10. ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIONS

After its previous film flopped, Walt Disney Productions decided to cut animation costs for its next film, One Hundred and One Dalmatians.  Instead, they relied on the charming story that was written by Dodie Smith just five years earlier.  It was a move that paid off, as it became one of the most successful of the early Walt Disney animated films, and remains the last great Disney film made before the studio hit its groove in the late eighties and early nineties.

9. THE PARENT TRAP

Years before the digital era, David Swift cleverly found ways to cast Hayley Mills in dual roles as twin sisters separated at birth only to be reunited at summer camp.  Along with One Hundred and One Dalmatians and The Absent Minded Professor, The Parent Trap helped Walt Disney have an enormous year at the box office.  And very deservingly, as The Parent Trap is one of the great family films of the 1960s, and really one of the best live-action family films in Disney’s enormous catalog.

8. VIRIDIANA

Although it was considered extremely controversial in its day, Luis Bunuel’s Viridiana’s shock value has worn off throughout the years.  Yet, it’s acclaim only continues to grow.  Considered blasphemous by the Catholic Church, partially for its scene that resembles the Last Supper, Bunuel admitted he never meant for the film to be sacrilege.  And although the film was banned in several countries, the French seemed to appreciate it as they awarded it the Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.  In the sixty years since its release, critics and audiences have begun to realize its brilliance and it is now considered one of Bunuel’s masterpieces.  And rightfully so.

7. LA NOTTE

There’s a note at the end of the credits for Life of Brian that states, “if you have enjoyed this film, why not go and see La Notte.”  Not a bad recommendation, Monty Python.  Released just one year after La Dolce Vita, La Notte has a lot of similarities to Federico Fellini’s masterpiece, yet it seems to receive far less prestige.  Too bad, because La Notte is one of those films that proves that many of the best films from the early 1960s were imports.  Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, who also directed L’Aventura, La Notte tells the story of a couple who’s marriage quickly collapses after a friend is hospitalized.  Marcello Mastroianni, who seems to be in every Italian masterpiece of the time, plays a successful author who ignores his wife until it’s too late.  Fortunately, it’s never too late to see an old classic, so take Monty Python’s advice and add this one to your watchlist.

6. WEST SIDE STORY

With its ten Oscar wins – just one shy of the record set just two years earlier by Ben-Hur – there’s no denying that West Side Story became an instant classic in early 1960s by converting the story of Romeo and Juliet to the mean streets of New York City.  Much of the film does work very well, especially the musical numbers and the performances from Natalie Wood and Rita Moreno.  Yet, with that said, there remains better musicals, including the Steven Spielberg remake this past year.

5. THE HUSTLER

Paul Newman was always meant to be a movie star, but until The Hustler was released in 1961, few people knew it.  That changed quickly, thanks to his masterful performance as pool shark “Fast Eddie” who challenges Minnesota Fats, played wonderfully by Jackie Gleason, in a game of high-stakes pool.  The Hustler isn’t just the greatest movie ever made about billiards, it’s one of the great gambling movies if all time.

4. JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG

Stanley Kramer must have been inspired by 12 Angry Men.  Shortly after the release of Sidney Lumet’s classic courtroom drama, Kramer took us into the courthouse for each of his next two films.  First, with Inherit the Wind, which tells the story of a scientist teacher who is accused of teaching evolution to his students, and then with Judgment at Nuremberg, an even better film that tells the story of four Nazis are put on trial for war crimes.  Filled with gruesome images of Nazi concentration camps, Judgment at Nuremberg was the first mainstream film to show the gruesomeness of the Holocaust.  Even today, it remains one of the most emotional and heartbreaking courtroom dramas ever released.

3. BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S

There’s a song by Deep Blue Something that tells the story of a couple who finds that the only thing they have in common is their love for Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  Well, what’s not to like?!  Audrey Hepburn, in what may be her most famous role, is so perfect as the insecure socialite that it’s impossible to imagine the role being filled by anyone else – even if Marilyn Monroe was Truman Capote’s first choice to play Holly Golightly.  Hepburn gives a wonderful performance that is sweet, tender and beautiful; it’s because of her that Breakfast at Tiffany’s is one of the great romances of all time.

2. SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS

Though not as popular as her other 1961 film – West Side Story – Splendor in the Grass remains the best Natalie Wood film of 1961, in my own personal opinion.  And it’s certainly the film that she gives the better performance.  She plays a Kansas teenager named Deanie who is torn apart when her boyfriend – played by a very young Warren Beatty – breaks up with her.  What follows is complete melodrama, but with great performances from both Wood and Beatty, it’s certainly the best kind of melodrama.  And, it was one of the first films to put mental health in the forefront – nearly sixty years before society would begin to change its tune.

1. A RAISIN IN THE SUN

A Raisin in the Sun, for my money, remains one of the most underrated masterpieces in the history of cinema and one of the true trailblazers of black cinema.  Adapted from a successful Broadway play with much of the same cast, A Raisin in the Sun tells the story of a poor black family who finds sudden wealth in the form of a $10,000 life insurance check.  It’s easily the best written script that was turned into a film in 1961 – but it’s also the best acted film of the year.  Sydney Poitier, who may just be the Jackie Robinson of film, gives a brilliant performance as the son who wants to invest in a liquor store; it should have earned him his first Oscar.  The same could be said for Claudia McNeil and Ruby Dee who were both far superior to Rita Moreno who won for her performance in the much more popular film, West Side Story.  As a Broadway play, A Raisin in the Sun is often considered amongst the best the medium has ever offered.  And in my opinion, the film should be too.