For a college project, I'm making a short film that's a spoof of '60s-era spy movies. The thing is, I haven't actually seen a lot of classic spy movies. As of now, my spoof is based on other spoofs/homages like the Incredibles and Cars 2 (hey, I actually enjoy that movie!) But I feel like in order to make a fully successful project, I should be more familiar with the actual source material, not just other spoofs. Otherwise it's a copy of a copy.

What are some 'definitive' '60s-era spy movies? I don't need an exhaustive list, just maybe 3 - 5 that I should watch for inspiration. And they should be ones that contain a lot of tropes and imagery associated with the genre. (Also, they don't have to literally be from the '60s, but they should be from that general era. No Jason Borne or anything like that).

 

60's Secret Agent Movies - IMDb

So pretty much all the early Bond movies. Not only THE quintessential spy movies, but also soooo unbelievably f'ing cheesy that they're almost parodies unto themselves. Well, to everyone that doesn't inexplicably take them seriously, that is.

 

There were also several spoof movies in the 60's and 70's as well.

 

I do like “Our Man Flint” and “In Like Flint.” There was also a Casino Royale in the 60’s that was a Bond spoof with Peter Sellers. I never saw that though.

Obviously, the Austin Powers movies are an obvious play to go when examining James Bond parodies as well as joking about tropes in general like the paradoxes of time travel and how bad guys usually give up answers after being interrogated with the same question 3 times.

 

The original Casino Royale movie makes no sense. Especially the ending.
Rumor has the director got high...a lot.

 

Yeah, but that theme tune though

 

I figured the James Bonds are good ones. Which one from that era is considered the best?

 

YES!

 

I'm the wrong guy to ask. Beyond acknowledging that the original Bond flicks are/were the standard for the spy genre, I personally think they're all terrible and beyond campy, so I have no idea what the "best" would be.

There are a few legit Bond movie fans here, though, so maybe one of them will pop in to recommend something.

 

Like top secret.

And for cartoons there's the big screen flintstones movie from the 60s.

 

Goldfinger is the epitome of Bond movies IMO. You really can’t go wrong with that one. Easily has the best villain in Bond history.

 

if you want spy-fi television series, i loved the avengers

 

North by Northwest is a fantastic movie. Main character isn’t a spy but gets dragged into that world. Also probably The Man Who Knew Too Much.

 

Yeah, North by Northwest is a great spy thriller. And a Hitchcock movie to boot!