What Year Produced The Most "Great" Films? (1 Viewer)

[SeanSKA]

If I ever get "A Hatful of Rain", I'll be a very happy man....

Was 1957 one of the greatest years in Hollywood history ? I think so, up there with 1939 and 1962 and 1971 and 1979

 

[MartinP.]

If I ever get "A Hatful of Rain", I'll be a very happy man....
Was 1957 one of the greatest years in Hollywood history ? I think so, up there with 1939 and 1962 and 1971 and 1979

1979? Really? One of THE greatest years in Hollywood history?
That throws me for a loop.

 

[filmnoirguy]

If I ever get "A Hatful of Rain", I'll be a very happy man....

Was 1957 one of the greatest years in Hollywood history ? I think so, up there with 1939 and 1962 and 1971 and 1979

I've got a restored A Hatful of Rain in widescreen on my wish list. Only thing out there is Fox's awful full screen pan & scan DVD-r of what looks like a bad VHS copy. For greatest years, I would add 1950 and 1951.

 

[SeanSKA]

I've got a restored A Hatful of Rain in widescreen on my wish list. Only thing out there is Fox's awful full screen pan & scan DVD-r of what looks like a bad VHS copy. For greatest years, I would add 1950 and 1951.

Years ago, when AMC showed Fox titles, they aired "A Hatful of Rain" in widescreen

 

[SeanSKA]

1979? Really? One of THE greatest years in Hollywood history?
That throws me for a loop.

Apocalypse Now, Being There, All That Jazz, Breaking Away, Manhattan, Kramer vs. Kramer, Norma Rae, The China Syndrome....

 

[Robert Crawford]

Apocalypse Now, Being There, All That Jazz, Breaking Away, Manhattan, Kramer vs. Kramer, Norma Rae, The China Syndrome....

I'm not going to derail this thread, but I don't think 1979 holds a candle to some other years you didn't mention like 1956 as an example.

Edit: I started this "Best Film Year" thread to discuss in order to keep the Twilight Time thread from being sidetracked.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I am not going to say 1979 was the greatest years in Hollywood history, but the original poster did say "ONE OF THE" and I have to agree...

...at least in my memory and I remember as if it only happened yesterday. I was never more let down by the Oscars than I was that year.

You know the contenders. There were some real powerhouse films vying for the top spot. My choice was ALL THAT JAZZ. But that was being put up against other unbelievably great films. When KRAMER vs. KRAMER won I was heartbroken. I thought something had been thrown away for a compromise.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I am not going to say 1979 was the greatest years in Hollywood history, but the original poster did say "ONE OF THE" and I have to agree...

...at least in my memory and I remember as if it only happened yesterday. I was never more let down by the Oscars than I was that year.

You know the contenders. There were some real powerhouse films vying for the top spot. My choice was ALL THAT JAZZ. But that was being put up against other unbelievably great films. When KRAMER vs. KRAMER won I was heartbroken. I thought something had been thrown away for a compromise.

Yeah, if the number of greatest years is 10-15.

 

[Thomas T]

Apocalypse Now, Being There, All That Jazz, Breaking Away, Manhattan, Kramer vs. Kramer, Norma Rae, The China Syndrome....

Since I hated Kramer Vs. Kramer, Norma Rae and Apocalypse Now, those are examples of why 1979 was not one of the greatest years in movies.

 

[Thomas T]

I'm not going to derail this thread, but I don't think 1979 holds a candle to some other years you didn't mention like 1956 as an example.

The greatest year for cinema is 1960. It produced more cinematic masterpieces and influential films than any other year (please don't bring up 1939 unless it's as the most overrated year). If anyone can name a year that gave us more great films than 1960, I'd like to know about it. 1960 gave us:

Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Avvenutra
Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho
Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita
Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus
Luchino Visconti's Rocco And His Brothers
Michael Powell's Peeping Tom
Jean Luc Godard's Breathless
Billy Wilder's The Apartment
Francois Truffaut's Shoot The Piano Player
Rene Clement's Purple Noon
Richard Brooks' Elmer Gantry
Akira Kurosawa's The Bad Sleep Well
John Sturges' Magnificent Seven
Tony Richardson's The Entertainer
Georges Franju's Eyes Without A Face
Vincente Minnelli's Home From The Hill
Jules Dassin's Never On Sunday
Jack Cardiff's Sons And Lovers
Ingmar Bergman's Virgin Spring
Roger Corman's Little Shop Of Horrors
Yasujiro Ozu's Late Autumn
Otto Preminger's Exodus
Vittorio De Sica's Two Women
Mario Bava's Black Sunday
Karel Reisz's Saturday Night And Sunday Morning
George Pal's Time Machine
Jean Cocteau's Testament Of Orpheus
Wolf Rilla's Village Of The Damned
Louis Malle's Zazie Dans Le Metro
Budd Boetticher's Comanche Station
Iosif Khefits' The Lady With The Dog
Mikio Naruse's When A Woman Descends The Stairs

And there are those who would also include Elia Kazan's Wild River, Ronald Neame's Tunes Of Glory, Fred Zinnemann's The Sundowners, Stanley Kramer's Inherit The Wind, Richard Quine's Strangers When We Meet, John Ford's Sergeant Rutledge, Vincente Minnelli's Bells Are Ringing, Andrew L. Stone's The Last Voyage, Nagisa Oshima's Cruel Story Of Youth, Ken Annakin's Swiss Family Robinson, Don Siegel's Flaming Star, Terence Fisher's Brides Of Dracula, John Wayne's The Alamo and Henry Levin's Where The Boys Are. WHAT a year!!!

 

[Robert Crawford]

I hope somebody brings up 1939, as I don't agree with your opinion about it. There is no question "1960" was a great film year, but it's not the only one nor does it stands by itself.

 

[StarDestroyer52]

1939. Also, put 1925 and 1954 on that list.

 

[StarDestroyer52]

For example, 1954 gave us:

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
The Barefoot Contessa
The Caine Mutiny
Creature from the Black Lagoon
The Crucified Lovers(Kenji Mizoguchi)
Dial M for Murder
Executive Suite
The Far Country
French Cancan(Jean Renoir)
Garden of Evil
The Glenn Miller Story
Godzilla
The Gold of Naples(Vittorio de Sica)
Johnny Guitar
Journey to Italy(Roberto Rossellini)
Late Chrysanthemums(Mikio Naruse)
Magnificent Obsession
On The Waterfront
Rear Window
Riot in Cell Block 11
Robinson Crusoe(Luis Bunuel)
Sabrina
Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
Sansho the Bailiff
Senso
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Seven Samurai
A Star is Born
La Strada
Twenty Four Eyes
White Christmas

And even more top notch film noirs.

 

[Tino]

Shouldn’t this thread be in the Movies section?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Shouldn’t this thread be in the Movies section?

Moderating discretion, I decided to start it here because I wanted more participation than from our usual "Movies" participants.

 

[Dick]

Since I hated Kramer Vs. Kramer, Norma Rae and Apocalypse Now, those are examples of why 1979 was not one of the greatest years in movies.

What a curmudgeon!

 

[Lord Dalek]

Obligatory 1939 mention.

Also I'll throw in 1982.

 

[Martin_Teller]

(please don't bring up 1939 unless it's as the most overrated year).

I hope somebody brings up 1939, as I don't agree with your opinion about it.

1939. Also, put 1925 and 1954 on that list.

Obligatory 1939 mention.

I mean, 1939 was mentioned in THE FIRST POST, guys.

 

[Cineman]

"A Great movie year" is not really the same as the subject and question of this thread, "What Year Produced The Most "Great" Films?"

This thread's subject line and question is why 1939 has always deservedly been considered by many to be the year. Certain years produced some very good films. Certain years produced many very good films. A few years produced more than one "Great" film. Most years produced none. But no year has yet beat 1939 for producing the most "Great" films. And I might only count 5-6 of 1939's films as "Great", while I could only argue there were also many very good movies made that year. Cue the discussion about what makes a film "Great" vs very good.

We're talking about "Great" in terms of film history and bearing up to serious scrutiny and analysis here, no? IMO, that term must be reserved for something extraordinarily special, transcendent among other similar films if not against all other films. I mean, we're not just throwing it around like, "I had a great ham sandwich the other day," right?

I loved many movies from 1960. Same with 1957 and, in my book, 1958. But PSYCHO and LA DOLCE VITA are the only two undeniably "Great" films from that year's list as I see it here. Probably could add L'AVVENTURA. I love SPARTACUS. It is a VERY good film, imo. But SPARTACUS is not one of Stanley Kubrick's 3 "Great" films (PATHS OF GLORY, DR. STRANGELOVE, 2001). THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN is a favorite film of mine. However, as fine a filmmaker as John Sturges was on occasion, he never produced a "Great" film.

IMO, 1954 already beats 1960 as producing more "Great" films with just REAR WINDOW, ON THE WATERFRONT, SEVEN SAMURAI and LA STRADA.

 

[Robert Crawford]

We're talking about "Great" in terms of film history and bearing up to serious scrutiny and analysis here, no? IMO, that term must be reserved for something extraordinarily special, transcendent among other similar films if not against all other films. I mean, we're not just throwing it around like, "I had a great ham sandwich the other day," right?

Not necessarily as a movie could be "great" to different people because it was riveting with high entertainment and production value that includes acting, writing and direction. Some of those "great" movies you mentioned by your standard are boring as hell with little entertainment value to many people with "Citizen Kane" being such an example.