At The Movies---1967

When we were in Sing-Out South back in the 1960s, we did more than practice and perform shows together. We also went to the movies! To get your memory cells active for our 45th SOS Reunion March 25-26 at the Maxwell House Hotel here in Nashville, we are taking a look back at the Best Picture nominees and the winner of the Oscar back in those years when we were in the cast.

In 1967 one of the films we went to see was likely the year's Best Picture, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT. Starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, it tells the story of an African-American police detective from Philadelphia who becomes involves in a murder investigation in a racist small town in Mississippi. The movie won 5 Academy Awards including not only Best Picture, but also Best Actor (Steiger), Best Film Editing, Best Sound and Best Writing for an Adapted Screenplay. It spawned two movie sequels, THEY CALL ME MR. TIBBS and THE ORGANIZATION as well as long-running TV series starring Carrol O'Connor.

Watch this movie trailer from 1967 and listen again to several classic lines from the film that still live on in Hollywood lore....

The Best Picture category in 1967 was loaded with wonderful motion pictures that have stood the test of time. Much like IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT in addressing issues of race relations was GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER. It also starred Sidney Poitier along with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn, who were paired together for the last time on the screen.The film won two Oscars for Best Actress (Hepburn) and Best Writing for an Original Screenplay.

Take a look back at this very special movie....

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? - Trailer
Tags: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? - Trailer

For the younger audience, another popular movie up for Best Picture in 1967 was BONNIE & CLYDE, which looked back on the exploits of the infamous bank robbery duo of the 1930s. The film starred Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway and won two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress (Estelle Parsons) and Best Cinematography. It was a picture that began to explore the new ways that the movies would portray both sex and violence, especially the famous shoot-out scence when Bonnie & Clyde are killed which is not shown in this movie trailer...

One last Best Picture nominee from 1967 which still lives on in '60s pop culture is THE GRADUATE which launched the career of Dustin Hoffman. It is ranked 19th all-time in money grossed by a motion picture and it has been preserved in the National Film Registry because of its cultural significance. It also was one of the first, if the first movie, that had its song track written and performed by a pop rock duo, Simon & Garfunkel, a score that remains a classic to this day. Finally, our generation would never think about the word "plastics" quite the same way after seeing this film...

Our next posting: AT THE MOVIES: 1968, OLIVER!, FUNNY GIRL, THE LION IN WINTER and Romeo & Juliet.