The Sadist - 1963 *

If it wasn't for the plot, 'The Sadist' would've fallen by the wayside a long time ago. It was notably the first film to be based on Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate, the loved up couple who went on a killing spree in the late 1950s in Nebraska.
Here we have 'The Sadist' and his moronically monosyllabic girlfriend, holding up three teachers who come into car trouble at an old junkyard. The whole film is basically 'The Sadist' grinning and laughing and pointing a gun at the hostages, while his girlfriend 'Jodeee' sits on a wall merrily swinging her legs and swigging coca cola. The Sadist appears to be cross-eyed, as well as sporting a crop of remarkable 'Beach Boyesque' floppy hair so his whole appearance is all the more terrifying. If he's trying to portray James Dean, he's failing miserably.

A New Kind of Love - 1963 *** 1/2

When mannish Joanne Woodward is contracted to go with her boss to Paris to 'lift' some new ideas for the latest fashion season in New York, she becomes enamoured with a caddish playboy (Paul Newman) who is there to get a scope for a new newspaper article. After a misunderstanding and a drastic makeover, Newman mistakes Woodward for an elegant, foreign debutante and starts to pursue her.
Beautiful shots of Paris, and you can see Paul and Joanne's genuine love for each other in the scenes they inhabit together.

Le Boulangere de Moncreau - 1963 ****1/4

A fascinating character study of a man in 1960s Paris who, after declaring his undyling love for one girl, Sylvie, he begins a meaningless flirtation with a local woman working in a Bakery. He begins to visit her everyday under the pretence of buying various pastries, and soon believes her to be interested in him. In his eyes he is angry that she thinks she might stand a chance with him, despite the fact that he has been leading her on with kind words and actions and he soon decides to show her once and for all that he doesn't like her. Very interesting little film (and really makes you crave cookies!)

The Nutty Professor - 1963 ****

This is the first film I have seen with Jerry Lewis and it won't be my last. My colleague and I were having an intense conversation the other day about me getting Jerry Lewis and Jerry Lee Lewis mixed up. I won't be doing that again. This film is about 10 times funnier than the newer Eddie Murphy offering.

Jerry Lewis is hilarious as the crazy, nerdy Professor who invents a potion to help him become more confident in his workplace, the trouble is, the result is a Jekyll and Hyde personality, where the confident side of him becomes obnoxious, slimy and arrogant (but rather attractive!).There are some very funny scenes, inculding one where he comes to class the morning after a night out as his alter ego with a stonking hangover and every single sound he hears is exaggerated

I have another of his films on my list to see (The Ladies Man) and I have added a load more of his films to my Tesco rental. Can't wait!

The Servant - 1963 ***

The first thing I noted about this film was how completely risque it was for a film of it's time. The second thing I thought of was that I couldn't for the life of me get to grips with what was going on. I sensed that because it was Harold Pinter related it would be a bit bizarre but still!

I get that there were class divides, and obviously Dirk Bogarde initially plays the 'servant' to James Fox's 'master' but then it all got a bit confusing for me. What it seemed however was that there became a drastic shift in class, with Bogarde appearing to take over the more overpowering role, and James Fox cowering into the lower class one. There are also added complications when Bogarde brings his 'sister' to the house as a maidservant, and falls out almost immediately with Fox's fiancee.

However if you watch closely, it's clear that Bogarde effectively owns the scenes. He has a gentle way of manipulating both the owner and his partner without them really understanding what he is doing. That to me is rather terrifying. It's definitely a psychological thriller at the very least, and certain other subjects including homosexuality and incest are touched upon which had me amazed for a 1960s film. However obviously the 60s was full of free love and new and exciting things so I shouldn't really be surprised.

Bogarde is an amazing actor, I respect him a huge amount, but think that I would probably have to watch this again to really appreciate the nuances.

The Leopard - 1963 **

At almost three hours long, this film sucked most of the enthusiasm I had originally mustered for it clean out my body.

I have no idea why Burt Lancaster was in this movie. This is an Italian movie, and Mr Lancaster most certainly isn't an Italian.

Added to which the movie had sub-titles but was dubbed as well. Pointless. I thought that a film so long would at least have had some endearing quality to it, but in my opinion it didn't.

I was not impressed and was just disappointed.