LETTERS

The fundamental assumption of Patrick Goldstein’s article “When movies grew up,” [July 7] is that 1960s Hollywood films were culturally irrelevant until the annus mirabilis of 1969, when “everything started to change.” He cites a three-year period (1964-66) during which the best Hollywood could offer, in his words, was “a string of cobwebby costume musicals and dramas.” During that span, however, American filmgoers were also treated to such challenging and/or culturally relevant films as “Dr. Strangelove,” “The Americanization of Emily,” “The Best Man,” “The Night of the Iguana,” “The Loved One,” “Mickey One,” “A Patch of Blue,” “The Pawnbroker,” “The Spy Who Came in From the Cold,” “A Thousand Clowns,” “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming,” “Seconds,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and others.

I would further argue for 1967 as the watershed year for change in Hollywood, based on the release of “Bonnie and Clyde,” “The Born Losers,” “Cool Hand Luke,” “The Graduate,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “In Cold Blood,” “In the Heat of the Night,” “Hombre,” “Point Blank,” “The President’s Analyst,” “Two for the Road” and “Up the Down Staircase” -- all groundbreaking films . . . that spoke to changing conditions and attitudes in American society.

Dean Brierly

Studio City