Baby boomers, those born sometime during the 'baby' boom following the second world war, were somewhere between 'tween-age' and 'young adulthood' in the 1960s and 70s. A look at the movies produced through those two decades will dredge up countless memories for boomers and will define the Age of Aquarius and the Hippy Movement during the time of the Vietnam War, Haight Ashbury, Woodstock and free love. These movies are listed in the order of the highest grossing movies, the best barometer of the times:
1960:
Swiss Family Robinson with John Mills and Dorothy McGuire by Disney Studios.
Psycho with Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles and John Gavin by Paramount/Universal Studios
Spartacus with Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, John Gavin and Tony Curtis by Universal Studio
1961
One Hundred and One Dalmatians with Rody Taylor, Betty Lou Gerson and Cate Bauer (voices) by Disney Studio
West Side Story with Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer by United Artists Studio
The Guns of Navarone with Gregory Peck and David Niven by Columbia Studio
1962
Lawrence of Arabia with Peter O'Toole by Columbia Pictures
The Longest Day with Kenneth More, Richard Todd (who took part in the actual invasion), Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Red Buttons, Leo Genn, Peter Lawford, Gert Fröbe, John Wayne, Irina Demick, Bourvil, Curt Jürgens, Robert Wagner and Arletty. This first EPIC film was produced by 20th Century Fox
In Search of the Castaways with Haley Mills and Maurice Chevalier by Disney Studio
1963
Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton by 20th Century Fox
How the West Was Won with Gregory Peck, Debbie Reynolds, George Peppard, Caarroll Baker and James Stewart by Cinerama/MGM Studios
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World with Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney and Ethel Merman by United Artists
1964
Mary Poppins with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke by Disney Studio
My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison by Warner Brothers Studio
Goldfinger with Sean Connery, Gert Frobe and Honor Blackman by United Artists
1965
The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer by 20th Century Fox
Doctor Zhivago with Omar Sharif and Julie Christie by MGM
Thunderball with Sean Connery, Claudine Auger, Luciana Paluzzi and Adolfo Celi by United Artists
1966
Hawaii with Julie Andrews and Max von Sydow by United Artists
The Bible: In the Beginning with Michael Parks, Richard Harris, Ava Gardner and Stephen Boyd by 20th Century Fox
A central theme in the speculative writing on technology of the past century is that forms of technics, like forms of biological life, undergo a process of evolution. With the passage of time, newer and more sophisticated varieties of apparatus, organization, and technique rise to replace older, simpler varieties. New technologies enter into areas of social existence where they had not been previously. Just as Darwin observes that the various species of life on the Galapagos Islands tend to specialize and diversify into particular biological niches, so it is that forms of technology continually spread into fresh areas of social utility. In both number and diversity the kinds of technical artifice available to human societies increase.
—Langdon Winner, U. S. political scientist, educator. “Engines of Change,” Autonomous Technology: Technics-Out-of-Control as a Theme in Political Thought, MIT Press (1977)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton by Warner Brothers Studio
1967
The Jungle Book with Phil Harris, Bruce Reitherman, Sebastian Cabot (voices) by Disney Studio
The Graduate with Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman and Katharine Ross by Embassy/United Artists Studios
Bonnie and Clyde with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway by Warner Brothers
1968
Funny Girl with Barbra Streisand and Omar Sharif by Columbia Studio
2001: A Space Odyssey with Keir Dullea by MGM
Bullitt with Steve McQueen by Warner Brothers
1969
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Paul Newman and Robert Redford by 20th Century Fox
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? With Jane Fonda, Michael Sarazzin and Susannah York by Cinerama Studio
On Her Majesty's Secret Service with George Lazenby, Diana Rigg and Telly Savalas by United Artists
1970
Love Story with Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw by Paramount
Airport with Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg and Jacqueline Bisset by Universal Studios
MASH with Donaold Sutherland and Elliot Gould by 20th Century Fox
1971
Fiddler on the Roof with Topol by United Artists
The French Connection with Gene Hackman by 20th Century Fox
Summer of '42 with Jennifer O'Neill by Warner Brothers
1972
The Godfather with Marlon Brando and Al Pacino
The Poseidon Adventure with Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons and Shelley Winters by 20th Century Fox
Cabaret with Liza Minnelli and Michael York by Allied Artists
1973
The Exorcist with Ellen Burstyn and Max von Sydow by Warner Brothers
The Sting with Paul Newman and Robert Redford by Universal Studios
Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither.
—Bible: Hebrew Job, in Job, 1:21.
Almost identical words appear in Aesop’s Fables, No. 120 (6th century B. C.)
American Graffiti with Richard Dreyfuss and Ron Howard by Universal Studios
1974
The Towering Inferno with Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden and Faye Dunaway by 20th Century Fox/Warner Brothers Studios
Blazing Saddles with Gene Wilder and Madelaine Kahn by Warner Brothers
Young Frankenstein with Gene Wilder, Madeleine Kahn and Gene Hackman by 20th Century Fox
1975
Jaws with Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss by Universal Studios
The Rocky Horror Picture Show with Tim Curry, Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon by 20th Century Fox
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher by United Artists
1976
Rocky with Sylvester Stallone by United Artists
A Star is Born with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson by Warner Brothers
All the President's Men with Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman by Warner Brothers
1977
Star Wars with Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher by 20th Century Fox
Close Encounters of the Third Kind with Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr and Melinda Dillon by Columbia
The Rescuers with Eva Gabor, Bob Newhart and Geraldine Page (voices) by Disney Studio
1978
Grease with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John by Paramount
Superman with Christopher Reeve, Margo Kidder, Gene Hackman and Marlon Brando by Warner Brothers
Animal House with John Belushi by Universal Pictures
1979
Kramer vs. Kramer with Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep by Columbia Pictures
Alien with Sigourney Weaver by 20th Century Fox
Apocalypse Now with Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando by United Artists
Looking through these, I've realized how many of them have been remade through the years, an apt testimony to their credit. Just as with music, the movies of the eras will serve their place in history.
Along with watching good movies, Sammi enjoys working in her lawn and gardens. Garden Harvest Supply is one of her favorite garden sites which offer begonia plants and other beautiful annual flower plants for sale.