Greatest Black and White Movies of all time
by cinemabon | created - 30 Jul 2012 | updated - 10 Oct 2018 | PublicBefore there was color, filmmakers learned their craft using black and white film stocks and gave us some of cinema's finest moments on celluloid.
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1. 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: 466,088 | Gross: $1.59M
With the help of the Mercury Theater cast, Gregg Toland, Bernard Herrmann, and Herman J. Mankiewicz, Orson Welles crafted one of the most unusual stories ever presented on the silver screen.
2. 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: 70,566 | Gross: $23.65M
Director William Wyler and Producer Samuel Goldwyn made perhaps one of the greatest films about the repercussions of war on its participants - especially the wounded, both physicially and psychologically. No student of film history should miss the symbolism rampant throughout.
3. The Grand Illusion (1937)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama, War
During WWI, two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German P.O.W. camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are eventually sent to a seemingly inescapable fortress.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Jean Gabin, Dita Parlo, Pierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim
Votes: 38,869 | Gross: $0.17M
Jean Renoir's hauting look at the human condition during what was called the war to end all wars.
4. Schindler's List (1993)
R | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall
Votes: 1,451,297 | Gross: $96.90M
While war seems to be man's most profitable enterprise, it is also his most damaging - the human spirit and to life. World War II saw the most lives lost than nearly all the wars put together with this story at its core.
5. Paths of Glory (1957)
Approved | 88 min | Drama, War
After a failed attack on a German position, a general orders three soldiers, chosen at random, court-martialed for cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready
Votes: 212,328
Patriotism was once defined as the last refuge of a scoundrel, a word that becomes more clearly defined in this incredible effort by director Stanley Kubrick.
6. Psycho (1960)
R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin
Votes: 718,527 | Gross: $32.00M
Clearly, Hitchcock made many valuable contributions to the art of cinema, but none stands out the way this small movie does with its close examination of the insane mass murderer.
7. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Approved | 129 min | Crime, Drama
Atticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.
Director: Robert Mulligan | Stars: Gregory Peck, John Megna, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy
Votes: 332,965
Both book and film were poignant in their day and true today - there is no justice if your skin is dark. Director Robert Mulligan brought Harper Lee's words to the screen in stark realism.
8. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Passed | 126 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
Two down-on-their-luck Americans searching for work in 1920s Mexico convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt, Bruce Bennett
Votes: 132,454 | Gross: $5.01M
Human folly and greed is best expressed in man's pursuit of gold and riches, only to have most dreams dashed by a bit of realism. John Huston's powerful story is also a display of tour de force acting on every level.
9. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Passed | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir
A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson
Votes: 236,517
Human vanity and pride often blind people to the truth of reality. Billy Wilder looked in the soul of those who would cling to fame and fortune only to have it all end as ashes in their mouths.
10. The Road (1954)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama
A care-free girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart, Aldo Silvani
Votes: 66,600
Not all of humanity is made up of the famous, the rich, the powerful, or the most dynamic. Most people are quite ordinary but whose stories are nonetheless, still significant. Fellini saw power in the poor, the downtrodden, and the weak.
11. 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: 606,177 | Gross: $1.02M
Like it or not this film is probably the most watched and most loved black and white movie ever made - "Here's looking at you!"
12. Lost Horizon (1937)
Approved | 132 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
When a revered diplomat's plane is diverted and crashes in the peaks of Tibet, he and the other survivors are guided to an isolated monastery at Shangri-La, where they wrestle with the invitation to stay.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, Edward Everett Horton, John Howard
Votes: 14,458
Of all Frank Capra's efforts, this film has the largest most profound heart at its core with the best effort in his career by Ronald Coleman as the everyman in search of his Shangri-la.
13. 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: 138,800 | Gross: $0.01M
The backstabbing world of the theater only mimics life as this all-star cast gives outstanding performances in the most Oscar-nominated film of all time with a most profound and perfunctual ending.
14. Rashomon (1950)
Not Rated | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband are recalled from the perspectives of a bandit, the bride, the samurai's ghost and a woodcutter.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura
Votes: 180,537 | Gross: $0.10M
By delivering a story so down to earth, Kurosowa comes to epitomize the true art of Japanese cinema in any age. This film represents his first great breakthrough of many to come.
15. Manhattan (1979)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway, Michael Murphy
Votes: 147,309 | Gross: $45.70M
Thanks to the incredible photography of Gordon Willis, this Woody Allen comedy becomes elevated to cinema classic place as the most icon look at New York City ever photographed for the movies. The story isn't so bad either.
16. Hobson's Choice (1954)
Not Rated | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Widower Henry Hobson refuses to let his three daughters get married because he doesn't want to pay settlements, so they'll just have to outsmart him.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Charles Laughton, John Mills, Brenda de Banzie, Daphne Anderson
Votes: 8,808
A glimmer of what was to come from one of the greatest directors of all time, David Lean. This comedy has more profundity than most dramas with brilliant performances all around by a relatively unknown cast of supporting players. Of course, Laughton is at his best.
17. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
PG-13 | 126 min | Drama, Thriller
An American POW in the Korean War is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury
Votes: 79,839
Complex and fantastic, this film shows a range to Frank Sinatra that only John Frankenheimer could bring out. The weird and the wonderful converge in some excellent acting styles that placed dear sweet Angela Lansbury in the crosshairs of a villain.
18. Sullivan's Travels (1941)
Passed | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Hollywood director John L. Sullivan sets out to experience life as a homeless person in order to gain relevant life experience for his next movie.
Director: Preston Sturges | Stars: Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick, William Demarest
Votes: 28,528
Humorous but sad look at what makes us laugh at a time when America was in the middle of a depression. This is one of Preston Sturges greatest efforts at making black and white art... "with a little sex."
19. 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
If you had to add a commercial film with a swashbuckling hero then it might as well be this one (or The Mark of Zorro). Errol Flynn is at the height of his prowess as he swings on ropes into the hearts of women all over America, before the scandal that ruined his life forever after.
20. 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: 99,984 | Gross: $0.06M
John Ford's poignant look at how serious the Great Depression was and how it effected an entire generation that grew up knowing the worth of a penny. Bitterly sad but beautifully told.
21. The Song of Bernadette (1943)
Approved | 156 min | Biography, Drama, Mystery
14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous, living in a small town in the south of 1850s France, claims to have seen a divine vision, prompting extreme skepticism, concern from her family, and religious and political turmoil.
Director: Henry King | Stars: Jennifer Jones, Charles Bickford, William Eythe, Vincent Price
Votes: 7,642
"For those who believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not, no explanation is possible." So goes the introduction to Franz Werfel's incredible novel based on the fact that he promised to tell her story after the village hid him from the Nazi's during their occupation. He did and it is all on screen with Jennifer Jones in the Oscar winning role.
22. The Miracle Worker (1962)
Approved | 106 min | Biography, Drama
The story of Anne Sullivan's struggle to teach the blind and deaf Helen Keller how to communicate.
Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Anne Bancroft, Patty Duke, Victor Jory, Inga Swenson
Votes: 20,511 | Gross: $5.45M
From the start of her life, Helen Keller had no chance to survive, no chance to succeed and definitely no chance to ever become known. Annie Sullivan changed all that. This is their beginning.
23. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
Not Rated | 106 min | Comedy, Crime
A distant poor relative of the Duke D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.
Director: Robert Hamer | Stars: Dennis Price, Alec Guinness, Valerie Hobson, Joan Greenwood
Votes: 39,726
Alec Guiness, like his contemporary, Peter Sellers, was a master at performing different roles. This comedic film shows how many times he can go down as the numerous victims of this hillarious plot to gain riches by succession.
24. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
PG | 95 min | Comedy, War
An unhinged American general orders a bombing attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn
Votes: 518,424 | Gross: $0.28M
No film ever effected a generation that worried about atomic annihilation more than this one did. Kubrick took something as serious as mutually assured destruction and made us laugh at our own absurdities.
25. The Seventh Seal (1957)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Fantasy
A knight returning to Sweden after the Crusades seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe
Votes: 198,529
Ignmar Bergman gave us "Smiles of a summer night," "Wild Strawberries," and this iconic film that starred a man who has survived through the decades as the greatest character actor of all time - Max Von Sydow.
26. The Razor's Edge (1946)
Approved | 145 min | Drama, Romance
An adventuresome young man goes off to find himself and loses his socialite fiancée in the process. But when he returns 10 years later, she will stop at nothing to get him back, even though she is already married.
Director: Edmund Goulding | Stars: Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, John Payne, Anne Baxter
Votes: 6,790 | Gross: $5.00M
He was a man in search of enlightenment and found human frailty all along the way. Perhaps the greatest role of his lifetime, Tyrone Power seeks what every man wants to know - "Is this all there is?"
27. I Remember Mama (1948)
Approved | 134 min | Drama, Family
A young writer recalls her ups and downs of growing up as one of four children to Norwegian immigrant parents in 1910s San Francisco.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Irene Dunne, Barbara Bel Geddes, Oscar Homolka, Philip Dorn
Votes: 6,012
Fresh from the war, George Stevens wanted to make a simple film about family life and gave us a look at human nature in all its glory as kindness and generosity of spirit. Irene Dunne is the mama that we all wish we had - understanding to a fault.
28. Inherit the Wind (1960)
Passed | 128 min | Biography, Drama, History
Based on a real-life case in 1925; two great lawyers argue the case for, and against, a Tennessee science teacher accused of the crime of teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene Kelly, Dick York
Votes: 32,785
For all of our intelligence, it is the fear in man that holds him back and pushes him ever closer to that abyss of ignorance. Religion versus science in a heads on battle that shows how much we can hate each other over the simplest of things.
29. Random Harvest (1942)
Passed | 126 min | Drama, Romance
An amnesiac World War I veteran falls in love with a music hall star, only to suffer an accident which restores his original memories but erases his post-war life.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Ronald Colman, Greer Garson, Philip Dorn, Susan Peters
Votes: 8,406 | Gross: $10.14M
What list would be complete without one good tear-jerking romance story about a man who forgets his past only to have it haunt him his entire life. Perhaps the greatest romance story of all time.
30. Modern Times (1936)
G | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Tiny Sandford
Votes: 259,550 | Gross: $0.16M
No one could make you laugh harder or cry with equal precision as Charles Chaplin. His genius at the art of cinema gave inspiration to every generation of comedic filmmaker who followed him.
31. 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: 865,522 | Gross: $4.36M
Sidney Lumet brings the teleplay to the big screen in an actor's tour de force with the era's finest talent. Not only will you want to see this film in the dead of winter (lots of sweating), but share with an adolescent in the family. The course of justice is often twisted to favor the wealthy and good looking while it unfairly punishes those with few resources.
32. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
Passed | 116 min | Drama, Romance
In 15th-century France, a gypsy girl is framed for murder by the infatuated Chief Justice, and only the deformed bellringer of Notre Dame Cathedral can save her.
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara, Cedric Hardwicke, Thomas Mitchell
Votes: 12,284 | Gross: $3.27M
William Dieterle's masterpiece of a deformed man who falls in love with Maureen O'hara. But who wouldn't!? The film is a great mix of pathos, comedy, and murder mystery with an incredible cast. "Would that my heart be made of stone like these."
33. 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: 114,379 | Gross: $8.00M
From Broadway to the silver screen comes an emotional masterpiece that gave us the greatest actor of the 20th Century - Marlon Brando. Vivian Leigh and Karl Malden help make this film an acting tour de force. "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers..." Blanche DuBois.
34. It Happened One Night (1934)
Passed | 105 min | Comedy, Romance
A rogue reporter trailing a runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops along the way.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns
Votes: 112,301 | Gross: $4.36M
Only two films in cinema history have taken the big five - actor, actress, director, writing, and picture. This and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" were the only ones. Frank Capra's film of the poor little rich girl who learns her lesson is one for the ages.
35. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
PG | 130 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell
Votes: 499,274
All but forgotten by the 1960's, revival houses in Los Angeles resurrected this film classic. Many called Capra's movies, Capra-corn; but the lessons in this Christmas tale are timeless ones. Bring the tissues.
36. The Apartment (1960)
Approved | 125 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A Manhattan insurance clerk tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston
Votes: 196,910 | Gross: $18.60M
Billy Wilder's films, along with Hitchcock and Kubrick could dominate this category. Wilder penned some of the best black and white films of all time. This one of a junior executive who sells his soul to get ahead is one of Jack Lemmon's best performances.
37. A Christmas Carol (1951)
TV-PG | 86 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
Ebenezer Scrooge, a curmudgeonly, miserly businessman, has no time for sentimentality and largely views Christmas as a waste of time. However, this Christmas Eve, he will be visited by three spirits who will show him the error of his ways.
Director: Brian Desmond Hurst | Stars: Alastair Sim, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns
Votes: 25,728
Christmas was declared dead by the London press. Upset over the lack of celebration, Dickens penned this fable that has stood the test of time. When Dicken's great niece visited the set in England, she said Alistair Sims is who her uncle had in mind for Scrooge. While not received well during its initial American run; this version has become the quintessential version of Christmas spirit.
38. Foreign Correspondent (1940)
Passed | 120 min | Action, Romance, Thriller
On the eve of World War II, a young American reporter tries to expose enemy agents in London.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders
Votes: 23,725 | Gross: $3.48M
The films of Alfred Hitchcock could dominate this category - Rebecca, Suspicion, Strangers on a Train - were good movies. Having studied Hitch for over forty years, I confess to having my favorites. I will post the other fave below.
39. Sabotage (1936)
Not Rated | 76 min | Crime, Thriller
A Scotland Yard undercover detective is on the trail of a saboteur who is part of a plot to set off a bomb in London. But when the detective's cover is blown, the plot begins to unravel.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, Oscar Homolka, Desmond Tester, John Loder
Votes: 18,746
Hitchcock so infuriated London filmgoers that they shouted at the screen during the premiere, trying to warn the girl about the bomb. This film gave him the title, "Master of Suspense" and for good reason.
40. Some Like It Hot (1959)
Passed | 121 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
After two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft
Votes: 283,610 | Gross: $25.00M
Thanks to the feedback on this list, I will correct a gross oversight on my part. This is pure genius on the part of Billy Wilder and one of the greatest comedic films of all time. The last line in the movie is one for the ages.
41. The Heiress (1949)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama, Romance
A naive young woman falls for a handsome young man her emotionally abusive father suspects is only a fortune hunter.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson, Miriam Hopkins
Votes: 17,344
William Wyler demanded perfection from his actors and he almost always got it. His pictures have garnered more Academy Awards and award nominations than any director in the history of film. The vivacious Olivia de Havilland (still alive and living in Paris!) pours her heart out in this part and deserved the Oscar for Best Actress.
42. 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: 19,021
Davis made the ultimate transition from mousy introvert into glamorous filmstar before our eyes. For that, she received one of her ten nominations for Best Actress. The film is a joy to watch for me and one of my guilty pleasures - if it's on, I stop what I'm doing and watch a master at work.
43. Blonde Venus (1932)
Passed | 93 min | Drama
A cabaret singer takes up with a millionaire to pay for her gravely-ill husband's operation.
Director: Josef von Sternberg | Stars: Marlene Dietrich, Cary Grant, Herbert Marshall, Dickie Moore
Votes: 5,624
Dietrich made several films with Josef van Sternberg but Blonde Venus stood out with its "Hot Voodoo" number being one of the sexiest striptease moments in cinema history and I doubt it's ever been topped.
44. The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
Not Rated | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Fascinated by gorgeous Mrs. Bannister, seaman Michael O'Hara joins a bizarre yachting cruise, and ends up mired in a complex murder plot.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane, Glenn Anders
Votes: 33,324 | Gross: $0.01M
Orson Welles made several great contributions to the art of filmmaking. His first film is the number one on this list. It's fitting that this movie should be the last word. Shot for shot, this is one you study in film school to see how its done.
45. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Passed | 100 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
San Francisco private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar and their quest for a priceless statuette, with the stakes rising after his partner is murdered.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre
Votes: 166,611 | Gross: $2.11M
First outing for director Huston is a grand slam home run. This movie lifted Bogart out of a sluggish career and established that movies are "the stuff that dreams are made of..."
46. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Approved | 179 min | Drama, War
In 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazis judged for war crimes.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich
Votes: 85,560
A great cast sheds light on the subject of Post-WWII Germany and the trials that glossed over the horrible atrocities enacted upon the Jews, POW's, and others who didn't fit the Third Reich mold. Spencer Tracy in one of his last roles is outstanding as the voice of reason.
47. 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: 26,494
Best Picture of 1941 (the movie that beat Citizen Kane), John Ford directs this tale of coal miners banding together for improved conditions. A great cast in a rather schmaltzy telling but still worthy of this list.
48. Mrs. Miniver (1942)
Approved | 134 min | Drama, Romance, War
A British family struggles to survive the first months of World War II.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright, May Whitty
Votes: 19,470 | Gross: $13.50M
William Wyler was not above schmaltz either in this heartfelt telling of loss during the air war over Great Britain. A couple sends their son off to certain death and must learn to survive as Germany creeps closer to victory over England. Shot prior to Pearl Harbor, the film brought home a powerful emotional message and won Greer Garson Best Actress and the film Best Picture Oscars.
49. 8½ (1963)
Not Rated | 138 min | Drama
A harried movie director retreats into his memories and fantasies.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimée, Claudia Cardinale, Sandra Milo
Votes: 125,229 | Gross: $0.05M
Stylized, cut for a fast pace, Fellini left his mark on cinema with this his eighth outing and hence the title. The film created two terms in the art of cinema: avante garde and paparazzi (named after the nosy photographer). Marcello Masrioianni became a household name in the 1960's as the director in search of "meaning."
50. Seven Samurai (1954)
Not Rated | 207 min | Action, Drama
Farmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima, Yukiko Shimazaki
Votes: 366,948 | Gross: $0.27M
The basis for "The Magnificent Seven" Kurosawa presents the tale of seven Samurai who defend a village from bandits and end up finding a moral purpose to their lives. One of the greatest Japanese movies ever made and a testament to one brilliant director.
51. The Third Man (1949)
Approved | 93 min | Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller
Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard
Votes: 181,874 | Gross: $0.45M
Carol Reed helms one of the most quizzical and mysterious films of the 1940's starring the irascible Orson Welles as Harry Lime. Joseph Cotton in one of his best roles tries to bring his friend to justice and Welles quotes one of the best lines in cinema history.
52. 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: 26,414
David Lean demonstrates his brilliance as a director in one of his last "small" pictures in this late Dicken's classic of boy turned societal sophisticate by a mistaken patron. Nearly every scene in this film is so meticulously lit, it should be a cinematographer's guide.
53. 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: 9,498 | Gross: $3.82M
Joan Fontaine - in perhaps her finest role - plays the timid governess whose involvement in the tragic turn of fates make Bronte's novel come to life. Directed by Robert Stevenson (who later became the go-to Disney director for such films as Kidnapped, Darby O'Gill and Mary Poppins) this version is my personal favorite and one who is a fan of this list (thank you very much).
54. Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Approved | 116 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A veteran British barrister must defend his client in a murder trial that has surprise after surprise.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester
Votes: 137,909 | Gross: $8.18M
Marlene Dietrich is the wronged German wife in this classic whodunnit by expert filmmaker Billy Wilder. Tyrone Power in one of his last films before his tragic early death. Elsa Lancaster rounds out the cast acting beside her husband Charles Laughton.
55. The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.
Director: Albert Lewin | Stars: George Sanders, Hurd Hatfield, Donna Reed, Angela Lansbury
Votes: 14,452
This haunting tale by Oscar Wilde made Hurd Hatfield a star and cursed him for the remainder of his career. He would be forever linked with a role so powerful it left an indelible imprint on audience's minds. Angela Lansbury as his first victim is so beguiling in role as ingenue.
56. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
Not Rated | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
In 1900, a young widow finds her seaside cottage is haunted and forms a unique relationship with the ghost.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, George Sanders, Edna Best
Votes: 20,903
A soaring score by Bernard Herrmann and great performances by stars Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison make this film directed by Joseph Mankiewitz a memorable one. "Ah always did prefer sea captains, M'lady."
57. Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
Unrated | 114 min | Drama, Romance
An aged teacher and former headmaster of a boarding school recalls his career and his personal life over the decades.
Directors: Sam Wood, Sidney Franklin | Stars: Robert Donat, Greer Garson, Terry Kilburn, John Mills
Votes: 11,592
There are times when sentiment is most appropriate. Robert Donat - in his finest role - plays the humble prep-school professor and lives a dull monotonous life... until she comes along and gives Mr. Chippings a new outlook on life.
58. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Passed | 129 min | Comedy, Drama
A naive youth leader is appointed to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. His idealistic plans promptly collide with corruption at home and subterfuge from his hero in Washington, but he tries to forge ahead despite attacks on his character.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold
Votes: 121,416 | Gross: $9.60M
Chock full of "Capra corn" this tribute to the workings of Washington D.C. seems hopelessly outdated in this world of jaded politicians who would think of nothing less than to stab one another in the back. At one time, such a thing would be sacrilegious. A political life that could have been, Mr. Smith embodies all the good and promise of a Washington gone wrong and may never return.
59. Destry Rides Again (1939)
Approved | 95 min | Comedy, Western
Deputy sheriff Destry tames the town of Bottle Neck, including saloon singer Frenchy.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Marlene Dietrich, James Stewart, Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger
Votes: 12,556 | Gross: $0.35M
Perhaps one of the finest westerns of all time if John Ford hadn't made Liberty Valance. Destry has all the elements that make for a heroic story of the west.
60. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Approved | 123 min | Drama, Western
A senator returns to a Western town for the funeral of an old friend and tells the story of his origins.
Director: John Ford | Stars: James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin
Votes: 82,321
Funny to see James Stewart in such humbling roles as Destry and this film. However, he is countered by the greatest western hero of them all - John Wayne. In this "look back" we discover that true heroes are not always recognized for their contribution until it is too late.
61. Double Indemnity (1944)
Passed | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Byron Barr
Votes: 167,509 | Gross: $5.72M
Another Billy Wilder film, this time what many consider to be the defining moment for Film Noir (literally dark cinema). Wilder shot using dark rooms lit with sunlight coming through venetian blinds, casting stripe shadows on the set and characters. In the post war era, this use of shadow came to be known as Film Noir. Though the acting is hammy (Fred MacMurray is way over the top with his "baby" bit) and the dialogue stinted, the sensuality implied in this film broke new censorship ground. Wilder's direction is outstanding.
62. The Last Picture Show (1971)
R | 118 min | Drama, Romance
In 1951, a group of high schoolers come of age in a bleak, isolated, atrophied North Texas town that is slowly dying, both culturally and economically.
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson
Votes: 52,408 | Gross: $29.13M
Peter Bogdanovich's contribution to the art of cinema comes to full fruition in this outstanding black and white film that gave us Jeff Bridges and Cybill Shepard along with a story filled with stark images.
63. The Killers (1946)
Passed | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Hit men kill an unresisting victim, and investigator Reardon uncovers his past involvement with beautiful, deadly Kitty Collins.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Albert Dekker
Votes: 23,639
As much as Billy Wilder did with "Double Indemnity" director Robert Siodmak gives us a film that helped define the term "film noir" with its snappy dialogue and retro storyline. Who could be more sultry than Ava Gardner lit with shadow.
64. Out of the Past (1947)
Approved | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A private eye escapes his past to run a gas station in a small town, but his past catches up with him. Now he must return to the big city world of danger, corruption, double crosses, and duplicitous dames.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming
Votes: 40,937
In addition to "The Killers" and "Double Indemnity" this movie is one that helped define the Film Noir movement that swept the industry after World War II. Perhaps the finest work Jacques Tourneur ever produced in his lexicon, full of what we now call cliches were new and captivating for their time.
65. The Artist (I) (2011)
PG-13 | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When George, a silent movie superstar, meets Peppy Miller, a dancer, sparks fly between the two. However, after the introduction of talking pictures, their fortunes change, affecting their dynamic.
Director: Michel Hazanavicius | Stars: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell
Votes: 248,641 | Gross: $44.67M
Excellent artistic interpretation of Silent Era/A Star is Born reversal. Leave it to the French to define American cinema.
66. On the Waterfront (1954)
Approved | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
An ex-prize fighter turned New Jersey longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses, including his older brother, as he starts to connect with the grieving sister of one of the syndicate's victims.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger
Votes: 164,963 | Gross: $9.60M
What a cast! Where do you start? While I'm not a fan of Eli Kazan, Brando could read the phone book and I'd be happy. Steiger is equally up to the acting cast here. Add in a Leonard Bernstein score and you've got a great film all around.
67. Born Yesterday (1950)
Not Rated | 103 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A tycoon hires a tutor to teach his lover proper etiquette, with unexpected results.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Judy Holliday, William Holden, Broderick Crawford, Howard St. John
Votes: 12,420
George Cukor takes a Broadway personality like Judy Holliday and makes her an overnight star. With an Oscar winning performance that is a must see for any generation, Holliday nails it.
68. All the King's Men (1949)
Approved | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir
The rise and fall of a corrupt politician, who makes his friends richer and retains power by dint of a populist appeal.
Director: Robert Rossen | Stars: Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Joanne Dru, John Derek
Votes: 16,594
The ugly life of politics is nothing new. Broderick Crawford cements his place in cinema history with the role of a lifetime.
69. Strangers on a Train (1951)
PG | 101 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A psychopathic man tries to forcibly persuade a tennis star to agree to his theory that two strangers can get away with murder by submitting to his plan to kill the other's most-hated person.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Farley Granger, Robert Walker, Ruth Roman, Leo G. Carroll
Votes: 141,053 | Gross: $7.63M
So many people have requested this twisted psycho-drama, I feel obligated to add it. Hitchcock loved talent but loathed certain actors off the set. Farley Granger was one of them. However, Granger fit his "slightly odd" profile so perfectly for his "Leopold and Loeb" film ("Rope"), he hired the actor a second time. Considering today's criminal climate, this movie has regained a new generation of admirers and should be on the list.
70. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Passed | 102 min | Comedy
While trying to secure a $1 million donation for his museum, a befuddled paleontologist is pursued by a flighty and often irritating heiress and her pet leopard, Baby.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Charles Ruggles, Walter Catlett
Votes: 66,108
This Howard Hawks movie contains so many laughs, some consider it one of the greatest comedies every made. One particular scene gave rise to the expression "gay" which many in New York took another way and gave birth to a movement. Gay here means frivolous fun and this movie is a barrel of laughs from start to finish.
71. Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama
In post-war Italy, a working-class man's bicycle is stolen, endangering his efforts to find work. He and his son set out to find it.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell, Elena Altieri
Votes: 175,212 | Gross: $0.33M
Post World War II Europe is a dark place for a young boy. DeSica's film brings the story of survival to the forefront and enlightens the world. Originally titled, "The Bicycle Thief" the title was changed due to copyright infringement.
72. The 400 Blows (1959)
Not Rated | 99 min | Crime, Drama
A young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, Claire Maurier, Guy Decomble
Votes: 128,098
Part of the New Wave cinema to emerge in the late 1950's from directors like Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard; many scenes in the film were unscripted and ad libbed.
73. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A self-proclaimed preacher marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real dad hid the $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.
Director: Charles Laughton | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, James Gleason
Votes: 97,391 | Gross: $0.65M
The first feature film directed by Charles Laughton (he tried unsuccessfully to make "I, Claudius"); Robert Mitchum stars in this dark psychological thriller based on the true story of murderer Harry Powers.
74. Raging Bull (1980)
R | 129 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent
Votes: 380,350 | Gross: $23.38M
Scorsese got robbed but DeNiro gave us one of the greatest acting roles of all time - Best Actor Oscar hands down.
75. Touch of Evil (1958)
PG-13 | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping and police corruption in a Mexican border town.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh, Joseph Calleia
Votes: 109,828 | Gross: $2.24M
The film opens with the greatest tracking shot of all time - Welles out "suspenses" Hitchcock in when will the bomb go off and will it kill the stars! This movie has some low points and some periods of confusion but also contains some rare gems to make this list.
76. 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: 13,659
I'm a huge David Lean fan and when he started out, he made small films like this movie and "Great Expectations." Lean is one of those storytellers whose films stand up under repeated viewings. He had an on again, off again love/hate relationship with Alec Guinness, finally getting him the Oscar in "Bridge over the River Kwai."
77. 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: 53,788
Not one of John Ford's greatest movies but certainly one of his most popular. John Wayne's first starring role. He went on to make twenty-three more movies with Ford with whom he regarded as one of his closest friends.
78. 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
George Steven's directs the irascible trio of Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. as they stumble their way into an ambush and help prevent massive casualties. Sam Jaffe plays the title role of Rudyard Kipling's novel. William Faulkner contributed to the screenplay.
79. Young Frankenstein (1974)
PG | 106 min | Comedy
An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather was not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle
Votes: 168,932 | Gross: $86.30M
Gene Wilder created it and Mel Brooks executed; an outstanding parody of the Universal horror films from the 1930's results in one of the greatest comedy films of all time. The Deluxe prints were sumptuous from day one, converting the color footage into black and white. DP Gerald Hirschfeld never received a nomination for his work, just passed away a few months ago.
80. Fail Safe (1964)
Approved | 112 min | Drama, Thriller
A technical malfunction sends American planes to Moscow to deliver a nuclear attack. Can all-out war be averted?
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver, Dan O'Herlihy
Votes: 24,411
Sidney Lumet's psychological drama of the hydrogen bomb going wrong hits close to the mark then and now; especially in light of recent events. Outstanding performances - the antithesis of Dr. Strangelove's satire.
81. Advise & Consent (1962)
Not Rated | 139 min | Drama, Thriller
The polarizing search for a new Secretary of State has far-reaching consequences.
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Franchot Tone, Lew Ayres, Henry Fonda, Walter Pidgeon
Votes: 7,512
Otto Preminger's film of Washington's political wheelers and dealers comes to a head when a senator is blackmailed due to his gay liaisons during the war. A powerful drama and more poignant today in our divisive congress.
82. The Innocents (1961)
Not Rated | 100 min | Horror
A young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted.
Director: Jack Clayton | Stars: Deborah Kerr, Peter Wyngarde, Megs Jenkins, Michael Redgrave
Votes: 33,073 | Gross: $2.62M
I added this film at the suggestion of someone who liked the list.
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