The American film industry experienced a renaissance in the 1960s. Hollywood’s so-called Golden Age had ended, and the handful of studios that had once enjoyed a vice-like grip on the entertainment industry found themselves losing influence. The increasingly archaic Hays Code, a system of self-censorship that had kept American movies “clean” for decades, was on the way out (it finally disappeared in 1968), and filmmakers were beginning to think about their projects in new ways.
The advent of color TV and the beginnings of cable programming meant previously unknown competition to moviemakers, and they responded with musicals, historical dramas, love stories, courtroom dramas, and thrillers. The results weren’t always noteworthy. See how the studios could come up short on this list of the worst movies of the 1960s.
Some of the biggest hits of the era, though, were quirky independent productions, like the groundbreaking “Easy Rider.” Those coming of age in the ‘60s wanted something different, and a younger generation of directors — representing the so-called New Hollywood — emerged to meet the needs of a generation of viewers influenced by foreign films and political activism.
Click here to see the best movies you’ll remember if you grew up in the ’60s.
To identify the best movies you’ll remember from the 1960’s, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the 88 movies that had at least 50,000 reviews on IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon, or Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator. We calculated an index of each movie’s IMDb rating, Rotten Tomatoes audience score, and Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score. All ratings were weighted equally. Data on domestic box office came from The Numbers, an online movie database owned by consulting firm Nash Information Services, last updated in April 2021. Box office figures are not inflation adjusted. Casting and other supplemental data comes from IMDb.
Nonetheless, it was still old-fashioned storytelling and star power that characterized the most memorable films of the decade — the ones 24/7 Tempo has included here. (These are the 32 actors who have made Hollywood the most money.
30. Cape Fear (1962)
> Director: J. Lee Thompson
> Starring: Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen, Lori Martin
> Domestic box office gross: $76.4 million — #8 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
Gregory Peck jumps off the screen in this psychological thriller about revenge in a small town.
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29. Spartacus (1960)
> Director: Stanley Kubrick
> Starring: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton
> Domestic box office gross: $30.0 million — #27 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
Stanley Kubrick directed this somber depiction of a legendary slave revolt that took place in ancient Rome, started by one man at a gladiator school. The film took home four Oscars.
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28. The Lion in Winter (1968)
> Director: Anthony Harvey
> Starring: Peter O’Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins, John Castle
> Domestic box office gross: $22.3 million — #31 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
Based on the 1966 James Goldman play of the same name, “The Lion in Winter” tells the story of conflicts between Eleanor of Aquitaine and her husband, King Henry II, when their family gathers at Christmastime. The film won three Academy Awards in 1969, including Katharine Hepburn’s third one for Best Actress.
27. The Wild Bunch (1969)
> Director: Sam Peckinpah
> Starring: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O’Brien
> Domestic box office gross: $509 thousand — #59 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
The American frontier is changing, and a group of aging outlaws is desperate for one last score before it’s too late.
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26. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
> Director: George Roy Hill
> Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin
> Domestic box office gross: $102.3 million — #6 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
This legendary Western follows the infamous Hole-in-the-Wall Gang as they flee the country after a string of bank robberies. The film won four Oscars.
25. Mary Poppins (1964)
> Director: Robert Stevenson
> Starring: Julie Andrews, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns
> Domestic box office gross: $102.3 million — #7 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
When a father hires a new nanny to help tend to his two children, all three get an unexpected and altogether magical lesson in what it means to be a family. The film took home five Oscars, including a win for Julie Andrews as Best Actress.
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24. The Odd Couple (1968)
> Director: Gene Saks
> Starring: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, John Fiedler, Herb Edelman
> Domestic box office gross: $44.5 million — #18 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
Based on his 1965 play of the same name, Neil Simon wrote the screenplay for this story of two friends who could not be any less well-suited to share an apartment.
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23. My Fair Lady (1964)
> Director: George Cukor
> Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White
> Domestic box office gross: $72.0 million — #9 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
Audrey Hepburn stars in this musical as Eliza Doolittle, the flower girl turned debutante. The film won eight Oscars, including Best Picture.
22. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
> Director: George A. Romero
> Starring: Kyra Schon, Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman
> Domestic box office gross: $12.1 million — #39 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
This genre-defining horror film tells the story of a group of people working together as they attempt to survive an onslaught of flesh-eating monsters. The original spawned five subsequent films, describing the progression of the zombie crisis and the nation’s attempts to survive.
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21. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
> Director: Roman Polanski
> Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer
> Domestic box office gross: $33.4 million — #23 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
Mia Farrow stars in Roman Polanski’s psychological horror film as Rosemary, one half of a young married couple that moves into their dream apartment and builds a friendship with their eccentric neighbors. The film won an Oscar.
20. How to Steal a Million (1966)
> Director: William Wyler
> Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Peter O’Toole, Eli Wallach, Hugh Griffith
> Domestic box office gross: No data available
Audrey Hepburn stars in this classic comedy-heist film, making the impossible decision to steal her father’s statue back from an art museum before they discover its origins.
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19. Inherit the Wind (1960)
> Director: Stanley Kramer
> Starring: Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene Kelly
> Domestic box office gross: No data available
This courtroom drama is based on the true story of a teacher accused of teaching their students the theory of evolution, and the talented lawyers on both sides of the trial. The film is based on the 1925 “monkey trial” of Tennessee teacher John T. Scopes, who was accused of violating the Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of human evolution in any state school.
18. Wait Until Dark (1967)
> Director: Terence Young
> Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna, Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
> Domestic box office gross: $17.6 million — #34 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
This psychological thriller tells the story of a blind woman and her husband, victimized by a group of criminals as they attempt to locate a lost doll worth more than it seems.
17. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
> Director: Stanley Kubrick
> Starring: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter
> Domestic box office gross: $59.9 million — #10 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
Stanley Kubrick worked with science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke to create one of the defining movies of the 20th century. It tells the story of two astronauts and one supercomputer sent to discover the origins of humanity. It won a special effects Oscar.
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16. Charade (1963)
> Director: Stanley Donen
> Starring: Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau, James Coburn
> Domestic box office gross: $13.5 million — #36 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
A woman struggles to discover who she can trust after her husband is killed and she must track down a fortune he supposedly stole.
15. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
> Director: Robert Aldrich
> Starring: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono, Wesley Addy
> Domestic box office gross: $4.1 million — #56 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
In this haunting depiction of sibling rivalry and resentment, one sister tortures her wheelchair-bound sibling as she slowly loses her mind.
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14. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
> Director: John Frankenheimer
> Starring: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury
> Domestic box office gross: $1.9 million — #57 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
This political thriller stars Frank Sinatra as Major Bennett Marco and asks whether a man could be brainwashed and forced to take action against his own nation.
13. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
> Director: Norman Jewison
> Starring: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant
> Domestic box office gross: $24.4 million — #29 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
This crime drama stars Sidney Poitier as a black police detective assigned to investigate the murder of a Northern industrialist who planned to bring factory employment to a Southern town. The film won five Oscars, including Best Picture.
12. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
> Director: Mike Nichols
> Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis
> Domestic box office gross: No data available
This adaptation of Edward Albee’s 1962 play takes place over the course of one grueling night, as one couple is dragged into the orbit of another and forced to watch them verbally tear each other to pieces.
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11. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
> Director: Robert Mulligan
> Starring: Gregory Peck, John Megna, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy
> Domestic box office gross: $13.1 million — #37 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
Robert Mulligan’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s 1960 novel has become a definitive American film. Gregory Peck plays Atticus Finch, the morally unyielding lawyer who must defend a black man against a false charge in 1932 Alabama. The film won three Academy Awards, including a Best Actor win for Gregory Peck.
10. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
> Director: Stanley Kramer
> Starring: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich
> Domestic box office gross: $10.0 million — #45 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
Based on the Judges’ Trial of 1947, this courtroom drama tells the story of a military tribunal in which four German judges and jurists are tried for war crimes. The film won two Oscars.
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9. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
> Director: John Ford
> Starring: James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin
> Domestic box office gross: $8.0 million — #48 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
This classic Western drama is told mostly in flashback, as an esteemed U.S. senator returns to a small Western town to attend a funeral and reveals to a local newspaperman the truth about events of the past.
8. The Apartment (1960)
> Director: Billy Wilder
> Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston
> Domestic box office gross: $18.6 million — #33 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
In this story of one man’s willingness to do whatever it takes to get ahead, Jack Lemmon stars as an insurance clerk who loans his apartment out to a rotating group of company executives so they can have extramarital affairs. The film took home five of the ten Oscars for which it was nominated.
7. The Hustler (1961)
> Director: Robert Rossen
> Starring: Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott
> Domestic box office gross: $7.6 million — #49 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
Paul Newman stars as a talented but reckless pool hustler whose mouth is too big for his own good. Finding himself with nowhere else to turn, he makes a decision that might cost him more than he’s willing to pay. The film won two Oscars.
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6. The Great Escape (1963)
> Director: John Sturges
> Starring: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson
> Domestic box office gross: $11.7 million — #41 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
Steve McQueen stars in this based-on-a-true-story prison break masterpiece. A group of Allied prisoners of war are moved to a secure camp, from where they decide to plan a daring escape for themselves and their fellow prisoners — a 300 of them.
5. Cool Hand Luke (1967)
> Director: Stuart Rosenberg
> Starring: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Strother Martin, J.D. Cannon
> Domestic box office gross: $16.2 million — #35 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
In this brilliant prison film, Paul Newman stars as Luke Jackson, a prisoner on a chain gang in the rural South who refuses to fall in line. George Kennedy won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the leader of the convicts.
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4. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
> Director: Sergio Leone
> Starring: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards
> Domestic box office gross: $5.3 million — #54 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
This classic spaghetti western follows one woman’s journey to Utah, where she finds her husband and children murdered and her land the target of a railroad concern. Two strangers agree to help protect her from a ruthless assassin hired by the railroad company, harboring motives of their own.
3. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
> Director: Stanley Kubrick
> Starring: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn
> Domestic box office gross: $9.2 million — #47 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
Kubrick’s Cold War black comedy paints a bleak picture of the American military’s commitment to global annihilation. Facing a delusional brigadier general, the U.S. military brass frantically try to find a way to stop a nuclear strike.
2. Psycho (1960)
> Director: Alfred Hitchcock
> Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin
> Domestic box office gross: $32.0 million — #25 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
This genre-defining psychological horror film portrays one woman’s chance to start over and her fateful decision to stop for the night at the Bates Motel, operated by a strange young man with an apparently domineering mother.
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1. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
> Director: Sergio Leone
> Starring: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè
> Domestic box office gross: $6.1 million — #53 highest out of 60 movies released in the 1960’s
Clint Eastwood stars as Blondie, a professional gunman out for himself, in this definitive spaghetti western. Blondie (the Good) and Tuco (the Ugly) must put aside their differences and work together if they want to keep one step ahead of an infamous hitman (the Bad) who wants information that only they have, and won’t stop until he gets it.
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