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I'm tempted to say 1962 - BAM and the New York Film Critics Circle made an excellent case for it in 2009 with a retrospective that included a discussion panel, led (amazingly) by an incredibly civil and articulate Armond White who even concurred with the consensus pick for best film and best performance of the year.

EDIT: I think I'd have to go with 1962: An Autumn Afternoon, Carnival of Souls, The Chair, Cléo from 5 to 7, L'Eclisse, The Exterminating Angel, The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (directed by Karel Zeman), The Civil War (directed by John Ford for How the West Was Won), Ivan's Childhood, La Jetée, Jules and Jim, Knife in the Water, Lawrence of Arabia, Lolita, Long Day's Journey into Night, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Manchurian Candidate, Vivre sa vie, Ride the High Country, Salvatore Giuliano, The Trial, Two Weeks in Another Town, and even commendable, lesser films like Too Late Blues, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Trial of Joan of Arc (directed by Robert Bresson). But so many of these films collectively signal the beginning of one great, revolutionary era and the closing of another.

Easily 1999 in my theater-going lifetime. 1971 or 1932 before my time.

hearthesilence wrote: Sat Dec 31, 2022 4:40 am I'm tempted to say 1962 - BAM and the New York Film Critics Circle made an excellent case for it in 2009 with a retrospective that included a discussion panel, led (amazingly) by an incredibly civil and articulate Armond White who even concurred with the consensus pick for best film and best performance of the year.

EDIT: I think I'd have to go with 1962: An Autumn Afternoon, Carnival of Souls, The Chair, Cléo from 5 to 7, L'Eclisse, The Exterminating Angel, The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (directed by Karel Zeman), The Civil War (directed by John Ford for How the West Was Won), Ivan's Childhood, La Jetée, Jules and Jim, Knife in the Water, Lawrence of Arabia, Lolita, Long Day's Journey into Night, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Manchurian Candidate, Vivre sa vie, Ride the High Country, Salvatore Giuliano, The Trial, Two Weeks in Another Town, and even commendable, lesser films like Too Late Blues, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Trial of Joan of Arc (directed by Robert Bresson). But so many of these films collectively signal the beginning of one great, revolutionary era and the closing of another.

Stephen Farber and Michael McClellan concur with you and have a book on 1962.

1955 easily takes it for me:
The Night of the Hunter, All That Heaven Allows, Rebel without a Cause, Artists and Models, It’s Always Fair Weather, East of Eden, Kiss Me Deadly, Lola Montez, Ordet, To Catch a Thief, The Man from Laramie, My Sister Eileen, Night and Fog, Floating Clouds, House of Bamboo, Pather Panchali, The Phenix City Story, Richard III, Le Amiche, Rififi, French Cancan, Smiles of a Summer Night.

Plus:
Bad Day at Black Rock, The Big Combo, Blackboard Jungle, The Big Knife, Il Bidone, Bloody Spear at Mt. Fuji, The Cobweb, The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz, Creature with the Atom Brain, The Desperate Hours, Diabolique, A Generation, Guys and Dolls, Godzilla Raids Again, A Hole of My Own Making, I Live in Fear, Journey to the Beginning of Time, The Ladykillers, The Long Grey Line, Love is a Many Splendored Thing, The Man with the Golden Arm, Man without Star, Marty, Man with a Gun, Moonfleet, Mr. Arkadin, The Night My Number Came Up, La Pointe Courte, Picnic, Princess Yang Kwei Fei, Revenge of the Creature, Run for Cover, Stranger on Horseback, Summertime, The Tall Men, Taira Clan Saga, The Violent Men, Wichita…

1927, 1944, 1950, 1960 and 1966 are also very strong years. 1966 had six films on the recent Sight & Sound list, two more than any other year.

Ben Mankiewicz has said that before about 1957, though he only ever mentions Paths of Glory and Sweet Smell of Success as reasons why.

bottlesofsmoke wrote: Sat Dec 31, 2022 6:49 am Ben Mankiewicz has said that before about 1957, though he only ever mentions Paths of Glory and Sweet Smell of Success as reasons why.

He did mention other films besides the two mentioned... 12 Twelve Angry Men, The Bridge on the River Kwai, A Face in the Crowd, Desk Set, Gunfight at OK Corral, 3:10 to Yuma, Wild Strawberries, Seventh Seal, Throne of Blood and Nights of Cabiria. The only one I'm iffy on remembering if he said is Witness for the Prosecution.

FrauBlucher wrote: Sat Dec 31, 2022 3:23 am Ben Mankiewicz in introducing Paths of Glory said 1957 was the greatest year in film. Who agrees? I'm still partial to 1939 but 57 is a great one

It's 1960 and it's not even close. If we're talking American films only, well, that's different (but still not 1957 by a longshot)

Yeah, 1960 is the right answer, though on a brief scan of my favorite films, there are a few years in the 90s and 2010s that manage to come close

1941 is a pretty terrific year that stands up well against the long-proclaimed "golden" year of 1939. Some significant films from 1941:

Citizen Kane, How Green Was My Valley, The Maltese Falcon, The Devil and Miss Jones, The Lady Eve, Sullivan’s Travels, Sergeant York, The Devil and Daniel Webster, Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, Dumbo, Meet John Doe, The Sea Wolf, Hellzapoppin’, Ball of Fire, Swamp Water, The Gang’s All Here, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, The Wolf Man, That Hamilton Woman, High Sierra, The Strawberry Blonde, The Little Foxes, The Shanghai Gesture, Suspicion, Man Hunt, 49th Parallel

Feego wrote: Sat Dec 31, 2022 5:57 pm 1941 is a pretty terrific year that stands up well against the long-proclaimed "golden" year of 1939. Some significant films from 1941:

Citizen Kane, How Green Was My Valley, The Maltese Falcon, The Devil and Miss Jones, The Lady Eve, Sullivan’s Travels, Sergeant York, The Devil and Daniel Webster, Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, Dumbo, Meet John Doe, The Sea Wolf, Hellzapoppin’, Ball of Fire, Swamp Water, The Gang’s All Here, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, The Wolf Man, That Hamilton Woman, High Sierra, The Strawberry Blonde, The Little Foxes, The Shanghai Gesture, Suspicion, Man Hunt, 49th Parallel

Yep. Incredible how The Lady Eve and Sullivan’s Travels were released just 10 months apart

It also really depends on what the scope is, because if we’re strictly talking about best year for American films, 1941 is definitely way up there, yet it’s not necessarily one of the years that comes to mind immediately if we’re talking the entirety of world cinema. ‘64 is one that I like a lot because of how much great stuff was coming out of a bunch of different countries that year — the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy, and India each produced several bona fide classics that year, and that’s just off the top of my head.

domino harvey wrote: Sat Dec 31, 2022 4:26 pm

FrauBlucher wrote: Sat Dec 31, 2022 3:23 am Ben Mankiewicz in introducing Paths of Glory said 1957 was the greatest year in film. Who agrees? I'm still partial to 1939 but 57 is a great one

It's 1960 and it's not even close. If we're talking American films only, well, that's different (but still not 1957 by a longshot)

I tend to agree with you. 1960 was a special year. If you just take American films there are better years, but if you take 1960 as a whole it changed film history and ushered in the greatest decade for film (followed by the 1920s IMO) which I will argue till the cows come home. 1960 opened a door that expanded what film was and how it will be thought of like no other time before or since. Take Psycho, La Dolce Vita and Breathless, they were style altering films that became benchmarks for what was to follow.

I think 1941 is also a brilliant year, and gives 1939 a run for it's money.

Re: 1960, tough to beat Breathless and L'Avventura alone. Going through what was released, I found these other favorites:

The Bellboy by Jerry Lewis, Bells Are Ringing (probably more for Judy Holliday but I still think it's a really good musical), The Cloud-Capped Star, La Dolce Vita, Eyes Without a Face, Home from the Hill, Peeping Tom, Primary (more for historical reasons - Robert Drew, D A Pennebaker, Ricky Leacock, the Maysles et al at Drew Associates would go on to create better and better films), Psycho, Shoot the Pianist, Testament of Orpheus, The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (even if the other two by Lang are much greater), When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, Wild River (Kazan's greatest film), The Young One (underappreciated, a gem from Buñuel), Zazie dans le Métro (maybe Malle's most enjoyable and visually inventive film).

Also they're not quite great films, but these have great performances from great actors: Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry (maybe his best), Laurence Olivier in The Entertainer, Jason Robards in one of THE greatest performances ever captured on tape or film in The Iceman Cometh though technically it's a television production (possibly done like a theatrical production that was live in the studio), Marilyn Monroe in Let's Make Love, and Alain Delon in the excellent Purple Noon and Rocco and His Brothers (which I have mixed feelings about but it's certainly a favorite for many).

But despite all that, I still have to go with 1962 as a personal favorite.

Like it's 1999 ...

Being John Malkovich
Three Kings
American Beauty
Fight Club
Matrix

Toy Story 2
Magnolia
Eyes Wide Shut
6th Sense
Virgin Suicides

Man on the Moon
Blair Witch Project
Dogma
The Straight Story
Office Space

Oh it's a great year, but I think Bringing Out the Dead, eXistenZ, Charisma, La maladie de Sachs, Rosetta, Peppermint Candy, La lettre, Ghost Dog, Jesus' Son and The Iron Giant are better than most of that list, and that's leaving out great stuff like The Limey, The Ninth Gate, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Limbo, L'humanité, Election, But I'm a Cheerleader, Beau Travail and a bunch of other good movies

Can’t forget The Target Shoots First, either (which has a 2000 release year on IMDB, but played festivals and was reviewed in major periodicals in late 1999)

Still trying to wrap my head around someone invoking Toy Story 2 as evidence of the best year of cinema ever

Hah, I actually prefer Toy Story 2 over at least half of the other films in the same post.

hearthesilence wrote: Mon Jan 02, 2023 6:52 pm Hah, I actually prefer Toy Story 2 over at least half of the other films in the same post.

It’s Blair Witch Project that I don’t get

But I’m the lunatic who included The Black Cauldron on my ‘85 list, so I can’t judge

beamish14 wrote: Mon Jan 02, 2023 6:56 pm

hearthesilence wrote: Mon Jan 02, 2023 6:52 pm Hah, I actually prefer Toy Story 2 over at least half of the other films in the same post.

It’s Blair Witch Project that I don’t get

But I’m the lunatic who included The Black Cauldron on my ‘85 list, so I can’t judge

I am totally not a fan of Blair Witch, but if I had to come up with a defense for it, I'd say it's because it was financially successful on an unprecedented scale for a micro-budget indie, one that was shot on a format that was, at the time, considered unsuitable for mainstream theatrical release. (The story/context made such shortcomings acceptable to a broad audience.) IIRC it may have been marketed in a very unique way, at least for a film that would go on to make that kind of money at the box office - I think Xeroxed flyers were actually put up in some cities like L.A. that made it look like the characters were real life people who were actually missing.

It's possible the pseudo-documentary aesthetic was also a breakthrough artistically, one that was very appropriate for a horror film - if you really want a film to scare someone, you probably get more effective results when the viewer is able to suspend their disbelief to a greater degree, and that probably varies from viewer to viewer even when they're all presumably willing to do so. It's possible that making a horror film that uses the conceit of being a real-life documentary resulted in the kind of a film that could be more effective in that manner, at least for a receptive audience. I can't say that describes my own experience - I thought it was risible and grew less and less convincing by their inability to find a way out of the woods - but a lot of my classmates at the time loved that movie, so it's arguable that it did succeed to a large degree.

I guess I didn't need to set the bar that high by mentioning Psycho, La Dolce Vita and Breathless

TCM is running a five-film Godard tribute on January 31 (all times EST):

8 PM: Breathless
9:45 PM: Le petit soldat
11:30 PM Masculin féminin
1:30 AM: Contempt
3:30 AM: Vivre sa vie

First time hearing this. This morning for the Noir Alley intros and outros, Eddie Muller pronounced Mercedes not like the car but instead Merce-cities for Mercedes McCambridge

FrauBlucher wrote: Sun Feb 19, 2023 5:14 pm First time hearing this. This morning for the Noir Alley intros and outros, Eddie Muller pronounced Mercedes not like the car but instead Merce-cities for Mercedes McCambridge

The way Muller pronounced it is how McCambridge's first name was originally, and I suppose is correctly, pronounced. You can clearly hear it when she's named the 1949 Best Supporting Actress winner at that year's Oscar ceremony: Mercedes McCambridge winning Best Supporting Actress for "All the King's Men" Although the host seems to fall back on the more familiar pronunciation when seeing her off.

Ben Mankiewicz has even mentioned the subject when introducing a film McCambridge appeared in. He said that when discussing McCambridge he was surprised that his father, Frank, pronounced her first name as Muller did and corrected him. Frank reprimanded Ben by saying something along the lines of, "I should know how to pronounce her name. I used to date her." Something else that Ben was surprised to hear.

TCM is ending TCM Underground. The last TCM Underground is on February 24th.

Boo. Hiss.

RIP to the program that brought Andy Milligan and Doris Wishman into tens of thousands of unwitting homes.