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Another heavyweight historical religious drama triumphs at the Golden Globes in 1965: Becket, following The Cardinal the previous year (and Ben-Hur and Spartacus before that). There was undoubtedly something in the air in those years, a yearning for big period pieces infused with solemn tones and ideas.

1964 marked the return of awarding only one Golden Globe for musical or comedy.  Ironically, it was a pretty good year for Hollywood musicals and comedies.

Director Otto Preminger’s The Cardinal was the HFPA members’ choice to win the Golden Globe for Best Picture Drama and Best Supporting Actor for John Huston. There were other notable films that year - Ralph Nelson’s Lilies of the Field and Elia Kazan's America, America in the drama section, while Tom Jones won as best comedy over Irma La Douce.

The last bifurcated Golden Globe award for Best Comedy and Musical was given in 1963. The winners that year were The Music Man and That Touch of Mink.

“Aqaba!” screams Peter O'Toole as British Lieutenant T. E.

1962 was the year the Golden Globe winner for best musical won both supporting Golden Globes, an achievement repeated when George Chakiris and Rita Moreno also won Academy Awards that year. Many, today consider the movie they starred in, West Side Story, the greatest motion picture musical of all time.

It was a year of heavyweight historical dramas at the Globes, and The Guns of Navarone, by J. Lee Thompson, prevailed over El Cid and Judgment at Nuremberg (Fanny and Splendor in the Grass completed the list of nominees).

1961’s Golden Globe winner for Best Comedy, The Apartment, was by general consensus the year’s best film. It was also the New York Critics’ and the Academy’s choice and one of the year’s biggest moneymakers.

Spartacus was one of only three films to win Best Picture Drama at the Golden Globes and not receive a Best Picture nomination from the Academy Awards. The other two were East of Eden (1955) and The Cardinal (1963).

The 1960s were by many measures the decade that changed the world– and the movies changed with it. As protests raged against glaring injustice and the younger generations tried to reimagine a better future, the counterculture spilled into the streets and behind the cameras.