1965

Sandra Dee was the last star remaining under contract to a studio – Universal. The fourth James Bond film Thunderball had the highest domestic box-office earning of the Bond films to date – $600 million when adjusted for inflation.  Goldfinger (1964) was a distant second with $531.7 million adjusted. 

Director John Lamb’s nudist film The Raw Ones was the first to openly show genitalia, now allowed after a court decision that ruled displays of private parts were not obscene.  This was an essential link between the “nudie-cutie” films of the late 50’s and the hard-core porn films of the 70’s.  Julie Christie’s Oscar-winning performance in John Schlesinger’s Darling was the first in which the winner had appeared in a nude scene.

The year’s roster of deaths includes:  Stan Laurel (74); David O. Selznik (63); Jeanette MacDonald (61); Margaret Dumont (82); Linda Darnell (41); Judy Holliday (43); Steve Cochran (48); Ray Collins (78); Dorothy Dandridge (42); Clara Bow (60); Zachary Scott (51); Henry Travers (91).  Joseph I. Breen, chief administrator of the Hays Code from 1934 to 1954 died at age 77 and began rolling in his grave.  May they all rest in peace.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lead a civil rights march in Alabama from Selma to Mobil.  It was twice halted by state troopers before the U.S. Army and National Guard allowed it to proceed.  In August, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, guaranteeing African Americans the right to vote.  Race riots broke out in Watts, Los Angeles.

The United States launched Operation Rolling Thunder in Vietnam.  A major power blackout hit New York City along with large swathes of the American Northeast and Ontario.

Billboard #1 song of 1965 – “Wooly Bully” by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs – was kept off the weekly charts by such hits as “Satisfaction”, “I Got You Babe”, and “Yesterday.”  The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature.  Frank D. Gilroy’s The Subject Was Roses won for Drama.  Time Magazine’s Man of the Year was President Lyndon B. Johnson.

British designer Mary Quant introduced the mini skirt.  Rhodesia declared unilateral independence from Great Britain and became Zimbabwe.  Australia entered the Vietnam War.  Canada adopted the Maple Leaf flag.  An attempted coup by Communists in Indonesia led to unrest killing half a million people and a transition to the “New Order” of dictator Major General Suharto.

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I’m slowly building up enthusiasm for 1965.  The films I will select from can be found here.