Our Staff Picks column takes you back to a time when video stores reigned supreme and the "Staff Picks" section was the place to find out what films were worthy of one's time. Of course, our version of Staff Picks has a decidedly skintillating angle, as we suss out which films from a certain genre or year with great nudity. This week: movies from 1967!
1967 is considered by film historians and critics to be one of the best years for films because so many modern classics were released that year. Cool Hand Luke, The Producers, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and To Sir with Love were all classics that were released that year. And there were many more! These are the most skintastic of the great films released in 1967:
Bonnie Clyde
Faye Dunaway fabulously portrayed the doe-eyed Bonnie in this blockbuster film about the bank-robbing couple who captured America's hearts while going on an insane robbing-and-killing spree. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway bring life to the young lovers as they go on the run from the law. Faye even shyly exposes her breasts, but they are slightly obscured behind curtains.
The Graduate
Mike Nichols' iconic coming-of-age drama came out this year. Dustin Hoffman received praise and acclaim for his role as the depressed Benjamin who isn't sure what to do with his life post-graduation. Post-graduation ennui has been with us for decades!
To combat his depression and boredom, he falls for his neighbor's daughter Elaine...and Elaine's mother has thoughts about it. She's interested in the young man next door, so she famously takes off her clothes. "Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?" Yes, Benji, she is! And he should be so lucky as to be seduced by Anne Bancroft.
I recently read Mel Brooks' memoir, All About Me, where he let on that he originally wanted Dustin Hoffman to be in The Producers! Dustin told him that Mike wanted him to fly to LA to audition for his new movie and Mel said that his wife was signed on to the project and there was no way that Dustin Hoffman would be the leading man.
He figured he'd have Dustin back to be in The Producers in no time - it didn't work out that way and thank goodness for everyone's careers that it didn't!
Casino Royale
Bond was big in the late 1960s, so this Bond spoof was a huge success. David Niven starred as Sir James Bond, an aging agent who comes out of retirement to stop a nefarious plan. He tries to confuse his rivals by gathering a band of secret agents and naming ALL of them James Bond. Will any of the Bonds be able to prevail? It's a real laugh for fans of the secret agent genre.
Ursula Andress undressed and Daliah Lavi was strapped to a bed in the nude, leaving us some breast meat to ogle even though we can't see her nipples. These ladies will shake AND stir something in your pants!
Valley of the Dolls
Yes, this was the year that gave us this cult classic! Patty Duke, Barbara Parkins, and the legendary Sharon Tate joined forces for a highly anticipated melodrama that wound up being somewhat of a notorious critical flop - so much so that it became a fascination to fans of camp for literal decades.
It's a shame that that was the case because blonde beauty Sharon Tate really felt that this would be her star-making role. It certainly is for fans of skin. Sharon is undeniable gorgeous when she ditches her top for a hot sex scene.
What's the plot of this film? Everything! It's the ultimate downside of stardom movies as we follow women who rise to the top of stardom and are torn down by sex, drugs, alcohol, and competition. You know, the usual Hollywood is bad story.
The Trip
Counterculture films started to be made in 1967 and schlock director Roger Corman is one of the pioneers of hippie cinema with this acid-laced drama. Susan Strasberg, daughter of famous acting teacher Lee Strasburg, made her parents proud with her bare-naked sex scene. She and go-go dancer Joyce Mandel are far out.
In the Heat of the Night
Sidney Portier recently passed away and 1967 was a HUGE year for the actor. One of his best films was hands-down In the Heat of the Night which is currently on the AFI Top 100 List (like several of these films!), Portier plays Detective Virgil Tibbs who is investigating the murder of a southern businessman.
Quentin Dean is a dream when she drinks her coke bottle topless as she stares out the window. She has us staring back at her cokebottle shape!
This film won Best Picture at the Academy Awards (and insanely Portier was snubbed) with future indie director Hal Ashby winning an Oscar for Best Editing. I think we can safely agree that In the Heat of the Night ended up being one of the most influential films of the entire decade.
Bedazzled
Stanley Donen directed this fantastical comedy that got a 90s remake with the sexy Elizabeth Hurley, but I think this version is way better than that remake - even though Hurley's devil was irrefutably sexy. In this version, the devil is played by a man who grants Dudley Moore a series of wishes after Moore sells his soul to this devil.
Of course, everything he wishes for has an unforeseen consequence - what did Dudley expect?! - but Raquel Welch and Eleanor Bron bedazzled us with their skintillating scenes. Eleanor even bares her boobs through a mirror!
Belle de Jour
This shocking psychodrama from the surrealist artist Luis Brunel was controversial at the time. Now, however, we probably think it's relatively tame. It's still very very very sexy, though! Catherine Deneuve stars as a housewife named Severine who has never allowed herself to explore her sexual desires. She is very closed off both sexually and emotionally.
She becomes interested in a local brothel that she learns about - so much so that the frigid housewife takes a job there. The movie moves in between fantasy and reality which is what you can expect from Brunel, so we aren't entirely sure if she is actually working as a sex worker or if she is simply fantasizing about it as a way to get in touch with her sexuality.
You will certainly be in touch with yours when you watch this blonde beauty wear a see-thru shroud that shows her breasts and buns.
