This is a list of notable Hollywood* movies released in the 1960s & 1970s which I have classified as GEMs. Note that the list is sortable by each column. (Multiple levels of sorting are possible by sorting more than one column in succession, from lowest to highest.)
Most of the listed movies can be borrowed from your local public library in DVD form and are also available for streaming. Watching these movies online usually requires a small fee or a subscription to streaming platforms such as YouTube, Amazon Prime, Disney+ or Netflix. The ‘Video at’ column in the list below indicates one preferred streaming option to watch these movies online, though it may also be available on other platforms. A ‘$’ sign indicates a small fee (usually $3.99 or less) for viewing the film. In a few cases, the movie is available for free online viewing, and in these cases the direct link to watch the movie is provided in a separate column. [Note: the availability of movies on various platforms (especially the free ones) is constantly changing: the information is current as of mid-2023, but it is quite possible that the listed streaming option for a particular film could be outdated at a later time.]
Please share any comments or suggestions on this list by filling out this form. You can use the same form to express interest in becoming a contributor to the site.
* Some non-Hollywood movies are also included.
Year
Movie
GEM!
Director
Selected Cast
Video at
Link (free)
Wikipedia
More
1960
Apartment, The
Billy Wilder
Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray
Tubi (free)
1960
Inherit the Wind
Stanley Kramer
Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene Kelly, Dick York, Harry Morgan
PlutoTV (free)
1960
Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock
Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, Martin Balsam
Netflix
1960
Spartacus
Stanley Kubrick
Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, John Gavin, Tony Curtis
YouTube $
1961
Judgment at Nuremberg
Stanley Kramer
Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Maximilian Schell, Montgomery Clift, William Shatner
PlutoTV (free)
1962
Dr. No
Terence Young
Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman, Jack Lord
YouTube $
1962
Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The
John Ford
John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Lee Marvin, Vera Miles, Woody Strode
YouTube (free)
1962
Manchurian Candidate, The
John Frankenheimer
Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury
Tubi (free)
1962
Miracle Worker, The
Arthur Penn
Anne Bancroft, Patty Duke
YouTube $
1962
To Kill a Mockingbird
Robert Mulligan
Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Philip Alford
YouTube $
1963
Irma La Douce
Billy Wilder
Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Lou Jacobi
Tubi (free)
1964
Becket
Peter Glenville
Peter O'Toole, Richard Burton
PlutoTV (free)
1964
Dr. Strangelove
Stanley Kubrick
Peter Sellers (triple role), George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Slim Pickens
YouTube $
1964
Fail Safe
Sidney Lumet
Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Larry Hagman, Dom DeLuise
YouTube $
1964
Goldfinger
Guy Hamilton
Sean Connery, Gert Frobe, Shirley Eaton, Honor Blackman, Harold Sakata
YouTube $
1964
My Fair Lady
George Cukor
Rex Harrison, Audrey Hepburn, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White
YouTube $
1964
Seven Days in May
John Frankenheimer
Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March, Ava Gardner, Martin Balsam, John Houseman
YouTube $
1965
Sound of Music, The
Robert Wise
Christopher Plummer, Julie Andrews, Richard Haydn, Peggy Wood, Charmian Carr, Eleanor Parker, Charmian Carr
Disney+
1966
Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The
Sergio Leone
Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Eli Wallach
Tubi (free)
1966
Man for All Seasons, A
Fred Zinnemann
Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Robert Shaw, Orson Welles, Susannah York
YouTube $
1967
In the Heat of the Night
Norman Jewison
Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger
Tubi (free)
1968
2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick
Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Douglas Rain (voice)
Sling TV (free)
1968
Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell
Melvin Frank
Gina Lollobrigida, Telly Savalas, Phil Silvers, Peter Lawford, Janet Margolin, Shelly Winters, Lee Grant, Marian McCargo, Philippe Leroy
Prime Video $
1968
Planet of the Apes
Franklin J. Schaffner
Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Maurice Evans, Kim Hunter
Prime Video $
1968
Where Eagles Dare
Brian G. Hutton
Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, Mary Ure, Michael Hordern, Patrick Wymark
YouTube $
1969
MacKenna's Gold
J. Lee Thompson
Gregory Peck, Omar Sharif, Telly Savalas, Camilla Sparv, Keenan Wynn, Julie Newmar, Ted Cassidy, Lee J. Cobb, Raymond Massey, Burgess Meredith, Anthony Quayle, Edward G. Robinson, Eli Wallach
Sling TV (free)
1970
Airport
George Seaton
Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, Jacquiline Bisset, Helen Hayes, George Kennedy
YouTube $
1970
Love Story
Arthur Hiller
Ryan O'Neal, Ali MacGraw, Ray Milland, John Marley
YouTube (free)
1970
Patton
Frank McCarthy
George C. Scott, Karl Malden
YouTube $
1971
Clockwork Orange, A
Stenley Kubrick
Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee
YouTube $
1971
Dirty Harry
Don Siegel
Clint Eastwood, Andy Robinson
Prime Video
1972
Frenzy
Alfred Hitchcock
Jon Finch, Alec McCowen, Barry Foster
YouTube $
1972
Godfather, The
Francis Ford Coppola
Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, James Caan, Robert Duvall, John Cazale, Lee Strasberg
YouTube $
1972
Sleuth
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine
YouTube (free)
1973
Day of the Jackal, The
Fred Zinnemann
Edward Fox, Michael Lonsdale
Prime Video
1973
Paper Moon
Peter Bogdanovich
Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, John Hillerman
YouTube $
1973
Sting, The
George Roy Hill
Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw
YouTube $
1974
Chinatown
Roman Polanski
Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston
Prime Video
1974
Front Page, The
Billy Wilder
Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Susan Sarandon, Carol Burnett
1974
Odessa File, The
Ronald Neame
Jon Voight, Maximilian Schell, Maria Schell
YouTube $
1976
Network
Sidney Lumet
Peter Finch, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall
Prime Video $
1976
Omen, The
Richard Donner
Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Billie Whitelaw, Harvey Spencer Stephens
YouTube $
1976
Rocky
John G. Avildsen
Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith
Prime Video
1977
Annie Hall
Woody Allen
Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Paul Simon, Ben Gazzara
YouTube $
1977
Spy Who Loved Me, The
Lewis Gilbert
Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, Curt Jurgens
YouTube $
1977
Star Wars
George Lucas
Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness
Disney+
1978
Superman
Richard Donner
Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman
YouTube $
1979
Breaking Away
Peter Yates
Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, Jackie Earle Haley, Robyn Douglass, Paul Dooley, Barbara Barrie
YouTube (free)
1979
China Syndrome, The
James Bridges
Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas
YouTube $
1979
Kramer vs. Kramer
Robert Benton
Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, Justin Henry