Set in the amoral Swinging London of the 1960s, Darling is a morality tale that holds up surprisingly well. Julie Christie plays a beautiful model who sleeps her way to the top of London's fashion world, while juggling along the way both Dirk Bogarde and Laurence Harvey. At the end, the young lady gets more (or less) than she bargained for. Some have accused the film of being pretentious and superficial, but Frederic Raphael's script offers several well-drawn out characters and good dramatic situations, and as a plus John Schlesinger's direction is remarkably assured. But the chief reason for Darling's effectiveness is Julie Christie's star-making performance as the ambitious anti-heroine — a living, breathing personification of a time and a place that (sadly) is no more.
FILM
Darling
La Battaglia di Algeri / The Battle of Algiers
Bunny Lake Is Missing
The Collector
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
36 Hours
DIRECTOR
Otto Preminger (Bunny Lake Is Missing)
Henry Hathaway (The Sons of Katie Elder)
Ralph Nelson (Once a Thief)
Gillo Pontecorvo (La Battaglia di Algeri / The Battle of Algiers)
Martin Ritt (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold)
John Schlesinger (Darling)
George Seaton (36 Hours)
Robert Wise (The Sound of Music)
William Wyler (The Collector)
ACTOR
Richard Burton (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold)
Frank Finlay (Othello)
Laurence Olivier (Othello)
Peter O'Toole (Lord Jim)
Christopher Plummer (The Sound of Music)
Omar Sharif (Doctor Zhivago)
Terence Stamp (The Collector)
Rod Steiger (The Pawnbroker)
Max von Sydow (The Greatest Story Ever Told)
ACTRESS
Vivien Leigh (Ship of Fools)
Julie Andrews (The Sound of Music)
Ann-Margret (Once a Thief)
Anne Bancroft (The Slender Thread)
Julie Christie (Darling)
Samantha Eggar (The Collector)
Ida Kaminska (Obchod na korze / The Shop on Main Street)
Carol Lynley (Bunny Lake Is Missing)
Eva Marie Saint (36 Hours)
Natalie Wood (The Great Race)
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Oskar Werner (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold)
Richard Attenborough (The Flight of the Phoenix)
Tom Courtenay (Doctor Zhivago)
Ronald Fraser (The Flight of the Phoenix)
Van Heflin (Once a Thief)
Hardy Krüger (The Flight of the Phoenix)
Rod Steiger (Doctor Zhivago)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Martita Hunt (Bunny Lake Is Missing)
Claire Bloom (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold)
Julie Christie (Young Cassidy)
Barbara Harris (A Thousand Clowns)
Eleanor Parker (The Sound of Music)
Maggie Smith (Young Cassidy)
SCREENPLAY
Frederic Raphael (Darling)
Paul Dehn & Guy Trosper (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold)
Stanley Mann & John Kohn (The Collector)
John Mortimer & Penelope Mortimer (Bunny Lake Is Missing)
George Seaton (36 Hours)
Franco Solinas (La Battaglia di Algeri / The Battle of Algiers)
Terry Southern & Christopher Isherwood (The Loved One)
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Gianni Di Venanzo (Giulietta degli spiriti / Juliet of the Spirits)
Russell Harlan (The Great Race)
Milton Krasner (The Sandpiper)
Ernest Laszlo (Ship of Fools)
Ted McCord (The Sound of Music)
Oswald Morris (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold)
Joseph Ruttenberg (Harlow)
Ted Scaife (Young Cassidy)
Jean Tournier & Walter Wottitz (The Train)
Frederick A. Young (Doctor Zhivago)
ORIGINAL SCORE
Maurice Jarre (Doctor Zhivago)
Sol Kaplan (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold)
Johnny Mandel (The Sandpiper)
Mischa Spoliansky (The Battle of the Villa Fiorita)
"Best Films of …" Annual List
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