Best Movie Year of the Decade Poll -- Part II

[CinemaInternational]

Onto the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

[LawrenceA]

1950's

These next few decades were a lot trickier to choose, and my decision may change depending on the day of the week. I considered 1951, '52, '53, and '57, before settling on '54. Highlights from that year include Seven Samurai, On the Waterfront, the first film in the Samurai trilogy, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Godzilla, Them!, La Strada, Rear Window, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Caine Mutiny, Sansho the Bailiff, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Suddenly, and The Violent Men.

1960's

Again I had a tough time choosing. 1960 and 1967 were front-runners, but I ended up choosing 1962: Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. No, The Longest Day, The Manchurian Candidate, Harakiri, Cape Fear, Lolita, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Ride the High Country, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Exterminating Angel, Lonely Are the Brave, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Birdman of Alcatraz, Chushingura, An Autumn Afternoon, My Life to Live, Sanjuro, Mafioso, Jules and Jim, Billy Budd, Cleo from 5 to 7, L'Eclisse, and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?.

1970's

This was maybe the toughest decade for me to choose, as it's my favorite decade for films. I finally went with 1979 since it contains my favorite all-time movie: Apocalypse Now, Alien, The Jerk, All That Jazz, Kramer vs Kramer, Monty Python's Life of Brian, Wise Blood, Time After Time, Being There, Manhattan, Nosferatu the Vampyre, The Tin Drum, The Onion Field, Phantasm, Mad Max, Stalker, Real Life, The China Syndrome, Tess, The Brood, and The Warriors.

[kingrat]

1962 is the easy winner for the 1960s, for the many reasons that Lawrence mentions. I'd add Days of Wine and Roses, David and Lisa, and Lisa (no connection to David), and I believe Experiment in Terror is from this year as well.

The 50s had many good years, but 1958 has three of my absolute top favorites with Ashes and Diamonds, Bonjour Tristesse, and Vertigo. Then add The Key, Man of the West, Touch of Evil, The Quiet American, The Horse's Mouth, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, The Big Country, The Tarnished Angels, Orders To Kill, Innocent Sinners, A Time To Love and a Time To Die, Gigi, The Left-Handed Gun, Kings Go Forth, A Night To Remember . . . .

[spence]

terrific topic