Movies of My Life: 1963

After my list for 1962 included two of my favorite movies of all time (To Kill a Mockingbird and Lawrence of Arabia), I was even more surprised when I started on the list for the next year and discovered one of the most important movies in my life.

(1) 8 1/2 (Otto e Mezzo)

When you walk into my office, the first thing you see is a poster for this semi-autobiographical (some would say self-indulgent) film from Italian master Federico Fellini. When you hear me announcing arts events on Ann Nicholson’s “Arts Scene” program, the musical background is the circus theme from this movie. At one time in my life, you would often see me sporting a black fedora my wife bought me, styled after the hat worn by the film’s main character, Guido Anselmi. And to think, the first time I saw this film, I hated it, which is why you should never let the first viewing of a movie be your last. The complexity of Fellini’s creation is what I love so much about this film – moving seamlessly from reality to fantasy to dream sequences and flashbacks (sometimes it’s hard to know which one we’re experiencing); allusions to Pinocchio (notice how Guido touches his nose when he’s lying); themes hidden inside of word play and psychology (Asa Nisi Masa, the secret word revealed by the mind reader is a sort of pig-Latin for “anima,” about the feminine nature in men); and its dark humor (the opening dream sequence seems grim, but I think it’s hilarious). The first time I showed this movie in a college class, they were all unimpressed. The second time, I preceded the screening with a 30 minute lecture on some of the things to watch for, including those I mentioned above. The class broke out in spontaneous applause after it ended.

(2) The Haunting

 This is, by far, my favorite ghost story on film. Like so many movies about ghosts, it’s the story of a group of people who spend the night in a haunted house, and it has a similar title to several of them (see my blog post, “Hell House, Hill House,What the...” for more about this phenomenon). What makes this movie so special is the character of Eleanor, played by Julie Harris. Eleanor is a timid woman with psychic abilities who considers this trip to a haunted house a vacation. After spending years caring for an ailing mother, Eleanor suffers from social anxiety, suppressed rage, and perhaps some delusions. She’s just the kind of “steady” person you need in a haunted house tale.

(3) Lilies of the Field

A beautiful film about a black Baptist handyman (Sidney Poitier) who is hornswoggled into building a chapel for some East German nuns to serve Mexican American Catholics in the Arizona desert. Poitier became the first African American man to win a competitive Oscar for the lead role in this film. While Poitier’s career was filled with strong performances, there’s something so simple and stirring about this role I just love it, especially when he teaches the nuns the song, “Amen.” (Interestingly, Poitier’s singing was dubbed since he can’t carry a tune.)  

(4) The Birds

Trust Alfred Hitchcock to take something as innocent and natural as a flock of birds and turn it into a subject of horror. After viewing this film, you will never see a large group of birds settle in one spot without thinking about the schoolyard scene (or Mel Brooks’ parody of it in High Anxiety). There’s no practical explanation as to why the birds go on a rampage, but the attacks seem to parallel psychological conflict in the characters, making this movie much more than a “nature gone wild” story.

(5) Hud

I haven’t seen this movie in years, but the character of Hud, played by Paul Newman, remains number one in my mind when I hear the phrase “anti-hero.” Hud wasn’t just disillusioned or self-absorbed. He was amoral. And proud of it.

(6) Lord of the Flies

William Golding’s novel (a favorite of high school teachers everywhere) is brought to life in gritty black-and-white. Of the ghosts, killer birds and mad scientists mentioned in the list for this year, the scariest by far are British schoolboys left to their own devices.

(7) X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes

This low-budget Roger Corman sci fi thriller would be just another story of a mad scientist suffering the unintended consequences of his crazy experiments except for the metaphysical nature of Dr. Xavier’s x-ray visions. He describes what he sees as he looks outside: “The city... as if it were unborn. Rising into the sky with fingers of metal, limbs without flesh, girders without stone... A city unborn. Flesh dissolved in an acid of light. A city of the dead.” The ending at a revival tent is unforgettable.

(8) It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

My son says that you should beware of comedies that are longer than 90 minutes, and I tend to agree with him. Usually, you can’t maintain laughs for two hours. This movie is more than three hours long, and while it does get tiresome, it features some of the greatest screen comedians of the 60s, including dozens of cameos, many by comedians from an earlier era. It’s worth it just to see them all in one film.  

(9) Charade

How can you not love a movie with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn? This film is sometimes called, “the best Hitchcock movie Hitchcock never made.” The director was Stanley Donen, but the film possesses a lot of the elements you’d find in a Hitchcock picture: characters pretending to be someone they’re not, murder and mayhem, secret agents, a macguffin, and Cary Grant, of course. (You can catch a “Home Fry-ed” version of this film on UALR University Television occasionally.)

(10) The Pink Panther

Peter Sellers created one of the most iconic comedy figures of cinema for this film, Inspector Clouseau. David Niven got top billing as a debonair jewel thief trying to steal the priceless “Pink Panther” diamond, but it was Sellers who stole the show. The character of Clouseau appears in ten more films, the best of which starred Sellers.