Kick-ass Musical Scores for Epic Movies 1958-1962 Five great years for the epic

• "The Big Country" (1958) Jerome Moross
• "Ben Hur" (1959) Miklos Rozsa
• "Exodus" (1960) Ernest Gold
• "El Cid" (1961) Miklos Rozsa
• "Spartacus" (1962) Alex North
• "How The West Was Won" (1962) Alfred Newman
• "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) Maurice Jarre

Miscellaneous prattle:

They don't make true epics anymore. CGI just doesn't cut it.

1961 was a bumper year for the epic - as well as "El Cid", we had "King of Kings", "Barabbas", "The Tartars". After "Cleopatra" (1963), the bottom fell out of the movie epic-market. Twentieth Century Fox was nearly bankrupted. Sword and sandal/biblical epics became uncool in the swinging 60's.
Special mention goes to mega-producer Samuel (nephew of Trotsky?!) Bronston (his last epic was 1964's "The Fall of the Roman Empire"). Hollywood gave the biblical epic one last go in 1965 with "The Greatest Story Ever Told". Dino de Laurentiis tried in 1966 with "The Bible...in the Beginning".

Guilty Pleasures - 20th Century Fox Films

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1959  Journey to the Centre of the Earth (I saw it when I was four in 1960, giant lizards freaked me out)
1960  The Lost World (crap adaptation, but Claude Rains is fun)
1961  The Innocents (creepy kids and Deborah Kerr, chilling and dripping with atmosphere - must read the Henry James story.
1962  The Longest Day gargantuan cast, a who's who of 60's stars. Beach landing scenes are truly spectacular (without CGI)
1963  Move Over, Darling (Doris Day in the role planned for Marilyn Monroe) Avoided Cleopatra

1964  What A Way To Go (overblown but check out the cast of leading men for Shirley MacLaine (Dick Van Dyke, Dean Martin, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Gene Kelly - last two have the best segments - "A Lush Budgett Production" and 30's musicals send-up. Looks gorgeous, Edith Head went berserk)

1965  Flight of the Phoenix (compelling, have plenty of water on hand while watching this one)
Von Ryan's Express (Sinatra with a machine gun, Trevor Howard bristling) Omitted The Sound of Music (though I do like the concert scene finale)

1966  Fantastic Voyage inspired and imaginative, it bowled me over
Modesty Blaise utterly naff spy/ pop art mess, Dirk Bogarde is so camp, he makes Kenneth Williams look like the Duke - definitely a curiosity piece. Great music.
1966  How to Steal a Million stylish caper movie good chemistry between Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole.
1966 was the zenith of spy movies, ever studio wanted to get on the Bond bandwagon. United Artists had Bond and Harry Palmer. Columbia had Matt Helm. MGM had The Man from U.N.C.L.E.  The Italian studios did some crap rip offs. Fox had Our Man Flint. James Coburn was cool, loved Lee J. Cobb's phone ring tone).
1967  Caprice (more spylarks). Doris Day trying to look mod, Richard Harris looking embarrassed, Ray Walston a cross dressing villain. I thought this was cool, but I was 11.)
1967  In Like Flint was a terrible Derek Flint sequel, but I liked the Caribbean locale and the Jerry Goldsmith score.
1968  The Boston Strangler  Everybody wanted to used split screens in movies by the late 60's. They work well. Tony Curtis is really good.
1969  Hello Dolly (Bye, bye budget), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (first movie I saw without my parents)
1970  M*A*S*H (I never tire of this film, hilarious as well as searing, perfect movie, perfect cast)
Patton (1970 was certain a good year for Fox - let's forget Myra Breckinridge)
1971  The French Connection (best NYC chase sequence EVER)
1972  The Other (little Gothic gem, from the director of To Kill A Mockingbird)
Sleuth ....Class with a Capital C....avoid remake a decade later, awful.
1973  The Legend of Hell House (The Haunting, 1963, is a better version though)
1974  The Three Musketeers stellar cast, Richard Lester nails it. No wonder there were sequels.
Young Frankenstein (so many catch-phrases, so much to like, done with affection to the Universal 30's movies)
1975  Race with the Devil (compelling fluff, great car stunts)
1976  Silver Streak I love train movies, plus there's Gene Wilder and Patrick McGoohan (Richard Pryor was an acquired taste)
1977  High Anxiety (watch it just for Mel Brooks's lounge singer act...."Oooo... -xiety....remember, be good to your parents...")
1978  The Fury (Brian De Palma, great finale), The Boys from Brazil (an evil Gregory Peck!)
1979  the wise and sweet natured, Breaking Away; the ground breaking Alien (plus Sigourney Weaver in little knickers)
1980  All That Jazz (a bit of a wank, but the Broadway musical scenes are good, predating Smash).
1981  Southern Comfort (think Deliverance, Walter Hill is a good director, clever title), Eyewitness (same team as Breaking Away)
1982  The Verdict (flawless Sidney Lumet film, I really miss James Mason.)
1983  To Be or Not To Be (haven't seen the Jack Benny original yet, on my to-do list)
1984  The Flamingo Kid cute Matt Dillon movie with the ever-reliable Hector Elizondo

Guilty pleasures - Universal Studios films

This is an old family photo, but I got sick of citing Copyright

I am starting at 1960 (I was 4 years old, old enough to remember a movie, I reckon).

• 1960 Midnight Lace; Spartacus (chalk and cheese)
• 1961 Curse of the Werewolf (Hammer horror, with a young, but still creepy, Oliver Reed) 
• 1962 Cape Fear; That Touch of Mink (bleak black&white nail-biter meets glossy Eastmancolor fluff)
• 1963 40 Pounds of Trouble (as a kid I loved the Disneyland locations); The Birds (knockout phone booth scene)
• 1964 The Chalk Garden (had a crush on Hayley Mills); Charade (great Mancini score)
• 1965 The Warlord (Chuck Heston); I Saw What You Did (creepy little William Castle B flick)
• 1966 Gambit (lots of caper movies in the mid 60's), Blindfold (liked the bayou setting)
• 1967 Thoroughly Modern Millie (fun, but too long)
• 1968 Coogan's Bluff (Clint Eastwood, on the verge of superstardom)
• 1969 Colossus, The Forbin Project (taut sci-fi sleeper about a supercomputer - years before War Games)
• 1970 Airport (cheesy but compelling)
• 1971 The Andromeda Strain (great start, stunning production design, but God, it is so talky; Play Misty For Me (Clint's first time as director - has he ever directed a crap movie, even Hereafter?)
• 1972 Frenzy (Hitchcock back in London and a return to form - rape screen in dating agency office is a worry "....Lovely.....Lovely" - chills the bones)
• 1973 American Graffiti;  Day of the Jackal; The Sting (what a year)
• 1974 Earthquake (saw it in "Sensurround", basically big speakers under the seats so they seemed to shudder in seismic scenes.
• 1975 Jaws (of course)
• 1976 The Seven-Per-Cent-Solution (what a cast, love to see it again)
• 1977 The Last Remake of Beau Geste (very patchy, some good sight gags)
• 1978 National Lampoon's Animal House ("To-ga, To-ga, To-ga!")
• 1979 Dracula; The Seduction of Joe Tynan
• 1980 Coal Miner's Daughter; The Blues Brothers
• 1981 Ghost Story (the book's better, but look at the stars: Fred Astaire, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Melvyn Douglas, John Houseman, Patricia Neal - like Cocoon does Horror)                                        On Golden Pond (another movie full of old fogeys - Fonda and Hepburn)
• 1982 The Thing (holds up very well compared with recent remake, mind-blowing Rob Bottin make-up)
• 1983 Scarface (boffo finale, but 170 minutes ????)
• 1984 Sixteen Candles (this film and Ferris Bueller's Day Off are John Hughes' best films - delightful throughout, great ensemble cast, great score - as you would expect in a John Hughes flick)
• 1985 The Breakfast Club (this is No3, Simple Minds music helps)

Warner Bros. movies - guilty pleasures

I will start from 1960, when I was four because I reckon from that age you can absorb and remember the film.

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• 1960 Ocean's Eleven; The Sundowners (Robert Mitchum does a passable Aussie accent)
• 1961 Splendour in the Grass (Warren Beatty + Natalie Wood)
• 1962 Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?; The Music Man; Gypsy (a good year)
• 1963 Critic's Choice (Bob Hope&Lucille Ball)
• 1964 My Fair Lady
• 1965 The Great Race (too long but great production and superb Mancini score)
• 1966 Inside Daisy Clover; Harper/The Moving Target; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (another good year
• 1967 Hotel, Bonnie and Clyde
• 1968 Bullitt
• 1969 The Illustrated Man
• 1970 Trog (cringeworthy, Joan Crawford must have been skint)
• 1971 Dirty Harry, The Omega Man (vengeful mutants to a lovely Ron Grainer score)
• 1972 What's Up Doc?
• 1973 The Last of Sheila; O Lucky Man
• 1974 Blazing Saddles; The Towering Inferno (both comedies)
• 1975 The Yakusa (check out the talent: Mitcham, Paul Schrader, Robert Towne, Sydney Pollack)
• 1976 The Ritz
• 1977 The Late Show
• 1978 Capricorn One; Movie Movie; Superman
• 1979 A Little Romance (really sweet movie, old ham Lawrence Olivier, a teenage Diane Lane)
• 1980 Altered States (Ken Russell doing what Ken Russell used to do, Paddy Chayefsky was pissed off with adaptation)
• 1981 Body Heat; Excalibur (2 dynamite movies)
• 1982 Blade Runner
• 1983 The Right Stuff (remember when Hollywood blockbusters could still be intelligent and not comic/video game driven?)
• 1984 Razorback (giant pig demolishes house, lounge TV showing Don and Bert's Wheel segment - great first scene, Mr Mulcahy)
• 1985 Spies Like Us;  Mishimi
• 1986 Little Shop of Horrors (Steve Martin is sublime, great film adaptation)
• 1987 The Lost Boys; Innerspace

"Guilty pleasure" movies - from Columbia Pictures

I will begin when I was four years old, old enough to remember seeing the movie.

1960 Guns of Navarone *
1961 Mysterious Island
1962 The Notorious Landlady *  (great use of "A Foggy Day In London Town")
1963 Bye Bye Birdie *
1964 The Long Ships
1965 Bunny Lake Is Missing * (gripping black and white movie)
1966 The Silencers * (Dino is no Sean Connery, but Stella Stevens works)
1967 The Ambushers * (cringe-worthy dialogue, but great fun)
1968 Funny Girl *
1969 The Wrecking Crew * (last Matt Helm film - Sharon Tate is a trick)
1970 The Owl and the Pussycat * (stunning opening titles and score)
1971 The Anderson Tapes (great use of split screens); Dollars (another heist movie, ultra-long chase scene)
1972 Butterflies Are Free (Goldie Hawn again!)
1973 Oklahoma Crude *
1974 The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad (all hail, Ray Harryhausen)
1975 Bite The Bullet; Stepford Wives (another deadheat, couldn't decide)
1976 Murder By Death (wet Neil Simon effort but knockout cast)
1977 The Deep * (John Barry does disco, Nolte and Bissett in the Caribbean)
1978 The Eyes Of Laura Mars *
1979 All That Jazz *
1980 Seems Like Old Times
1981 Stripes
1982 Tootsie (a near perfect film, so I suppose it isn't a "guilty pleasure")
1983 Blue Thunder
1984 Body Double (Brian DePalma doing another Hitchcock hommage)
1985 Fright Night (stands up well, better than remake, Roddy McDowell - nice touch)
1986 Stand By Me (best ever Stephen King adaptation)
1987 Hope And Glory (watch for John Boorman's son, Charley as crashed German pilot)



1988 Vibes (Cyndi Lauper, Jeff Goldblum, Peter Falk in Machu Picchu - what is not to like?)

* denotes musical score of note (in my humble opinion)

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