1. Citizen
Kane (1941) -
RKO
Director: Orson Welles
Stars: Orson Welles; Joseph Cotten; Everett Sloane, Agnes Moorehead
Synopsis: Welles' first feature - the tragic story of newspaper tycoon Charles
Foster Kane (Welles), loosely modeled after the life of William Randolph Hearst,
founder of the Hearst publishing empire, and the publisher's ultimately empty
rise to power. Acclaimed for its innovative narrative structure, deep focus cinematography,
soundtrack, literate screenplay, and nuanced portrayal of the central character.
2. Casablanca
(1942) -
Warner Bros.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Humphrey Bogart; Ingrid Bergman; Claude Rains; Paul
Henreid; Dooley Wilson
Synopsis: Romantic drama of wartime sacrifice set in Nazi-occupied French Morocco.
Bogart, as jaded and cynical American idealist saloonkeeper/nightclub
owner Rick Blaine, sacrifices the love of a lifetime to join the world's
fight against the Nazis. When the picture debuted, it marked the beginning
of a beautiful friendship with generations of moviegoers. With a crackling
script and the classic song, "As Time Goes By." Academy Award
for Best Picture. "Here's looking at you, kid."
3. The
Godfather (1972) -
Paramount
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Stars: Marlon Brando; Al Pacino; James Caan; Robert Duvall,
Diane Keaton
Synopsis: Tragic, romantic saga of Mob boss Don Corleone and the rise of his successor,
son Michael (Pacino). Adapted from Mario Puzo's novel, the film reimagined
the genre of the Mob drama. It was marked by taut suspense, rich period
detail, and memorable dialogue ("I'll make him an offer he can't
refuse"). Brando is Don Vito Corleone, the sympathetic Godfather
of a New York crime family, whose business it is to make offers people
can't refuse. Visually beautiful images of times and locales contrast
with the film's graphic violence. It won Academy Awards for Best Picture
and Best Actor, among others.
4. Gone
With The Wind (1939) -
MGM
Director: Victor Fleming
Stars: Clark Gable; Vivien Leigh; Olivia de Havilland; Leslie
Howard; Hattie McDaniel
Synopsis: Based on Margaret Mitchell's best-selling "Immortal tale of the
old South" - the inimitable epic of Civil War destruction and the
ill-fated romance between Scarlett O'Hara (Leigh) and Rhett Butler (Gable).
Endures as a compelling story and an example of studio era greatness.
The burning of Atlanta was a high water mark for screen excitement. As
poet Ogden Nash put it, "The Civil War was quite a fight and not
a mere diversion; I never knew how tough it was before Dave Selznick's
version." It won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director,
Actress, and Supporting Actress.
5. Lawrence
of Arabia (1962) -
Columbia
Director: David Lean
Stars: Peter O'Toole; Alec Guinness; Anthony Quinn; Omar Sharif;
Jose Ferrer
Synopsis: Majestic adventure and character drama - the epic story of T. E. Lawrence,
an enigmatic British officer/mapmaker who transformed himself into the
leader of a WWI Arab revolt against Turkey during World War I. The film
became renowned for Lean's direction and Freddie Young's cinematography.
Based on T. E. Lawrence's memoir Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Winner
of many Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.
6. The
Wizard of Oz (1939) -
MGM
Director: Victor Fleming
Stars: Judy Garland; Ray Bolger; Margaret Hamilton; Bert Lahr;
Jack Haley; Frank Morgan
Synopsis: Magical adaptation of L. Frank Baum's children's fantasy of an enchanted
land made Garland a major star. Garland's Dorothy Gale is transported
from her black-and-white Kansas home to the colorful land of Oz via tornado.
From here she journeys down the Yellow Brick Road and is helped by a
Scarecrow, a Tin Man, and a Cowardly Lion on their way to see the Wizard.
The Harold Arlen/E. Yip Harburg score is highlighted by "Somewhere
Over the Rainbow" - a song that became a popular standard. Inventive
use of color and special effects are still impressive today. A children's
movie for all ages.
7. The
Graduate (1967) -
Embassy
Director: Mike Nichols
Stars: Dustin Hoffman; Anne Bancroft; Katharine Ross
Synopsis: Black comedy of aimless, recent college graduate Benjamin (Hoffman) that
defined a generation and established Hoffman as a star. Hoffman
spends his summer trying to find out what to do next in this biting comedy. Bancroft's
Mrs. Robinson has some ideas, and they're not about plastics. Hoffman's
reactions to her advances and his attempts to be suave are among the
film's funniest moments, and her seduction of Benjamin is withering and
hilarious. The evocative Simon and Garfunkel score, that includes "Mrs.
Robinson,"
is as much a character in the movie as Bancroft's amorous Mrs. Robinson
or Ross' lovely Elaine. Nichols won an Academy Award for Best Director.
8. On
The Waterfront (1954) -
Columbia
Director: Elia Kazan
Stars: Marlon Brando; Karl Malden; Lee J. Cobb; Eva Marie Saint,
Rod Steiger
Synopsis: Gritty drama of union corruption memorable for Brando's sensitive performance
as a misfit dockworker-longshoreman, epitomized in the backseat scene
in which he cries, "I could've been a contender." He rebels
against his brother and corruption on New York City's docks in this powerful
story that mirrors the political climate of the early 1950s. Winner of
Academy Awards for Best Picture, Actor, and Supporting Actress, among
others.
9. Schindler's
List (1993) -
Amblin Entertainment/Universal
Director: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Liam Neeson; Ralph Fiennes; Ben Kingsley
Synopsis: Somber, inspiring adaptation of Thomas Kenneally's fact-based book about
an opportunistic Catholic industrialist (Neeson) able to save several
hundred Polish Jews from death camps during World War II by hiring them
to work in his factory. Memorable performances all around, particularly
by Fiennes, who plays a brutal Nazi officer. "The list is life." Winner
of Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director, among others.
10. Singin'
In The Rain (1952) -
MGM
Director: Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen
Stars: Gene Kelly; Debbie Reynolds; Donald O'Connor, Jean Hagen
Synopsis: Kelly makes a splash as Don Lockwood, a Hollywood leading man who reflects
on the production of The Dueling Cavalier - a film that becomes The
Dancing Cavalier when the studio takes advantage of a new invention
called sound. Reynolds and O'Connor are his energetic, supportive sidekicks,
helping to devise a clever way to cover the grating voice of his co-star
Lina Lamont, played by Hagen. Furious when she learns of their plan,
Lina asserts herself by screaming, "Why, I make more money than,
than Calvin Coolidge! Put together!" Delightful musical send-up
of the transition-conversion from silent to sound films, with many memorable
and delightful song and dance musical numbers, including
"Make 'Em Laugh," "Broadway Rhythm," and the incomparable
title song. This musical set in Hollywood has Kelly singing, dancing
and splashing in puddles.
11. It's
A Wonderful Life (1946) -
RKO
Director: Frank Capra
Stars: James Stewart; Donna Reed; Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry
Travers
Synopsis: Moving fable of disillusioned family man (Stewart)
who is visited by a guardian angel (Travers) and shown what the
world would be like if he had never been born. This notable Christmas
classic features a complex, engrossing, Everyman performance by
Stewart as George Bailey, a suicidal man redeemed by friendship
and the recognition that each person's life touches many others.
Remember every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings. Favorite
film of both Capra and Stewart.
12. Sunset
Boulevard (1950) -
Paramount
Director: Billy Wilder
Stars: Gloria Swanson; William Holden; Erich von Stroheim, Cecil B. DeMille
Synopsis: The caustic, tragic noir about a screenwriter
(Holden) and the deluded silent star (Swanson) who ensnares him.
Swanson is ready for her close-up in this pungent slice of Hollywood
life depicting a reclusive, former silent screen actress who kills
her screenwriting, gigolo boyfriend. The film won three Academy
Awards, including Best Screenplay. Memorable line: "I am big.
It's the pictures that got small."
13. The
Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) -
Columbia
Director: David Lean
Stars: William Holden; Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa
Synopsis: Dark World War II drama about stiff-backed, rigid
British POW colonel (Guinness), his equally unyielding Japanese
captor (Hayakawa), and the bridge that embodies the absurdities
of war. Guinness refuses to bow to torture in a Japanese prison
camp during World War II, and Holden is an American who escapes
from the camp, then must return to sabotage a bridge constructed
to perfection by inspired POWs under Guinness' command. Winner
of Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor,
among others. Memorable use of World War II song and the "Colonel
Bogey March."
14. Some
Like It Hot (1959) -
Ashton/Mirisch
Director: Billy Wilder
Stars: Jack Lemmon; Tony Curtis; Marilyn Monroe, Joe E. Brown, George Raft
Synopsis: Hilarious comedy about 1920s musicians (Lemmon
and Curtis) who witness the 1928 St. Valentine's Day Massacre in
Chicago, then join all-female band and evade killers. Wilder's
comic take provided sex symbol Monroe with two of her most unusual
rivals, Curtis and Lemmon in drag. Memorable throughout, especially
for the last line, "Well, nobody's perfect."
Adapted screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, for which they won Academy
Awards.
15. Star
Wars (1977) -
20th Century Fox
Director: George Lucas
Stars: Mark Hamill; Harrison Ford; Carrie Fisher; Alec Guinness
Synopsis: Spectacular space adventure combined a simple story of good
vs. evil with stunning visual effects and endearing robotic characters to revolutionize
the science fiction and action genres and make a star of Harrison Ford. A landmark
science fiction fantasy about a young man, Luke Skywalker (Hamill), who finds
his calling as a Jedi warrior and with the help of "droids" and an
outlaw named Han Solo (Ford), then embarks on a mission to rescue a princess
(Fisher) and save the galaxy from the Dark Side.
"May the force be with you." Two sequels and prequels followed.
16. All
About Eve (1950) -
20th Century Fox
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Stars: Bette Davis; Anne Baxter; George Sanders; Celeste Holm; Thelma Ritter
Synopsis: Classic story of backstage betrayal, with Davis
as the aging star Margo Channing and Baxter as the young schemer
Eve Harrington. Fasten your seat belts for a bumpy ride in this
story of an aging actress who is undone by a young, ambitious fan.
Sophisticated performances by Davis, Sanders and Baxter shine in
this scathing look at the world of the theater. Academy Award winner
for Best Picture, it is memorable for Sanders' role as the cynical
critic and Marilyn Monroe as his scene-stealing consort.
17. The
African Queen (1951) -
United Artists
Director: John Huston
Stars: Humphrey Bogart; Katharine Hepburn; Robert Morley
Synopsis: Unlikely love story and rousing romantic adventure yarn set
in Africa, between drunken boatman and prim spinster (Bogart and Hepburn) who
battle each other and then join forces on an uncharted river at the outbreak
of World War I. Quintessential Bogart performance won an Academy Award for Best
Actor. The James Agee/John Huston screenplay is based on the C.S. Forester novel.
18. Psycho
(1960) -
Paramount
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: Anthony Perkins; Janet Leigh; Vera Miles; John Gavin
Synopsis: Shocking thriller of a woman (Leigh) on the lam with stolen
money, and the twisted events at the Bates Motel under the management of Norman
Bates (Perkins)...and his mother, where she makes the mistake of checking in.
Controversial upon release for its shocking shower scene and sympathetic portrayal
of the killer, it has since been influential to horror and thriller filmmakers.
Hitchcock's horror film is also remembered for Bernard Herrmann's chilling score.
19. Chinatown
(1974) -
Paramount
Director: Roman Polanski
Stars: Jack Nicholson; Faye Dunaway; John Huston
Synopsis: Intricate mystery involving an enigmatic woman (Dunaway), her
corrupt father (Huston), and 1930s LA private detective Jake (J.J.) Gittes (Nicholson),
who is lured into the world of shady water rights and land deals and uncovers
family secrets while investigating the death of mysterious Dunaway's husband.
Seductive 1930s set design, and memorable last line:
"Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown." Won an Academy Award for
Best Original Screenplay, among others.
20. One
Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975) -
United Artists
Director: Milos Forman
Stars: Jack Nicholson; Louise Fletcher; Brad Dourif
Synopsis: Earnest adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel about inspired mental
asylum patient Randle McMurphy (Nicholson), a troublemaker committed to the institution
who sparks new life in the downtrodden inmates, giving them purpose and self-worth.
His war on the system is fought at every step by Fletcher's Nurse Ratched who
has a relentless drive to squash him. Won five Academy Awards - for Best Picture,
Actor, Actress, Director, and Screenplay, among others.
21. The
Grapes of Wrath (1940) -
20th Century Fox
Director: John Ford
Stars: Henry Fonda; Jane Darwell; John Carradine, Charley Grapewin
Synopsis: This moving social drama, adapted from John Steinbeck's novel
about displaced farmers during the Great Depression, follows the hopeful migration
of workers from the Oklahoma dust bowl through their subsequent disillusionment
upon reaching California - the "promised land." Notable for understated
performances by Fonda and Jane Darwell, in a supporting role as Ma Joad, which
earned her an Academy Award. Ford won an Academy Award for Best Director.
22. 2001:
A Space Odyssey (1968) -
MGM
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Stars: Keir Dullea; William Sylvester; Gary Lockwood, Douglas Rain (voice
of HAL)
Synopsis: Kubrick's cooly-spectacular science fiction space
drama/epic puts the history of mankind in context between ape and
space voyager. The film created a stir for its special effects,
the computer HAL, the search for alien existence in the galaxy,
and the debate about the meaning of the film's final sequence.
HAL 9000 the computer, with voice by Rain, is memorable.
23. The
Maltese Falcon (1941) -
Warner Bros.
Director: John Huston
Stars: Humphrey Bogart; Mary Astor; Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Elisha
Cook, Jr.
Synopsis: Bogart offers the definitive incarnation of Sam
Spade in this tight adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's detective
story. Huston's directorial debut found detective Bogart trying
to solve his partner's murder intertwined with recovering the elusive
statue of a black bird. His efforts are impeded by a mysterious,
mendacious femme fatale (Astor), a corpulent Greenstreet and a
cryptic Lorre.
24. Raging
Bull (1980) -
United Artists
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Robert De Niro; Cathy Moriarty; Joe Pesci
Synopsis: Dark biographical drama of self-destructive boxer Jake LaMotta
and his path to redemption. De Niro is LaMotta, the middleweight boxing champion
whose opponents in the ring are no match for the demons he fights in his personal
life. Once a peerless atavistic boxer, LaMotta takes a fall and never recovers,
eventually becoming a broken, overweight man who masquerades as a stand-up comic.
The film is often noted for Thelma Schoonmacher's achievement in editing, compelling
fight scenes, and an Academy Award-winning performance by De Niro, who transformed
himself physically for the title role.
25. E.T.
- The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) -
Universal
Director: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Dee Wallace; Henry Thomas; Drew Barrymore
Synopsis: Touching, exhilarating drama of young boy (Thomas) Eliot from
a broken home, who discovers and encounters an extraterrestrial, other-worldly
creature that has been stranded on earth light years from home and wants only
to return home. Together they form a universal friendship, and Eliot helps E.T. "Phone
home." John Williams's Academy Award-winning score is notable.
26. Dr.
Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
(1964) -
Columbia
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Stars: Peter Sellers; George C. Scott; Sterling Hayden; Slim Pickens
Synopsis: Kubrick's black comedy of US nuclear bomb launch on Russia,
focuses on an American president, played by Sellers in one of his three roles,
who must contend with a Soviet nuclear attack on the United States and his own
maniacal staff, including Scott's memorable General Turgidson. Features a memorable
triad of performances by Sellers (as US president, British officer, and deranged
scientist) and Pickens's wild ride on a missile. "Gentlemen, you can't fight
in here! This is the War Room!"
27. Bonnie
And Clyde (1967) -
Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
Director: Arthur Penn
Stars: Warren Beatty; Faye Dunaway; Michael J. Pollard; Gene
Hackman, Estelle Parsons
Synopsis: Influential reimagining of gangster film genre recounts lives and loves
of infamous, real-life 1930s bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow
(Dunaway and Beatty), which mixed romance, adventure, glamour, comedy
and violence in a way never seen before. Also notable for influence on
fashion and its stylized presentation of film violence. "We rob
banks."
28. Apocalypse
Now (1979) -
Zoetrope Studios
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Stars: Marlon Brando; Robert Duvall; Martin Sheen
Synopsis: Phantasmagoric representation of Vietnam War based loosely on Joseph
Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness. Coppola's Vietnam epic follows
Sheen up the Mekong River into Cambodia to find Brando, an officer who
has gone mad in the jungle and is running his own empire. Features an
enigmatic performance by Brando (as Kurtz) and dazzling Academy Award-winning
cinematography by Vittorio Storaro.
29. Mr.
Smith Goes to Washington (1939) -
Columbia
Director: Frank Capra
Stars: James Stewart; Claude Rains; Jean Arthur; Thomas Mitchell
Synopsis: Capra's exhilarating comedy-drama and biting satire of Washington politics
chronicles triumph of idealistic young Senator Jefferson Smith (Stewart)
over longtime corruption, embodied in mentor Senator Paine (Rains) and
a powerful political machine. Stewart is aided by hard-boiled secretary
Arthur, some Boy Rangers and a 24-hour, one-man filibuster in a stirring
scene.
30. The
Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) -
Warner Bros.
Director: John Huston
Stars: Humphrey Bogart; Walter Huston; Tim Holt
Synopsis: Morality tale about gold prospectors overcome by greed won Academy Awards
for Best Director, Screenplay, and Supporting Actor (Walter Huston, father
of the director and screenwriter). A scraggly Bogart leads a trio of
gold prospectors destroyed by greed in this taut psychological drama.
John Huston directed his father in a stellar performance.
31. Annie
Hall (1977) -
United Artists
Director: Woody Allen
Stars: Woody Allen; Diane Keaton; Tony Roberts
Synopsis: Sophisticated autobiographical comedy of the untenable love affair of
two New Yorkers (Allen and Keaton), notable for its witty dialogue and
sumptuous rendering of New York City. Allen's Alvy Singer, a Jewish comedian,
is trying to find love in the Big Apple, despite his neurosis, and falls
in love with Keaton's aspiring singer, WASPy Annie Hall. He narrates
the story of his love affair as she "lah-dee-dah"s her way
through life, while he obsesses on sex, New York, religion, intellectualism,
fads and fate. This comedy also launched a women's fashion trend based
on Annie Hall's "look." Won Academy Awards for Best Picture
and Actress (Keaton, in title role), among others.
32. The
Godfather, Part II (1974) -
Paramount
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Stars: Al Pacino; Robert De Niro; Robert Duvall; Diane Keaton,
Lee Strasberg
Synopsis: The sizzling sequel to The Godfather contrasts the rise to power
of young Vito Corleone (De Niro) with the maturation and moral decline
of his son Don Michael Corleone (Pacino). In the film's extended flashback
sequences, De Niro is the young Vito as he gains power in the New York
City Mafia. Shows us the world of Don Vito Corleone before and after
the story in the original film. Pacino is his son Michael, who struggles
to bring the family into the modern age. Outstanding period detail. Winner
of Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director, and Supporting Actor (De
Niro), among others.
33. High
Noon (1952) -
United Artists
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Stars: Gary Cooper; Lloyd Bridges; Thomas Mitchell; Grace Kelly
Synopsis: Classically drawn western about newlywed marshal (Cooper) deserted by
his community in the face of evil. On his wedding day, Cooper is forced
to face an old enemy alone as the people of his town turn their backs
on him. His Quaker bride, Kelly, ultimately comes to his aid as the clock
ticks toward noon and the inevitable shootout. Academy Award winner for
Best Picture, memorable for its tight structure and iconic Academy Award-winning
performance by Cooper.
34. To
Kill A Mockingbird (1962) -
Universal
Director: Robert Mulligan
Stars: Gregory Peck; Mary Badham; Philip Alford; Robert Duvall
Synopsis: Foote's screenplay is an affecting adaptation of Harper Lee's novel about
a small-town widowed Southern lawyer's (Peck) defense of a black man
accused of raping a white woman in the 1930s. At home, he raises his
daughter, Scout, and his son, Jem, and teaches them about compassion
and the evils of prejudice. Remembered for Peck's Academy Award-winning
performance as lawyer Atticus Finch and the debut of Robert Duvall as
recluse Boo Radley.
35. It
Happened One Night (1934) -
Columbia
Director: Frank Capra
Stars: Clark Gable; Claudette Colbert; Walter Connolly
Synopsis: Definitive screwball comedy - a landmark battle of the sexes love story
between a runaway heiress bride (Colbert) who shows her legs to hitch
a ride on their trip from Florida to New York, and learns about life
and live, and an unemployed, unscrupulous newspaperman/reporter (Gable)
who separates their beds at night with a blanket known as the "walls
of Jericho." Love blossoms along the way, despite the "Wall
of Jericho" that divides them. The film was an unqualified success
and still provides inspiration for many comedies. It was the first film
to sweep the four top Academy Awards - winning Best Picture, Best Actor,
Best Actress, and Best Director - and established Capra as the preeminent
director of the 1930s. Gable's bare-chested presence onscreen caused
a decline in US undershirt sales.
36. Midnight
Cowboy (1969) -
United Artists
Director: John Schlesinger
Stars: Jon Voight; Dustin Hoffman; Sylvia Miles, Brenda Vaccaro
Synopsis: Dark, powerful character drama about misfits living on the fringe in
New York City. Voight is Joe Buck, a country boy who arrives in New York
City to make his fortune as a hustler. As he struggles to maintain a
living, he meets Hoffman's Ratzo Rizzo, and the two friends work together
to find a better life. Based on the novel by James Lee Herlihy, it was
the first and only X-rated film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture
(later edited to gain R rating). "I'm walkin' here!"
37. The
Best Years of Our Lives (1946) -
Goldwyn, RKO
Director: William Wyler
Stars: Myrna Loy; Fredric March; Dana Andrews; Teresa Wright,
Harold Russell
Synopsis: Poignant drama of three returning World War II veterans from different
strata of society, who faced difficult readjustments to everyday civilian
life in this thoughtful film for its generation, which simply and realistically
showed a real-life soldier coping with devastating injuries. Won Academy
Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, and Supporting Actor
(Harold Russell, as a veteran who lost both hands in the war). Memorable
March homecoming scene.
38. Double
Indemnity (1944) -
Paramount
Director: Billy Wilder
Stars: Fred MacMurray; Edward G. Robinson; Barbara Stanwyck
Synopsis: This crackling adaptation of James Cain's shady tale of an insurance
salesman lured into murder was brilliantly cast with the usually "nice
guy" MacMurray as the slick agent in love with calculating and scheming
Stanwyck. Features a sharp Wilder/Raymond Chandler screenplay and steamy
chemistry between the leads. Robinson provides the moral center as the
salesman's dogged colleague.
39. Doctor Zhivago (1965) -
MGM
Director: David Lean
Stars: Omar Sharif; Julie Christie; Geraldine Chaplin
Synopsis: Lean's sweeping adaptation of Boris Pasternak's epic novel, set amid
the turmoil of World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution, stars Sharif
in the title role as the married Russian doctor-poet with feelings for
two women. One of the two is Lara, played by Christie, who inspires him
to write beautiful love poems that contrast with the stark realities
of life in Russia after the 1917 Communist Revolution. Maurice Jarre
won an Academy Award for his romantic score.
40. North
By Northwest (1959) -
MGM
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: Cary Grant; Eva Marie Saint; James Mason; Jessie Royce
Landis
Synopsis: Witty, baroque mystery that begins with the mistaken identity of Roger
Thornhill (Grant) and moves to a cross-country chase. Grant is the Hitchcockian
man caught up in something he doesn't understand as he travels from New
York to the carved faces of Mount Rushmore in this mire of spies, counterspies
and romance. Notable scenes include the thrilling crop-dusting airplane
sequence.
41. West
Side Story (1961) -
United Artists
Director: Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins
Stars: Natalie Wood; George Chakiris; Rita Moreno; Richard
Beymer; Russ Tamblyn
Synopsis: Masterful film adaptation of the Leonard Bernstein-Stephen Sondheim landmark
Broadway musical about gang life and star-crossed love that captures
its vigor, color, and tragedy. It's the Romeo and Juliet story in 1950s
New York City with the Sharks and the Jets squaring off, and it features
dramatic songs including "Tonight," "Somewhere,"
and "America." Earned Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director,
and Supporting Actor and Actress, among others.
42. Rear
Window (1954) -
Paramount
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: James Stewart; Grace Kelly; Wendell Corey; Thelma Ritter;
Raymond Burr
Synopsis: When a broken leg forces photographer Stewart to become convalescent
and wheelchair-bound in his New York City apartment, he amuses himself
by amiably spying on his neighbors and soon becomes obsessed when he
thinks he has uncovered a bona fide murder case. Kelly, as his fashion-model
girlfriend, helps with amateur detective work, and voyeurism. Based on
a Cornell Woolrich story. Notable for its rendering of 1950s New York
City and for Kelly's stylish costumes.
43. King
Kong (1933) -
RKO
Director: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack
Stars: Fay Wray; Robert Armstrong; Bruce Cabot
Synopsis: Tragic fantasy-adventure of a giant misunderstood ape, his adoring love
for a woman (Wray), and the closing sequence of his death atop the Empire
State Building. But it wasn't the airplanes that killed the mighty Kong
- "It was beauty killed the beast." Legendary special effects
and animation (with live action) by Willis O'Brien. Pounding score by
Max Steiner.
44. The
Birth Of A Nation (1915) -
Epoch Producing Co.
Director: D.W. Griffith
Stars: Lillian Gish; Mae Marsh; Henry B. Walthall; Miriam Cooper;
Wallace Reid; Elmo Lincoln
Synopsis: Groundbreaking, all-star silent epic of Civil War and Reconstruction
strife seen through the eyes of two families, one Union, one Confederate.
Notable for intricate narrative that is sustained for over two and a
half hours. This now-controversial film (with its racism and heroic depiction
of the Ku Klux Klan) was the first of the great American epic films and
a landmark in the development of the motion picture.
45. A
Streetcar Named Desire (1951) -
Warner Bros.
Director: Elia Kazan
Stars: Marlon Brando; Vivien Leigh; Kim Hunter; Karl Malden
Synopsis: Potent adaptation of the Tennessee Williams tragedy-play is brought to
the big screen with Brando as Stanley Kowalski, the blue-collared brute
married to the sister (Hunter) of an emotionally fragile, aging Southern
belle (Leigh) named Blanche DuBois. The film established coarse Brando
as a star and gained Academy Awards for Leigh, Malden, and Hunter.
"Stella!"
46. A Clockwork Orange (1971) -
Warner Bros.
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Stars: Malcolm McDowell; Patrick Magee; Adrienne Corri; Michael
Bates
Synopsis: Stunning, stylized adaptation of Anthony Burgess's dark, socially-satiric
novel, seen through the eyes of Alex (McDowell) and his "droogs" as
they terrorize their way through London with 'ultraviolence', until he
is reprogrammed. The controversial, farsighted work was edited from its
original X rating to an R rating.
47. Taxi
Driver (1976) -
Columbia
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Robert De Niro; Jodie Foster; Cybill Shepherd; Harvey
Keitel
Synopsis: Unsettling urban drama of New York City cab driver Travis Bickle (De
Niro), whose rage builds in a lonely, dark world, until his attempt to
befriend and free Foster's 12-year-old prostitute from her pimp culminates
in a violent shoot-out. He combats the crime and filth of the city through
what he believes to be righteous violence. The sight of Bickle barking
"You talkin' to me?" to himself in the mirror is still shocking.
The moody score by Bernard Herrmann (his last work) captures New York's
menacing darkness.
48. Jaws
(1975) -
Universal
Director: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Roy Scheider; Robert Shaw; Richard Dreyfuss
Synopsis: Thrilling adventure about a killer shark and the motley crew hunting
for it. Spielberg pits three men against a Great White Shark that has
been attacking swimmers at an island resort in New England. The film
redefined the word "blockbuster," and John Williams' score
(that won an Academy Award) still haunts swimmers around the world. Notable
for lifelike mechanical shark.
49. Snow
White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937) -
RKO/Walt Disney
Director: David Hand, Ben Sharpsteen, William Cottrell, Walt
Disney, and others
Stars: Adriana Caselotti; Harry Stockwell; Lucille LaVerne (voices)
Synopsis: Disney's first feature-length animated film charmed audiences with its
fluid and rich artwork and detail, distinctive fairytale characters,
and charming songs such as the enduring "Whistle While You Work" and
"Someday My Prince Will Come."
50. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid (1969) -
20th Century Fox
Director: George Roy Hill
Stars: Paul Newman; Robert Redford; Katharine Ross
Synopsis: Genial character western chronicling the relationship of two bandits
(Newman and Redford), two offbeat outlaws who run (and jump) from the
law, then flee to Bolivia where they meet a bloody end in their final
attempt to escape the law. Marked by William Goldman's keen Academy Award-winning
Original Screenplay and star turns by the two leads. The action-filled,
lightly comic Western features the Burt Bacharach song
"Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head."
51. The
Philadelphia Story (1940) -
MGM
Director: George Cukor
Stars: Katharine Hepburn; Cary Grant; James Stewart; Ruth Hussey
Synopsis: Divine adaptation of the Philip Barry marriage comedy features three of the screen's
biggest stars at their wittiest and most beautiful. Hepburn reprises her stage
role as a haughty heiress (who is "lit from within") who is about to
wed a pompous self-made man. Reporter Stewart is covering the society event and
helps her down from her pedestal - especially during a tipsy wedding-eve encounter
- and into the arms of ex-husband Grant. Memorable drunk scenes between Stewart
and Hepburn, and Stewart and Grant. Stewart won an Academy Award for Best Actor,
among others.
52. From Here to
Eternity (1953) -
Columbia
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Stars: Montgomery Clift; Burt Lancaster; Deborah Kerr; Frank
Sinatra; Donna Reed
Synopsis: Blistering adaptation of James Jones's novel of army life in Hawaii on the eve
of the US entrance into WWII. The image of waves crashing over the passionately
embracing Kerr and Lancaster is one of the most sensual (and much-imitated) ever
filmed. The bombing of Pearl Harbor interrupts the two love affairs in the film.
The film captured Academy Awards for Best Picture and Director, as well as a
career-rebuilding Best Supporting Actor award for Sinatra.
53. Amadeus
(1984) -
Orion
Director: Milos Forman
Stars: F. Murray Abraham; Tom Hulce; Elizabeth Berridge
Synopsis: Sweeping drama of the difficult relationship between composers Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart (Hulce) and Antonio Salieri (Abraham). Salieri declares war against the
heavens for speaking through the genius of Mozart in this study of the excesses
of talent and jealousy. Flashbacks illuminate the mad, energetic brilliance of
Mozart, and Salieri's struggle with his own mediocrity. Film won an Academy Award
for Best Picture, and Abraham was named Best Actor, among others.
54. All
Quiet On The Western Front (1930) -
Universal
Director: Lewis Milestone
Stars: Lew Ayres; Louis Wolheim; John Wray; Slim Summerville
Synopsis: Powerful adaptation of the Erich Maria Remarque's anti-war dramatic novel about
the experiences and lives of a group of fresh-faced German students who join
the Army and become soldiers during World War I. Winner of Academy Awards for
Best Picture and Best Director, among others, and it was a box-office success.
55. The
Sound of Music (1965) -
20th Century Fox
Director: Robert Wise
Stars: Julie Andrews; Christopher Plummer; Eleanor Parker; Peggy
Wood
Synopsis: Phenomenally popular film adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway
musical about the singing Von Trapp family and their escape from the
Nazis. Andrews is Maria, a nun who becomes governess to the von Trapp
family. Maria falls in love with the children and their handsome widowed
father just as Austria is being annexed by the Nazis. The film's songs
include the title song,
"Do-Re-Mi," "Edelweiss," "My Favorite Things," and
"Climb Every Mountain." Memorable opening sequence with Maria
and the Alps. Five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Director.
56. M*A*S*H
(1970) -
Aspen/20th Century Fox
Director: Robert Altman
Stars: Donald Sutherland; Elliott Gould; Sally Kellerman; Robert
Duvall
Synopsis: Bawdy black comedy about the members of a free-wheeling, Mobile Army Surgical
Hospital (MASH) during the Korean War. Sutherland's Hawkeye, Gould's Trapper
John and Kellerman's Hotlips push the boundaries of irreverence and inject humor
into the daily horrors they encounter behind the lines. The film's episodic narrative
concludes with a football game that pits the surgeons, who have much in their
bag of tricks, against the general's team. Established Altman as major iconoclastic
director and helped usher in a decade of US film experimentation. It also inspired
a long-running television series.
57. The
Third Man (1949) -
Korda/Selznick Releasing Org.
Director: Carol Reed
Stars: Joseph Cotten; Orson Welles; Alida Valli; Trevor Howard
Synopsis: The search for Harry Lime (Welles) is the center of this lithe mystery
notable for its Academy Award-winning cinematography and distinctive,
recurring zither music. A giant ferris wheel and a spectacular late-in-the
film appearance by Welles as the mysterious "Harry Lime" highlight
this tale of intrigue in post-World War II Vienna.
58. Fantasia
(1940) -
Walt Disney-RKO
Director: James Algar, Ben Sharpsteen, Walt Disney and others
Stars: Deems Taylor (narrator); Leopold Stokowski (himself)
and the Philadelphia Orchestra
Synopsis: Disney's groundbreaking union and mixture of classical music and animated
images is a visual feast for young and old. Presented in a dazzling,
eight-part imaginative journey. Musical selections include Dukas' "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," with
Mickey Mouse as the apprentice in one of the film's most indelible images, and
Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring."
59. Rebel
Without a Cause (1955) -
Warner Bros.
Director: Nicholas Ray
Stars: James Dean; Natalie Wood; Sal Mineo; Jim Backus
Synopsis: Definitive film of 1950s teen disaffection memorable for Dean's defining role
as a tortured high-school student. It seemed to define a generation of 1950s
teenagers who felt lonely and isolated from their parents and sought solace with
friends and authority-defying drag racing. Also notable are performances by Mineo
as Dean's troubled friend and Backus as Dean's pitiable father.
60. Raiders
of the Lost Ark (1981) -
Paramount
Director: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Harrison Ford; Karen Allen; John Rhys-Davies
Synopsis: Rollicking yarn about archeologist Indiana Jones (Ford) with a flair for dramatic
situations that follow his quest from the Amazon, through Egypt and on to the
lost Ark of the Covenant. Poison darts, a giant rolling ball, pits full of snakes
and an army of Nazis are just a few of the obstacles in his quest. Simultaneously
paid homage to the tradition of movie serials and reinvented the adventure film.
Followed by two sequels.
61. Vertigo
(1958) -
Paramount
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: James Stewart; Kim Novak; Barbara Bel Geddes
Synopsis: Obsession and suspense combine in this eerie drama about retired San
Francisco police detective "Scottie" Ferguson (Stewart). His
fear of heights and boredom in retirement make him the foil in an elaborate
murder plot. Novak is the mysterious woman with whom he falls in love.
Hitchcock's mastery made the city and surrounding locations central to
the plot. Tense score by Bernard Herrmann, memorable credits by Saul
Bass. Considered by many film writers and scholars as Hitchcock's most
ambitious film.
62. Tootsie
(1982) -
Columbia
Director: Sydney Pollack
Stars: Dustin Hoffman; Jessica Lange; Bill Murray (uncredited),
Dabney Coleman; Charles Durning; Teri Garr
Synopsis: Hilarious comedy about a temperamental out of work actor Michael Dorsey (Hoffman)
who puts on a dress, lands the role of a lifetime in a TV soap opera, and becomes
a national phenomenon as straight-shooting female soap opera star Dorothy Michaels.
Love interest/friend Lange and her lonely father make situations even more complicated
in this gender-bending love story. Lange won an Academy Award for Best Supporting
Actress for her performance.
63. Stagecoach
(1939) -
Walter Wanger/United Artists
Director: John Ford
Stars: John Wayne; Claire Trevor; Andy Devine; John Carradine;
Thomas Mitchell
Synopsis: Absorbing character study of eventful stagecoach trip elevated the western in
dramatic importance. Wayne as Ringo Kid was also propelled to stardom in this
film as a vengeance-seeking fugitive whose outlook on life is transformed after
he boards a stagecoach bound for Lordsville. One of a new style of big budget
Westerns, the film is notable for Ford's first use of Monument Valley and its
sensitive character studies. Stunning showcase of stuntwork by Yakima Canutt.
For the role of the drunken doctor, Mitchell won an Academy Award for Best Supporting
Actor.
64. Close Encounters of
the Third Kind (1977) -
Columbia
Director: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Richard Dreyfuss; Francois Truffaut; Teri Garr
Synopsis: Spectacular, hopeful mystery that celebrates the possibility of friendly extraterrestrial
life. Spielberg's science fiction fantasy is the story of an average man (Dreyfuss)
who finds himself called by an otherworldly source, culminating in his rendezvous
with alien creatures. Groundbreaking special effects and inviting John Williams
score.
65. The Silence of the
Lambs (1991) -
Orion
Director: Jonathan Demme
Stars: Jodie Foster; Scott Glenn; Anthony Hopkins
Synopsis: Engrossing adaptation of Thomas Harris' crime novel and character study.
"I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti" hisses
Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant serial killer engaged by Foster's
FBI agent in an effort to capture another killer on the loose. Notable
for the complex relationship between the agent and cannibalistic criminal
Hannibal. Won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor, Actress,
and Director, among others.
66. Network
(1976) -
MGM/United Artists
Director: Sidney Lumet
Stars: Peter Finch; Faye Dunaway; William Holden; Robert Duvall
Synopsis: Biting satire of a television network's shameless search for ratings.
Memorable for its prophetic screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky and the performances
of Dunaway and Finch. Finch is the news anchor on the brink of madness,
Dunaway the aggressive producer on the climb and Holden the network head
who upholds a moral code...temporarily. All three garnered Academy Awards,
as did Supporting Actress Beatrice Straight. Chayefsky and Lumet's satire
on television had the nation yelling: "I'm
mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
67. The
Manchurian Candidate (1962) -
United Artists
Director: John Frankenheimer
Stars: Frank Sinatra; Laurence Harvey; Angela Lansbury; Janet
Leigh
Synopsis: Suspense thriller about a veteran (Sinatra), a brain-washed former POW
from the Korean War, who suspects that a fellow soldier, hailed as a
hero, is actually something else. Harvey is the "hero" who
has been trained or programmed by the Communists as an assassin, and
a Queen of Hearts is the key to his personality. Notable for its political
satire, visual inventiveness, and Lansbury's performance as a scheming
mother.
68. An
American In Paris (1951) -
MGM
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Stars: Gene Kelly; Leslie Caron; Oscar Levant; Nina Foch
Synopsis: Academy Award-winning film about American artist (Kelly) finding love
with Frenchwoman (Caron). A showcase for dazzling scenes built around
George and Ira Gershwin's lush score. The music and the dancing of Kelly
and Caron are at the center of this fluid, visually beautiful love story
set in post-war Paris. The ballet sequence, filmed in the style of Impressionist
paintings, is legendary. Songs include "I
Got Rhythm," "Embraceable You," "S'Wonderful," and
the title song.
69. Shane
(1953) -
Paramount
Director: George Stevens
Stars: Alan Ladd; Jean Arthur; Van Heflin; Jack Palance; Brandon
de Wilde
Synopsis: Elemental, landmark western about lone, former gunslinger (Ladd) who helps a
family of settlers defend and protect themselves against some murdering cattlemen,
including Palance. Ladd's stoic Shane, who is idolized by the settlers' son,
is the archetypal Western hero. De Wilde's closing call to Shane caps the film.
70. The
French Connection (1971) -
20th Century-Fox
Director: William Friedkin
Stars: Gene Hackman; Fernando Rey; Roy Scheider
Synopsis: Gritty action drama about unconventional "Popeye" Doyle (Hackman),
a brash New York City detective who tracks international heroin smugglers
and uncovers a major drug operation. The spectacular car chase under
the elevated train tracks is movie legend. Won five Academy Awards, including
Best Picture and Actor, among others.
71. Forrest Gump (1994) -
Paramount
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Stars: Tom Hanks; Robin Wright; Gary Sinise; Sally Field
Synopsis: Poignant drama of a simple, kind man named Forrest Gump (Hanks), who
despite being mentally challenged, tries hard, is honest and places his
trust in luck. He tells his life story to anyone who sits next to him
at a bus stop, and the flashbacks follow Forrest and his good heart through
some of the highlights of modern American history. He becomes central
to the major events of the late 20th century and finds true love with
Wright along the way. Through the use of seamless digital visual imagery,
Forrest appears to interact in scenes with John F. Kennedy, John Lennon
and George Wallace. This adaptation of Winston Groom's novel won Academy
Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor. "Life is like a box of chocolates."
72. Ben-Hur
(1959) -
MGM
Director: William Wyler
Stars: Charlton Heston; Jack Hawkins; Stephen Boyd; Hugh Griffith
Synopsis: This epic, character-driven adaptation of Lew Wallace's religious novel set in
the time of Christ, a remake of the 1926 film, features Heston as the title character,
a wealthy Jew whose former childhood friend, a Roman, causes him to lose everything.
He eventually gets his revenge in the film's most impressive and legendary action
scene - the spectacular chariot race. Won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director,
and Supporting Actor (Griffith), among others.
73. Wuthering
Heights (1939) -
United Artists
Director: William Wyler
Stars: Merle Oberon; Laurence Olivier; David Niven; Flora Robson
Synopsis: Gregg Toland's moody, stunning Academy Award-winning cinematography infuses the
film adaptation of the Emily Bronte novel with a haunting atmosphere. Features
Olivier and Oberon as the doomed romantic couple, with Olivier as the brooding
master of Wuthering Heights who roams the English moors in search of his lost
love, Oberon.
74. The
Gold Rush (1925) -
United Artists
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Stars: Charlie Chaplin; Georgia Hale; Mack Swain; Tom Murray
Synopsis: In one of Chaplin's most famous films, a poignant comedy that defines Chaplin's
silent work, a lone Alaskan prospector (Chaplin), the Little Tramp, battles the
elements in search of gold, adventure, love and a girl in the Yukon. He attempts
to stave off hunger by dining on his shoe, much to the consternation of cabin
mate Swain, who imagines that Charlie is a giant chicken. The film's many memorable
scenes include the meal he makes of his boiled leather boot, a famished Swain's
vision of Chaplin as a giant chicken, and the dance of the rolls. Chaplin also
wrote the score and screenplay.
75. Dances With Wolves (1990) -
Orion
Director: Kevin Costner
Stars: Kevin Costner; Mary McDonnell; Graham Greene
Synopsis: Civil War captain (Costner) finds a new home among the Sioux Indians
in this Academy Award-winning movie, Costner's directoral debut. Costner
directs and stars in this epic vision of the old West, where as a disillusioned
soldier, he leaves the Civil War and strikes out to the prairie on his
own. After a difficult start, he learns to live, love and respect the
land when the Sioux Indians welcome him into their tribe. Memorable for
its atmospheric location cinematography and feeling portrayal of Native
American life.
76. City
Lights (1931) -
Chaplin/United Artists
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Stars: Charlie Chaplin; Virginia Cherrill; Harry Myers; Florence
Lee
Synopsis: A moving tragi-comedy/drama in which the Little Tramp falls hopelessly in love
with a blind flower girl (Cherrill), and experiences difficulty linked to a rich
and eccentric lush (Myers). Perhaps best remembered for the dramatic ending when
she first sees the face that helped her regain her sight, the film is grounded
in classic Chaplin comedy. Among the most memorable laughs has Chaplin trying
to raise money for the girl's operation by entering the boxing ring in a bout
that he thinks has been fixed. Notable as an exquisite Chaplinesque blend of
drama, passion, self-sacrifice and true love.
77. American Graffiti (1973) -
Universal
Director: George Lucas
Stars: Richard Dreyfuss; Ron Howard; Candy Clark; Harrison
Ford; Paul LeMat; Cindy Williams; Mackenzie Phillips; Charles Martin
Smith
Synopsis: "Where were you in '62?" was the advertising slogan for this nostalgic,
comical, coming-of-age story of California teenagers/high-school graduates
during an eventful late-summer night out on the town in 1962, who mark passage
from high school into adulthood. This funny, melancholy film brought the director
to prominence, featured a grown-up Howard, and made stars of newcomers Ford
and Dreyfuss; use of early rock hits influenced soundtracks for years.
78. Rocky (1976) -
United Artists
Director: John G. Avildsen
Stars: Sylvester Stallone; Talia Shire; Burgess Meredith;
Carl Weathers
Synopsis: Crowd-pleasing Cinderella drama of small-time boxer Rocky Balboa (Stallone),
an underclassed boxer from Philadelphia, whose dream is to fight for
the championship belt. He gets his last chance to prove himself in a
championship match against Apollo Creed (Weathers). With the help of
his new love Adrian (Shire), and his wily and irascible boxing coach
(Meredith), he steps into the ring against Creed and exits an American
film icon. An Academy Award winner, the film made Stallone a star and
sparked four sequels.
79. The Deer Hunter (1978) -
Warner Bros.
Director: Michael Cimino
Stars: Robert De Niro; Christopher Walken; Meryl Streep; John
Savage; John Cazale
Synopsis: Cimino's epic film, an intense drama about friendship and the effects
of Vietnam War service on a group of three steelworker friends and their
western Pennsylvania community, whose lives are irrevocably changed by
a tour of duty in Vietnam. The film is renowned for the Russian roulette
scenes. Winner of Academy Awards for Best Picture and Supporting Actor
(Walken), among others.
80. The
Wild Bunch (1969) -
Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Stars: William Holden; Ernest Borgnine; Robert Ryan; Ben Johnson
Synopsis: Anti-heroic western about a group of aging desperados who plan one last
and final heist before retiring. Holden is the leader of the band of
outlaws in 1913 Texas. Peckinpah's use of slow motion and Lou Lombardo's
editing are considered milestones in the Western genre. Notable for its
grittiness and lyrical representation of violence.
81. Modern
Times (1936) -
United Artists
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Stars: Charlie Chaplin; Paulette Goddard; Henry Bergman
Synopsis: Poignant comedy-drama about the dehumanization of the machine age. Chaplin
ended the silent era with this film, his last silent film, about a little
man working on an assembly line, who is literally caught in the hub and
cogs of an industrialized society, and after several trips to the hospital
and jail, ultimately finds happiness with a kindred soul.
82. Giant (1956) -
Warner Bros.
Director: George Stevens
Stars: Elizabeth Taylor; James Dean; Rock Hudson; Mercedes
McCambridge
Synopsis: Generational epic based on Edna Ferber's saga of wealth and prejudice
during twenty-five years in the life of a Texas ranching family. It boasts
the sprawling Texas countryside, co-stars Taylor, Hudson and Dean, and
features a fistfight in a diner fought to the strains of "The Yellow
Rose of Texas." Notable for its star turns and as Dean's final film.
83. Platoon (1986) -
Orion
Director: Oliver Stone
Stars: Tom Berenger; Willem Dafoe; Charlie Sheen, Forest Whitaker
Synopsis: Intense drama about the Vietnam War depicts harshness and cruelties through
the eyes of a soldier played by Sheen, a young man from a privileged
background who volunteers to serve in Vietnam and experiences the horror
of war first-hand. He tries to make sense of the madness through the
leadership provided by Dafoe's sensitive Sergeant Elias and Berenger's
scarred and unfeeling Sergeant Barnes. Acclaimed for its realism, the
film won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director, among others.
84. Fargo (1996) -
Gramercy Pictures/Polygram Filmed Entertainment/Working Title Films
Director: Joel Coen
Stars: Frances McDormand; William H. Macy; Steve Buscemi
Synopsis: Dark, jaunty, but grisly crime drama about a Minnesota gruesome multiple
murder case (intertwined with a botched kidnapping job hatched by Macy)
in a frigid and snowy landscape under the able investigation of pregnant
police chief Marge (McDormand). She reconstructs the crime with a style
all her own. Wood-chipper scene and blinding white exterior shots are
notable. Academy Award winner for Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay.
"You betcha."
85. Duck
Soup (1933) -
Paramount
Director: Leo McCarey
Stars: Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo Marx; Margaret Dumont;
Louis Calhern
Synopsis: Quintessential, anarchic Marx Brothers comedy about the Prime Minister
of Freedonia Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho), and his war on another fictional
country, Sylvania, with the help of Chico's peanut salesman and his sidekick,
Harpo. Released at the height of the Depression, this Marx Brothers comedy
is a satirical attack on politics and the absurdity of war. At the height
of battle, Groucho says to his brothers of Dumont,
"Remember, we're fighting for this woman's honor, which is probably
more than she ever did." In one memorable scene, Groucho, dictator
of the mythical country of Freedonia, mistakes Harpo for his mirror image.
Other timeless gags involve a street vendor and a sidecar. Zeppo's last
film.
86. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) -
MGM
Director: Frank Lloyd
Stars: Charles Laughton; Clark Gable; Franchot Tone
Synopsis: Bracing adaptation of the adventure novel by Charles Nordhoff and James
Norman Hall about 18th-century sea justice based on an historical incident,
with meaty performances by Laughton as Captain William Bligh, an excellent
seaman whose lack of humanity and rigid adherence to regulations forces
Gable's noble Fletcher Christian to lead a mutiny against him. Won an
Academy Award for Best Picture.
87. Frankenstein (1931) -
Universal
Director: James Whale
Stars: Colin Clive; Boris Karloff; Mae Clarke; John Boles;
Dwight Frye; Edward Van Sloan
Synopsis: The original sound version of Mary Shelley's classic horror novel is
notable for its Gothic atmosphere and haunting makeup and the poignant
performance by Karloff as the Monster brought to life by the scientist
Frankenstein (Clive). Whale ushered in a new era of horror films, and
Karloff was never quite able to shake his image as the frightening, yet
often sympathetic "monster" of Dr. Frankenstein.
88. Easy
Rider (1969) -
Columbia
Director: Dennis Hopper
Stars: Peter Fonda; Dennis Hopper; Jack Nicholson; Karen Black
Synopsis: Definitive countercultural road movie follows motorcycle-riding duo (Hopper
and Fonda) across America to find America. Nicholson gained notice for
his supporting role as a lawyer, leading to stardom in the 1970s. The
film became an anthem for the 1960s' cultural dialogue on freedom, individualism
and patriotism.
89. Patton (1970) -
20th Century-Fox
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Stars: George C. Scott; Karl Malden; Stephen Young
Synopsis: Intelligent epic biography of "Blood and Guts" World War II
general, notable for its riveting opening sequence of Scott as Patton
speaking in front of an American flag that fills the screen, and Scott's
commanding title performance. Film won an Academy Award for Best Picture;
Scott won (and refused) an award for Best Actor.
90. The Jazz Singer (1927) -
Warner Bros.
Director: Alan Crosland
Stars: Al Jolson; May McAvoy; Warner Oland; Eugenie Besserer;
William Demarest
Synopsis: Pioneering silent film with sound portions about a cantor's son (Jolson)
who enters show business. It wasn't really the first "talkie," but
its release marked the death knell for silent pictures and helped launch
the sound era. Jolson, as the rabbi's son who wants to be a Broadway
star, tells the audience "You ain't heard nothin' yet." Songs
include
"Blue Skies," "Mammy," and "Toot Toot Tootsie,
Goodbye."
91. My Fair Lady (1964) -
Warner Bros.
Director: George Cukor
Stars: Rex Harrison; Audrey Hepburn; Stanley Holloway; Gladys
Cooper; Wilfrid Hyde-White
Synopsis: Lush adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe musical, an adaptation of George
Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, that features Harrison reprising his stage
role as Henry Higgins, who takes a bet that he can transform the young
spirited cockney Eliza Doolittle (Hepburn) into a proper lady. Earned
Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Director, but the music
is the film's enduring element. Lerner and Loewe's songs include "Wouldn't
It Be Loverly," "The Rain In Spain," "On the Street
Where You Live,"
and "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face."
92. A Place in the Sun (1951) -
Paramount
Director: George Stevens
Stars: Montgomery Clift; Elizabeth Taylor; Shelley Winters
Synopsis: Atmospheric adaptation of Theodore Dreiser's novel An American Tragedy.
Features a smoldering performance from Clift as he pursues the gorgeous,
elusive, and rich Taylor. When the brooding Clift meets beautiful socialite
Taylor, he has to do something about his pregnant girlfriend Winters.
Whether or not Winters' drowning death is accidental, Clift must pay
the ultimate price.
93. The Apartment (1960) -
United Artists
Director: Billy Wilder
Stars: Jack Lemmon; Shirley MacLaine; Fred MacMurray
Synopsis: In this sparkling office comedy, a career-climbing insurance clerk (Lemmon)
advances his career when he offers his boss (MacMurray) the use of his
apartment as an evening love nest for an extra-marital fling. He soon
gets tangled up with the boss's flighty and fragile girlfriend (MacLaine),
the insurance building's elevator operator, and his career gets dangerously
close to plummeting back down to the lobby. Winner of Academy Awards
for Best Picture, Director, and Original Screenplay.
94. GoodFellas (1990) -
Warner Bros.
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Robert De Niro; Joe Pesci; Ray Liotta; Lorraine Bracco
Synopsis: Based on a true story in Nicholas Pileggi's book Wiseguy, this
is a violent, unromanticized drama about modern-day New York City Mafia
underworld life, as seen through the eyes of former member Henry Hill
(Liotta). Hill dreamed as a kid of becoming a member of the glamorous
mob who ran his New York neighborhood. De Niro and Pesci are members
of the family he ascends to, until he breaks the code and eventually
falls from grace.
95. Pulp
Fiction (1994) -
A Band Apart/Jersey Films/Miramax Films
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: John Travolta; Samuel L. Jackson; Uma Thurman; Bruce
Willis; Harvey Keitel; Tim Roth; Amanda Plummer, Ving Rhames
Synopsis: Tarantino weaves together multiple stories that juggle plot lines, time
frames and characters that inhabit the seamy side of Los Angeles, including
Travolta and Jackson as hit-men with strong moral codes, Willis as a
low-life boxer and, of course, The Gimp. The stories form a frenetic
meditation on underworld honor. The Travolta-Thurman dance scene and
metaphysical discussions between Travolta and Jackson are memorable.
96. The
Searchers (1956) -
Warner Bros.
Director: John Ford
Stars: John Wayne; Jeffrey Hunter; Natalie Wood; Ward Bond;
Vera Miles
Synopsis: Haunting western, Ford's masterpiece, about Ethan Edwards (Wayne), an
Indian-hating ex-soldier, who spends years in an obsessive and relentless
search for his niece Debbie (Wood), who was abducted and captured in
childhood during a Comanche Indian raid. Indelible closing shot shows
the eternal divide between Edwards and his family, and between the frontier
and civilization.
97. Bringing
Up Baby (1938) -
RKO
Director: Howard Hawks
Stars: Katharine Hepburn; Cary Grant; Charlie Ruggles
Synopsis: Archetypal, fast-paced screwball comedy about madcap heiress (Hepburn),
with the help of her pet leopard Baby and a wire-haired terrier named
George, who wreaks havoc and derails the staid life of a paleontologist
(Grant). Funny and fast, it features song standard, "I Can't Give
You Anything But Love," sung to the leopard perched on a roof.
98. Unforgiven (1992) -
Malpaso Productions/Warner Bros.
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood; Morgan Freeman; Gene Hackman, Frances
Fisher
Synopsis: Meditative western about a reformed killer (Eastwood) called to one last
gunfight. Eastwood directs and stars as a formerly notorious gunslinger
who is forced to return to his murderous ways after his wife dies and
his family needs money. The film was noted for challenging the morality
of Western stereotypes created by American film. Academy Award winner
for Best Picture, Director, and Supporting Actor (Hackman).
99. Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967) -
Columbia
Director: Stanley Kramer
Stars: Katharine Hepburn; Spencer Tracy; Sidney Poitier; Katharine
Houghton
Synopsis: Timely drama about parents (Tracy and Hepburn sharing the screen for
the last time) who learn of inter-racial romance between their daughter
(Houghton) and an erudite, well-spoken African-American (Poitier). She
brings him home for dinner and tests the family's socially liberal resolve.
Tracy's last film, especially poignant for a scene in which he and Hepburn
reflect on the power of love. Hepburn won an Academy Award for Best Actress.
100. Yankee
Doodle Dandy (1942) -
Warner Bros.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Stars: James Cagney; Joan Leslie; Walter Huston; Irene Manning
Synopsis: Patriotic musical biography of song-and-dance man George M. Cohan, energetically
portrayed by Cagney. The film covers the earliest days of vaudeville
to the development of the American musical stage play. Cagney sings and
dances memorably in the title role, for which he won an Academy Award.
The World War II musical features such rousingly patriotic Cohan songs
as "Over There," "It's a Grand Old Flag," "Give
My Regards to Broadway," "Mary's a Grand Old Name," and "Yankee
Doodle Boy."
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