Any film expert with experience with amazing ease can talk about the pillars of the modern film industry - they will give examples of directors who have radically changed their views on cinema, mentioned classic films that have become “milestones” in the progress of this art form, prioritize the main plot designs and templates. At the same time, we can safely guarantee that in every such historical excursion the best foreign films of the 60s will appear, namely: Spartak, Cleopatra and The Magnificent Seven.
Historical drama
In 1960, following the Paths of Glory, producer Kirk Douglas and director Stanley Kubrick created an even more grandiose and powerful film - a biopic about the revolt of Roman slaves led by the gladiator Spartacus. The picture often takes a leading position among the best foreign films of the 60s. The script came from the pen of Dalton Trumbo, reflecting his view of ancient history. The four-time Oscar-winning historical drama has little to do with the classic Giovanioli novel.
In the film “Spartacus” (1960), the director tried not only to overwhelm the audience with the scope of the battles between the groups of rebellious slaves and the Roman troops, but to create vivid and memorable images of the key characters: Spartacus (C. Douglas) and Crassus (L. Olivier). Unlike other peplums of the 60s, actors played not only within the framework of the traditions of psychological realism - the director's vision implied touching upon difficult philosophical topics. Now Kubrick's work is positioned as the best Hollywood film about antiquity and one of the greatest achievements of world cinema of the 60s.
Ups and downs of production
The shooting process of the tape was very difficult. The 32-year-old director quarreled with everyone - from screenwriter Dalton Trumbo to Peter Ustinov, who bothered the director with advice. Producer and concurrently starring Kirk Douglas could not calm down the annoyance after the role of Ben-Hur did not go to him, but to Charlton Heston. Conflicts flashed between the actors every now and then. The film crew has grown to 10,000 people. 5000 military sets were made of armor, several thousand sculptures were brought from Italian museums. In extras, the creators used soldiers of the Spanish army - 8 thousand people portrayed Roman legionnaires, up to 50,000 participants were simultaneously involved in large-scale battle scenes. According to experts, today the cost of creating such a project would exceed $ 200 million.
One of the pinnacles of the genre
However, the most expensive and large-scale peplum of that time period is considered not the brainchild of Kubrick, but the film "Cleopatra" (1963). At the beginning of the filming of Joseph Mankevich’s project, he was the most expensive production of Hollywood, and after that he was considered the most famous work of the acting duo Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Both performers received a record fee for those times. Although at present there is one director in the credits, in four years of the filming process there were three of them. Ruben Mamulyan began work on the tape, and the producer Daril Zanuk completed the film. He considered it necessary to independently control the installation process of many hours of Cleopatra material. The interest around the film at the production stage was heated up by the media for any reason. However, there were plenty of them: regular scandals between E. Taylor and R. Barton could at any moment end in a divorce, which, in the end, did happen.
"Cleopatra" is always included in the list of the best foreign films of the 60s, because it triumphantly went around all the screens of the world, though sometimes with a long delay. Although, according to cinema experts, the picture in terms of directing is noticeably inferior to the works of W. Wyler and S. Kubrick.
American hit
The classic western of John Sturges is a remake of Akira Kurosawa's philosophical drama The Seven Samurai. At the same time, enjoying the frenzied success of the audience of the whole world, the Magnificent Seven, in turn, caused a lot of imitations and even reboots. In the American version, the underlying story of the defenders of peasants from bandits was primarily based on the popularity of Steve McQueen and Yul Brinner. Residents of a provincial Mexican town, tired of the devastating raids of the Calvera gang, decide to hire a team of shooters to ensure their safety. Soon, seven brave men came to the city, rebuffing the outlawing bandits.
The world will always need heroes
Despite the fact that the work of Sturges openly loses in the artistic significance to Kurosawa's masterpiece, it is an invariable component among the best foreign films of the 60s. A tribute should be paid to the skill of the director, who introduced the adventure story about the seven defenders of justice in a fascinating and expressive way. The thrilling musical accompaniment of Elmer Bernstein greatly enhances the dramatic tension, prompting the viewer to worry about the fate of brave heroes. The film looks interesting, although it immediately becomes clear that this time, the good armed with the Colts will certainly triumph.
A delightful cast, a brilliant story, generously flavored with excellent musical accompaniment, can not leave the audience indifferent - the picture was incredibly successful at the time of the premiere and still remains one of the most popular classic films. And the appearance of the remake of 2016 speaks for itself - the world needs heroes again!