At The Movies---1969!

By 1969, the world had changed a lot...that includes the movies.

For the first (and only) time so far, an X-rated film, MIDNIGHT COWBOY won the Best Picture Academy Award. Based on a novel of the same name written by Leo Herlihy, the film took three Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay).

It also continued the rise to stardom of Dustin Hoffman and made a star out of Jon Voight. The theme song of the picture, "Everybody Talking At Me" was also a major hit on the pop charts as recorded and sung in the movie by Harry Nilsson. In 1994, the movie was selected for preservation on the National Film Registry.

There were some of us in Sing-Out South, who were likely too young (under 17) to see this film when it first came out. Now that we're all plenty old enough, here's a trailer about the film from back in 1969...



There were several other popular movies that MIDNIGHT COWBOY beat out for Best Picture in 1969. One was the musical HELLO, DOLLY! based on the mega-hit Broadway play. It starred Barbra Steisand and Walter Matthau (in his one and only musical role). The film did not always win rave critical reviews, but it was a great date-night movie for the late 1960s and early 1970s. It won three Oscars (Best Art Direction, Best Music & Best Sound). Here's a movie trailer which also showcases much of the musical score which lives on today, including a brief snippet of Louie Armstrong singing the title song along with Barbra Streisand....


Hello, Dolly! - Trailer
Uploaded by enricogay. - Full seasons and entire episodes online.

Another movie nominated for Best Picture for 1969 was ANNE OF A THOUSAND DAYS continuing an infatuation for the movies of the 1960s with King Henry VIII and his many wives. In this case it was Anne Boleyn, who lost her head when she lost favor with his husband (primarily for not having male heirs, although their child, Elizabeth did become one of the great rulers of England). In this film, Richard Burton was the King, while Genevieve Bojold, making his first English speaking film, became a star in the U.S.

The movie was nominated for ten Academy Awards, but won only one for Best Costumes. Here's from YouTube is the climatic scene of the movie and from which it got its title....

The final movie nominated for Best Picture for 1969 was perhaps the most popular among our age group, BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. The film followed the careers of two legenday train robbers from the Wild West. The stars were Robert Redford and Paul Newman along with Catherine Ross, as their mutual love interest.

The film won four Oscars for Best Original Score, Best Writing (many lines from the movie have lived on for years), Best Song (Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head & Best Cinematography).

Here's a trailer promoting the film from back in the day...

Join us next time for: At The Movies--1970: PATTON, AIRPORT, FIVE EASY PIECES, LOVE STORY and MASH. What a year for flicks that was!