My Favorite 100 Movies
by waldenpond88 | created - 09 May 2012 | updated - 09 May 2012 | PublicI like film noir best, also the suspenseful British CFF movies for kids which have been filmed in the fifties and sixties.
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1. The Reckless Moment (1949)
Not Rated | 82 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
After discovering the dead body of her teenage daughter's lover, a housewife takes desperate measures to protect her family from scandal.
Director: Max Ophüls | Stars: James Mason, Joan Bennett, Geraldine Brooks, Henry O'Neill
Votes: 5,654
By far the best film noir that I ever watched. Joan Bennett and James mason in an unforgettable thriller based on Elizabeth Sanxay Holding's novel. Filmed on Balboa Island, CA.
2. Woman in Hiding (1950)
Passed | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
After her father is killed in an accident, mill heiress Deborah Chandler marries the plant manager, Selden Clark, but his motives are suspicious.
Director: Michael Gordon | Stars: Ida Lupino, Stephen McNally, Howard Duff, Peggy Dow
Votes: 1,501
Rather unknown Ida Lupino & Stephen McNally film noir with an unpredictable plot.
3. My Name Is Julia Ross (1945)
Not Rated | 65 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Julia Ross secures employment through a rather nosy employment agency, with a wealthy widow, Mrs. Hughes, and goes to live at her house. 2 days later, she awakens - in a different house, in... See full summary »
Director: Joseph H. Lewis | Stars: Nina Foch, May Whitty, George Macready, Roland Varno
Votes: 3,745
Based on Anthony Gilbert's novel "The Woman in Red". It takes place in Cornwall, but has been filmed somewhere on the coast of California. Nina Foch in her best role!
4. Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
Passed | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
A writer falls in love with a young socialite and they're soon married, but her obsessive love for him threatens to be the undoing of them both as well as everyone around them.
Director: John M. Stahl | Stars: Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, Vincent Price
Votes: 14,764
Gene Tierney and Cornel Wilde in their best movie based on Ben Ames Williams novel. Great soundtrack!
5. Conflict (1945)
Passed | 86 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
An engineer trapped in an unhappy marriage murders his wife in the hope of marrying her younger sister.
Director: Curtis Bernhardt | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Alexis Smith, Sydney Greenstreet, Rose Hobart
Votes: 4,599
Under-estimated Humphrey Bogart thriller with Alexis Smith and Sidney Greenstreet. I enjoyed it much more than "The Big Sleep" or "The Maltese Falcon" (which I both like).
6. Dark Passage (1947)
Passed | 106 min | Film-Noir, Thriller
A man convicted of murdering his wife escapes from prison and works with a woman to try to prove his innocence.
Director: Delmer Daves | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bruce Bennett, Agnes Moorehead
Votes: 21,958
Almost as thrilling as "Conflict". Wonderful movie locations in San Francisco and next to San Quentin.
7. Now, Voyager (1942)
Passed | 117 min | Drama, Romance
A frumpy spinster blossoms under therapy and becomes an elegant, independent woman.
Director: Irving Rapper | Stars: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Gladys Cooper
Votes: 19,007
Interesting drama based on one of the five novels by Olive Higgins Prouty on the Bostonian Vale family. Bette Davis plays a rich heiress, an ugly duckling who turns into a beautiful swan, with a dominant mother. While she escapes her home, she falls in love with Paul Henreid ("Casablanca"). The White Fawn (1931), Lisa Vale (1938), Now, Voyager (1941), Home Port (1947), and Fabia (1951), all focusing on the same fictional family (Olive Higgins Prouty).
8. The Man in the Net (1959)
Unrated | 98 min | Crime, Mystery
A struggling artist in a small town becomes the prime suspect when his wife mysteriously disappears.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Alan Ladd, Carolyn Jones, Diane Brewster, John Lupton
Votes: 793
My favorite Alan Ladd movie based on the thriller by Patrick Quentin. He plays an artist who moved from the big city to the Connecticut countryside and is accused of killing his wife. Beautiful outdoor locations filmed in Connecticut.
9. The Great Gatsby (1949)
91 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A Jazz Age bootlegger learns the hard way about the wages of sin.
Director: Elliott Nugent | Stars: Alan Ladd, Betty Field, Macdonald Carey, Ruth Hussey
Votes: 890
Almost nobody knows that long before the Robert Redford version there was already a version with Alan Ladd. I wish it would become available on DVD.
10. Nightmare (1956)
Approved | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A New Orleans musician has a nightmare about killing a man in a strange house but he suspects that it really happened.
Director: Maxwell Shane | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Kevin McCarthy, Connie Russell, Virginia Christine
Votes: 996
The best movie that Kevin McCarthy has done. He plays a musician who dreams that he killed somebody. Edward G. Robinson plays his brother-in-law, a cop who tries to help him solve the mystery of his dream. Filmed in New Orleans.
11. Nightmare (1942)
Approved | 81 min | Film-Noir, Mystery, Romance
An ex-gambler helps a beautiful widow, and becomes involved with a murder, secret agents, and saboteurs.
Director: Tim Whelan | Stars: Diana Barrymore, Brian Donlevy, Henry Daniell, Eustace Wyatt
Votes: 195
Lesser known film noir set in WW II England with Drew Barrymore's aunt Diana Barrymore and Brian Donlevy playing the major roles.
12. Five on a Treasure Island (1957)
122 min | Adventure, Family
An Enid Blyton adventure about four young cousins on an island off the Dorset coast in England where a shipwreck attracts the attention of greedy men who might put our heroes in danger.
Director: Gerald Landau | Stars: Rel Grainer, Richard Palmer, Gillian Harrison, John Bailey
Votes: 92
This movie is available at amazon dot co dot uk...if you are looking for a suspenseful movie for kids. It requires a multi-regional DVD player. For all Famous Five fans: this is based on the first Famous Five book by Enid Blyton. Also available at amazon dot co dot uk: "Five have a Mystery to solve".
13. Treasure at the Mill (1957)
60 min | Family
A teenage boy goes in search of treasure at an old mill in the hope of solving all his mother's money worries.
Director: Max Anderson | Stars: John Ruddock, Richard Palmer, Hilda Fenemore, Harry Pettit
Votes: 71
This movie is available at amazon dot co dot uk...if you are looking for a suspenseful movie for kids. It requires a multi-regional DVD player. This is a story about an old mill (filmed outside of Colchester in Sussex, UK) and a treasure hunt.
14. Four Winds Island (1961)
113 min | Family
Director: David Villiers | Stars: Mandy Harper, Annette Robertson, Iain Gregory, John Pike
Votes: 20
Based on Vega Stewart's children's novel.
15. Five Clues to Fortune (1957)
129 min | Crime, Drama
A treasure has been hidden at Woburn Abbey at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. When the sale of the present-day estate is threatened three children find this treasure by means of five clues hidden in a deer's antler.
Director: Joe Mendoza | Stars: John Rogers, Roberta Paterson, Peter Godsell, David Hemmings
Votes: 31
An exciting treasure hunt in a mansion somewhere in England.
16. Ambush at Devil's Gap (1966)
95 min | Drama, Family
Director: David Eastman | Stars: Chris Barrington, Sue Sylvaine, Stephen Brown, Jacqueline Mitchell
A group of British kids spend their ski vacations close to a castle and solve a mystery.
17. The Young Jacobites (1960)
139 min | Adventure
Two children on holiday on The Isle of Skye, Scotland, go back in time and help Bonnie Prince Charlie escape from Scotland to France.
Director: John Reeve | Stars: Francesca Annis, Jeremy Bulloch, Frazer Hines, John Pike
Votes: 40
A historical CFF movie set in England.
18. Hunted in Holland (1961)
61 min | Adventure, Crime, Family
Tim (Sean Scully) comes over to Amsterdam to visit his penfriend Piet (Jacques Verbrugge). An Englishman operating as a tourist guide is a diamond-smuggler and the boys along with Piet's sister Annike (Sandra Spurr), foil his plans in a boat chase.
Director: Derek Williams | Stars: Sean Scully, Jacques Verbrugge, Sandra Spurr, Walter Randall
Votes: 75
Kids witness how thieves steal some jewels and take matters in their own hands...filmed in color in Holland.
19. Mystery on Bird Island (1954)
57 min | Family, Mystery
Two children on holiday in Alderney, along with two local children catch men stealing bird eggs on the uninhabited island of Burhou but discover more than they bargained for.
Director: John Haggarty | Stars: Mavis Sage, Vernon Morris, Jennifer Beech, Nick Edmett
Votes: 57
One of the best CFF movies for kids, filmed on Alderney, Channel Islands.
20. The Secret of the Forest (1956)
61 min | Adventure, Family
A forester's two children, Knight and Day, become friends with two spoiled rich kids, Terrington and Cox, when the latter two come to the woods for a visit. The quartet gets involved with a... See full summary »
Director: Darcy Conyers | Stars: Kit Terrington, Jacqueline Cox, Barry Knight, Diana Day
Votes: 26
Another thrilling story for kids.
21. The Little Ballerina (1947)
61 min | Drama
A young girl has an ambition to dance with the famous Sadlers Wells troupe but first she must win a scholarship. Includes a performance of Les Sylphides by Margot Fonteyn.
Director: Lewis Gilbert | Stars: Yvonne Marsh, Marian Chapman, Kay Henderson, Doreen Richards
Votes: 24
Margot Fonteyn has a small part in this CFF film about a little ballerina who wants to dance in front of her big idol, Margot Fonteyn.
22. Dead End Creek (1965– )
94 min | Drama
Stars: Sally Thomsett, Alan Miller, Len Jones, Fabia Drake
"The Flood" from 1963 is also not listed in the imdb, another great CFF film.
23. The Ghost of Monk's Island (1966)
106 min | Adventure, Family, Mystery
Four young children are shipwrecked on an island but they are not alone.
Directors: Jeremy Summers, Jan Darnley-Smith | Stars: Pierre Bedenes, Lucinda Jackson, Peter Bartlett, Robert Bartlett
Votes: 99
One of the first CFF movies in color, four children get lost in their boat and strand on spooky Monk's Island. But is the monk a real monk?
24. Johnny on the Run (1953)
68 min | Adventure
A superb early work by illustrious British director Lewis Gilbert (Alfie, You Only Live Twice) which follows orphaned Polish refugee Janek, who runs into trouble in the shape of two ... See full summary »
Director: Lewis Gilbert | Stars: Eugeniusz Chylek, Sydney Tafler, Michael Balfour, Edna Wynn
Votes: 117
Another very good CFF movie "The Carringford School Mystery" is unfortunately not listed in the imdb.
25. Caught in the Net (1960)
64 min | Family
Bob Ketley is a young boy whose older brother is a research scientist working with fish. He helps catch criminals who are poaching salmon by dropping dynamite into the river.
Director: John Haggerty | Stars: Jeremy Bulloch, Anthony Parker, Larry Burns, Bruce Wightman
Votes: 17
The story of a girl and her brother who spend their holidays in Scotland with their uncle and witness a crime.
26. The Secret Tunnel (1948)
49 min | Family
Two boys thwart the efforts of antique smugglers at a British estate.
Director: William C. Hammond | Stars: Tony Wager, Ivor Bowyer, Murray Matheson, Gerald Pring
Votes: 74
Art thieves who work as servants in a mansion try to steal some valuable paintings, but two boys find out and take action.
27. The Kid from Canada (1957)
57 min | Family
When a Canadian boy visits his cousins in Scotland, his attitude first causes antagonism with Scottish youngsters, then disappears when he helps an injured shepherd.
Director: Kay Mander | Stars: Christopher Braden, Bernard Braden, Bobby Stevenson, Elinor Laing
Votes: 37
Compelling CFF film about a boy from Canada who spends his vacation with relatives in Scotland.
28. The Flying Eye (1955)
53 min | Comedy, Family
Colonel Audacious is an inventor and with the help of his young assistant, Barnstuffer, he invents a model aeroplane with a TV camera attached that can then fly around revealing all sorts ... See full summary »
Director: William C. Hammond | Stars: David Hannaford, Julia Lockwood, Harcourt Williams, Ivan Craig
Votes: 27
An old inventor has to fight off thieves who want his formula.
29. The Piper's Tune (1962)
62 min | Drama, Family
Director: Muriel Box | Stars: Mavis Ranson, Roberta Tovey, Angela White, Malcolm Ranson
Votes: 11
This Childrens Film Foundation movie is one of the best and takes place during Napoleon's time, filmed in the Pyrenees.
30. The Secret Cave (1953)
62 min | Family
Director: John Durst | Stars: David Coote, Nick Edmett, Susan Ford, Lewis Gedge
Votes: 16
Another suspenseful CFF movie.
31. A Summer Place (1959)
Approved | 130 min | Drama, Romance
A self-made businessman rekindles a romance with a former flame while their two teenage children begin a romance of their own with drastic consequences for both couples.
Director: Delmer Daves | Stars: Richard Egan, Dorothy McGuire, Sandra Dee, Arthur Kennedy
Votes: 3,848
Based on Sloan Wilson's wonderful novel, with Sandra Dee, Troy Donahue, Dorothy Maguire and Richard Egan. Filmed close to Pebble Beach, CA.
32. Susan Slade (1961)
Not Rated | 116 min | Drama
Premarital sex, secrets, and society. At 17, shy Susan Slade is on her way to California after a 10-year stay at a remote Chilean mine where her father was chief engineer. Onboard ship, ... See full summary »
Director: Delmer Daves | Stars: Troy Donahue, Dorothy McGuire, Connie Stevens, Lloyd Nolan
Votes: 941
Connie Stevens and Troy Donahue in a very good drama.
33. The Truth (1960)
Not Rated | 127 min | Drama
A liberated small-town girl and the family's black sheep moves to Paris with her sister, only to find herself standing trial for the shocking murder of her young lover. Was his killing premeditated or was this a crime of passion?
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot | Stars: Brigitte Bardot, Paul Meurisse, Charles Vanel, Sami Frey
Votes: 4,452
Too bad that "En cas de malheur" with BB is not listed (has probably some weird English title). Those two movies really need to be released on DVD!!!
34. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Approved | 170 min | Drama, Romance, War
Three World War II veterans, two of them traumatized or disabled, return home to the American midwest to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Fredric March, Teresa Wright
Votes: 70,514 | Gross: $23.65M
No matter how often I watch this WW II drama, I never get tired of watching it!
35. Call Northside 777 (1948)
Approved | 112 min | Drama, Film-Noir
Chicago reporter P.J. McNeal re-opens a decade-old murder case.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: James Stewart, Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb, Helen Walker
Votes: 10,235
A rather unknown James Stewart film noir with a very compelling plot.
36. Vertigo (1958)
PG | 128 min | Mystery, Romance, Thriller
A former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore
Votes: 426,682 | Gross: $3.20M
I went to all "Vertigo" movie locations in 1997. When I came to San Juan Bautista and visited the mission, I discovered in a small storage room a model of the mission with the tower that collapsed in an earth quake, before Hitchcock could realize "Vertigo". So he used that model and projected the tower onto the screen.
37. North by Northwest (1959)
Approved | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery
A New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis
Votes: 345,989 | Gross: $13.28M
Great location around Mount Rushmore in Dakota. Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint as well as James Mason as the bad guy.
38. Marnie (1964)
PG | 130 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Mark marries Marnie although she is a habitual thief and has serious psychological problems, and tries to help her confront and resolve them.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Tippi Hedren, Sean Connery, Martin Gabel, Louise Latham
Votes: 53,825 | Gross: $7.00M
Not as popular as the other Hitchcock movies, nevertheless a very thrilling film.
39. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
PG | 120 min | Drama, Thriller
An American doctor and his wife, a former singing star, witness a murder while vacationing in Morocco, and are drawn into a twisting plot of international intrigue when their young son is kidnapped.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda de Banzie, Bernard Miles
Votes: 69,531 | Gross: $10.25M
Doris Day and James Stewart play the couple on a trip to Morocco where their son gets kidnapped...
40. High Noon (1952)
PG | 85 min | Drama, Thriller, Western
A town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon train.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges
Votes: 110,128 | Gross: $9.45M
The best western of all times.
41. Shane (1953)
Not Rated | 118 min | Drama, Western
A weary gunfighter in 1880s Wyoming begins to envision a quieter life after befriending a homestead family with a young son who idolizes him, but a smoldering range war forces him to act.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon De Wilde
Votes: 44,122 | Gross: $20.00M
Another good western.
42. Saskatchewan (1954)
Approved | 87 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
In 1877 Western Canada, a police inspector revolts against his inept commander, taking a safer route to the U.S. border in order to stop invading hostile Indians.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Alan Ladd, Shelley Winters, J. Carrol Naish, Hugh O'Brian
Votes: 1,167
Alan Ladd and a slim Shelley Winters in a lovely colored western.
43. Mildred Pierce (1945)
Approved | 111 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden
Votes: 28,639
Joan Crawford made many movies that I enjoyed, but this is her best.
44. Portrait in Black (1960)
Approved | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
After a married woman and her lover murder her cruel husband, they find themselves targeted by someone who is aware of their crime.
Director: Michael Gordon | Stars: Lana Turner, Anthony Quinn, Richard Basehart, Sandra Dee
Votes: 1,787
Everybody's favorite Lana Turner film seems to be "Imitation of Life", but actually I liked a few others better.
45. Another Time, Another Place (1958)
Approved | 91 min | Drama, Romance, War
An American war correspondent falls in love with a BBC reporter, but their relationship seems doomed from the start.
Director: Lewis Allen | Stars: Lana Turner, Barry Sullivan, Glynis Johns, Sean Connery
Votes: 886
Beautifully filmed in Cornwall, UK.
46. The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)
Not Rated | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An artist forms an attachment with a woman on holiday in the country. As the relationship develops, his behavior and information about his past cause her increasing concern.
Director: Peter Godfrey | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Alexis Smith, Nigel Bruce
Votes: 4,898
My favorite Barbara Stanwyck film noir.
47. Cover Girl (1944)
Passed | 107 min | Comedy, Music, Musical
Rusty Parker wins a contest and becomes a celebrated cover girl; this endangers her romance with dancing mentor Danny.
Director: Charles Vidor | Stars: Rita Hayworth, Gene Kelly, Lee Bowman, Phil Silvers
Votes: 5,942
Rita Hayworth was never more beautiful than in this movie.
48. Daddy Long Legs (1955)
Approved | 126 min | Musical, Romance
A wealthy American has a chance encounter with a joyful young French woman, and anonymously pays for her education. She writes letters to her mysterious benefactor, nicknaming him from the description given by some of her fellow orphans.
Director: Jean Negulesco | Stars: Fred Astaire, Leslie Caron, Terry Moore, Thelma Ritter
Votes: 4,284
How could Leonard Maltin give this movie only 2 out of 4 stars???
49. Les Girls (1957)
Approved | 114 min | Comedy, Musical
The former members of a dance troupe are suing because of recently published memoirs. Each one insists on own point of view.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Gene Kelly, Mitzi Gaynor, Kay Kendall, Taina Elg
Votes: 3,058
50. The Devil Makes Three (1952)
Approved | 96 min | Crime, Romance, Thriller
In 1947, an American pilot returns to Germany to find a family that saved his life during WW2 but he stumbles upon a secret Neo-Nazi group.
Director: Andrew Marton | Stars: Gene Kelly, Pier Angeli, Richard Rober, Richard Egan
Votes: 532
Rather unknown post WW II movie filmed in Germany and Austria with Gene Kelly and Pier Angeli. Very compelling!
51. The Happy Road (1957)
Approved | 99 min | Comedy
An American boy and a French girl run away from a Swiss school making for Paris to reunite with their parents. The boy's father and the girl's mother join forces, despite cultural differences, to search for their kids.
Director: Gene Kelly | Stars: Gene Kelly, Barbara Laage, Michael Redgrave, Bobby Clark
Votes: 467
Another gem with Gene Kelly, Barbara Laage and a young Brigitte Fossey. It's the story of a little American boy and a little French girl who both escape boarding school in order to make it to Paris to be with their (single) parents...
52. The Search (1948)
Approved | 104 min | Drama, War
In post-war Berlin, an American private helps a lost Czech boy find his mother.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Montgomery Clift, Ivan Jandl, Aline MacMahon, Wendell Corey
Votes: 4,839
Post WW II movie with Montgomery Clift who helps a mother find her little son whom she lost during WW II.
53. The Big Lift (1950)
Approved | 120 min | Drama, War
Experiences of two Air Force sergeants during the 1948 Berlin Airlift.
Director: George Seaton | Stars: Montgomery Clift, Paul Douglas, Cornell Borchers, Bruni Löbel
Votes: 1,731
Story taking place during the Berlin Airlift in 1948, filmed in Berlin, Germany.
54. I Confess (1953)
Not Rated | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A priest, who comes under suspicion for murder, cannot clear his name without breaking the seal of the confessional.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden, Brian Aherne
Votes: 23,241
One of my three favorite Montgomery Clift movies, filmed in Québec City, Canada. The movie location is still unchanged today.
55. Deceptions (1985– )
Not Rated | 181 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
Twin sisters trade places with unexpected results.
Stars: Stefanie Powers, Barry Bostwick, Jeremy Brett, James Faulkner
Votes: 617
This should be the one based on Judith Michaels' great novel which has a sequel (A Tangled Web). My favorite Stefanie Powers film.
56. Top of the Hill (1980 TV Movie)
240 min | Action, Drama
Michael Stone is a rising company executive decides to chuck his career and marriage to fulfill a fantasy to be a member of the U.S. Olympic bobsled team to partake in the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid.
Director: Walter Grauman | Stars: Adrienne Barbeau, Sonny Bono, Peter Brown, J.D. Cannon
Votes: 50
Great mini TV series with Wayne Rogers, Elke Sommer, Mel Ferrer, Adrienne Barbeau, Sonny Bono and Pauls Prentiss. Based on Irwin Shaw's novel. Why is this still not out on DVD???
57. The Winds of War (1983)
126 min | Drama, Romance, War
The trials of the Henry and Jastrow families in the early years of World War II.
Stars: Robert Mitchum, Ali MacGraw, Jan-Michael Vincent, John Houseman
Votes: 4,653
The best account on WW II ever!
58. East of Eden (1955)
PG | 118 min | Drama
Two brothers in 1910s California struggle to maintain their strict, Bible-toting father's favor as an old secret about their long-absent mother comes to light.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: James Dean, Raymond Massey, Julie Harris, Burl Ives
Votes: 48,800
Wonderful Steinbeck drama.
59. The Clouded Yellow (1950)
Approved | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A former British agent is employed at the Fenton country estate where he aids Fenton's niece in eluding the police after she's unjustly accused of murdering a local gamekeeper.
Director: Ralph Thomas | Stars: Jean Simmons, Trevor Howard, Sonia Dresdel, Barry Jones
Votes: 982
Thrilling story about a young woman (Jean Simmons) being wrongfully accused of killing somebody. With the help of Trevor Howard she escapes to Scotland...beautiful location shots in the Scottish wilderness.
60. Five Miles to Midnight (1962)
Approved | 110 min | Crime, Drama
Lisa Macklin, an Italian woman, has a fight with her American husband Robert in a Paris night club. He leaves the next day for a business trip and Lisa says she does not want to see him ... See full summary »
Director: Anatole Litvak | Stars: Sophia Loren, Anthony Perkins, Gig Young, Yolande Turner
Votes: 1,252
Hardly anybody has seen this thriller, but it's extremly suspenseful! Filmed in Paris and very unpredictable.
61. A Foreign Affair (1948)
Approved | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In occupied Berlin, an army captain is torn between an ex-Nazi café singer and the U.S. congresswoman investigating her.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Jean Arthur, Marlene Dietrich, John Lund, Millard Mitchell
Votes: 8,554
My favorite Billy Wilder movie.
62. I Was a Male War Bride (1949)
Approved | 105 min | Comedy, Romance, War
After marrying an American lieutenant with whom he was assigned to work in post-war Germany, a French captain attempts to find a way to accompany her back to the States under the terms of the War Bride Act.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Cary Grant, Ann Sheridan, Marion Marshall, Randy Stuart
Votes: 9,212
Almost as good as "A Foreign Affair".
63. A Prize of Gold (1955)
98 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
World War II sergeant Joe Lawrence falls for refugee aiming to relocate German orphans. He conspires with comrades to fund relocation through heist. Plot follows daring robbery plan and blossoming romance amidst wartime challenges.
Director: Mark Robson | Stars: Richard Widmark, Mai Zetterling, Nigel Patrick, George Cole
Votes: 353
I wish it would finally be available on DVD!!!
64. Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
Not Rated | 118 min | Drama, Romance
A reporter pretends to be Jewish in order to cover a story on anti-Semitism, and personally discovers the true depths of bigotry and hatred.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, John Garfield, Celeste Holm
Votes: 17,766
The novel by Laura Z. Hobson is also very good!
65. The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956)
Approved | 153 min | Drama, Romance, War
An ex-soldier faces ethical questions as he tries to earn enough to support his wife and children well.
Director: Nunnally Johnson | Stars: Gregory Peck, Jennifer Jones, Fredric March, Marisa Pavan
Votes: 4,104 | Gross: $10.88M
For everybody who enjoyed Sloan Wilson's novel on which this movie is based, Wilson wrote a barely known sequel ("The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit II") and his autobiography is called "What shall we wear to this Party: The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit 20 years before and after". Enjoy!
66. The Uninvited (1944)
Passed | 99 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
A composer and his sister discover that the reason they are able to purchase a beautiful gothic seacoast mansion very cheaply is the house's unsavory past.
Director: Lewis Allen | Stars: Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, Donald Crisp, Cornelia Otis Skinner
Votes: 12,460
My favorite Ray Milland film. Based on Dorothy McArdle's novel about a ghost in a house on the Cornish coast.
67. Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)
Approved | 94 min | Comedy, Romance
A man and his wife decide they can afford to have a house in the country built to their specifications. It's a lot more trouble than they think.
Director: H.C. Potter | Stars: Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Melvyn Douglas, Reginald Denny
Votes: 12,807 | Gross: $6.00M
If only the novel would be as good as the film!
68. They Won't Believe Me (1947)
Approved | 95 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
On trial for murdering his girlfriend, philandering stockbroker Larry Ballentine takes the stand to claim his innocence and describe the actual, but improbable-sounding, sequence of events that led to her death.
Director: Irving Pichel | Stars: Robert Young, Susan Hayward, Jane Greer, Rita Johnson
Votes: 2,962
Nice film noir gem. If you are lucky, you can catch it on TCM.
69. The Bravados (1958)
Approved | 98 min | Drama, Western
A man is chasing four outlaws who killed his wife and finds them in a small town's jail, but they escape to Mexico.
Director: Henry King | Stars: Gregory Peck, Joan Collins, Stephen Boyd, Albert Salmi
Votes: 6,396
Wonderful western with Gregory Peck and Joan Collins when she was very young.
70. The Three Musketeers (1948)
Not Rated | 125 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
D'Artagnan and his Musketeer comrades thwart the plans of Cardinal Richelieu to usurp King Louis XIII's power.
Director: George Sidney | Stars: Lana Turner, Gene Kelly, June Allyson, Van Heflin
Votes: 6,931
The best Musketeers version, great part for Lana Turner as Lady de Winter and June Allyson as lovely Constance Bonacieux. Gene Kelly plays D'Artagnan with lots of charm.
71. El forsan el talata (1962)
Comedy, Drama
An honorable lawyer who documents his beliefs and ideologies in an infamous magazine, but that is reversed when he inherits a cousin's nightclub, and all his beliefs and morals get tested.
Director: Fatin Abdulwahhab | Stars: Ismail Yassin, Abdulsalam El-Nabulsi, Mahmoud Al Meleji, Mahmoud Azmy
Votes: 28
Nice two part version with Gérard de Barray from France. Mylène Démongéot plays Lady de Winter.
72. The Wicked Lady (1945)
Not Rated | 97 min | Adventure, Drama
A noblewoman begins to lead a dangerous double life in order to alleviate her boredom.
Director: Leslie Arliss | Stars: Margaret Lockwood, James Mason, Patricia Roc, Griffith Jones
Votes: 1,637
Wonderful historical film for Michael Rennie and James Mason fans.
73. Forever Amber (1947)
Approved | 138 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In seventeenth-century England, Amber St. Clair aims to raise herself from country girl to nobility, and succeeds, but loses her true love in the process.
Directors: Otto Preminger, John M. Stahl | Stars: Linda Darnell, Cornel Wilde, Richard Greene, George Sanders
Votes: 1,691 | Gross: $16.00M
It's about time to release this historical masterpiece on DVD!!!
74. Come Next Spring (1956)
Approved | 92 min | Drama, Romance
In 1920s Arkansas, after a 12 year absence, reformed alcoholic Matt Ballot returns to his abandoned family but has to win them back and regain his hometown's respect too.
Director: R.G. Springsteen | Stars: Ann Sheridan, Steve Cochran, Walter Brennan, Sherry Jackson
Votes: 670
Wonderful drama with Ann Sheridan and Steve Cochran.
75. House of Numbers (1957)
Approved | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
San Quentin prison inmate Arnie Judlow asks his twin brother Bill and his wife Ruth to assist him in a daring escape plan.
Director: Russell Rouse | Stars: Jack Palance, Harold J. Stone, Edward Platt, Barbara Lang
Votes: 617
Jack Palance's best thriller! The film is based on Jack Finney's gripping novel.
76. Pillow Talk (1959)
Passed | 102 min | Comedy, Romance
An interior decorator and a playboy songwriter share a telephone party line and size each other up.
Director: Michael Gordon | Stars: Rock Hudson, Doris Day, Tony Randall, Thelma Ritter
Votes: 19,161 | Gross: $18.75M
My favorite Doris Day movie, a good story, funny dialogues, beautiful dresses, songs and interior design!
77. The Glenn Miller Story (1954)
Approved | 115 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Biography of bandleader Glenn Miller from his beginnings to his death over the English Channel in December 1944.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: James Stewart, June Allyson, Harry Morgan, Charles Drake
Votes: 9,705
My favorite of the Swing Music movies. "The Benny Goodman Story" and "The Five Pennies" is also worth watching. But "The Glenn Miller Story" is a classic!
78. Man's Favorite Sport? (1964)
Approved | 120 min | Comedy, Romance
The author of a best-selling fishing guide is actually extremely inexperienced in the sport, which causes mayhem when he is entered into a competition.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Rock Hudson, Paula Prentiss, Maria Perschy, John McGiver
Votes: 6,070
My favorite Rock Hudson movie (and "All that Heaven allows" is my second favorite).
79. The Last Wagon (1956)
Approved | 99 min | Drama, Western
Wagon train survivors of an Apache attack entrust the sheriff's prisoner, scout Comanche Todd, with their lives despite his wanted-for-murder status.
Director: Delmer Daves | Stars: Richard Widmark, Felicia Farr, Susan Kohner, Tommy Rettig
Votes: 3,663
Great western with Richard Widmark, Felicia Farr (Jack Lemmon's wife) and Tommy Rettig (Lassie).
80. A Man Called Peter (1955)
Approved | 119 min | Biography, Drama, Family
The rise of Peter Marshall, from modest Scottish upbringing, to New York seminary, time in Atlanta churches, his marriage, appointment as chaplain of the US Senate, and early death at 46. Based on real events.
Director: Henry Koster | Stars: Richard Todd, Jean Peters, Marjorie Rambeau, Jill Esmond
Votes: 1,133
Richard Todd's best film. Based on a true story.
81. Niagara (1953)
Not Rated | 92 min | Film-Noir, Thriller
As two couples are visiting Niagara Falls, tensions between one wife and her husband reach the level of murder.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, Max Showalter
Votes: 19,725
They don't make such movies anymore...
82. 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956)
Approved | 103 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A blind American writer living in London stumbles upon a criminal conspiracy involving kidnapping and extortion.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: Van Johnson, Vera Miles, Cecil Parker, Patricia Laffan
Votes: 2,574
Extremely thrilling plot about a blind author who becomes the witness of a conversation about a planned crime in a pub. Filmed in London.
83. Scaramouche (1952)
Approved | 115 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
In France during the late 18th Century, a man sets out to avenge the death of his friend at the hands of a master swordsman.
Director: George Sidney | Stars: Stewart Granger, Janet Leigh, Eleanor Parker, Mel Ferrer
Votes: 6,363
Mel Ferrer and Stewart Granger both fall for Janet Leigh.
84. The Wild North (1952)
Approved | 97 min | Adventure, Romance, Western
In the Canadian mountains, a trapper goes on the run accused of a crime, and is pursued by a rugged and determined lawman of the Royal North-West Mounted Police.
Director: Andrew Marton | Stars: Stewart Granger, Wendell Corey, Cyd Charisse, Morgan Farley
Votes: 1,077
This is my favorite Stewart Granger movie. Gorgeous location. Wendell Corey in one of his best roles as a Mountie.
85. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Approved | 80 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates, King Donovan
Votes: 54,720
This one and "The Day the Earth stood still" (Michael Rennie) are my favorite SciFi movies.
86. Showdown at Abilene (1956)
Approved | 80 min | Western
After the Civil War, Confederate Jim Trask returns to his native Abilene to find his sweetheart engaged to his old friend Dave Mosely who's leading the cattlemen in a feud against the farmers.
Director: Charles F. Haas | Stars: Jock Mahoney, Martha Hyer, Lyle Bettger, David Janssen
Votes: 371
I wish this would be released on DVD. Jock Mahoney ("Yancy Derringer") and David Janssen ("The Fugitive") in a very good western.
87. Purple Noon (1960)
PG-13 | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Tom Ripley is a talented mimic, moocher, forger and all-around criminal improviser; but there's more to Tom Ripley than even he can guess.
Director: René Clément | Stars: Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet, Marie Laforêt, Erno Crisa
Votes: 19,324
The best Tom Ripley movie (based on Patricia Highsmith). French title: Plein soleil. Alain Delon plays Tom Ripley, Maurice Ronet plays Philip Greenleaf. The moral ending was forced on the movie director (René Clément), because a bad guy (Ripley) was not supposed to get away with a crime way back in the fifties and sixties. In Highsmith's Ripley novels however, he does.
88. Top Hat (1935)
Not Rated | 101 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
An American dancer comes to Britain and falls for a model whom he initially annoyed, but she mistakes him for his goofy producer.
Director: Mark Sandrich | Stars: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton, Erik Rhodes
Votes: 20,700 | Gross: $3.88M
Some of the best songs and dancing scenes in a Ginger Rogers & Fred Astaire movie.
89. A Stolen Life (1946)
Passed | 109 min | Drama
When a woman's twin sister is drowned, she assumes her identity in order to be close to the man she feels her sister took from her years before.
Director: Curtis Bernhardt | Stars: Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, Dane Clark, Walter Brennan
Votes: 4,083
My second favorite Bette Davis movie, great plot!
90. Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
Not Rated | 91 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A self-assured businessman murders his employer, the husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, Georges Poujouly, Yori Bertin
Votes: 28,622 | Gross: $0.11M
Another great French suspense film (with a soundtrack by Miles Davis).
91. Bend of the River (1952)
Approved | 91 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
When a town boss confiscates homesteaders' supplies after gold is discovered nearby, a tough cowboy risks his life to try and get it to them.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: James Stewart, Rock Hudson, Arthur Kennedy, Julie Adams
Votes: 9,895
Lovely western with James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Rock Hudson and Julia Adams.
92. Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962)
Approved | 116 min | Comedy, Family
Mr. Hobbs wants to spend a quiet holiday at the beach, but his wife has invited all their family to stay with them.
Director: Henry Koster | Stars: James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, Fabian, Lauri Peters
Votes: 5,856
My favorite James Stewart comedy.
93. Holiday Inn (1942)
Passed | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
At an inn which is open only on holidays, a crooner and a hoofer vie for the affections of a beautiful up-and-coming performer.
Directors: Mark Sandrich, Robert Allen | Stars: Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds, Virginia Dale
Votes: 17,623 | Gross: $8.18M
Everybody loves "White Christmas", but "Holiday Inn" is the original version in which Bing Crosby did sing "White Christmas" for the very first time. There is a colorized version available.
94. Shining Through (1992)
R | 132 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
An American woman of Irish and Jewish-German parentage goes undercover in Nazi Germany.
Director: David Seltzer | Stars: Michael Douglas, Melanie Griffith, Liam Neeson, Joely Richardson
Votes: 10,738 | Gross: $21.73M
I like the novel by Susan Isaacs, but always thought that it was a pity that the story about female spy Linda Voss going to Nazi Germany doesn't start before page 300 (out of 400 pages). Director David Seltzer must have felt the same way: after less than 40 minutes Linda Voss flies to WW II Europe and the story becomes very compelling.
95. While You Were Sleeping (1995)
PG | 103 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A hopelessly romantic Chicago Transit Authority ticket booth operator is mistaken for the fiancée of a comatose patient.
Director: Jon Turteltaub | Stars: Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Peter Gallagher, Peter Boyle
Votes: 113,945 | Gross: $81.06M
My favorite comedy from the nineties.
96. When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Harry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby
Votes: 242,589 | Gross: $92.82M
My favorite comedy from the eighties.
97. Home Alone (1990)
PG | 103 min | Comedy, Family
An eight-year-old troublemaker, mistakenly left home alone, must defend his home against a pair of burglars on Christmas Eve.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard
Votes: 652,593 | Gross: $285.76M
This is one of the Christmas movies that we watch every year in December.
98. Escape (1940)
Passed | 104 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In 1936, a young man arrives in Hitler's Germany, frantically seeking information about his missing German mother, and finds she is pending execution at a concentration camp.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Norma Shearer, Robert Taylor, Conrad Veidt, Alla Nazimova
Votes: 1,134
Don't bother with the novel by Ethel Vance, she has a terrible writing style. The movie is much better!
99. Frenchman's Creek (1998 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 120 min | Drama, History, Romance
Seeking to escape the stifling London court society, the beautiful headstrong Lady Dona St. Columb flees to her family estate on the Cornish coast. Her new freedom swiftly brings her into ... See full summary »
Director: Ferdinand Fairfax | Stars: Richard Bonehill, Jeremy Child, Christian Cloarec, Anthony Delon
Votes: 417
I like this TV version with Anthony Delon better than the movie version with Joan Fontaine, because it has been filmed where the novel by Daphne DuMaurier takes place: in Cornwall, England.
100. Crossings (1986)
TV-MA | 269 min | Drama, Romance, War
An industrialist meets a French ambassador's wife on a transatlantic voyage. As Paris falls under Nazi occupation, she returns to America, rekindling an affair with the industrialist. Her husband's allegiance remains ambiguous.
Stars: Cheryl Ladd, Lee Horsley, Christopher Plummer, Jane Seymour
Votes: 283
Cheryl Ladd, Lee Horsley and Christopher Plummer in one of the most beautiful mini TV series of all times, taking place in WW II and filmed all over Europe.
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