Movies at their best

For people who love movies, 1939 has often been mentioned as Hollywood's greatest year. That was the year that gave us Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Wuthering Heights, Ninotchka, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and so many others. Stephen Farber and Michael McClellan beg to differ. In Cinema '62 (2020), they make their case that 1962 was, in fact, "the greatest year at the movies," as their subtitle body declares.

The list of notable films from that year is no less impressive — To Kill a Mockingbird, The Miracle Worker, Ride the High Country, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Longest Day, Lolita, The Manchurian Candidate and so many others, including Lawrence of Arabia, which they call "the quintessential film" of that year. Yet they also point out that 1962 was notable for much more than just its great movies.

This was the year when black and white films finally surrendered to color.

It was a great year for female actors, even if Lawrence of Arabia had hardly any women in the entire film. Anne Bancroft, Geraldine Page, Lee Remick, Katharine Hepburn and other women excelled, while Bette Davis and Joan Crawford reclaimed their positions in Hollywood with Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

Foreign films were excellent that year, with the likes of Through a Glass Darkly, Electra, Sundays and Cybele and Last Year at Marienbad.

Movies focused on sexuality issues more openly than in the past, several of them dealing with homosexuality and Lolita touching on the issue of adults preying on children.

Farber and McClellan, while building their case that 1962 was an outstanding year for movies, also make it clear that that whole period — the 1960s in general — was something of a golden age. Today so many movies are remakes or sequels, or they feature comic book heroes or are live-action versions of popular animated movies. Back in 1962, by contrast, a significant number of films were adapted from great novels and plays — Billy Budd, Long Day's Journey into Night, To Kill a Mockingbird, Mutiny on the Bounty, etc. Movies back then had depth. They told stories. Today they have special effects.