Entertainment
10 Best Spy Movies of the 1960s
Spy movies have always been some level of popular, but it feels like that particular genre had an especially good run throughout the 1960s. The Cold War probably had something to do with that, because there weren’t soldiers fighting in the traditional way, but there were fears about agents, spies, and other espionage-related people operating within all that Cold War conflict behind the scenes.
So, spy movies were a way to explore things that were interesting to people at the time, and either show things happening behind the scenes, so to speak, or make espionage-related things more exciting and cinematic… maybe even a bit escapist, too. There are a particularly large number of great spy movies from the 1960s, including the ones below (though it should also be noted that plenty of good spy movies have been made on either side of this decade, too).
10
‘Thunderball’ (1966)
To take things out of order a bit here, here’s Thunderball, which was the fourth James Bond movie overall, and the fourth with Sean Connery. As far as the 1960s went, he did appear in one more, in 1967, called You Only Live Twice, but the other four are all a little stronger, so they’re going here. Yes, spoilers, for the rest of the ranking. Thunderball and some of its older brothers are all going to appear.
The shark isn’t fully jumped in Thunderball, but things do get a little silly at times, and there are sharks involved, with Thunderball being identifiable as the “very aquatic,” or maybe the particularly tropical, Sean Connery James Bond movie. It does what all the early James Bond movies do. It’s got the good and the bad, and an unembarrassed willingness to keep to that good old formula.
9
‘Funeral in Berlin’ (1966)
One of the first big leading roles for Michael Caine came in 1965, with The Ipcress File. In contrast to someone like 007, the protagonist in the movie, Harry Palmer, found himself wrapped up in more grounded and less explosive espionage-related stories. The Ipcress File marked the first time Caine played Palmer, but it was a role he returned to surprisingly often; four more times, to be exact.
Of those sequels to The Ipcress File, the best is probably Funeral in Berlin, which was released one year after its predecessor. It’s a very direct spy movie, and the kind that probably won’t surprise too many people (especially anyone familiar with the genre)… but it gives Caine another opportunity to shine in one of his best early roles, and at least contains enough style and narrative intrigue to be a more than solid viewing experience.
8
‘Dr. No’ (1962)
Beginning what would become an immensely long-running film series in style, Dr. No was the first time movie audiences ever got to see James Bond, and perhaps the first time many were introduced to Sean Connery as an actor. It’s not an instance where the first film was the very best in the series, but Dr. No is still very good for its time, an admirable start to the series, and one of the better (albeit not the greatest) 007 films Connery starred in.
The titular character is the villain Bond goes up against here, with his evil plan involving the destruction of the U.S. space program. Many staples of the series that would become beloved as the years went on got their start here in Dr. No, and Connery himself was instantly magnetic in the role he seemed born to play… though there were so many movies of his post-Dr. No that showed he was much more than just James Bond (see Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Man Who Would Be King, and The Untouchables).
7
‘The Ipcress File’ (1965)
Michael Caine never played the most well-known of all cinematic British spies (you know, that guy who was in the previously mentioned Thunderball and Dr. No), but he did portray Harry Palmer, who’s a character you might know if you really like spy novels and/or movies. Caine played Palmer a total of five times, but the first movie in what became a series, The Ipcress File, is the best of the bunch.
It’s also a more low-key sort of spy story, compared to that other one whose first movies came out in the 1960s, and came to redefine what spies were, in pop culture. But if you’re willing to have a bit more of a slow-burn kind of thing, and a spy film that emphasizes thrills and suspense over action, then The Ipcress File satisfies, with Caine being especially good here (and probably the main reason to watch this one).
6
‘From Russia With Love’ (1963)
For anyone who thought 1962’s Dr. No was a good, though not great, 007 film, 1963 thankfully saw the release of its largely improved sequel, From Russia with Love. It’s another entertaining blast of thrills, adventuring, and action, all following everyone’s favorite charismatic spy who can get out of seemingly any situation, no matter how dangerous, with both the series and the main character feeling more confident in their shared second cinematic outing.
The organization of SPECTRE takes center stage in From Russia with Love, leading Bond on another high-risk mission where the eventually revealed villains prove even more deadly than anyone he’d faced before. It’s got some of the minor flaws and uncomfortable moments one has to grit their teeth and deal with when it comes to early James Bond, but as far as action movies that are over six decades old go, From Russia with Love is a largely impressive and entertaining one. If you want to complain about certain things aging, sure, but the movie is just aged, like, objectively. 1963 was a long time ago.
5
‘The Manchurian Candidate’ (1962)
1962 was even longer ago, than 1963. Not by much, but still. Here, you’ve got a murky, bleak, and anxiety-inducing movie about some very bad people doing very bad things, The Manchurian Candidate is the kind of classic that’s remained feeling paranoid across decades now. The plot concerns Korean War veterans, and the strange things that happen to one in particular after he returns home, with certain nightmares and events potentially suggesting he might be the victim of brainwashing.
He’s intended to be a vital part of a vast conspiracy, basically made into an unwilling spy/assassin of sorts, or so he comes to fear. To put it mildly, The Manchurian Candidate is extremely intense and psychologically dizzying, and it does a scarily good job at putting you in the mind of its disoriented and hopeless main character… and some other characters, too, considering the psychological torment and brainwashing doesn’t just stop with him. And maybe it goes without saying, but The Manchurian Candidate is not really concerned with action, since it’s more of a dark psychological drama (with some thriller elements, too).
4
‘Charade’ (1963)
Released in a pretty strong year for cinema, Charade is one of the most Hitchcockian films not actually directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Also, yes, like with Mr. Bond, some of Hitchcock’s spy movies will get mentioned here, but not just yet. For now, Charade deserves some praise, especially because it’s a genuinely great comedy – and has a perfect lead actor pairing in Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn – on top of being a fun spy thriller.
In the film, Grant and Hepburn play characters who fall for each other, but then get swept up in a madcap series of events involving dangerous associates of the latter’s dead husband. The pair kind of have to become isolated and amateur sleuths to get to the bottom of whatever’s going on, and everything becomes worth questioning, since everyone’s hard to read. Charade is almost farcical, but not to the point where the thrills get undermined, nor to the point where it genuinely feels like an all-out parody of the spy genre, so it’s an exceptionally well-balanced film, all things considered.
3
‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ (1969)
The first time George Lazenby played James Bond also happened to be the final time, and he is, to date, the only actor in the official Eon Films series to play 007 just once. Thankfully, though, the one he appeared in was On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which is a high point of the entire series, and – for better or worse – is often the cool person’s pick for the crown of “Best James Bond Movie.”
It is a very good film, and one that was able to go into slightly darker and more tragic territory than James Bond movies had up until that point.
Like, Christopher Nolan is a pretty cool person, right? Well, this one’s his favorite James Bond movie, so that’s something. It is a very good film, and one that was able to go into slightly darker and more tragic territory than James Bond movies had up until that point. In On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Bond was still cool and capable, but he also felt more vulnerable and human, and that adds to the drama of this film immensely, as does the action, which was a little grittier and more intense than had been seen in the series before.
2
‘Army of Shadows’ (1969)
Set during World War II, Army of Shadows concerns a resistance fighter/agent who gets betrayed by someone and subsequently locked up. After he escapes, he sets about trying to get revenge on whoever gave him up, but then that leads to further conflict, even more so than most people are dealing with at a time in history when the whole world was at war and all. But he plunges into a whole web of people and connections that can’t ever really be exited from.
While Army of Shadows is complex, and it wants to unpack quite a bit thematically, it also works well as a thriller, and has a constant sort of reserved suspense throughout. Army of Shadows also looks fantastic, with muted colors adding a lot by way of atmosphere, furthering the sense that things are dark and hopeless, and that conflict/violence might well be eternal, regardless of how proficient you are, as an agent, or a spy, or a person fighting for what you believe is right. It’s a miserable watch, but in a good way, or at least the right way. And it is tonally quite different from the other spy movies being mentioned here, with more despair (and a greater emphasis on realism) than you might find in the 007 films.
1
‘Goldfinger’ (1964)
The third of all the James Bond movies, Goldfinger, might well remain the very best of the bunch, and that’s saying a lot, considering how many films there are in this decades-spanning series. It’s the best one that stars Sean Connery (though not his only great outing in the lead role), and since Connery was the first and perhaps most iconic big-screen 007, then you kind of have to consider Goldfinger top spot-worthy.
Narratively, it’s not too dissimilar to what you’d expect from most 007 movies, with Bond having to do his usual spy thing in an effort to prevent an ambitious criminal from pulling off a massive heist, with such an operation intended to destabilize the world economy. After Dr. No was good, and From Russia with Love was great, Goldfinger represented another step up in quality, and it feels like classic James Bond in every sense. All the ingredients fell into their right place, and the series never really looked back after this.
Goldfinger
- Release Date
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September 20, 1964
- Runtime
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110 minutes
- Director
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Guy Hamilton
- Writers
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Paul Dehn, Ian Fleming, Richard Maibaum, Berkely Mather
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