50 Greatest
'Chick' Flicks of All Time

by O Magazine

Related Table of Contents:

In the July 2004 issue of O, the Oprah Magazine, in an article titled "The Mighty Chick Flick," Karen Durbin selected the 50 Greatest Chick Flicks of all time. The article noted:

Women's pictures used to be guilty pleasures: No more! Now they're kicking butt, getting respect, and grossing huge. From frothy romances to action to whale-riding adventures, these films show us who we are, where we've been, what we can take, and better yet, what we can dish out.

In general, 'chick flicks' - as they are known colloquially (although in earlier times, they were called 'women's pictures' with melodramatic themes), appeal more to the stereotypical interests of women than men. They are often romantic comedies, tearjerkers with female characters, Cinderella-like 'fairy tales' about finding love, or tales of feminine bonding (with lots of talky dialogue).

50 Greatest Chick Flicks
  1. Morocco (1930)
  2. Camille (1936)
  3. Notorious (1946)
  4. The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)
  5. The English Patient (1996)
  6. The Women (1939)
  7. Julia (1977)
  8. Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
  9. The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996)
  10. Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997)
  11. The Hours (2002)
  12. All About Eve (1950)
  13. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
  14. Aliens (1986)
  15. Thelma & Louise (1991)
  16. What's Love Got to Do with It (1993)
  17. Girlfight (2000)
  18. Black Narcissus (1947)
  19. The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
  20. The Lady Eve (1941)
  21. Born Yesterday (1950)
  22. Pat and Mike (1952)
  23. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  24. Bull Durham (1988)
  25. Pretty Woman (1990)
  1. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)
  2. Something's Gotta Give (2003)
  3. Rebecca (1940)
  4. Island in the Sun (1957)
  5. Smooth Talk (1985)
  6. She's Gotta Have It (1986)
  7. A Walk on the Moon (1999)
  8. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
  9. Sense and Sensibility (1995)
  10. Monsoon Wedding (2001)
  11. His Girl Friday (1940)
  12. High Society (1956)
  13. Imitation of Life (1959)
  14. Terms of Endearment (1983)
  15. The Color Purple (1985)
  16. Daughters of the Dust (1991)
  17. Little Women (1994)
  18. Eve's Bayou (1997)
  19. The Virgin Suicides (1999)
  20. Lovely & Amazing (2001)
  21. Laurel Canyon (2002)
  22. Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
  23. Whale Rider (2002)
  24. Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
  25. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)

Facts and Commentary About the O Magazine List:

  • The earliest film on the list was Morocco (1930) (# 1), and the most recent film was Something's Gotta Give (2003) (# 27).

  • By decade: 1930s (3 films), 1940s (6 films), 1950s (6 films), 1960s (1 film), 1970s (2 films), 1980s (8 films), 1990s (13 films), 2000s (10 films); one can only assume from this list that 'chick flicks' are a recent phenomenon, although that is not the case.

  • Classic romantic comedies in the list included: The Shop Around the Corner (1940) (# 19), His Girl Friday (1940) (# 36), The Lady Eve (1941) (# 20), Born Yesterday (1950) (# 21), Pat and Mike (1952) (# 22), and Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) (# 23).

  • Non-Hollywood films included: Black Narcissus (1947, UK) (# 18), Sense and Sensibility (1995, US/UK) (# 34), Monsoon Wedding (2001, US/India) (# 35), Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002, Aus), (# 47), Whale Rider (2002, NZ) (# 48), and Bend It Like Beckham (2002, UK) (# 49).

  • Real tear-jerkers in the list included: Camille (1936) (# 2), Imitation of Life (1959) (# 38), Terms of Endearment (1983) (# 39), and The English Patient (1996) (# 5).

  • There were a few odd choices in this listing, such as: Morocco (1930) (# 1), Notorious (1946) (# 3), All About Eve (1950) (# 12), Aliens (1986) (# 14), and Bull Durham (1988) (# 24).

  • Smooth Talk (1985) (# 30) was the only film on the list that was produced for PBS-TV, and debuted on TV (after a brief theatrical release). Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) (# 10) became the basis of the TV show Alice.

  • A few of the most obvious and expected 'chick-flicks' on the list included: Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997) (# 10), Thelma & Louise (1991) (# 15), What's Love Got to Do With It? (1993) (# 16), The Shop Around the Corner (1940) (# 19), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) (# 23), Pretty Woman (1990) (# 25), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) (# 26), Something's Gotta Give (2003) (# 27), A Walk on the Moon (1999) (# 32), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) (# 33), Imitation of Life (1959) (# 38), and Little Women (1994) (# 42).

  • Some of the most classic 'chick-flicks' of all time were absent from the list, such as: The Philadelphia Story (1940), An Affair to Remember (1957), Somewhere in Time (1980), Dirty Dancing (1987), Say Anything... (1989), Steel Magnolias (1989), When Harry Met Sally... (1989), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), A League of Their Own (1992), The Joy Luck Club (1993), The Remains of the Day (1993), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Before Sunrise (1995)/Before Sunset (2004), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), Now and Then (1995), Waiting to Exhale (1996), My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), Titanic (1997), Never Been Kissed (1999), Notting Hill (1999), Legally Blonde (2001), Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002), Love Actually (2003), Mona Lisa Smile (2003), The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005), and The Holiday (2006), etc.

  • The top 10 'greatest chick flicks", according to this list, were (in order): Morocco (1930), Camille (1936), Notorious (1946), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), The English Patient (1996), The Women (1939), Julia (1977), Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996), and Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997).

  • A number of the selections included films with illicit pairings or partnerships in doomed romances, such as: Camille (1936) (# 2), Notorious (1946) (# 3), The English Patient (1996) (# 5), Thelma & Louise (1991) (# 15), What's Love Got to Do With It? (1993) (# 16), Girlfight (2000) (# 17), Island in the Sun (1957) (# 29), Smooth Talk (1985, TV) (# 30), and A Walk on the Moon (1999) (# 32).

  • The most critically acclaimed films on the list included: Hitchcock's Notorious (1946) (# 3), 4 Best Picture winners: The English Patient (1996)(# 5) All About Eve (1950) (# 12), Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940) (# 28) and James L. Brooks' Terms of Endearment (1983) (# 39), Fred Zinnemann's Julia (1977) (# 7), Powell and Pressburger's Black Narcissus (1947, UK) (# 18), Preston Sturges' The Lady Eve (1941) (# 20), and Howard Hawks' His Girl Friday (1940) (# 36).

See other male-oriented lists in this site related to this subject area, such as 100 Greatest Guy Movies Ever Made and 50 Best Guy Movies of All Time.
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