I have now watched 116 films that were released in 1962. A complete list can be found here. It was a strong year and I had 19 films for my favorites list. They could have been sliced and diced in any number of ways – I aimed for a balance between List and non-List films. The films I reluctantly left off my Top Ten were: An Autumn Afternoon; Advise and Consent; Sanjuro; Gypsy; The Music Man; Jules and Jim; The Longest Day; Cape Fear; and Vive le tour . The list is no particular order though Harakiri would remain at the top no matter how I compiled the list.
10. A Long Day’s Journey Into Night – directed by Sidney Lumet
9. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane – directed by Robert Aldrich
8. The Days of Wine and Roses – directed by Blake Edwards
7. Cleo from 5 to 7 – directed by Agnes Varda
6. The Manchurian Candidate – directed by John Frankenheimer
5. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner – directed by Tony Richardson
4. To Kill a Mockingbird– directed by Robert Mulligan
3. The Miracle Worker – directed by Arthur Penn
2. Lawrence of Arabia – directed by David Lean
Harakiri – directed by Masaki Kobayashi
Well done, Bea! That is a lot of movies.
You have a strong top. Maybe I would order it a bit differently, Lawrence of Arabia would take pole position for me, but I can not argue their inclusion on the top ten. I think An Autumn Afternoon would make top 5 for me. I totally loved that movie.
Maybe I should watch Miracle Worker…
I loved An Autumn Afternoon too. No room! I think you would love The Miracle Worker. It’s a great, moving story and powerful acting.
Not one but two sends……saw your Les Mis reply, happy to bring that one up since it was “new”…..now just make sure you watch it some day LOL.
Still on the EU kick tonight and this is a 1962 so at least I can place this one here without shame.
Fancy some Gallic noir, try this one, Le monte-charge (1962)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056248/
It’s a beauty, perfectly acted and with a real noir air both in the (excellent) visuals and plot. I think you’ll love it, had me hooked that’s for sure.
Sounds good! Have you seen Louis Malle’s Elevator to the Gallows? It is an utterly fantastic French film noir. I think you would love it. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051378/reference
Funnily enough saw it roughly 2 months ago, very good but I can’t quite join the enraptured crowd….if pushed I’d say Le monte-charge, though nowhere near as stylish, was more personally engaging.
I often don’t “get” style (for want of a better word), the highly praised Japanese Tokyo Drifter (1966)* is another, nice to watch and I can see why the praise, but really was only OK for me.
* in your upcoming 1966 list perhaps?
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061101/
Yes indeed. Have two Seijun Suzuki films coming up – Tokyo Drifter and Fighting Elegy. He is growing on me slowly. Saw Tokyo Drifter years ago and was not overly impressed. Let’s see what I think this time.