The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

[9]

Several years ago, Dr. Anton Phibes raced to the hospital after learning his wife had died on the operating table. His car crashed off a cliff and he was burned alive. Or was he? After a series of elaborate murders rob London of its top doctors, Scotland Yard is on the case, barely able to keep ahead of the eccentric doctor as he exacts vengeance on the nine doctors and nurses who let Mrs. Phibes die. “Nine killed her.  Nine shall die.  Nine eternities in doom!” he proclaims, able to speak only with the assistance of a gramophone connected to his throat. In accordance with scripture, Phibes reenacts the plagues on the unsuspecting doctors, executing intricate plans and unleashing all variety of vermin to avenge his beloved wife.

Harold and Maude (1971)

Harold and Maude (1971)

[9] Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon play one of cinema's most unusual but endearing couples in Harold and Maude, a delightfully twisted romantic comedy from Hal Ashby. Harold is a rich, sheltered boy obsessed with death, and Maude is a…
The Beguiled (1971)

The Beguiled (1971)

[9] The Beguiled is a period suspense drama that spirals into claustrophobic horror. Clint Eastwood plays against type as a dying Union soldier rescued by a little girl who brings him to her finishing school in the Confederate south. The…
Dirty Harry (1971)

Dirty Harry (1971)

[9]

Clint Eastwood stars as his most iconic character, ‘Dirty’ Harry Callahan, a gruff, no-bullshit San Francisco police investigator on the trail of a psychotic sniper who calls himself ‘The Scorpio Killer’. There have been many cat and mouse chase movies over the decades, especially in the paradigm of cop vs criminal, but Dirty Harry left a mark so indelible on the sub-genre, that it remains the measure for comparison over forty years later.

Walkabout (1971)

Walkabout (1971)

[9] A teenaged girl (Jenny Agutter) and her little brother (Luc Roeg) are stranded in the Australian Outback after their father begins shooting at them, catches the car on fire, and blows his brains out. They manage to survive for…
Summer of ’42 (1971)

Summer of ’42 (1971)

[9] Gary Grimes stars as Hermie, a sensitive teenager spending his summer on Nantucket Island, idling away the hours reading comic books, watching movies, and wandering the beaches with his friends. But when he meets a kind, twenty-something newlywed named…
The Lion in Winter (1968)

The Lion in Winter (1968)

[10] Which of King Henry II's sons will succeed him on the throne? This question is rife with political intrigue, personal vendettas, and intense family drama in The Lion in Winter. The relationships are fascinating to watch unfold. The three…
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

[9]

Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway star as the legendary real-life bank robbers in Arthur Penn’s volatile Bonnie and Clyde. With its anti-hero point of view and graphic violence, this film helped lead the charge for grittier, more realistic fare that cropped up throughout the ’70s. While the film certainly sensationalizes the criminals, it also humanizes them. It’s easy to see how a bored waitress like Bonnie Parker would fall for a handsome bad boy like Clyde Barrow (I mean, who wouldn’t get in a car with smoking-hot Warren Beatty?) And since the two only robbed banks, they became folk heroes to a working class destroyed by foreclosures. I also like that the film suggests Clyde is impotent. It’s refreshing to see a tough guy with flaws and foibles, and it also makes the romantic relationship more interesting than most.

The Leather Boys (1964)

The Leather Boys (1964)

[9] A South London biker boy (Colin Campbell) finds himself caught in a romantic triangle, unsure whether to patch things up with his young wife (Rita Tushingham) or pursue an increasingly comfortable relationship with a fellow biker (Dudley Sutton). The…
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

[10]

Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is lovingly adapted to film by director Robert Mulligan, screenwriter Horton Foote, and producer Alan J. Pakula. Gregory Peck earned the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Atticus Finch, a lawyer of uncompromising morals who puts the safety of his family on the line to defend Tom Robinson (Brock Peters), a black man accused of raping a white woman. Finch is also a widower, raising his two young children with the help of his maid Calpurnia (Estelle Evans). The narrative is made a coming-of-age story through the eyes of Finch’s youngest, the feisty Jean Louise — or Scout (Mary Badham) as she’s nicknamed. Scout’s perspective on racism is balanced with her own fear and ignorance surrounding a neighbor named Boo Radley (Robert Duvall), who turns out to be her salvation when she and her brother are attacked by a bigot seeking revenge on their father.