The Movie Journal

  The Jungle Book (1967) Disney’s The Jungle Book is a lovable, high-spirited adventure that all ages will enjoy. Like many Disney films from before 1970, this is considered a classic in the eyes of many. Personally, it does not reach the heights of top-tier Disney animation classics such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves , but it remains a movie everyone should see. Rudyard Kipling’s story is a bit on the dark side, so Walt Disney took the basics and gave the film a light-hearted energy suitable for children. When the fantastic song “Bare Necessities” appeared, it is an example of light-heartedness that Disney was striving for. Still, there are some darker moments when it comes to the snake, Kaa and of course, Shere Khan the tiger. The hand-drawn animation is excellent, and it is obvious that care was taken into creating the animated characters. The voicecast is well represented with the characters. Disney chose some marketable names which was extremely rare in 1967. He felt tha...

  Bonnie and Clyde (1967) 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde changed the landscape of American movies in a major way. This picture allowed movies with gratuitous violence and realistic sex scenes to make their way to the forefront. This is the picture that allows us to see movies as we today in today’s modern cinema. Detractors criticize the film for allowing heavy violence that we see in nearly every film. With the changes made to 1960’s cinema, one can easily forget that this is actually a very good film. It tells the story about the famed criminal duo Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Robert Benton’s screenplay allows for ripe characterization and Arthur Penn’s direction was smooth and had the perfect landing.   Robert Benton, who created the screenplay with David Newman, molded his script around the French New Wave movement, which some characteristics you can see in the final product including jarring, sudden shifts in tone and choppy editing which comes to play near the film’s end...

In the Heat of the Night (1967) 1967’s In the Heat of the Night is an incredibly tense, racially-charged drama that is very important and relevant-back in 1967 and in today’s racially-tense world. The film came out during the Civil Rights Movement and only a few years after the Civil Rights Act and Voting Act were enabled. It was a tense time for the traditional South, and this movie accurately depicts that tension in the small town of Sparta, Mississippi. This is one of the first movies to show black people in a fair, positive light when opposed to white people. It’s a movie about wary townsfolk not keen on outsiders and so forth. The drama is intense and sometimes chilling. But in the end, director Norman Jewison and star Sidney Poitier gave us one unforgettable movie. The film was based off John Ball’s bestselling novel and adapted to the screen by Stirling Silliphant. The screenplay is powerful and boasts some incredible lines of dialogue which are expertly delivere...

Guess Who's Coming Home for Dinner (1967) Stanley Kramer’s Guess Who’s Coming Home to Dinner is an old-fashioned, but heartfelt and endearing drama with a weighty topic (for the 1960’s and even in some regard today). That topic is the theme of interracial marriage. The 1960’s was when the African-Americans were fighting for their civil rights and eventually succeeded in getting them. But the white population were wary of them, even the liberals who supported their cause. This movie has such a strong premise, so strong that it has been known the principal actors signed on to the film without reading the screenplay. This was far from low-key because these actors happened to be major names like Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, two of Hollywood’s greatest stars ever to be seen on the big screen. This controversial premise, interracial marriage, was seen as a positive factor in the film and that was a rarity for Hollywood productions back in the day. Despite the use of th...

In Cold Blood (1967) I’m torn in what to think about In Cold Blood. On one hand, it’s a smart thriller that gives a taste of authenticity, being that it is based off a true story. The film was shot in the real locations the murder took place and it makes good use of black-and-white photography to give off a sense of realism. On the other hand, the pace of the film was excruciating slow. Except for the final half hour of the film, I was twitching non stop in my seat and every once in awhile, I caught my eyes drooping. A very good story to tell, but I wonder if the execution of the film was properly done. Anyhow, this thriller received unanimous praise for its authentic storytelling and how this film could have been passed off as a documentary. The film is based of a murder of a family that took place in a rural Kansas town in the early 1960’s. The film is told almost exactly as the real murder went down. The black and white camera work was a good idea because it adds a realis...

The Graduate (1967) “Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me. Aren’t you?” If there is a movie that can hit viewers of all age from this groovy decade of the 1960’s, I would have to choose The Graduate . At it’s base, the movie is a coming-of-age story and usually those kind of stories relate with people of all ages. The younger generation may be living through the same eyes as the characters in the story and the older generation gets nostalgia as they remember the days of old. In fact, this movie is a favorite of my family. They grew up in the era when this film is released, so they understand the struggles the character is going through. Also the movie is recognizable because it is a damn fine piece of art. It took me years to see the film, and I finally did so recently. It did not hit me as strongly as it did with my family or other people of their generation, but there is no denying how good the film is. I feel like I can relate to the film somewhat because I’m in ...