Cinema is an ever changing medium but like most changes they can be clearly pin pointed to particular moments and 1967 is one of the many moments in cinema when the public at large witnessed a gigantic change. America was suffering during this period and usually in this decade of the 60's the choices by the academy would not really reflect poltical movements rather trying to sofen peoples feelings leaving them with fun filled films rather then the hard hitting relevant to the times films. 1967 was the rare year where the academy's choice was has hard hitting as you would get during this period. The film was Norman Jewison's In the Heat of the Night which reflected the times due to it's race relation subject matter. The film as I see it is more of an important achievement rather than something I consider a worthwhile achievement because the film feels rather then tame from my personal perspective. The lineup at this year's academy awards was easily one of the most relevant lineups aside from one outlier reflecting political movements and cinema changes. The other nominees were Arthur Penn's Bonnie & Clyde, Doctor Doolittle, Mike Nichols' The Graduate and Stanley Kramer's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. B&C and Graduate hold up extremely well and are no question two of the quintessential films of this cinematic change. Doolittle is the outlier for me and I despise the film greatly. Dinner is another film about race relations but not as long lasting as Heat of the Night and rather bland through a modern eye's perspective.
Really 1967 is so much more then the pillars of B&C and Graduate and this revisit allowed me to discover many pleasurable film experiences. My favourite film of the year and one of the greatest film achievements is Ingmar Bergman's landmark film Persona. The film was first seen in 66 but didn't actually arrive in the states (I judge my revisit on films US release date) until 67 making it eligible and without question my number one choice. Bergman is an unmatched filmmaker who with each film I see of his I grow more and more in love with his unique talent for capturing the speciality in the mundane. The film is the best film I've seen to capture the psychotic experience. The film is about these two women and how each reacts to the other while also underlined with the fact one of them is caring for the other. Bibi Andersson is beyond iconic in this film and is a marvel to watch through many closeups where her face is laid bare for all to see and it's exquisite. Next behind Persona is another film to touch on themes of the psychy. That film is Marat/Sade which clearly is about peoples madness being set in a mental institution . The film follows these inmates as they perform a play about the french revolution, Many may consider this film and the play itself hard to follow but I was just so boiled over by it and found every moment captivating. It's a film presentation like no other and that's one of the main reasons I find everything of this film so special. While it's hard for me to talk about films to well regarded as Bonnie & Clyde because they've been talked about to death. However the film is well regarded for a reason because it's just so good. Penn has never done better then this film for me. He rangeled together a singular cast and they fully commit to make this instantly great film. The Battle of Algiers like Persona is one of the defining foreign films ever made. It so puts you into the location that is this war film. You feel all the wins and loses of every section even without really getting to know these characters as the film goes to show horror of situation rather than it's characters. The final film that would complete my top 5 is another standout 67 film discussed as much as the two previous seminal films. The film is Cool Hand Luke which stars the unmatched Paul Newman who from his introduction to cinema to his end in cinema was one of the greatest actors ever to grace the screen. No actor can make his charisma or his masculine energy. The film is a great prison drama of men surving time with one another and includes some truly incredible performances.
35 is the amount of films I've seen released in America in 67 and it is almost too good a list because I could go on forever with what I consider great cinema because there is just too much goodness to watch. Below is my list of prefered winners and nominees.
OUTSTANDING PICTURE:
1. Persona (Produced by Ingmar Bergman)
2. Marat/Sade (Produced by Michael Birkett)
3. Bonnie and Clyde (Produced by Warren Beatty)
4. The Battle of Algiers (Produced by Antonio Musu & Yacef Saadi)
5. Cool Hand Luke (Produced by Gordon Carroll)
6. The Graduate
7. Two for the Road
8. Closely Watched Trains
9. Point Blank
10. Chimes at Midnight
OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR:
Ingmar Bergman for Persona
Peter Brook for Marat/Sade
Mike Nichols for The Graduate
Arthur Penn for Bonnie and Clyde
Gillo Pontecorvo for The Battle of Algiers
OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR:
Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow in "BONNIE AND CLYDE"
Albert Finney as Mark Wallace in "TWO FOR THE ROAD"
Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock in "THE GRADUATE"
Paul Newman as Lucas "Luke" Jackson in "COOL HAND LUKE"
Ian Richardson as Jean-Paul Marat in "MARAT/SADE"
OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS:
Bibi Andersson as Alma, the Nurse in "PERSONA"
Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson in "THE GRADUATE"
Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parkerin "BONNIE AND CLYDE"
Audrey Hepburn as Joanna 'Jo' Wallace in "TWO FOR THE ROAD
Shirley Knight as Lula in "DUTCHMAN"
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR:
John Cassavetes as Victor R. Franko in "THE DIRTY DOZEN"
Gene Hackman as Buck Barrow in "BONNIE AND CLYDE"
George Kennedy as Dragline in COOL HAND LUKE"
Patrick Macgee as Marquis de Sade in "MARAT/SADE"
Michael J. Pollard as C.W. Moss in "BONNIE AND CLYDE"
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Carol Channing as Muzzy in "THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE"
Glenda Jackason as Charlotte Corday in "MARAT/SADE"
Beah Richards as Mary Prentice in "GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER"
Marjorie Rhodes as Lucy Fitton in "THE FAMILY WAY"
Jo Van Fleet as Luke's mother, Arletta in "COOL HAND LUKE"
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Gillo Pontecorvo & Franco Solinas for The Battle of Algiers
David Newman & Robert Benton for Bonnie and Clyde
Bill Naughton, Roy Boulting & Jeffrey Dell for The Family Way
Ingmar Bergman for Persona
Frederic Raphael for Two for the Road
OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Screenplay by Orson Welles; Based on Five plays by William Shakespeare, Holinshed's Chronicles by Raphael Holinshed, Chimes at Midnight
Screenplay by Donn Pearce & Frank R. Pierson; Based on Cool Hand Luke by Donn Pearce, Cool Hand Luke
Screenplay by Calder Willingham & Buck HenryL Based on The Graduate by Charles Webb, The Graduate
Screenplay by Irving Ravetch & Harriet Frank Jr.; Based on Hombre by Elmore Leonard, Hombre
Screenplay by Adrian Mitchell; Based on Marat/Sade by Peter Weiss, Marat/Sade
OUTSTANDING ART DIRECTION:
Production Design & Set Design by Sergio Canevari for The Battle of Algiers
Art Direction by Dean Tavoularis; Set Design by Raymond Paul for Bonnie and Clyde
Production Design by Sally Jacobs; Art Direction by Ted Marshall for Marat/Sade
Art Direction by Alexander Golitzen & George C. Webb; Set Design by Howard Bristol for Thoroughly Modern Millie
Production Design by Ken Adam; Art Direction by Harry Pottle; Set Design by David Ffolkes for You Only Live Twice
OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT:
Faye Dunaway (Bonnie and Clyde)
Gene Hackman (Bonnie and Clyde)
Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate)
Glenda Jackson (Marat/Sade)
Liv Ullmann (Persona)
OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Marcello Gatti for The Battle of Algiers
Burnett Guffey for Bonnie and Clyde
Robert Surtees for The Graduate
Conrad Hall for In Cold Blood
Sven Nykvist for Persona
OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN:
Theadora van Runkle for Bonnie and Clyde
Alan Barrett for Far From the Madding Crowd
Patricia Zipprodt for The Graduate
John Hales, Lynn Hope & Gunilla Palmstierna-Weiss for Marat/Sade
Jean Louis for Thoroughly Modern Millie
OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR:
Bonnie and Clyde (Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons, Denver Pyle, Dub Taylor, Gene Wilder, Evans Evans, Mabel Cavitt)
Cool Hand Luke (Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Strother Martin, Jo Van Fleet, Joy Harmon, Morgan Woodward, Luke Askew, Robert Donner, Clifton James, John McLiam, Andre Trottier, Charles Tyner, J.D. Cannon, Lou Antonio, Robert Drivas, Marc Cavell, Richard Davalos, Warren Finnerty, Dennis Hopper, Wayne Rogers, Harry Dean Stanton, Ralph Waite, Anthony Zerbe, Buck Kartalian, Joe Don Baker)
The Dirty Dozen (Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Ralph Meeker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, Clint Walker, Trini Lopez, Robert Webber, Al Mancini, Tom Busby, Ben Carruthers, Stuart Cooper, Colin Maitland, Robert Phillips)
The Graduate (Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross, William Daniels, Murray Hamilton, Elizabeth Wilson, Buck Henry, Walter Brooke, Brian Avery, Norman Fell, Marion Lorne, Alice Ghostley, Eddra Gale)
Marat/Sade (Patrick Magee, Ian Richardson, Michael Williams, Clifford Rose, Glenda Jackson, Freddie Jones, Hugh Sullivan, John Hussey, W. Morgan Sheppard, John Steiner, Henry Woolf)
OUTSTANDING FILM EDITING:
Dede Allen for Bonnie and Clyde
Sam O'Steen for Cool Hand Luke
Sam O'Steen for The Graduate
Ulla Ryghe for Persona
Henry Berman for Point Blank
OUTSTANDING FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
The Battle of Algiers (Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo)
The Burmese Harp (Directed by Kon Ichikawa)
Closely Watched Trains (Directed by Jirí Menzel)
Persona (Directed by Ingmar Bergman)
Vivre pour vivre (Directed by Claude Lelouch)
OUTSTANDING MAKEUP:
Robert Jiras for Bonnie and Clyde
Alan Boyle, Ken Lintott & Bunty Philips for Marat/Sade
Bud Westmore for Thoroughly Modern Millie
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL/ADAPTATION SCORE:
Ennio Morricone & Gillo Pontecorvo for The Battle of Algiers
Charles Strouse for Bonnie and Clyde
Dave Grusin for The Graduate
Lars johan Werle for Persona
André Previn & Joseph Gershenson for Thoroughly Modern Millie
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG:
In the Heat of the Night, "In the Heat of the Night" (Music by Quincy Jones; Lyrics by Alan Bergman & Marilyn Bergman)
The Jungle Book, "The Bare Necessities" (Music and Lyrics by Terry Gilkyson)
Thoroughly Modern Millie, "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (Music by James Van Heusen; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn)
Two for the Road, "Two for the Road" (Music and Lyrics by Henry Mancini)
You Only Live Twice, "You Only Live Twice" (Music by John Barry; Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse)
OUTSTANDING PERFORMER OF THE YEAR:
Audrey Hepburn (Two for the Road, Wait Until Dark)
George Kennedy (Cool Hand Luke, The Dirty Dozen, Hurry Sundown)
Sidney Poitier (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night)
Beah Richards (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Hurry Sundown, In the Heat of the Night)
OUTSTANDING SOUND EDITING:
Francis E. Stahl for Bonnie and Clyde
Larry Jost for Cool Hand Luke
John Poyner for The Dirty Dozen
Van Allen James for Point Blank
Harry Miller for You Only Live Twice
OUTSTANDING SOUND MIXING:
Dan Wallin for Bonnie and Clyde
Dan Wallin for Cool Hand Luke
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Sound Department for The Dirty Dozen
Samuel Goldwyn Studios for In the Heat of the Night
Larry Jost for Point Blank
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS:
Cliff Richardson for The Dirty Dozen
L. B. Abbott for Doctor Dolittle
J. McMilan Johnson for Point Blank
Albert Whitlock for Thoroughly Modern Millie
Now having done some deep dives into very early cinema I'm going 40 years later from 67 to 2007. The year was dominated by the modern western where the oscar race came down to a close race of two strong era defining western's. The one that won was the Coen Brothers No Country for Old Men which won slightly over PTA's There Will Be Blood. Come back and see what I consider best.
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