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Dr. Strangelove (1964) --> Stanley Kubrick has directed some of the best movies in cinematic history but none are as satirically biting as Dr. Strangelove. Letting Peter Sellers shine in 3 major roles continued to reveal Sellers as a comic acting genius. Using humour, Kubrick showed in a very frightening way all the consequences of American foreign policy concerning the U.S.S.R. and the Cold War in general if and when things got even a bit out of hand. Having Slim Pickens ride the bomb to human kind's final destruction was a great ending to a very humourous and frightening movie. Social criticism can sometimes be driven home better with a smile and a laugh than it can with a speech or a rally, and this movie is proof of it. Jonathan Swift would be proud.


Scott D. Brown

The Great Escape (1963) --> Steve McQueen's greatest film directed by The Magnificent Seven's John Sturges. The film tells of a group of WWII POWs that escape an inescapable camp. Based on the book by Paul Brickhill and the actual true life events it depicts, this movie made McQueen's career and became the movie that all subsequent escape movies look back to. What puts this movie into the company of the greats was the depiction of the human spirit and its unwillingness to give up even in the direst of circumstances. The motorcycle jump scene also becomes one the most famous scenes in film history.


Full Spectrun Staff

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) --> Based on the Harper Lee book of the same name, Robert Mulligan directed one of the great court dramas of the last 50 years. What makes this movie great is that it showed the hypocrisy of the justice system when a white man of little regard still holds a higher position in the eyes of a court than an upstanding honest black man. The novel and movie have been great examples of how fiction can have a direct influence in changing the minds of a nation.


Full Spectrum Staff

Days of Wine & Roses (1962) --> The best movie on alcoholism ever to be put on screen, Days of Wine and Roses stars Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick. Where Leaving Las Vegas, another great of the theme, has the male lead with the problem, this movie has both Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick into the sauce. The scenes are biting and the acting superb. The parts in the bedroom are extremely chilling. Directed by the great Blake Edwards and written by J.P. Miller, the longtime TV writer.


Scott D. Brown

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Complete List of Short Movie Reviews