The 1960s were a decade of change in America and around the world. Minority rights were expanded, space travel became more than Science Fiction, and counterculture gained momentum. In many ways, cinema reflected this changing world. The Hollywood studio system had been crumbling since the late 1940s, and by the 1960s, audiences were introduced to independent cinema, the rise of New Hollywood and the end of strict censorship laws. The 1960s were also an excellent era for international films. In France, the New Wave was fully established. In Italy, the giallo film was born. While the 1950s saw the Golden Age of Cinema in Japan, the 1960s produced a high output of classic Japanese films. The 1960s are a critical decade in cinema history, and the best films of the '60s capture the feeling of the era. The greatest '60s movies come from many genres and countries, but they all are enduring films that are still amazing 60+ years later.

While the 1960s saw some great comedies, romances and dramas, other genres like horror, Sci-Fi and musicals were extremely popular. Many great directors, such as Stanley Kubrick, Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa and Jean-Luc Godard, made their mark on the decade with iconic films. At the same time, actors like John Wayne, Julie Andrews, Paul Newman, Sean Connery, Richard Burton and Omar Sharif ruled the box office.

Notably, this list excludes documentaries. There are a couple of excellent documentaries from especially the second half of this decade, including Portrait of Jason (1967), The Queen (1968), Endless Summer (1966) and The Black Panthers (1968). While these films are not ranked, they are all well worth a watch. The films included on this list are ranked based on a couple of factors. The ranking looks at historical significance and overall film quality. However, this list also considers "how 1960s" this film is. It isn't exactly a scientific metric, but the best 1960s films have a sense of place and time. Even films that don't take place in the 1960s but were made in the decade often feature themes, design elements and production that are evocative of the '60s.

Audrey Hepburn made many iconic films in the 1960s, including Breakfast at Tiffany's, Charade, How to Steal a Million and The Children's Hour. While Wait Until Dark is likely not the first film that comes to mind from the veteran actress, it is a real gem.

Directed by Terence Young, Wait Until Dark follows a robber who breaks into a blind woman's apartment to retrieve a doll filled with drugs. It features excellent performances by Alan Arkin and Hepburn, who was nominated for an Oscar for the film. Find it here.

Directed by John Sturges, The Great Escape follows a group of soldiers who try to break out of a German POW camp during WWII. The film stars Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence and James Coburn.

The film was originally met with mixed reviews due to its length (almost three hours). However, it has become a favorite to many, especially those interested in war movies. The 1960s had many great war movies, including The Battle of Algiers (1966), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and The Dirty Dozen (1967). The Great Escape isn't necessarily the best of them, but it feels iconically 1960s. It is available here.

Based on the Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa novel of the same name, The Leopard is a historical epic about an aging prince, his young war hero nephew and the beautiful daughter of a wealthy family set against the backdrop of Italian Unification in the 1860s.

Directed by Luchino Visconti, the film stars Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon. It's a visually lush film that feels sumptuous. A cut and dubbed version of the film was released in the U.S., but the longer Italian version is better. The film won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It is one of director Martin Scorsese's favorite films and is also on the Vatican's list of Best Films.

The Housemaid is a Korean cinema classic. It was remade in 2010 and inspired the 2019 film Parasite, but the original shouldn't be missed. The film follows an unstable woman who blackmails her way into being the housemaid for an upper-middle-class man and his pregnant wife.

Directed by Kim Ki-young, the film is the first part of his Housemaid Trilogy (followed by Woman of Fire and Woman of Fire '82). The Housemaid stars Lee Eun-shim, Ju Jeung-nyeo and Kim Jin-kyu. While it might not have made as big of a splash internationally as some of the other films on this list, Koreanfilm.org called it a "consensus pick as one of the top three Korean films of all time." Find it here.

In Italy, the 1960s marked the birth of the giallo genre. While the genre peaked in the 1970s, these murder mystery/horror films are highly influential on modern horror movies and led to the American slasher genre. Mario Bava is credited with establishing the genre with 1963's The Girl Who Knew Too Much. However, his 1964 follow-up, Blood and Black Lace, is the more iconic film.

The film follows a man with a metal claw stalking and killing models in Rome's haute couture scene. It stars Eva Bartok and Cameron Mitchell. Blood and Black Lace features terrific camera work and beautiful and bizarre visuals. It is highly influential, and several scenes (especially one death scene in a bathtub) have been referenced in many other films. However, the film is also "very 1960s," and not everything ages well. It is available to stream here.

Cool Hand Luke is a a film about a rebellious prisoner who clashes with the sadistic warden on a prison farm. Directed by Stuart Rosenberg, it stars Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J. D. Cannon, Strother Martin and Robert Drivas.

The film is remembered from the often-quoted line, "What we've got here is failure to communicate." However, it is also notable for its anti-establishment themes, especially due to its release during the Vietnam War. The film currently holds a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and was nominated for four Oscars. It is available here.

Black Girl is often considered the first Sub-Saharan film by an African director to gain international recognition. The film was a co-production between France and Senegal and was directed by Ousmane Sembène. It follows a young Senegalese woman who comes to work in France only to be mistreated by her employers.

The film was originally met with poor reviews but has been largely reassessed and is now considered a classic of world cinema. Black Girl stars a non-professional actress, M'Bissine Thérèse Diop. In an essay for Criterion, Ashley Clark wrote, "Its powerful social and political undercurrents can be illuminated by a look at the fascinating route Sembène, a talented polymath, took to filmmaking -- a circuitous tale that would, in the proper hands, make a thrilling biopic in its own right." Find it here.

The Sound of Music is a musical based on the 1950s stage play of the same name and Maria von Trapp's 1949 memoir, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. The film follows a young nun turned governess for the von Trapp family in 1930s Austria and the family's eventual escape from the Nazis to Switzerland.

The Sound of Music, directed by Robert Wise, stars Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. While it initially received mixed reviews from critics, it surpassed Gone With the Wind to become the highest-grossing film of all time, a distinction it held for five years. The film also won five Oscars. It is currently available here.

Mary Poppins is a musical loosely based on P. L. Travers's book series about a magical nanny with songs by the Sherman Brothers. Directed by Robert Stevenson, the film stars Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns and Hermione Baddeley.

The film was a box office smash, and at the time of its release, it was the highest-grossing Disney film. Mary Poppins received 13 Oscar nominations, winning five. Its production inspired the 2013 biographical drama Saving Mr. Banks, and the film also received a sequel, Mary Poppins Returns, in 2018. Mary Poppins is currently available to stream here.

Federico Fellini's 8 ½ is another 1960s Italian masterpiece. It is a comedy-drama about a creatively blocked filmmaker whose stress from his work and personal life pushes him to the fantastical. It stars Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimée, Sandra Milo, Rossella Falk and Barbara Steele.

The film is hugely influential and has appeared on many best-of lists, including the Vatican's compilation of 45 important movies made before 1995, the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage's 100 Italian films to be saved, and the BBC's 2018 list of "The 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films." It also won two Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Costume Design (black-and-white). Find it here.

Night of the Living Dead is a horror classic. It is an essential film in the zombie genre and in the history of Independent Cinema. The film stars Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea and Marilyn Eastman. It follows a group of people who must hide in an abandoned house from a graveyard full of zombies.

Originally, many critics thought the film was far too violent, and one even called it an "unrelieved orgy of sadism." Part of the issue was the film predates the MPAA film rating system (which was introduced around a month after the movie's premiere). This meant children could buy tickets to the very gory film, causing controversy. However, the tide of critical opinion changed quickly as the film gained a large cult following. It was even selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 1999. It is available here.

While the era of American Western films had begun to die out by the 1960s, the Spaghetti Western gained popularity in the 1960s and 70s. This sub-genre refers to films set in the American West but made by Italian directors. The first Spaghetti Western, A Fistful of Dollars, directed by Sergio Leone, premiered in 1964. Other notable films in the genre include Django, The Great Silence and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. However, Once Upon a Time in the West is arguably the best of the genre.

Also directed by Leone, the film follows a hired gunman who tries to force a homeowner off a key piece of land needed to expand a railroad. However, after a shootout, the job is complicated by vengeance. The film stars Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Jason Robards and Claudia Cardinale. It originally opened to poor reviews. However, it gained a cult following and was reevaluated. The film was selected for presentation by the Library of Congress in 2009 and appeared on many best-of-film lists. Find it here.

Funny Girl is one of a couple of iconic musicals of the 1960s. Based on the stage musical of the same name, Funny Girl loosely follows the life of comedian Fanny Brice and her relationship with gambler Nicky Arnstein.

Funny Girl was both a critical and commercial success and earned eight Academy Award Nominations. It has also received praise for its portrayal of Jewish womanhood. The film stars Barbra Streisand and Omar Sharif. However, Sharif was almost replaced because the Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt broke out while the film was in rehearsals, and the Egyptian actor's casting quickly became controversial. However, director William Wyler and Streisand threatened to quit if executives replaced him. It is available to stream here.

The Apartment is a beloved comedy directed by Billy Wilder. The film follows a worker at a large insurance firm who lets his bosses use his bachelor apartment to cheat on their wives. However, things get complicated when he falls for an elevator operator.

In some ways, The Apartment feels racy for 1960. However, it also makes perfect sense as an early film in a decade of social change, especially regarding sex and women. The film stars Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, both of whom were Oscar-nominated for their roles. The Apartment was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won five, including Best Picture. Find it here.

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, The Birds follows a series of unexplained bird attacks in Bodega Bay, California. The film stars Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette, Veronica Cartwright and Tippi Hedren in her first film.

Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, the film follows a hitman who must evade police and his own crime bosses after a hit on a nightclub owner. It stars Alain Delon, Nathalie Delon, Cathy Rosier and François Périer. Le Samouraï was wildly influential on the action/hitman genre and currently holds a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.. A 4K restoration of the film by Pathé and the Criterion Collection from the 35 mm original camera negative was recently completed and screened in 2024. It is available here.

The Story of a Three-Day Pass follows a black American G.I. on a three-day leave to Paris and a star-crossed affair with a French shop clerk. While its director, Melvin Van Peebles, is more synonymous with his Blaxploitation films of the 1970s, The Story of a Three-Day Pass is a must-watch that feels more akin to the French New Wave.

The film stars Harry Baird and Nicole Berger. It was Peebles's feature directorial debut, and it was filmed in France since it was difficult for him as a Black filmmaker to break into Hollywood. The film debuted at the San Francisco Film Festival, where it won an award as a French entry, leading producers to mistake Peebles for a French Auteur (Peebles was actually from Chicago). In 2020, The Story of a Three-Day Pass was selected for the Cannes Classics at the Cannes Film Festival, and Richard Brody championed it in The New Yorker as being "among the great American films of the sixties." Find it here.

While they are still making them today, something about a James Bond film just feels like the 1960s. From Russia with Love is the second film in the James Bond series and a direct sequel to 1962's Dr. No. While From Russia with Love is a sequel, it often ranks higher in the series than the original.

In the film, James Bond returns to take on a secret crime organization known as SPECTRE and the mounting Cold War. Directed by Terence Young, the film stars Sean Connery, Pedro Armendáriz, Lotte Lenya, Robert Shaw, Bernard Lee and Daniela Bianchi. The film delivers action, gadgets and an iconic chase scene, as all James Bond films should. It is available here.

Planet of the Apes is a Sci-Fi classic directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. It follows the human crew of a spaceship after they crash land on a planet ruled by humanoid apes. The film stars Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly and Linda Harrison.

Planet of the Apes has been parodied and homaged so many times that it will likely feel familiar even to those who have never seen it. The film has become a franchise with prequels and an extended universe. Find the original here.

West Side Story is a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet between New York street gangs. The film is based on the 1957 musical of the same name by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. While the film is a musical classic, it has a big brownface issue. Several white actors play Puerto Ricans in this film, including the lead, Natalie Wood.

The film won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. West Side Story was remade in 2021. Notably, Rita Moreno and later Ariana DeBose both won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for their portrayal of Anita in their respective films (making them the only two Latinas to have won in the category. However, Zoe Saldaña or Monica Barbaro may become the third in 2025). It is available here.

Playtime is one of a couple of notable French comedies directed by, co-written and starring Jacques Tati. It is connected to his 1950s classics Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot and Mon Oncle. However, it is easily the best and most impressive of the three films. Playtime follows Monsieur Hulot as he bumbles through a complex and modern city and intersects with an American tourist.

Playtime was incredibly expensive to make for its time. It was shot on high-resolution 70mm film and filmed on a large, constructed set. The set required 100 workers to build and even necessitated its own power plant. Playtime is a notably beautiful film with iconic imagery. However, it is also a great comedy that feels a bit like modernist Chaplin. Find it here.

"They call me Mister Tibbs!" Sidney Poitier starred in three films in 1967, all of which are 1960s classics: To Sir with Love, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? and In The Heat of the Night. In the Heat of the Night follows a Black Philadelphia detective who becomes embroiled in a high-profile murder investigation in a small Mississippi town.

Directed by Norman Jewison, the film also stars Rod Steiger, Warren Oates and Lee Grant. While it is based on the 1965 novel by John Ball of the same name, there are a couple of notable differences between the two including a famous slapping scene. In the Heat of the Night builds tension not only through the mounting investigation but also the racial tension of 1960s Mississippi, which feels very 1960s and still relevant. The film was nominated for seven Oscars, winning five (including Best Picture). In 2002, it was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress. It is available to stream here.

"We all go a little mad sometimes." Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho is one of two iconic horror films from 1960 that led to the slasher genre (the other being 1960's Peeping Tom, which is another must-watch of the thriller genre). Psycho follows a murder at a run-down motel, the sister and lover of the victim as they look into her disappearance and the shy motel operator, Norman Bates. It stars Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam and Janet Leigh.

Psycho is a classic foundational horror film. However, it has been critiqued by the trans community and mental illness advocates. Psycho has seeped into the larger cultural consciousness, and even if you haven't seen it, the film will likely feel familiar, given how much it is referenced (especially its shower scene and final shot). It is currently streaming here.

Easily one of the best Samurai movies ever made, Harakiri follows a ronin during the Tokugawa shogunate who requests to commit a ritualized form of suicide called seppuku (or harakiri) at the manor of a local lord. The film was directed by Masaki Kobayashi and stars Tatsuya Nakadai, Shima Iwashita, Akira Ishihama, Tetsurō Tamba and Rentarō Mikuni.

It is a beautiful film about power, glory and control. The film received the Special Jury Award at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival and is still beloved today. The film currently holds 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and is the highest-rated film on Letterboxd. It was remade in 2011 by Takashi Miike as Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai. While the 2011 version is also good, the original is far better. If you are looking for more 1960s samurai classics from Kobayashi, 1967's Samurai Rebellion is another must-watch. 1962's Harakiri is available to rent here.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a French New Wave Opera masterpiece. The film follows two star-crossed lovers in the city of Cherbourg in Normandy. It was written and directed by Jacques Demy and stars Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo.

Demy would go on to direct another iconic 1960s musical, The Young Ladies of Rochefort, in 1967, also starring Deneuve. While both are excellent films, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is better. It is a gorgeously heartbreaking film that won the Palme d'Or at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival. The film has influenced films like Damien Chazelle's La La Land and Greta Gerwig's Barbie. It is available here.

Yojimbo is a Samurai classic by director Akira Kurosawa, starring his frequent collaborator Toshiro Mifune. The film follows a nameless ronin, later named Sanjuro, as he starts a gang war in small village-controlled criminals. The popularity of the film led Kurosawa to rework his follow-up film Sanjuro (a great 1960s samurai film in its own right) to include the character.

Yojimbo has influenced many other films. It was unofficially remade into two spaghetti westerns: 1964's A Fistful of Dollars and 1966's Django. The Cantina scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope contains a homage to Yojimbo,and the film is further referenced in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Find it here.

Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the most influential films ever made. The film follows astronauts sent on a mysterious space mission and their ship's computer system, HAL, which starts acting erratically. It stars Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, and Douglas Rain.

The film was based on a couple of short stories by Arthur C. Clarke (who also co-wrote the film) and has a slightly disparate feel. This originally led to many audiences "not getting it." During the New York premiere, 250 people reportedly walked out, and at the L.A. premiere, actor Rock Hudson notably left early after muttering, "What is this bullshit?" While initial reviews were mixed, it has been fully reassessed as one of the greatest films ever made. It is a deep and stylish film that left a considerable mark not only on the sci-fi genre but on film history. Find it here.

Breathless is not only one of the best French films ever made, it is simply one of the best films ever made. Directed by French master director Jean-Luc Godard, Breathless follows a low-level criminal and his girlfriend after he impulsively kills a policeman. The film stars Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo.

While other of 1960s Godard's films, such as Jules and Jim, Contempt and Masculin Féminin, are masterpieces, Breathless stands apart for its influence. It helped establish the French New Wave style and popularized new directing techniques, such as a unique use of jump cuts. It's been referenced in many other New Wave films and beyond. It is available to stream here.

La Dolce Vita is another iconic Italian film by director Federico Fellini. It follows a reporter through episodic situations in Rome. The film functions as a character study of both the protagonist and the decadently decaying society he chases. The film is profoundly stylish, with many iconic visuals. While it is nearly three hours, it doesn't struggle with its very long runtime. The film stars Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimée, Anita Ekberg, Yvonne Furneaux, Alain Cuny, Annibale Ninchi, Magali Noël, Lex Barker, Jacques Sernas and Nadia Gray.

It was heavily censored upon its first release and even banned in some countries. The film was also condemned by the Vatican as they saw it as a parody of the second coming of Jesus. However, it was well received in America and nominated for four Oscars. It is an influential film that has been referenced in later films like Lost in Translation, L.A. Story and Under the Tuscan Sun. La Dolce Vita has been on many of the best film lists and was Roger Ebert's favorite film (he consistently included it in his top ten films for Sight & Sounds' poll). Find it here.

Arguably the best comedy of the 1960s (and one of the best comedies of all time), Dr. Strangelove is a dark satire about the threat of nuclear annihilation during the Cold War. It follows a situation where an American general plans to drop a nuclear bomb on the Soviet Union.

The film was directed by Stanely Kubrick and stars Peter Sellers in three roles: a British officer, the American President, and the titular doctor, a former nazi and nuclear war expert. It also stars George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens and Tracy Reed. It was nominated for four Oscars and was one of the first 25 films selected for preservation in the Library of Congress. It is available here.

Bottom Line

Dig it cause these films are out of sight. So settle in and revisit the best films of the 1960s.