Classic Movies that I own
by krishkmenon | created - 22 May 2012 | updated - 14 Jan 2013 | PublicThese are the films that I hold on DVD from the period 1930-1960s. Most of them are special and a few real classics.
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1. Captain Blood (1935)
Passed | 119 min | Action, Adventure, History
After treating a Monmouth rebel against King James II in 1680s England, a young Irish doctor is exiled as a slave to Jamaica where he captures a Spanish galleon and becomes the most feared pirate of the Caribbean.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Lionel Atwill, Basil Rathbone
Votes: 16,100 | Gross: $2.96M
The incomparable swashbuckler Flynn and the lovely Olivia de Havilland paired together for the first time in WBs classic tale from Rafael Sabatini. Great direction, fine swordplay, buccaneering and villainy by Basil Rathbone and who can forget that great music by Erich Wofgang Korngold.
2. Casablanca (1942)
PG | 102 min | Drama, Romance, War
A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
Votes: 606,223 | Gross: $1.02M
The greatest movie to come out of Hollywood. Everything is right in this 1942 classic with an all-star cast. Has something new to offer with every viewing. Play it Again Sam
3. Gone with the Wind (1939)
Passed | 238 min | Drama, Romance, War
A sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.
Directors: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood | Stars: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil
Votes: 334,408 | Gross: $198.68M
Margaret Meads epic novel brought to the screen with all majesty colour and spectacle by David O selznick. Great casting, memorable score gives for continued viewing. Also can be considered as one of the greatest movies to come out of Hollywood
4. The Sea Hawk (1940)
Approved | 127 min | Action, Adventure, History
Geoffrey Thorpe, a buccaneer, is hired by Queen Elizabeth I to nag the Spanish Armada. The Armada is waiting for the attack on England and Thorpe surprises them with attacks on their galleons where he shows his skills on the sword.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Claude Rains, Donald Crisp
Votes: 10,745
Errol Flynns greatest swashbuckler. Story is loosely based on Sir Francis Drake with plenty of adventure on the high seas and a period morale booster for Britain at the wake of attempted invasion by Hitler in 1940. Fantastic score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The only shortcoming to the film is Olivia de Havilland whose absence can be felt throughout the movie.
5. Gunga Din (1939)
Approved | 117 min | Adventure, Comedy, War
In 19th century India, three British soldiers and a native waterbearer must stop a secret mass revival of the murderous Thuggee cult before it can rampage across the land.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Votes: 12,801
The Hollywood action movie based on Rudyard Kiplings poem. The three buddies Cary Grant, Victor Mclaglen & Douglas Fairbanks Jr are simply superb. Forget the undertones of racism and imperialism and sit back and enjoy Hollywoods picturisation of a India only found in books of fiction but who cares.
6. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Not Rated | 112 min | Comedy, Romance
When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey
Votes: 73,875
Highbrow comedy and satirical depiction of the class system that existed in the first half of the 20th century. Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant & James Stewart are delightful to watch. A classy comedy par excellence
7. Penny Serenade (1941)
Not Rated | 119 min | Drama, Romance
A couple's big dreams give way to a life full of unexpected sadness and unexpected joy.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Beulah Bondi, Edgar Buchanan
Votes: 8,071
Who said that Cary Grant could not emote and act only in debonair roles. This is the film that proved his critics wrong. No one can deny that watching this film does not bring a lump to their throats. Cary and Irene are superb but hold on - there is another gem of an episode - the nappy changing scene which every parent will reminisce about. The prime tear-jerker.
8. Devil and the Deep (1932)
Passed | 78 min | Drama
A man sets out for revenge after learning of his wife's affair.
Director: Marion Gering | Stars: Tallulah Bankhead, Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton, Cary Grant
Votes: 823
9. The Talk of the Town (1942)
Approved | 118 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
An escaped prisoner has to prove his innocence to a stuffy law professor with the help of a spirited school teacher.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Ronald Colman, Edgar Buchanan
Votes: 9,130
The clash of values and the human approach to law is never better depicted than in this classic. With a cast of Ronald Colman as the vacationing Judge, Cary Grant as the victim on the run who questions justice without a human touch and the inimitable Jean Arthur - just priceless
10. The Amazing Adventure (1936)
Approved | 61 min | Drama, Romance, Comedy
A bored millionaire wagers his doctor that he can support himself at a working class job for year without touching his inheritance.
Director: Alfred Zeisler | Stars: Cary Grant, Mary Brian, Peter Gawthorne, Henry Kendall
Votes: 2,181
One of the rare instances to watch Cary Grant on his home turf playing the transatlantic millionaire who is bored with life and fids it all over again.
11. 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: 12,818 | Gross: $6.00M
Any one who has suffered the trauma of having had to build a house will empathise with Cary Grant and suffer with Myrna Loy. Hilarious yet heart warming.
12. The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947)
Approved | 95 min | Comedy, Romance
A high school girl falls for a playboy artist, with screwball results.
Director: Irving Reis | Stars: Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Shirley Temple, Rudy Vallee
Votes: 9,609
The debonair Cary who has an infatuated teenager chasing him. enter the teenagers sister who wants to break it up but ends up being attracted to the playboy herself. Can the comedy of errors get any better.
13. Father Goose (1964)
Approved | 118 min | Adventure, Comedy, Romance
During World War II, a man persuaded to live on an isolated island and spot aircraft finds himself responsible for a teacher and several students, all female.
Director: Ralph Nelson | Stars: Cary Grant, Leslie Caron, Trevor Howard, Jack Good
Votes: 12,329 | Gross: $12.50M
Cary plays a middle aged Yank drifter caught in the beginning of the Jap offensive in New Guinea. He is tricked into becoming an observer for the Royal Navy on a deserted isle. The fun begins when a group of schoolgirls with their French mistress land and he is forced to play guardian. Cary is magnificent. Forget his age and watch him play "Father Goose"
14. The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)
Approved | 115 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
A major countermands orders and attacks to avenge a previous massacre of men, women, and children.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Patric Knowles, Henry Stephenson
Votes: 5,485
The great offensive by the British in the Crimes is fictionalised by WB. Errol Flynn plays the lead as the Pucca Sahib for King and Country. He leads the ill-fated charge. Not authentic history but who cares. There's thundering action, romance and chivalry which was the order of the era. The only flaw - Errol does not win the hand of the lovely Olivia but sacrifices his true love in favour of his brother.
15. The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
PG-13 | 139 min | Drama, History, War
In 1854, during the Crimean War, poor planning leads to the British Light Brigade openly charging a Russian artillery position with tragic consequences.
Director: Tony Richardson | Stars: Trevor Howard, Vanessa Redgrave, John Gielgud, Harry Andrews
Votes: 3,881
Authentic in its historical facts as narrated by Lord Alfred Tennyson in his immortal poem but slightly heavy at times. Yet it is worth its watch as a narrative in time.
16. The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
Approved | 106 min | Biography, Drama, History
A depiction of the love/hate relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Donald Crisp
Votes: 6,165
Bette Davis plays the Great Queen of England with a panache and understanding of the role as none other. Errol Flynn plays the Earl of Essex who was her lover but craved for power and fame. Sumptuous production values in colour and magnificent cinematography which was later used by WB in its future films. It is rumoured that Bette and Errol were not on speaking terms but their screen chemistry is excellent. Later in the 1970s Bette supposedly viewed the film and commented on Errol's handsome demeanour. The lovely Olivia plays a handmaiden at court. AAH not to forget - That wonderful score from none othr than the legendary Korngold.
17. The Prince and the Pauper (1937)
Approved | 118 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
A poor boy named Tom Canty and the Prince of Wales exchange identities but events force the pair to experience each other's lives as well.
Directors: William Keighley, William Dieterle | Stars: Errol Flynn, Claude Rains, Henry Stephenson, Barton MacLane
Votes: 2,884
The Mark Twain classic lovingly brought to screen by WB. Errol Flynn does not make it to the movie for well over 45 minutes but you will not care. The storyline takes the viewer into the fictionalised Henry the Eight's rein when Prince Edward is born and a waif is born at the same time in the slums of London. They meet, change places and match wits with Claude Rains' villainy. Couldn't be better. Do you know that there were no trick photography as the boys were played by identical twins - Billy & Bobby Mauch
18. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
PG | 102 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
When Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence in 1190s England, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a resistance movement.
Directors: Michael Curtiz, William Keighley | Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains
Votes: 54,515 | Gross: $3.98M
The classic featuring Errol Flynn & Olivia de Havilland captured in glorious Technicolor. Errol plays Robin of Locksley, Olivia The Maid Marian, Claude Rains - Prince John, Basil Rathbone - Sir Guy and Ian Hunter - Richard the Lion Heart. Definitely one of Errol's best and at his most handsome and does not age a bit. The background score by Korngold is nothing short of a masterpiece and almost operatic in nature. Michae Curtiz's direction is a as usual terrific. Dont miss the chance to see this one!
19. They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
Approved | 140 min | War, Western
A highly fictionalized account of the life of George Armstrong Custer from his arrival at West Point in 1857 to his death at the battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Arthur Kennedy, Charley Grapewin
Votes: 6,912
Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland were paired together in this film for the last time. Excellent rendition of the life of General George Armstrong Custer in WB fiction style but nonetheless exciting. The scene where Custer takes leave of his wife to his almost certain death proved to most cynics that Errol Flynn was an under rated actor who was showcased mainly in tongue-and-cheek roles. One of my personal favourites.
20. Objective, Burma! (1945)
Approved | 142 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A platoon of special ops are tasked to parachute into the remote Burmese jungle and destroy a strategic Japanese radar station, but getting out isn't as easy.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Errol Flynn, James Brown, William Prince, George Tobias
Votes: 5,548
Though critics may disagree by stating that the US Army played a limited role in the Chindits operations of Burma this movie stands out. The film relates to the planning an \d operation of a Chindit type mission into the Burmese jungles during the end of WW2 from India. Told in documentary style with most cliches avoided and good acting.
21. Desperate Journey (1942)
Passed | 107 min | Drama, War
When the crew of a downed British bomber escape from their Nazi captors with Top Secret intelligence, they make a desperate journey to get out of Germany alive.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan, Nancy Coleman, Raymond Massey
Votes: 2,592
Errol Flynn & Ronald Reagen star in this pleasant and enjoyable hokum about a RAF Bomber with a Commonwealth crew crashing in occupied Europe. The superlative and unbelievable travails of the crew isn escaping back was reportedly laughed and sneered at by the actual RAF pilots and crew of that day. However it is enjoyable as fiction and nothing more.
22. Juarez (1939)
Approved | 125 min | Biography, Drama, History
Louis Napoleon III (Claude Rains) takes advantage of the American Civil War to circumvent the Monroe Doctrine and expand his power by helping Emperor Maximilian von Habsburg (Brian Aherne) to add Mexico to his empire.
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: Paul Muni, Bette Davis, Brian Aherne, Claude Rains
Votes: 2,555
Historical retelling of the Mexican Empire albeit not too accurate on its facts. Enjoyable version with fine performances by Bette Davis & Paul Muni. Excellent score by the legendary Korngold. If only it had been in colour....
23. Dangerous (1935)
Passed | 79 min | Drama, Romance
An alcoholic actress who is considered a dangerous jinx is rehabilitated, but she then shows that she's as dangerous as ever.
Director: Alfred E. Green | Stars: Bette Davis, Franchot Tone, Margaret Lindsay, Alison Skipworth
Votes: 3,692
A tour-de-force by Bette Davis who plays the washed out superstar with the handsome Franchot Tone in tow. Won Bette her first Oscar but according to some she did not relish the role and also did not consider the film as amongst her best. Her acting is great but the film dates a bit. For The Bette fans.
24. All About Eve (1950)
Passed | 138 min | Drama
A seemingly timid but secretly ruthless ingénue insinuates herself into the lives of an aging Broadway star and her circle of theater friends.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm
Votes: 138,806 | Gross: $0.01M
Hollywood lifestyles with all its dark sides and the jungle laws brought to the screen in truly one of the greatest films made. Great cast headed by Bette Davis and support by Anne Baxter. But do not forget to watch George Sanders as the cynical critic introducing Marilyn Monroe to the screen with his answer to her question "Now thats something that you need not be worried about"
25. Watch on the Rhine (1943)
Approved | 114 min | Drama, Thriller
A German-born engineer, his American wife and their children travel from Mexico to the United States to visit her family, but a Romanian count complicates their plans.
Directors: Herman Shumlin, Hal Mohr | Stars: Bette Davis, Paul Lukas, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Lucile Watson
Votes: 4,977
Lilian Hellmans play brought to screen with memorable performance by Paul Lukas as the refugee from Germany still in touch with the underground. Bette Davis is overshadowed by Lukas. Geraldine Fitzgerald is adequate. The final sequence where the young refugee son plans to to back to Germany is touching (maybe oozed with patriotism during the period). The film cleverly avoids cliches and also takes care not to pinpoint prejudices overtly. A winner.
26. Deception (1946)
Approved | 115 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Music
After marrying her long-lost love, a musician finds the relationship threatened by a wealthy composer who is besotted with her.
Director: Irving Rapper | Stars: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, John Abbott
Votes: 4,135
Fine tale about the lives (or should it be the dark lives) of musicians and their affairs. Claude Rains is a standout as the maestro who has to give away his mistress to her ex-lover. His gait and sarcastic dialogues are mature. Bette Davis is at her scheming best in a thankless role and Paul Henried is adequate as the poor sap. The greatest point of the film is Erich Wolfgang Korngold and his Cello Symphony. It is a fact that in the film the hands that play the Cello are not that of Henried but another.
27. Dark Victory (1939)
Approved | 104 min | Drama, Romance
A young socialite is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, and must decide whether or not she'll meet her final days with dignity.
Director: Edmund Goulding | Stars: Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald
Votes: 12,405
The definitive Bette soaper of a wealthy socialite who realises that she is dying. Her husband and friend try to mitigate her mental suffering but she will have none of it and prepares to meet her end. The final scene where she loses her eyesight and knows that the end is near and is set to attain her Dark victory may jar viewers today but probably was the order of the day then when it was considered the thing to bring out the hankies. This scene has been spoofed by WB itself in its Bugs Bunny cartoons. However one cant but accept the acting of Bette Davis.
28. David Copperfield (1935)
Passed | 130 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
A gentle orphan discovers life and love in an indifferent adult world.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Freddie Bartholomew, Frank Lawton, Edna May Oliver, Elizabeth Allan
Votes: 4,766
MGM classic all the way. Dickens' novel lovingly brought to screen with a cast that he would have approved of. As with all such movies by MGM in the 1930s this one also gets superlative treatment and production values. Who can forget WC Fields as Micawber .... Wonderful film.
29. A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
Not Rated | 128 min | Drama, History, Romance
A pair of lookalikes, one a former French aristocrat and the other an alcoholic English lawyer, fall in love with the same woman amidst the turmoil of the French Revolution.
Directors: Jack Conway, Robert Z. Leonard | Stars: Ronald Colman, Elizabeth Allan, Edna May Oliver, Reginald Owen
Votes: 6,300
Ah the MGM magic again. Even Dickens would have approved of this film. Ronald Coleman has never been better than as Sidney Carton. He is the film. With his dialogues and gait we fail to see that the others are very good but... Its a far far better place to where I go... Only Ronald Coleman could say it the way Sidney Carton would have said it.
30. Oliver Twist (1948)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama
In Charles Dickens' classic tale, an orphan wends his way from cruel apprenticeship to den of thieves in search of a true home.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Robert Newton, Alec Guinness, Kay Walsh, Francis L. Sullivan
Votes: 13,661
The British version of the Dickens novel is definitively superior to other versions but lacks the opulence of Hollywood.
31. Great Expectations (1946)
Approved | 118 min | Adventure, Drama, Mystery
A humble orphan boy in 1810s Kent is given the opportunity to go to London and become a gentleman, with the help of an unknown benefactor.
Director: David Lean | Stars: John Mills, Valerie Hobson, Tony Wager, Jean Simmons
Votes: 26,416
The best adaptation of the Dickens classic with a standout starting scene in the graveyard. Undoubtedly only the low budget British studios could bring such realism without too much fanfare.
32. Jane Eyre (1943)
Approved | 97 min | Drama, Romance
After a harsh childhood, orphan Jane Eyre is hired by Edward Rochester, the brooding lord of a mysterious manor house, to care for his young daughter.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Orson Welles, Joan Fontaine, Margaret O'Brien, Peggy Ann Garner
Votes: 9,500 | Gross: $3.82M
The best version of the Bronte novel which has been made into movies many times. Joan Fontaine makes the best Jane and certainly Orson Welles must have been the Bronte choice for Mr Rochester. Great filmisation and direction by Robert Stevenson who incidentally being English and having lived on the moors was able to realise the mood to screen. Not necessarily a classic but good cinema.
33. Captains Courageous (1937)
G | 117 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
A spoiled brat who falls overboard from a steamship in the 1920s gets picked up by a New England fishing boat, where he's made to earn his keep by joining the crew in their work.
Director: Victor Fleming | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Freddie Bartholomew, Lionel Barrymore, Melvyn Douglas
Votes: 10,924
The Rudyard Kipling book brought to screen by MGM. Freddy Bartholomew is the spoilt brat, Lionel Barrymore the crusty captain and Spencer Tracy is the good natured Portugese sailor who takes the boy under his wing. The story of how the brat transforms into a sprightly sailor after being picked up by a fishing trawler off Cape Cod provides top-notch entertainment a la MGM. Catch this one!
34. The Seventh Cross (1944)
Passed | 112 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
In 1936, seven prisoners escape from a concentration camp. The Nazis put up seven crosses for demonstrative executions. This story about one of the fugitives, who relies on own courage and compassion of people to avoid the seventh cross.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Signe Hasso, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy
Votes: 2,994
Spencer Tracy plays a concentration camp prisoner who escapes from Pre-war Germany with 7 others. The Nazi commander orders 7 crosses to be erected to place the escapees on capture. The embittered Tracy learns that there is still some good left in mankind during his trek thru Germany and lives for the next day. This was Fred Zinnemans early greats. Watch it.
35. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
Passed | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Dr. Jekyll allows his dark side to run wild when he drinks a potion that turns him into the evil Mr. Hyde.
Director: Victor Fleming | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner, Donald Crisp
Votes: 9,874 | Gross: $3.92M
36. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Passed | 98 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Dr. Jekyll faces horrible consequences when he lets his dark side run wild with a potion that transforms him into the animalistic Mr. Hyde.
Director: Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart, Holmes Herbert
Votes: 15,813 | Gross: $2.79M
37. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Not Rated | 75 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Mary Shelley reveals the main characters of her novel survived: Baron Henry Frankenstein, goaded by an even madder scientist, builds his monster a mate.
Director: James Whale | Stars: Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson
Votes: 53,276 | Gross: $4.36M
38. Young and Innocent (1937)
Not Rated | 83 min | Crime, Mystery, Romance
A man on the run from a murder charge enlists the help of a beautiful stranger who must put herself at risk for his cause.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Nova Pilbeam, Derrick De Marney, Percy Marmont, Edward Rigby
Votes: 10,863
39. The 39 Steps (1935)
Approved | 86 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A man in London tries to help a counter-espionage agent, but when the agent is killed and the man stands accused, he must go on the run to save himself and stop a spy ring that is trying to steal top-secret information.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle
Votes: 61,567
40. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Not Rated | 96 min | Mystery, Thriller
While travelling in continental Europe, a rich young playgirl realizes that an elderly lady seems to have disappeared from the train.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Paul Lukas, May Whitty
Votes: 57,183
41. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
Approved | 75 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
An ordinary British couple vacationing in Switzerland suddenly find themselves embroiled in a case of international intrigue when their daughter is kidnapped by spies plotting a political assassination.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Leslie Banks, Edna Best, Peter Lorre, Frank Vosper
Votes: 21,166
42. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Not Rated | 118 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
A Brooklyn writer of books on the futility of marriage risks his reputation after he decides to tie the knot. Things get even more complicated when he learns on his wedding day that his beloved maiden aunts are habitual murderers.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Jack Carson
Votes: 74,987
43. Stagecoach (1939)
Passed | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Andy Devine, John Carradine
Votes: 53,790
The master director John Ford changed the concept of hoe Westerns were made with Stagecoach. My candidate for the best Western ever made. What disparate characters does Ford give us. What situations. How an ordinary coach travel becomes a legend only can be understood by watching the film. It improves with every viewing.
44. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Passed | 129 min | Drama
An Oklahoma family, driven off their farm by the poverty and hopelessness of the Dust Bowl, joins the westward migration to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Charley Grapewin
Votes: 99,990 | Gross: $0.06M
The SJohn Steinbeck novel lovingly brought to film by none other than John Ford. One of the greatest films ever made. John Ford creates his Americana of the Depression era with Oakies migrating to California. The film never ceases to amaze in its simplicity but powerful portrayal. understandably it was not permitted to be screened in certain parts of California when it was released. Henry Fonda gives one of his greatest portrayals as Tom Joad and an Oscar went to Jane Darwell as Ma Joad. Even Steinbeck himself was supposedly impressed with this film.
45. How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Passed | 118 min | Drama, Family
At the turn of the century in a Welsh mining village, the Morgans, he stern, she gentle, raise coal-mining sons and hope their youngest will find a better life.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, Anna Lee, Donald Crisp
Votes: 26,495
Life in a Wales coal mining village brought once again lovingly to screen by the great John Ford. The trials and tribulations of a simple Welsh family headed by Donald Crisp show over a period of time. The harsh conditions of mining in England at the turn of the 20th century is beautifully photographed. A timeless classic.
46. My Darling Clementine (1946)
Passed | 97 min | Drama, Romance, Western
After their cattle are stolen and their brother murdered, the Earp brothers have a score to settle with the Clanton family.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, Victor Mature, Cathy Downs
Votes: 25,765
Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday take on the Clayton gang in Tombstone Arizona leading up to the gunfight at the OK Corrall. Not authentic in its historical depiction but with John Ford at the helm can it go wrong. A classic Western will all the ingredients and Ford vignettes.
47. What Price Glory (1952)
Approved | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The wartime romantic misadventures of Captain Flagg, commander of a company of US Marines in 1918 France.
Director: John Ford | Stars: James Cagney, Corinne Calvet, Dan Dailey, William Demarest
Votes: 1,446
Notable for John Fords direction but not as good as one would expect.
48. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Passed | 152 min | Drama, War
A German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray, Arnold Lucy
Votes: 67,706 | Gross: $3.27M
The anti-war classic novel brought to screen with many memorable scenes. Does not date a bit as the sentiments are relevant even today in terms of jingoistic propaganda to arouse youth to battle and their ultimate disdain facing reality. Being an early talkie the production suffers a bit but, watch on....
49. The Searchers (1956)
Passed | 119 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
An American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond
Votes: 96,336
One of Ford's greatest vehicles and also that of John Wayne. The Duke plays Ethan - a Southern rebel who never surrendered and searches for his niece who was kidnapped by Commanches. The search lasts 7 years but he brings his niece home. The implied racist innuendos are subtle but clear in its nature. Do not miss the opening and closing sequence when John Wayne steps into and out of a silhouette. Another John Ford masterpiece.
50. Cleopatra (1934)
Passed | 100 min | Biography, Drama, History
The man-hungry Queen of Egypt leads Julius Caesar and Marc Antony astray, amid scenes of DeMillean splendor.
Director: Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Warren William, Henry Wilcoxon, Joseph Schildkraut
Votes: 4,616
51. Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
G | 175 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A Victorian Englishman bets that with the new steamships and railways he can circumnavigate the globe in eighty days.
Directors: Michael Anderson, John Farrow | Stars: David Niven, Cantinflas, Finlay Currie, Robert Morley
Votes: 29,711 | Gross: $42.00M
52. I'm No Angel (1933)
Passed | 87 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
Circus performer Tira seeks a better life pursuing the company of wealthy New York men with improbable comic complications along the way.
Director: Wesley Ruggles | Stars: Mae West, Cary Grant, Gregory Ratoff, Edward Arnold
Votes: 3,980 | Gross: $6.21M
53. Blonde Ice (1948)
Approved | 73 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A society reporter keeps herself in the headlines by marrying a series of wealthy men, all of whom die under mysterious circumstances.
Director: Jack Bernhard | Stars: Robert Paige, Leslie Brooks, Russ Vincent, Michael Whalen
Votes: 1,348
54. Suddenly (1954)
Unrated | 77 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
In the city of Suddenly, three gangsters trap the Benson family in their own house, on the top of a hill nearby the railroad station, with the intention of killing the president of the USA.
Director: Lewis Allen | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, James Gleason, Nancy Gates
Votes: 7,380 | Gross: $1.40M
55. Citizen Kane (1941)
PG | 119 min | Drama, Mystery
Following the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead
Votes: 466,112 | Gross: $1.59M
56. Q Planes (1939)
Approved | 82 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
A quirky British Secret Service Agent named Major Hammond tries to discover who is using a secret weapon to steal experimental planes.
Directors: Tim Whelan, Arthur B. Woods | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Valerie Hobson, George Curzon
Votes: 1,126
57. 49th Parallel (1941)
Not Rated | 123 min | Drama, Thriller, War
A World War II U-boat crew are stranded in northern Canada. To avoid internment, they must make their way to the border and get into the still-neutral U.S.
Director: Michael Powell | Stars: Leslie Howard, Laurence Olivier, Richard George, Eric Portman
Votes: 7,671
58. Suicide Squadron (1941)
Approved | 82 min | Drama, Romance, War
During World War II, an American newswoman falls for a Polish piano virtuoso...who wants to go back and fight.
Director: Brian Desmond Hurst | Stars: Anton Walbrook, Sally Gray, Derrick De Marney, Cecil Parker
Votes: 512
59. Ice Cold in Alex (1958)
Approved | 130 min | Adventure, Drama, War
During World War II in North Africa, a medical field unit must cross the desert in their ambulance in order to reach the British lines in Alexandria.
Director: J. Lee Thompson | Stars: John Mills, Anthony Quayle, Sylvia Syms, Harry Andrews
Votes: 6,615
60. I Know Where I'm Going! (1945)
Not Rated | 92 min | Drama, Romance
A young Englishwoman goes to the Hebrides to marry her older, wealthier fiancé. When the weather keeps them separated on different islands, she begins to have second thoughts.
Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger | Stars: Wendy Hiller, Roger Livesey, Pamela Brown, Finlay Currie
Votes: 9,782
61. 633 Squadron (1964)
Approved | 102 min | Drama, History, War
A RAF squadron is assigned to knock out a German rocket fuel factory in Norway. The factory supplies fuel for the Nazi effort to launch rockets on England during D-Day.
Director: Walter Grauman | Stars: Cliff Robertson, George Chakiris, Maria Perschy, Harry Andrews
Votes: 4,572
62. A Farewell to Arms (1932)
Unrated | 80 min | Drama, Romance, War
An American ambulance driver and an English nurse fall in love in Italy during World War I.
Director: Frank Borzage | Stars: Gary Cooper, Helen Hayes, Adolphe Menjou, Mary Philips
Votes: 6,818
63. A Farewell to Arms (1957)
Approved | 152 min | Drama, Romance, War
An English nurse and an American ambulance driver on the Italian front during World War 1 fall in love, but the horrors surrounding them challenge their romance to the limit.
Directors: Charles Vidor, John Huston | Stars: Rock Hudson, Jennifer Jones, Vittorio De Sica, Oscar Homolka
Votes: 2,916 | Gross: $11.00M
64. A Kiss Before Dying (1956)
Approved | 94 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
A ruthless college student resorts to murder in an attempt to marry an heiress.
Director: Gerd Oswald | Stars: Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Virginia Leith, Joanne Woodward
Votes: 4,325
65. A Passage to India (1984)
PG | 164 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Cultural mistrust and false accusations doom a friendship in British colonial India between an Indian doctor, an Englishwoman engaged to marry a city magistrate, and an English educator.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Judy Davis, Victor Banerjee, Peggy Ashcroft, James Fox
Votes: 20,888 | Gross: $27.19M
66. A Star Is Born (1954)
Passed | 154 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A film star helps a young singer and actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career on a downward spiral.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson, Charles Bickford
Votes: 19,684 | Gross: $14.93M
67. A Star Is Born (1937)
Passed | 111 min | Drama, Romance
A young woman comes to Hollywood with dreams of stardom, and achieves them only with the help of an alcoholic leading man whose best days are behind him.
Directors: William A. Wellman, Jack Conway, Victor Fleming | Stars: Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou, May Robson
Votes: 10,895 | Gross: $4.36M
68. Anna Karenina (1935)
Passed | 95 min | Drama, Romance
The married Anna Karenina falls in love with Count Vronsky despite her husband's refusal to grant a divorce, and both must contend with the social repercussions.
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Greta Garbo, Fredric March, Freddie Bartholomew, Maureen O'Sullivan
Votes: 5,796 | Gross: $0.87M
69. Anna Karenina (1948)
Approved | 139 min | Drama, Romance
A married woman's affair with a dashing young officer has tragic results.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Vivien Leigh, Ralph Richardson, Kieron Moore, Hugh Dempster
Votes: 2,946
70. Berlin Express (1948)
Approved | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A multinational group of train passengers become involved in a post-World War II Nazi assassination plot.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Merle Oberon, Robert Ryan, Charles Korvin, Paul Lukas
Votes: 3,596
71. Bitter Victory (1957)
Approved | 82 min | Drama, War
A commander receives a citation for an attack on Erwin Rommel's headquarters, which is actually undeserved, as the commander is unfit for his job. On top of that, unbeknownst to him, his wife is having an affair with one of his officers.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Richard Burton, Curd Jürgens, Ruth Roman, Raymond Pellegrin
Votes: 2,292
72. Blossoms in the Dust (1941)
Approved | 99 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
After losing her young son, Edna Gladney opposes the unfair laws discriminating against children whose parents are unknown, and opens an orphanage for those children.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Felix Bressart, Marsha Hunt
Votes: 2,293
73. Boom Town (1940)
Passed | 119 min | Drama, Romance, Western
Two buddies who rise from fly-by-night wildcatters to oil tycoons over a ten-year period both love the same woman.
Director: Jack Conway | Stars: Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr
Votes: 3,782 | Gross: $9.17M
74. British Intelligence (1939)
Approved | 61 min | Romance, Thriller, War
Although the home of cabinet minister Arthur Bennett is a hotbed of spies, moles, and double agents, no one knows the true identity of notorious German spymaster Strendler.
Director: Terry O. Morse | Stars: Boris Karloff, Margaret Lindsay, Bruce Lester, Leonard Mudie
Votes: 1,318
75. 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: 10,243
76. Captains of the Clouds (1942)
Approved | 114 min | Action, Drama, War
Inspired by Churchill's Dunkirk speech, brash, undisciplined bush pilot Brian MacLean and three friends enlist in the RCAF but are deemed too old to be fliers.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: James Cagney, Dennis Morgan, Brenda Marshall, Alan Hale
Votes: 1,768
77. Charade (1963)
Passed | 113 min | Comedy, Mystery, Romance
Romance and suspense ensue in Paris as a woman is pursued by several men who want a fortune her murdered husband had stolen. Whom can she trust?
Director: Stanley Donen | Stars: Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau, James Coburn
Votes: 85,599 | Gross: $13.47M
78. Charade (1954)
83 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
A husband and wife discuss three incidents that occurred in various situations.
Director: Roy Kellino | Stars: James Mason, Pamela Mason, Scott Forbes, Paul Cavanagh
Votes: 306
79. Cheers for Miss Bishop (1941)
Passed | 95 min | Drama, Romance
Dedicated Midwestern teacher Ella Bishop is distressed when her fiancé runs off with her vixenish cousin Amy. After Amy dies in childbirth, Ella is left to care for Amy's daughter Hope.
Director: Tay Garnett | Stars: Martha Scott, William Gargan, Edmund Gwenn, Sterling Holloway
Votes: 825
80. Come and Get It (1936)
Passed | 99 min | Drama, Romance
An ambitious lumberjack abandons his saloon girl lover so that he can marry into wealth, but years later becomes infatuated with the woman's daughter.
Directors: Howard Hawks, William Wyler, Richard Rosson | Stars: Edward Arnold, Joel McCrea, Frances Farmer, Walter Brennan
Votes: 2,388
81. Detour (1945)
Passed | 66 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend.
Director: Edgar G. Ulmer | Stars: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake, Edmund MacDonald
Votes: 19,722 | Gross: $0.02M
82. Double Exposure (1944)
Approved | 63 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
A news magazine hires an out-of-town photographer and the antics begin. Some comic relief.
Director: William Berke | Stars: Chester Morris, Nancy Kelly, Jane Farrar, Phillip Terry
Votes: 262
83. Wing and a Prayer (1944)
Passed | 97 min | Action, Drama, War
In WW2, an American aircraft carrier sails around the Pacific on a decoy mission until it joins the battle of Midway against the Japanese forces.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: Don Ameche, Dana Andrews, William Eythe, Charles Bickford
Votes: 1,549
84. Witness to Murder (1954)
Approved | 83 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A woman's sanity comes into question, after she claims to have witnessed a murder from her apartment window.
Director: Roy Rowland | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders, Gary Merrill, Jesse White
Votes: 3,434
85. Beau Geste (1939)
Passed | 112 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Three adopted English brothers join the French Foreign Legion in North Africa after one of them steals their adoptive family's famous heirloom sapphire.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert Preston, Brian Donlevy
Votes: 6,524
86. Anthony Adverse (1936)
Passed | 141 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In 18th-century Italy, an orphan's debt to the man who raised him threatens to separate him forever from the woman he loves.
Directors: Mervyn LeRoy, Michael Curtiz | Stars: Fredric March, Olivia de Havilland, Donald Woods, Anita Louise
Votes: 2,028
87. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
PG | 122 min | Drama
Disturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden
Votes: 114,391 | Gross: $8.00M
88. Adam's Rib (1949)
Not Rated | 101 min | Comedy, Romance
Domestic and professional tensions mount when a husband and wife work as opposing lawyers in a case involving a woman who shot her husband.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Holliday, Tom Ewell
Votes: 22,919
89. Captain from Castile (1947)
Passed | 140 min | Adventure, Drama
The invasion of Mexico by Cortez, as seen by a young Spanish officer fleeing the Inquisition.
Director: Henry King | Stars: Tyrone Power, Jean Peters, Cesar Romero, Lee J. Cobb
Votes: 2,226
90. 12 Angry Men (1957)
Approved | 96 min | Crime, Drama
The jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam, John Fiedler
Votes: 865,608 | Gross: $4.36M
91. Northwest Passage (1940)
Passed | 126 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Langdon Towne and Hunk Marriner join Major Rogers' Rangers as they wipe out an Indian village. They set out for Fort Wentworth, but when they arrive they find no soldiers and none of the supplies they expected.
Directors: King Vidor, Jack Conway, W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Robert Young, Walter Brennan, Ruth Hussey
Votes: 3,907
92. Ball of Fire (1941)
Approved | 111 min | Comedy, Romance
A group of professors working on a new encyclopedia while living in a Manhattan mansion take in a mouthy nightclub singer who is wanted by the police to help bring down her mob boss lover.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Oscar Homolka, Henry Travers
Votes: 14,065
93. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Approved | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A young New York socialite becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her apartment building, but her past threatens to get in the way.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen
Votes: 192,217
94. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama
Brick is an alcoholic ex-football player who drinks his days away and resists the affections of his wife. A reunion with his terminal father jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.
Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Jack Carson
Votes: 53,436 | Gross: $17.57M
95. All Through the Night (1942)
Approved | 107 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Runyonesque Broadway gamblers turn patriotic when they stumble onto a cell of Nazi saboteurs.
Director: Vincent Sherman | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Conrad Veidt, Karen Verne, Jane Darwell
Votes: 4,932
96. Across the Pacific (1942)
Passed | 97 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In December 1941, ex-army captain Rick Leland boards a Japanese ship heading to Asia via the Panama Canal where his Japanese hosts show interest in the American defense plans for the canal zone.
Directors: John Huston, Vincent Sherman | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet, Charles Halton
Votes: 5,444
97. A Night to Remember (1958)
Not Rated | 123 min | Drama, History
On her maiden voyage in April 1912, the supposedly unsinkable RMS Titanic strikes an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean.
Director: Roy Ward Baker | Stars: Kenneth More, Ronald Allen, Robert Ayres, Honor Blackman
Votes: 17,166
98. After the Thin Man (1936)
Passed | 112 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Private detective Nick Charles and his wealthy wife Nora are back home at last and hoping for a quiet New Year when there is a murder. The obvious suspect is his wife, Nora's cousin, Selma.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart, Elissa Landi
Votes: 12,125 | Gross: $4.34M
99. Another Thin Man (1939)
Passed | 103 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
An explosives manufacturer suspects a young man is out to kill him. He calls in new parents Nick and Nora to sort things out.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Virginia Grey, Otto Kruger
Votes: 8,166 | Gross: $3.32M
100. Bambi (1942)
G | 69 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
The story of a young deer growing up in the forest.
Directors: James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, David Hand, Graham Heid, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Norman Wright, Arthur Davis, Clyde Geronimi | Stars: Hardie Albright, Stan Alexander, Bobette Audrey, Peter Behn
Votes: 154,139 | Gross: $102.80M
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