Screen Chronology: 1960 to 1969
compiled by John Kenrick

• **** - Sensational
• *** - Good entertainment
• ** - Beats a finger in the eye
• * - You'd rather mow a lawn
• (NO stars) - Run for your life

1960

• Bells Are Ringing ** - Judy Holliday repeats her acclaimed stage role as an answering service operator who falls in love with a client. More than okay but should have been better.
• Can-Can ** - Stellar cast, Parisian setting and Cole Porter score enliven this uneven version of the 1950s stage hit. Highlight: the breathtaking can-can sequence.
• GI Blues (not seen)
• High Time (not seen)
• Let's Make Love * - Yves Montand out to get Marilyn Monroe. You watch, you lose.
• Pepe (NO stars) - Clumsy all-star attempt to turn Mexican favorite Cantinflas into a US screen star.
• Song Without End * - Turgid bio pic with Dirk Bogarde as Franz Lizt.

1961

• Babes in Toyland ** - Annette Funicello and Ray Bolger in a so-so version of Victor Herbert's children's musical. New lyrics are okay, but the great music is still the main event.
• Flower Drum Song *** - Very entertaining version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's story of generational differences in a Chinese-American family. 
• Snow White and the Three Stooges ** - The Three Stooges in an ice skating musical? Okay for the kiddies, but sober adults be warned.
• West Side Story **** - Romance blossoms during a street gang war in Robert Wise's dazzling screen version of the Broadway hit. Rita Moreno is socko, as are the Jerome Robbins dances.
• Paris Blues (not seen)
• Too Late Blues * - Bobby Darin as a jazz musician on the skids. What were they thinking?

1962

• Almost Angels ** - The real Vienna Boy Choir stars in this passable melodrama of a chorister contending with the vocal horrors of puberty.
• Billy Rose's Jumbo *** - Jimmy Durante and Doris Day in an enjoyable circus tale with several fine Rodgers & Hart songs. Busby Berkeley's last film.
• Blue Hawaii ** - Elvis as a singing GI 'neath the swaying palm trees.
• Gay Purr-ee *** - Animated cats, famous voices (Garland, Goulet, Gingold) and a fine Harold Arlen-Yip Harburg score make this a solid charmer.
• Follow That Dream * - Elvis Presley as a pioneer in Florida – oh puh-lease!
• Girls! Girls! Girls! (not seen)
• Gypsy *** - The stage hit still packs lots of entertainment. Rosalind Russell's no Merman, but gives a fine dramatic performance (vocals courtesy of Lisa Kirk).
• Kid Galahad * - Elvis Presley as a car mechanic who unwillingly becomes a boxing champion. Poor songs, weak story.
• Music Man, The **** - A trifle long, but Robert Preston and Shirley Jones are sensational in Meredith Willson's stage hit about a con artist flim flamming an Iowa town in 1912. Not to be missed!
• Road to Hong Kong, The ** - Hope & Crosby closed their Road series with this uninspired, star-studded entry.
• State Fair * - Annoyingly clumsy remake of the Rodgers & Hammerstein hit. Trust me, you have something better to do.
• Swingin' Along (not seen)
• Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, The * - Grim indeed.

1963

• Bye Bye Birdie ** - Some casting mistakes mar this mediocre version of the delightful stage hit about a rock star giving his final performance before a stint in the army.
• Follow the Boys (not seen)
• Hootenanny Hoot (not seen)
• I Could Go On Singing ** - Judy Garland's concert sequences are the highlights in this soapy backstager.
• It Happened at the World's Fair NO STARS - And it should have stayed there!
• Summer Magic (not seen)
• Sword in the Stone, The **** - Delightful Disney animated take on Merlin & young King Arthur

1964

• Fun in Acapulco (not seen)
• Get Yourself a College Girl
• Kissin' Cousins (not seen)
• Mary Poppins **** - Julie Andrews as a magical nanny in Disney's sparkling live-action musical. Glorious Sherman Brothers score and superb production help make this a classic.
• My Fair Lady **** - A bit long, but who cares? Lerner & Loewe's stage hit about a professor who turns a London street urchin into a lady is wonderful entertainment, with Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn giving luminous performances.
• Robin and the 7 Hoods *** - Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin are gangsters battling for dominance in 1920s Chicago, with an assist from unscrupulous do-gooder Bing Crosby. Great score and wry comedy make this an underrated pleasure.
• Roustabout (not seen)
• Unsinkable Molly Brown, The *** - Debbie Reynolds is delightful in this fine version of Meredith Willson's stage hit about the Colorado mountain girl who became a social climbing millionaire.
• Viva Las Vegas ** - Elvis Presley is a race car driver in one of his better films, co-starring Ann Margaret.

1965

• Billie ** - Patty Duke is a tomboy in this so-so vehicle.
• Harum Scarum (NO stars) - Elvis Presley pursues an Arabian princess. His worst musical.
• Help! *** - The Beatles fight off a religious sect. Loads of laughs and a solid helping of the group's hit tunes.
• Sergeant Deadhead (NO stars) - Astronaut Frankie Avalon heads into space with a chimp. Do not follow them.
• Sound of Music, The **** - Rodgers & Hammerstein's beloved mega-hit story of the Von Trapp family, with Julie Andrews brilliant as the nanny who finds love in 1930s Austria. 
• Tickle Me * - Elvis at the rodeo? This clunker belongs in a corral.
• Your Cheatin' Heart * - George Hamilton as country legend Hank Williams. 'Nuf said..

1966

• Frankie and Johnnie * - Elvis as a river boat gambler. Aviod..
• Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, A **** - Richard Lester's hilarious version of the stage hit, with Zero Mostel as a slave seeking freedom in ancient Rome. Highlight: Mostel and Jack Gilford singing a reprise of "Lovely."
• Hold On (NO STARS) - Someone wants to name a spaceship for Herman's Hermits. Don't bother.
• Singing Nun, The *** - Debbie Reynolds shines as a guitar-playing nun who rose to musical stardom. Corny, but surprisingly enjoyable.
• Spinout * - Elvis as a racecar driver. Goes nowhere fast.
• When the Boys Meet the Girls * - Sappy updated remake of Girl Crazy.

1967

• Camelot * - Ghastly film version of Lerner & Loewe's musical about King Arthur & his roundtable. Incoherent direction, stupid casting and rotten singing.
• Clambake * - Elvis clunker.
• C'Mon Let's Live a Little * - Folk singer get mixed up in campus nonsense. Hilarious Patsy Kelly almost makes this worth seeing.
• Doctor Dolittle *** - Rex Harrison as a veterinarian who talks to animals. Over produced and far too long, but a very enjoyable score.
• Double Trouble * - Elvis tours Europe. 
• Easy Come, Easy Go * - Elvis joins the Navy.
• Fastest Guitar Alive, The (NO stars) - Country music legend Roy Orbison as a Confederate Civil War spy with a guitar that shoots bullets. Look away, look away . . .
• Half a Sixpence * - Tommy Steele as a clerk who inherits a fortune. Stage hit fails here due to clumsy direction & muddled editing.
• Happiest Millionaire, The ** - Great cast and a fine Sherman Brothers score cannot save this overblown (and painfully long) tale of wealthy families battling over a wedding.
• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying *** - Robert Morse repeats his ingratiating stage performance in this delicious spoof of corporate culture. Fantastic Frank Loesser score, and Rudy Valee is a hoot as a pompous executive.
• Jungle Book, The **** - Walt Disney's final animated feature is a joyous adaptation of Kipling's classic about a boy raised by wolves in the Indian jungle.
• Thoroughly Modern Millie *** - Julie Andrews, a stellar supporting cast and some great musical numbers in this story of a 1920s flapper out to marry her way into wealth. Great fun until it falls apart in the final scenes.

1968

• A Time to Sing ** - Hank Williams Jr. as a struggling country singer.
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang *** - Dick Van Dyke is outstanding in this fun story of an inventor who finds adventure in a flying car. Some fine Sherman Brothers songs.
• Finian's Rainbow *** - Fred Astaire and Petula Clark star in this underrated version of the stage hit about magic defeating racism in the deep South. Wonderful Burton Lane-Yip Harburg songs and great ensemble add to the fun.
• Funny Girl **** - Barbra Streisand is unforgettable as Fanny Brice in this first rate version of the stage hit – great Styne-Merrill score, gorgeous production.
• Head (NO stars) - The Monkees star in this incoherent psychedelic disaster.
• Night They Raided Minsky's, The *** - Not exactly a musical, but Bert Lahr (who died during production) is on hand for this recreation of burlesque.
• Oliver! **** - The stage hit based on Dickens' Oliver Twist becomes a glorious film, with Ron Moody as the loveable yet evil Fagin. Great score by Lionel Bart.
• One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, The * - Incoherent tale of a family torn apart by the presidential election of 1888. Pity.
• Speedway (not seen)
• Star! *** - The director's cut redeems this lavish musical bio of stage star Gertrude Lawrence, starring Julie Andrews.
• Yellow Submarine *** - Delightful animated musical features the Beatles as musicians bringing color back to a world gone blue.

1969

• A Boy Named Charlie Brown *** - The beloved Charles Schultz comic strip inspired this charming animated musical.
• Goodbye Mr. Chips ** - Mediocre musical remake of the 1939 classic, strengthened by some fine Leslie Bricusse songs.
• Hello, Dolly! *** - Jerry Herman's stage hit about a clever widow nabbing a husband in 1890s New York is hampered by overproduction and a too-young Barbra Streisand in the lead, but there is lots of fun along the way.
• Oh! What a Lovely War ** - Heavy-handed look at life in Britain during World War I.
• Paint Your Wagon (NO stars) - Josh Logan's unforgivable version of Lerner & Loewe's musical about gold rush prospectors. Idiotic, but it has a cult following.
• Sweet Charity *** - Shirley MacLaine stars in Bob Fosse's excellent screen version of his stage hit about a dance hall girl seeking love in 1960s New York.