) ***

The Young One (1960) ***

The final instalment in Luis Bunuel's English-language "island diptych", preceded by "Robinson Crusoe" (1954).

Howlers In The Dock (1960) ***

Weird musical film directed by Lucio Fulci. Italian title: "Urlatori alla sbarra". Musical numbers include:

"Nessuno" ***

Horrors Of Spider Island (1960) ***

Can-Can (1960) ***

Frank Sinatra, Shirley McLaine, Maurice Chevalier and Louis Jourdan star in this adaptation of Cole Porter's stage hit. Songs include:

"Montmartre" **
"Maidens Typical Of France" **
"C'est Magnifique" *
"Live And Let Live" *
"Let's Do It" **
"It's All Right With Me" *
"Come Along With Me" *
"Just One Of Those Things" *

Krzyzacy (1960) **

Dosc slaba adaptacja powiesci Henryka Sienkiewicza.

The Time Machine (1960) **

Inherit The Wind (1960) **

Swiss Family Robinson (1960) **

Entertaining, but overlong Disney's adaptation of the famous novel. It inspired a permanent attraction at Disneyland.

The Magnificent Seven (1960) **

Not nearly as good as the Japanese original, but the musical score is outstanding.

Do widzenia do jutra (1960) **

A Polish attempt at French-style New Wave cinema, starring Zbigniew Cybulski.

Exodus (1960) *

Dated epic film about the struggle for Israel's independence. Great musical score is the only element that hasn't aged a bit. Everything else - and especially its refusal to condemn terrorism - make it very problematic in hindsight.

Morte comanda o Cangaco (1960) *

Brazilian film.

Universe (1960) ***

Canadian documentary about the known Universe.

Kennedy For Me (1960) ***

Hamles (1960) ***

A farcical adaptation of ''Hamlet'' by Jerzy Skolimowski.

The Groom (1960) ***

An elementary school Romeo helps his little Juliet during an exam. Charming film about puppy love. Length: 8 minutes. Directed by Elem Klimov ("Come And See").

Giuseppina (1960) ***

Quiet, beautiful film about a little gas station in rural Italy. A British documentary in Italian, which feels more like a fiction film.

The Creation Of Woman (1960) *

Tedious film with Hindu dancers.

Beyond Silence (1960) *

Conventional documentary about the Gadaullet University.

Bells Are Ringing (1960) ***

A Vincente Minnelli musical starring Dean Martin and Judy Holliday.

Le Testament d'Orphée (1960) ***

Jean Cocteau's last film. As wonderful as all the others.

The Amazing Transparent Man (1960) ***

Basically another sequel to "The Invisible Man", but quite exciting. Directed Edgar G. Ulmer.

Comanche Station (1960) ***

Fine western starring Randolph Scott.

Elmer Gantry (1960) ***

Burt Lancaster won an Oscar for his terrific performance as a preacher. Shirley Jones, cast against type, also won an Oscar (as best supporting actress) for her memorable role as a prostitute.

The Entertainer (1960) ***

Laurence Oliver's superb performance enlivens this otherwise routine drama about the tribulations of an unpopular comedian.

The Little Shop Of Horrors (1960) ***

Campy horror film about a carnivorous plant. Jack Nicholson (in his film debut) is absolutely terrific as a young masochist who simply adores his visits to the dentist.

Niewinni czarodzieje (1960) ***

Doskonaly film Andrzeja Wajdy o mlodym lekarzu i jego problemach milosnych. Zimny, ironiczny portret powojennej generacji. Inteligentne dialogi, cyniczny ton, zupelny brak sentymentalizmu.

Night Of The Ghouls (1960) ***

Campy horror movie that wasn't released until 1983, because its director, legendary "bad film" auteur Edward D. Wood Jr, couldn't afford to pay its lab bill ! It's a typically "woodian" creation, memorable for its bad acting, mind-boggling dialogues and cheap sets.

Pollyanna (1960) ***

A young girl (Haley Mills) brings joy and happiness to everyone she meets.

Shadows (1960) ***

Boy meets girl. Boy finds out the girl is black. John Cassavetes' directorial film debut.

Sons And Lovers (1960) ***

An adaptation of D.H.Lawrence's book set in a coal-mining community.

Village Of The Damned (1960) ***

A science-fiction drama about an English village dominated by alien children with supernatural powers.

Where The Boys Are (1960) ***

Where the boys are ? During the spring break ? But in Florida, of course ! A surprisingly mature comedy set in Fort Lauderdale.

Zazie dans le metro (1960) ***

French comedy directed by Louis Malle and starring Philippe Noiret. Probably the closest a film ever came to capture a dadaist sense of anarchy and chaos.

Zezowate szczescie (1960) ***

Zabawna komedia w rezyserii Andrzeja Munka z Bogumilem Kobiela w roli Piszczyka, wielkiego pechowca, ktory bez przerwy popada w najrozmaitsze tarapaty.

Let's Make Love (1960) **

A fabulously rich French playboy (Yves Montand) falls in love with a young actress (Marilyn Monroe). There are some funny jokes involving radioactive bracelets, but it's a very flawed film. Songs:

"Let's Make Love" *
"My Heart Belongs To Daddy" **
"Sing Me A Song That Sells" *
"You With The Crazy Eyes" *
"Specialization" *
"Let's Make Love" (reprise) *
"Incurably Romantic" *

Never On Sunday (1960) **

Melina Mercouri plays a Greek prostitute with a heart of gold. Ordinary film, ridiculously overrated by critics.

The Lost World (1960) *

Claude Rains, Jill St.John and other explorers discover dinosaurs on a high plateau deep in the South American jungle. Worthless camp.

Munro (1960) ****

A four-year old is drafted into the army. Hilarious, anti-military satire written by Jules Feiffer.

High Note (1960) ****

An almost abstract cartoon with musical notes and symbols (G clefs, sharps etc.) trying to form sheet music for "The Blue Danube". But one note is missing, making the concert impossible. When forced to join, the rebellious note corrupts its colleagues instead. All ends in a drunken revelry. Clever in concept and successful in execution, "High Note" was the first of several Chuck Jones semi-abstract gems of the early 60's. Later entries included Warners' "Now Hear This" (1963) and MGM's "The Dot And The Line" (1965).

Goliath II (1960) ****

In 1937, just before completing "Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs", Disney decided to test one technological innovation used in that film, the multiplane camera. The result was "The Old Mill" (1937), where the new technique worked splendidly. More than two decades later, Disney produced another "test" film, "Goliath II", as a dry run before "101 Dalmatians" (1961), using a modified Xerox camera process, adapted for animation by Ub Iwerks. The story deals with a tiny midget elephant, surrounded by a horde of huge relatives. Impressive animation, especially in the scenes showing elephants marching through the jungle or bumping into one another.

From Hare to Heir (1960) ****

Sam will inherit a large fortune, but Bugs can deduct any amount after a slightest outburst of rage. Predictably, the sum gets smaller and smaller as the rabbit drives Sam crazy with loud music at night and many unreasonable demands. One of Sam's finest films, with beautiful backgrounds and many funny gags.

House Of Hashimoto (1960) ***

Fine cartoon about an invisible samurai mouse.

Fastest With The Mostest (1960) ***

An excellent Road Runner cartoon, slightly different from the others, with longer, more elaborate set pieces.

Hopalong Casualty (1960) ***

A Road Runner cartoon with the Coyote trying to catch his prey using earthquake pills (containing a small label warning - "not effective on Road Runners"), which he swallows himself, suffers the consequences without getting seriously hurt, but then stupidly walks off a cliff and falls into a precipice.

Mouse And Garden (1960) ***

Sylvester and other cat (a red one) are fighting over a mouse. A stylishly designed cartoon, deservedly nominated for an Oscar.

When Comedy Was King (1960) ***

Another memorable compilation of great silent comedy hits. It includes fragments of the following shorts:

0:16-4:43 "Movie Night" (1929). Charley Chase gets the hiccoughs in a crowded movie theater. The beginning of this short is included in "Four Clowns" (1969).

4:43-6:31 "The Masquerader" (1914).

6:31-10:00 "His Trysting Place" (1914).

10:00-11:39 "Gentlemen Of Nerve" (1914, C.Chaplin, Keystone). Charlie Chaplin, Mabel Normand and Chester Conklin clowning while watching car races.

11:39-18:42 "Fatty And Mabel Adrift" (1916).

18:42-24:14 "Teddy At The Throttle" (1917).

24:14-24:56 A brief scene from a Harry Langdon comedy as he throws a villain off a cliff.

24:56-34:51 "The First Hundred Years" (1924).

34:51-41:32 "It's A Gift" (1923).

41:32-51:19 "A Pair Of Tights" (1929).

51:19-1:00:36 "Cops" (1922).

1:00:36-1:03:27 Probably "North Of 57" (1924, Sennett). Ben Turpin travels to the Frozen North, where Bathing Beauties emerge from igloos.

1:03:27-1:04:54 A terrific Mack Sennett chase. A great cliff sequence.