My films that didn't make the cut:
#2 Plein Soleil
I thought this had a chance at the lower end of the list, I even bumped Army of Shadows down to #3 because I thought this needed the points more, but I guess that one point didn't make any difference. I nominated this in a recent hall of fame, which just goes to show that that doesn't always work in terms of getting more people to vote for a film (although Woman in the Dunes did quite well thanks to its HoF nomination). Purple Noon is a really entertaining thriller based on the Patricia Highsmith novel The Talented Mr Ripley, Alain Delon who is one of my favoirites and was in three of the films on my list is excellent as Tom Ripley.
#8 Funeral Parade of Roses
I thought this had a very outside chance of making 99 or 100 (Dong made the 90s list, after all). But fascinating as it is, even I couldn’t justify putting it any higher than 8th. A crazy film, very sixties, but not popular enough.
#9 Far From the Madding Crowd
I’m a bit sad that this isn’t more popular, it’s really very good. Especially Terence Stamp. An excellent adaptation of the novel about a woman who manages a farm and has three very different suitors.
#13 if...
This is a film I saw mentioned a bit in the run up to the countdown, so I thought it might have been on a few lists, but obviously not high enough on enough of them. I haven’t watched it in ages, so it ended up in the middle of my list.
#17 Doctor Zhivago
No, it’s not Lawrence of Arabia, but it’s still a gorgeous epic. It’s scenery might be more palatable than its story, I never really cared for the romance between the married doctor and Lara, but it’s full of memorable scenes.
#18 The Leather Boys
I fully expect to be the only person who voted for this. A Taste of Honey’s Rita Tushingham plays a young woman who gets married straight out of school, and the film follows the dreams and disappointments of her, her husband and his gay friend. It captures a whole different era of motorbikes and cafes and sixties hairdos.
#21 Rocco and his Brothers
The Leopard is probably better known and more popular but this film had more of an impact on me. It’s beautifully photographed, with a melodramatic and at times disturbing story about family loyalty and its limits. And Alain Delon is in it.
#23 Splendour in the Grass
I had heard of this film before, but decided to watch it when clips of it were used in a music video. The music video makes less sense having seen the film, but I liked the film. It’s a bit melodramatic and perhaps a bit dated - I think it says more about the sexual politics of the sixties than the era it’s supposedly set in - but it is full of lush colours and its impossible not to get drawn into the dramas of the characters anyway.
#24 Cleo From 5 to 7
This was one of the last films I added to the list. Another user had this as one of their all time favourites so I decided to watch it and I really liked it. It has a lot in common with a lot of the French new wave films, but doesn’t suffer from a lot of the things I dislike about films like A Bout de Souffle or Jules et Jim. I really love the song Sans Toi that Cleo sings half way through this film.
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