The best classic films of all time
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There are still certain older films that â despite lacking color or extravagant graphics â will continue to remain classics for years to come.
- Natalie Morin, PrettyFamous.com
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Underwood Archives / Contributor
Movies made today tend to be saturated with special effects and other expensive elements. Though this has produced some groundbreaking, expertly-crafted films, there are still certain older films that — despite lacking color or extravagant graphics — will continue to remain classics for years to come.
With this in mind, PrettyFamous, an entertainment data site by Graphiq, found the 100 best classic films that have stood the test of time.
To determine which films are "classics," PrettyFamous considered movies that were released in or before 1975. The remaining movies were then ranked according to their Smart Rating. This is a score out of 100 that takes into account a movie's Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer and Audience Score, IMDb rating and votes, Metacritic Metascore and Gracenote rating. Only films with more than 25,000 IMDb votes were eligible for the list. In the case of a tie, the movie with more IMDb votes was favored.
It's important to note that PrettyFamous' Smart Rating typically weighs a movie's U.S. inflation-adjusted box office gross, but the box office data from the beginning of the 20th century is flawed or lacking. PrettyFamous thus decided to modify the Smart Rating to exclude box office numbers, thereby making the Smart Rating more consistent among all classic films.
Compiled by Natalie Morin, PrettyFamous.com
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#100. My Fair Lady
Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 94.53
Release date (U.S.): 10/21/64
Genre: Musical
Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway
Oscar-winning adaptation of the Broadway hit about an English professor (Rex Harrison) who teaches a cockney merchant (Audrey Hepburn) to be a lady.
#99. Once Upon a Time in the West
Paramount Pictures / ABC
Smart Rating: 94.55
Release date (U.S.): 05/28/69
Genre: Western
Starring: Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Charles Bronson
An outlaw (Henry Fonda) working for a railroad magnate fights a stranger (Charles Bronson) for a New Orleans widow's (Claudia Cardinale) land.
#98. The Lady Vanishes
Gainsborough Pictures / United Artists
Smart Rating: 94.57
Release date (U.S.): 11/01/38
Genre: Mystery
Starring: Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Dame May Whitty
A young Englishwoman (Margaret Lockwood) tries to prove that an elderly governess (Dame May Whitty) was actually on a train.
#97. Judgment at Nuremberg
Roxlom Films / United Artists
Smart Rating: 94.59
Release date (U.S.): 12/19/61
Genre: Drama
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark
Stanley Kramer's Oscar-winning account reveals postwar courtroom proceedings against Nazi war criminals in 1948 Germany.
#96. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 94.61
Release date (U.S.): 04/22/62
Genre: Western
Starring: James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles
Flashbacks tell the story of a tenderfoot who rose to glory by gunning down the outlaw terrorizing his small town.
#95. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 94.62
Release date (U.S.): 06/21/66
Genre: Drama
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal
A professor (Richard Burton) and his wife (Elizabeth Taylor) drink and verbally assault each other in front of a younger couple, their dinner guests.
#94. Young Frankenstein
Crossbow Productions, Inc. / 20th Century Fox
Smart Rating: 94.63
Release date (U.S.): 12/15/74
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Cloris Leachman
Respected medical lecturer Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) learns that he has inherited his infamous grandfather's estate in Transylvania. Arriving at the castle, Dr. Frankenstein soon begins to recreate his grandfather's experiments.
#93. Bride of Frankenstein
Universal Pictures
Smart Rating: 94.67
Release date (U.S.): 04/22/35
Genre: Horror
Starring: Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester, Colin Clive
Baron Frankenstein (Colin Clive) creates a hissing, frizzy-haired female (Elsa Lanchester) for his other monster (Boris Karloff).
#92. Sleuth
Palomar Pictures / 20th Cenutry Fox
Smart Rating: 94.69
Release date (U.S.): 12/10/72
Genre: Mystery
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine
An aging British mystery writer (Laurence Olivier) invites his wife's lover (Michael Caine) to his booby-trapped mansion for a game of wits.
#91. His Girl Friday
Columbia Pictures Corporation / Columbia Pictures
Smart Rating: 94.7
Release date (U.S.): 01/11/40
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy
An ace reporter's (Rosalind Russell) editor (Cary Grant) tries to stop her from remarrying in this remake of director Lewis Milestone's "The Front Page."
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#90. Frankenstein
Universal Pictures
Smart Rating: 94.71
Release date (U.S.): 11/21/31
Genre: Horror
Starring: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Mae Clarke
Baron Frankenstein (Colin Clive) creates a monster (Boris Karloff) from cadavers and a killer's brain.
#89. In the Heat of the Night
Mirisch Corporation, The / United Artists
Smart Rating: 94.71
Release date (U.S.): 08/02/67
Genre: Crime Drama
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates
A black Philadelphia detective (Sidney Poitier) helps a white Mississippi sheriff (Rod Steiger) solve a murder.
#88. Rosemary's Baby
William Castle Productions / Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 94.8
Release date (U.S.): 06/12/68
Genre: Horror
Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon
A pregnant woman's (Mia Farrow) husband (John Cassavetes) and their satanic neighbors want her baby to be the Antichrist.
#87. All Quiet on the Western Front
Universal Pictures
Smart Rating: 94.82
Release date (U.S.): 08/24/30
Genre: War
Starring: Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray
A German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.
#86. The General
Joseph M. Schenck Productions / United Artists
Smart Rating: 94.83
Release date (U.S.): 02/05/27
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender
When Union spies steal an engineer's beloved locomotive, he pursues it single-handedly and straight through enemy lines.
#85. The Searchers
Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 94.85
Release date (U.S.): 03/13/56
Genre: Western
Starring: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Natalie Wood
A Confederate veteran (John Wayne) and his part-Cherokee partner (Jeffrey Hunter) search five years for a kidnapped girl (Natalie Wood).
#84. The Big Sleep
Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 94.86
Release date (U.S.): 08/31/46
Genre: Mystery, Crime Drama
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Martha Vickers
Raymond Chandler's private eye Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) follows two wealthy sisters (Lauren Bacall, Martha Vickers) through a maze of murders. Unedited version.
#83. The Conversation
The Coppola Company / Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 94.86
Release date (U.S.): 04/07/74
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Frederic Forrest
When a surveillance expert (Gene Hackman) suspects that the subjects of his current job will be killed, his conscience interferes.
#82. The Seventh Seal
Svensk Filmindustri (SF) / Janus Films
Smart Rating: 94.86
Release date (U.S.): 10/13/56
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Starring: Max von Sydow, Gunnar BjÃļrnstrand, Bengt Ekerot
Returning from a Crusade with his squire, a weary knight (Max von Sydow) plays chess with Death.
#81. Dog Day Afternoon
Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 94.89
Release date (U.S.): 09/21/75
Genre: Crime Drama
Starring: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning
A loser (Al Pacino) robs a Brooklyn bank with his stupid buddy (John Cazale) to pay for his lover's sex change.
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#80. The Grapes of Wrath
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Smart Rating: 94.96
Release date (U.S.): 03/15/40
Genre: Drama
Starring: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine
Poor sharecroppers the Joads (Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell) leave dust bowl Oklahoma in hope of better luck in California.
#79. The Wild Bunch
Warner Brothers/Seven Arts
Smart Rating: 94.97
Release date (U.S.): 06/18/69
Genre: Western
Starring: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan
An outlaw (William Holden) and his gang, on the run from the Mexican Army and bounty hunters, plot to rob a United States Army train.
#78. Notorious
Vanguard Films / RKO Radio Pictures
Smart Rating: 94.99
Release date (U.S.): 08/15/46
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains
A U.S. agent (Cary Grant) brings a traitor's daughter (Ingrid Bergman) to Rio de Janeiro to seduce an exiled Nazi (Claude Rains).
#77. A Streetcar Named Desire
Charles K. Feldman Group / Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 95
Release date (U.S.): 01/01/51
Genre: Drama
Starring: Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter
Tennessee Williams' Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) moves in with her sister, Stella (Kim Hunter), and brutish brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando).
#76. Shadow of a Doubt
Skirball Productions / Universal Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.04
Release date (U.S.): 01/01/43
Genre: Crime Drama, Mystery
Starring: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Hume Cronyn
A girl (Teresa Wright) thinks her visiting uncle (Joseph Cotten) is the strangler dubbed the Merry Widow Murderer.
#75. High Noon
Stanley Kramer Productions / United Artists
Smart Rating: 95.04
Release date (U.S.): 07/24/52
Genre: Western
Starring: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Katy Jurado
On the verge of retirement, a marshal (Gary Cooper) stands alone to face a vengeful gunman and his gang.
#74. Repulsion
Compton Films / Royal Films International
Smart Rating: 95.05
Release date (U.S.): 10/03/65
Genre: Horror
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Yvonne Furneaux, Ian Hendry
A chilling tale of the mental deterioration of a sexually repressed woman whose tenuous grip on reality snaps violently.
#73. Barry Lyndon
Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 95.05
Release date (U.S.): 12/18/75
Genre: Drama
Starring: Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee
Thackeray's 18th-century Irish rogue (Ryan O'Neal) woos and wins a rich widow (Marisa Berenson), then plays aristocrat.
#72. The Killing
Harris-Kubrick Productions / United Artists
Smart Rating: 95.07
Release date (U.S.): 05/20/56
Genre: Crime Drama
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards
The organizers of a brilliantly conceived racetrack heist find their perfect crime beginning to unravel.
#71. The Last Picture Show
Columbia Pictures Corporation
Smart Rating: 95.12
Release date (U.S.): 01/01/71
Genre: Drama
Starring: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd
The lives of high schoolers (Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges), a debutante (Cybill Shepherd) and others overlap in a dying 1950s Texas town.
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#70. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Avon Productions (II) / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Smart Rating: 95.12
Release date (U.S.): 09/18/58
Genre: Drama
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives
Two brothers, one an alcoholic (Paul Newman) who resents his devoted wife (Elizabeth Taylor), visit their dying millionaire father (Burl Ives) in the South.
#69. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Decla-Bioscop AG / Goldwyn Distributing Company
Smart Rating: 95.13
Release date (U.S.): 02/26/20
Genre: Horror
Starring: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher
A hypnotist (Werner Krauss) in black exhibits a cabinet, which contains a pale man (Conrad Veidt) in black in a trance.
#68. Diabolique
Filmsonor / United Motion Pictures Organization
Smart Rating: 95.14
Release date (U.S.): 01/29/55
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzot, Paul Meurisse
A wife (Vera Clouzot) and a mistress (Simone Signoret) conspire to murder the brutal headmaster (Paul Meurisse) of a school for boys, then the body disappears.
#67. Stalag 17
Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.14
Release date (U.S.): 07/01/53
Genre: War
Starring: William Holden, Otto Preminger, Robert Strauss
In a Nazi prison barracks, other POWs believe that a cynical American sergeant (William Holden) is an informer.
#66. The Bridge on the River Kwai
Columbia Pictures Corporation
Smart Rating: 95.15
Release date (U.S.): 12/18/57
Genre: War
Starring: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Sessue Hayakawa
A British POW colonel (Alec Guinness) orders his men to build their Japanese captor (Sessue Hayakawa) a railway bridge in the jungle.
#65. The Apartment
Mirisch Corporation, The / United Artists
Smart Rating: 95.17
Release date (U.S.): 06/15/60
Genre: Comedy Drama
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray
A corporate climber (Jack Lemmon), whose boss (Fred MacMurray) and others use his apartment for hanky-panky, aids a young woman (Shirley MacLaine).
#64. Solaris
Creative Unit of Writers & Cinema Workers / Magna
Smart Rating: 95.18
Release date (U.S.): 03/20/72
Genre: Science Fiction, Drama, Crime Drama
Starring: Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, JÃŧri Järvet
A psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.
#63. Anatomy of a Murder
Carlyle Productions / Columbia Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.26
Release date (U.S.): 07/01/59
Genre: Crime Drama, Mystery
Starring: James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara
A Michigan lawyer (James Stewart) and his colleague defend an Army lieutenant (Ben Gazzara) who killed the man who raped the officer's wife (Lee Remick).
#62. Wild Strawberries
Svensk Filmindustri (SF) / Janus Films
Smart Rating: 95.29
Release date (U.S.): 06/22/57
Genre: Drama
Starring: Victor SjÃļstrÃļm, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin
An old Swedish professor sees his life pass by in a series of nightmarish flashbacks.
#61. To Kill a Mockingbird
Universal International Pictures (UI) / Universal Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.29
Release date (U.S.): 12/25/62
Genre: Drama
Starring: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford
A widowed lawyer (Gregory Peck) with two bright children (Mary Badham, Phillip Alford) defends a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman in 1930s Alabama.
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#60. Gone With the Wind
Selznick International Pictures / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Smart Rating: 95.29
Release date (U.S.): 12/15/39
Genre: Romance, Historical Drama
Starring: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard
A fiery Southern belle struggles to return her family's estate to its original magnificence after the Civil War.
#59. The Hustler
Rossen Films / Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Smart Rating: 95.3
Release date (U.S.): 09/25/61
Genre: Drama
Starring: Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, George C. Scott
A gambler (George C. Scott) stakes pool shark "Fast Eddie" Felson (Paul Newman) in a smoke-filled marathon against Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason).
#58. Throne of Blood
Kurosawa Production Co. / Toho Company
Smart Rating: 95.33
Release date (U.S.): 11/22/57
Genre: Drama
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimura
A Japanese version of "Macbeth" features a samurai (Toshiro Mifune), his scheming wife (Isuzu Yamada) and a flurry-of-arrows finale.
#57. The Best Years of Our Lives
Samuel Goldwyn Company, The / RKO Radio Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.35
Release date (U.S.): 11/21/46
Genre: Drama
Starring: Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews
A disabled serviceman and two other veterans (Fredric March, Dana Andrews) have difficulty adjusting to civilian life after World War II.
#56. Strangers on a Train
Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 95.37
Release date (U.S.): 06/30/51
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Robert Walker, Farley Granger, Ruth Roman
A psychopath (Robert Walker) and a tennis player (Farley Granger) meet in a club car and plot that each will murder someone for the other.
#55. For a Few Dollars More
Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA) / United Artists
Smart Rating: 95.38
Release date (U.S.): 05/10/67
Genre: Western
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volonte
A man with no name (Clint Eastwood) and a man with a mission (Lee Van Cleef) hunt a Mexican bandit (Gian Maria Volonte) for different reasons.
#54. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA) / United Artists
Smart Rating: 95.4
Release date (U.S.): 09/15/72
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig, Paul Frankeur
Bizarre events frustrate an ambassador (Fernando Rey), his wife (Delphine Seyrig) and friends, hoping to dine in Paris.
#53. It Happened One Night
Columbia Pictures Corporation / Columbia Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.41
Release date (U.S.): 02/22/34
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Starring: Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable, Walter Connolly
A newsman (Clark Gable) rides a bus and shares a cabin with a tycoon's (Walter Connolly) runaway daughter (Claudette Colbert).
#52. The French Connection
D'Antoni Productions / Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Smart Rating: 95.41
Release date (U.S.): 10/07/71
Genre: Crime Drama, Thriller
Starring: Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider
New York Detective "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) and his partner (Roy Scheider) chase a French heroin smuggler.
#51. The Sting
Zanuck/Brown Productions / Universal Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.43
Release date (U.S.): 12/25/73
Genre: Comedy Drama
Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw
To avenge a murder, two con men (Paul Newman, Robert Redford) bilk a mobster (Robert Shaw) with their betting-room scam in 1930s Chicago.
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Fox Film Corporation
Smart Rating: 95.44
Release date (U.S.): 09/23/27
Genre: Drama
Starring: George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston
A woman (Margaret Livingston) from the city tempts a farmer (George O'Brien) to kill his wife (Janet Gaynor).
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Charles Chaplin Productions / United Artists
Smart Rating: 95.45
Release date (U.S.): 10/15/40
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie
A Jewish barber looks like Adenoid Hynkel (Charles Chaplin), dictator of Tomania, who meets Benzino Napaloni (Jack Oakie), dictator of Bacteria.
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Loew's / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Smart Rating: 95.49
Release date (U.S.): 12/01/40
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Starring: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart
A snooty socialite (Katharine Hepburn) fights with her ex-husband (Cary Grant) and flirts with a reporter (James Stewart).
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Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Smart Rating: 95.49
Release date (U.S.): 01/25/70
Genre: Biography, Drama, War
Starring: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates
Flamboyant Gen. George S. Patton (George C. Scott) receives accolades and censure as he fights World War II.
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Stanley Kubrick Productions / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Smart Rating: 95.56
Release date (U.S.): 04/02/68
Genre: Science Fiction
Starring: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester
Supercomputer HAL 9000 guides astronauts (Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester) on a trip to find the origins of humans.
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Selznick International Pictures / United Artists
Smart Rating: 95.57
Release date (U.S.): 04/12/40
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, Judith Anderson
A British gentleman's (Laurence Olivier) innocent bride (Joan Fontaine) grapples with intrusive reminders of his deceased wife.
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Proscenium Films / United Artists Corporation
Smart Rating: 95.59
Release date (U.S.): 08/11/64
Genre: Musical Comedy
Starring: The Beatles, Wilfrid Brambell, Norman Rossington
John, Paul, George and Ringo (The Beatles) spend 36 wild hours in London, besieged by exuberant fans.
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Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 95.63
Release date (U.S.): 10/03/41
Genre: Crime Drama
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre
Private eye Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) encounters sundry characters (Mary Astor, Peter Lorre), all seeking a coveted statuette.
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Bryna Productions / United Artists
Smart Rating: 95.64
Release date (U.S.): 10/25/57
Genre: War
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou
A World War I French colonel (Kirk Douglas) defends three soldiers picked to be shot for a general's blunder.
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Goldcrest Films International / Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 95.65
Release date (U.S.): 03/01/59
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe
To evade gangsters, two men (Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon) don skirts and makeup and join an all-girl band with a sizzling singer (Marilyn Monroe).
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Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.7
Release date (U.S.): 09/06/44
Genre: Crime Drama
Starring: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
An insurance man (Fred MacMurray) helps a platinum blonde (Barbara Stanwyck) kill her husband, but all does not go as planned.
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Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.73
Release date (U.S.): 06/20/74
Genre: Crime Drama
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston
A 1930s gumshoe named Jake (Jack Nicholson) sticks his nose into a sordid mess over Los Angeles land and water.
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Charles Chaplin Productions / United Artists
Smart Rating: 95.75
Release date (U.S.): 06/26/25
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Charles Chaplin, Mack Swain, Tom Murray
Mostly isolated in the Yukon, the little tramp (Charles Chaplin) cooks a shoe, falls in love, hangs from a cliff and strikes it rich.
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Les Films du Carrosse / Cocinor
Smart Rating: 95.75
Release date (U.S.): 05/04/59
Genre: Crime Drama
Starring: Jean-Pierre LÊaud, Albert RÊmy, Claire Maurier
Neglected by his parents (Claire Maurier, Albert RÊmy), Parisian schoolboy Antoine Doinel runs away from home and turns to petty crime.
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Kurosawa Production Co. / Seneca Productions
Smart Rating: 95.76
Release date (U.S.): 10/15/61
Genre: Adventure, Dark Comedy
Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Eijiro Tono, Tatsuya Nakadai
A free-lance samurai (Toshirô Mifune) works both sides of the street in a village split by warring merchants.
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Kurosawa Production Co. / Seneca Productions
Smart Rating: 95.77
Release date (U.S.): 01/06/48
Genre: Adventure
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt
Three unlucky Americans (Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt) seek gold in Mexico, agreeing beforehand to split it equally.
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Compagnie Industrielle et Commerciale Cin?matographique (CICC) / Cin?dis
Smart Rating: 95.79
Release date (U.S.): 01/01/53
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter Van Eyck
Four men take on the dangerous mission of driving two nitroglycerin-laden trucks through harsh terrain.
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Produzioni De Sica (PDS) / Arthur Mayer & Joseph Burstyn
Smart Rating: 95.79
Release date (U.S.): 10/24/48
Genre: Drama
Starring: Lamberto Maggiorani, Lianella Carell, Enzo Staiola
A poor man (Lamberto Maggiorani) and his son (Enzo Staiola) search postwar Rome for the stolen bicycle he needs to work as a bill poster.
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Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Smart Rating: 95.89
Release date (U.S.): 10/13/50
Genre: Drama
Starring: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm
A Broadway star (Bette Davis) takes a young and seemingly naive aspiring actress (Anne Baxter) under her wing.
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Horizon Pictures / Columbia Pictures Corporation
Smart Rating: 95.89
Release date (U.S.): 07/28/54
Genre: Drama
Starring: Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden
A conscience-stricken ex-boxer (Marlon Brando) stands up to a corrupt union boss after unwittingly participating in a fellow longshoreman's murder.
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Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions / Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.92
Release date (U.S.): 05/09/58
Genre: Thriller
Starring: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes
A former San Francisco detective (James Stewart) who dreads heights falls for a woman (Kim Novak) he is hired to protect.
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Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 95.96
Release date (U.S.): 02/11/38
Genre: Adventure
Starring: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone
The Sherwood Forest outlaw (Errol Flynn) and his men save King Richard and Maid Marian (Olivia de Havilland) from Prince John and Sir Guy (Basil Rathbone).
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London Film Productions / Selznick Releasing Organization
Smart Rating: 95.96
Release date (U.S.): 02/01/49
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Trevor Howard
Visiting postwar Vienna, a writer (Joseph Cotten) of pulp Westerns probes the suspicious death of an old friend (Orson Welles).
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Jalem Productions / Warner Brothers / Seven Arts
Smart Rating: 95.97
Release date (U.S.): 11/01/67
Genre: Drama
Starring: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J.D. Cannon
A likable Southern loner (Paul Newman) on a chain gang resists the captain and keeps trying to escape.
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Mercury Productions / RKO Radio Pictures
Smart Rating: 96.03
Release date (U.S.): 05/01/41
Genre: Drama
Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Ruth Warrick
Enigmatic newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) rises, falls and leaves behind a riddle with his dying breath.
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Edward Small Productions / MGM / United Artists
Smart Rating: 96.07
Release date (U.S.): 12/21/57
Genre: Crime Drama, Mystery
Starring: Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton
An aging barrister (Charles Laughton) defends a man (Tyrone Power) for murder despite damaging testimony from the accused's wife (Marlene Dietrich).
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Liberty Films (II) / RKO Radio Pictures
Smart Rating: 96.09
Release date (U.S.): 01/07/46
Genre: Holiday, Comedy Drama
Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
Ruined by a miser (Lionel Barrymore) on Christmas Eve, a suicidal family man (James Stewart) sees life anew thanks to his guardian angel.
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Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 96.12
Release date (U.S.): 08/10/50
Genre: Drama
Starring: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim
Hack screenwriter Joe (William Holden) moves in with Hollywood has-been Norma (Gloria Swanson) and her chauffeur, Max (Erich von Stroheim).
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Toho Company
Smart Rating: 96.13
Release date (U.S.): 10/09/52
Genre: Drama
Starring: Takashi Shimura, Nobuo Kaneko, Shin'ichi Himori
A rigid clerk (Takashi Shimura) resolves to do something of lasting importance after learning that he is dying of cancer.
- Updated
Nero-Film AG / Foremco Pictures Corp.
Smart Rating: 96.15
Release date (U.S.): 05/11/31
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut
Fritz Lang's classic tells of the Berlin underworld's efforts to capture the loathsome murderer of a child.
- Updated
Loew's / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Smart Rating: 96.15
Release date (U.S.): 04/10/52
Genre: Musical Comedy
Starring: Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor
A silent-film star (Gene Kelly) loves a chorus girl (Debbie Reynolds) who dubs his squeaky-voiced co-star in a 1927 Hollywood talkie.
- Updated
Charles Chaplin Productions / First National Pictures
Smart Rating: 96.18
Release date (U.S.): 01/21/21
Genre: Comedy Drama
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Coogan, Edna Purviance
The Little Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) raises the abandoned child (Jackie Coogan) of an unwed mother (Edna Purviance).
- Updated
Paul Gregory Productions / United Artists
Smart Rating: 96.19
Release date (U.S.): 09/29/55
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish
The Rev. Harry Powell, a religious fanatic and serial killer, meets condemned murderer Ben Harper in prison, who tells him about hiding $10,000 in stolen loot. After he's released, Powell tracks down Harper's widow, Willa, and her two children.
- Updated
Casbah Film / Argent Films
Smart Rating: 96.22
Release date (U.S.): 03/13/67
Genre: War, Historical Drama
Starring: Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Brahim Haggiag
In the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.
- Updated
United Artists
Smart Rating: 96.27
Release date (U.S.): 01/30/31
Genre: Comedy Drama
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Harry Myers
A little tramp (Charlie Chaplin) gets money from a drunken millionaire (Harry Myers) for an operation to restore a flower girl's (Virginia Cherrill) sight.
- Updated
Fantasy Films / United Artists
Smart Rating: 96.28
Release date (U.S.): 11/19/75
Genre: Drama
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Brad Dourif
Mental patients follow Randle P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), the social-misfit hero of Ken Kesey's novel.
- Updated
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Smart Rating: 96.3
Release date (U.S.): 07/17/59
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason
Mistaken identity spurs a foreign spy (James Mason) to pursue an innocent New Yorker (Cary Grant), all the way to Mount Rushmore.
- Updated
Shamley Productions / Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 96.4
Release date (U.S.): 06/16/60
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles
A woman (Janet Leigh) on the run stops at a 12-cabin motel with showers, run by mother-fixated Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins).
- Updated
Python (Monty) Pictures / Cinema 5 Distributing
Smart Rating: 96.48
Release date (U.S.): 04/01/75
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam
King Arthur (Graham Chapman) goes questing on a pretend horse, followed by his lackey clacking coconut shells.
- Updated
Universum Film (UFA) / Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 96.63
Release date (U.S.): 03/13/27
Genre: Science Fiction
Starring: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav FrÃļhlich
An industrialist (Alfred Abel) rules a 21st century city where the rich play above and slaves toil below.
- Updated
Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 96.67
Release date (U.S.): 11/26/42
Genre: Drama
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid
A cynical nightclub owner (Humphrey Bogart) protects an old flame (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband (Paul Henreid) from Nazis in Morocco.
- Updated
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Smart Rating: 96.68
Release date (U.S.): 08/25/39
Genre: Children, Fantasy, Musical
Starring: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger
After a tornado whisks Kansas farm girl Dorothy (Judy Garland) to a magic land, she must travel to the Emerald City for help in getting back home.
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Paramount Pictures / Cinema International Corporation
Smart Rating: 96.73
Release date (U.S.): 09/01/54
Genre: Thriller
Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey
Sitting in a wheelchair, his leg in a cast, a photographer (James Stewart) spies on courtyard neighbors and sees a murder.
- Updated
Charles Chaplin Productions / United Artists
Smart Rating: 97.13
Release date (U.S.): 02/05/36
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman
In Chaplin's classic comedy of the Machine Age, a bolt tightener (Charlie Chaplin) fails at everything but falling in love.
- Updated
Horizon Pictures (II) / Columbia Pictures
Smart Rating: 97.13
Release date (U.S.): 12/16/62
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn
Controversial British officer T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) learns the culture of Arabs (Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn) and unites their tribes against the Turks.
- Updated
Hawk Films / Columbia Pictures
Smart Rating: 97.22
Release date (U.S.): 01/29/64
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Keenan Wynn
President Muffley (Peter Sellers) and his advisers (George C. Scott, Keenan Wynn) man the Pentagon war room, as planes with bombs head toward Moscow.
- Updated
Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA) / United Artists
Smart Rating: 97.46
Release date (U.S.): 12/20/67
Genre: Western
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef
A drifter (Clint Eastwood), a bandit (Eli Wallach) and a bounty hunter (Lee Van Cleef) reach a standoff over buried gold.
- Updated
United Artists
Smart Rating: 97.67
Release date (U.S.): 04/20/57
Genre: Drama
Starring: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley
One (Henry Fonda) of 12 jurors holds out in the case of a boy from the slums who is accused of killing his father.
- Updated
Toho Company / Columbia Pictures
Smart Rating: 97.82
Release date (U.S.): 11/19/56
Genre: Action
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Yoshio Inaba
A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves.
- Updated
Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 100
Release date (U.S.): 03/15/72
Genre: Drama, Crime Drama
Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan
Crime boss Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) and his sons (Al Pacino, James Caan) rule their New York empire with Mafia justice.
- Natalie Morin, PrettyFamous.com
Underwood Archives / Contributor
Movies made today tend to be saturated with special effects and other expensive elements. Though this has produced some groundbreaking, expertly-crafted films, there are still certain older films that — despite lacking color or extravagant graphics — will continue to remain classics for years to come.
With this in mind, PrettyFamous, an entertainment data site by Graphiq, found the 100 best classic films that have stood the test of time.
To determine which films are "classics," PrettyFamous considered movies that were released in or before 1975. The remaining movies were then ranked according to their Smart Rating. This is a score out of 100 that takes into account a movie's Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer and Audience Score, IMDb rating and votes, Metacritic Metascore and Gracenote rating. Only films with more than 25,000 IMDb votes were eligible for the list. In the case of a tie, the movie with more IMDb votes was favored.
It's important to note that PrettyFamous' Smart Rating typically weighs a movie's U.S. inflation-adjusted box office gross, but the box office data from the beginning of the 20th century is flawed or lacking. PrettyFamous thus decided to modify the Smart Rating to exclude box office numbers, thereby making the Smart Rating more consistent among all classic films.
Compiled by Natalie Morin, PrettyFamous.com
#100. My Fair Lady
Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 94.53
Release date (U.S.): 10/21/64
Genre: Musical
Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway
Oscar-winning adaptation of the Broadway hit about an English professor (Rex Harrison) who teaches a cockney merchant (Audrey Hepburn) to be a lady.
#99. Once Upon a Time in the West
Paramount Pictures / ABC
Smart Rating: 94.55
Release date (U.S.): 05/28/69
Genre: Western
Starring: Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Charles Bronson
An outlaw (Henry Fonda) working for a railroad magnate fights a stranger (Charles Bronson) for a New Orleans widow's (Claudia Cardinale) land.
#98. The Lady Vanishes
Gainsborough Pictures / United Artists
Smart Rating: 94.57
Release date (U.S.): 11/01/38
Genre: Mystery
Starring: Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Dame May Whitty
A young Englishwoman (Margaret Lockwood) tries to prove that an elderly governess (Dame May Whitty) was actually on a train.
#97. Judgment at Nuremberg
Roxlom Films / United Artists
Smart Rating: 94.59
Release date (U.S.): 12/19/61
Genre: Drama
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark
Stanley Kramer's Oscar-winning account reveals postwar courtroom proceedings against Nazi war criminals in 1948 Germany.
#96. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 94.61
Release date (U.S.): 04/22/62
Genre: Western
Starring: James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles
Flashbacks tell the story of a tenderfoot who rose to glory by gunning down the outlaw terrorizing his small town.
#95. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 94.62
Release date (U.S.): 06/21/66
Genre: Drama
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal
A professor (Richard Burton) and his wife (Elizabeth Taylor) drink and verbally assault each other in front of a younger couple, their dinner guests.
#94. Young Frankenstein
Crossbow Productions, Inc. / 20th Century Fox
Smart Rating: 94.63
Release date (U.S.): 12/15/74
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Cloris Leachman
Respected medical lecturer Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) learns that he has inherited his infamous grandfather's estate in Transylvania. Arriving at the castle, Dr. Frankenstein soon begins to recreate his grandfather's experiments.
#93. Bride of Frankenstein
Universal Pictures
Smart Rating: 94.67
Release date (U.S.): 04/22/35
Genre: Horror
Starring: Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester, Colin Clive
Baron Frankenstein (Colin Clive) creates a hissing, frizzy-haired female (Elsa Lanchester) for his other monster (Boris Karloff).
#92. Sleuth
Palomar Pictures / 20th Cenutry Fox
Smart Rating: 94.69
Release date (U.S.): 12/10/72
Genre: Mystery
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine
An aging British mystery writer (Laurence Olivier) invites his wife's lover (Michael Caine) to his booby-trapped mansion for a game of wits.
#91. His Girl Friday
Columbia Pictures Corporation / Columbia Pictures
Smart Rating: 94.7
Release date (U.S.): 01/11/40
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy
An ace reporter's (Rosalind Russell) editor (Cary Grant) tries to stop her from remarrying in this remake of director Lewis Milestone's "The Front Page."
#90. Frankenstein
Universal Pictures
Smart Rating: 94.71
Release date (U.S.): 11/21/31
Genre: Horror
Starring: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Mae Clarke
Baron Frankenstein (Colin Clive) creates a monster (Boris Karloff) from cadavers and a killer's brain.
#89. In the Heat of the Night
Mirisch Corporation, The / United Artists
Smart Rating: 94.71
Release date (U.S.): 08/02/67
Genre: Crime Drama
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates
A black Philadelphia detective (Sidney Poitier) helps a white Mississippi sheriff (Rod Steiger) solve a murder.
#88. Rosemary's Baby
William Castle Productions / Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 94.8
Release date (U.S.): 06/12/68
Genre: Horror
Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon
A pregnant woman's (Mia Farrow) husband (John Cassavetes) and their satanic neighbors want her baby to be the Antichrist.
#87. All Quiet on the Western Front
Universal Pictures
Smart Rating: 94.82
Release date (U.S.): 08/24/30
Genre: War
Starring: Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray
A German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.
#86. The General
Joseph M. Schenck Productions / United Artists
Smart Rating: 94.83
Release date (U.S.): 02/05/27
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender
When Union spies steal an engineer's beloved locomotive, he pursues it single-handedly and straight through enemy lines.
#85. The Searchers
Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 94.85
Release date (U.S.): 03/13/56
Genre: Western
Starring: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Natalie Wood
A Confederate veteran (John Wayne) and his part-Cherokee partner (Jeffrey Hunter) search five years for a kidnapped girl (Natalie Wood).
#84. The Big Sleep
Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 94.86
Release date (U.S.): 08/31/46
Genre: Mystery, Crime Drama
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Martha Vickers
Raymond Chandler's private eye Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) follows two wealthy sisters (Lauren Bacall, Martha Vickers) through a maze of murders. Unedited version.
#83. The Conversation
The Coppola Company / Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 94.86
Release date (U.S.): 04/07/74
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Frederic Forrest
When a surveillance expert (Gene Hackman) suspects that the subjects of his current job will be killed, his conscience interferes.
#82. The Seventh Seal
Svensk Filmindustri (SF) / Janus Films
Smart Rating: 94.86
Release date (U.S.): 10/13/56
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Starring: Max von Sydow, Gunnar BjÃļrnstrand, Bengt Ekerot
Returning from a Crusade with his squire, a weary knight (Max von Sydow) plays chess with Death.
#81. Dog Day Afternoon
Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 94.89
Release date (U.S.): 09/21/75
Genre: Crime Drama
Starring: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning
A loser (Al Pacino) robs a Brooklyn bank with his stupid buddy (John Cazale) to pay for his lover's sex change.
#80. The Grapes of Wrath
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Smart Rating: 94.96
Release date (U.S.): 03/15/40
Genre: Drama
Starring: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine
Poor sharecroppers the Joads (Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell) leave dust bowl Oklahoma in hope of better luck in California.
#79. The Wild Bunch
Warner Brothers/Seven Arts
Smart Rating: 94.97
Release date (U.S.): 06/18/69
Genre: Western
Starring: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan
An outlaw (William Holden) and his gang, on the run from the Mexican Army and bounty hunters, plot to rob a United States Army train.
#78. Notorious
Vanguard Films / RKO Radio Pictures
Smart Rating: 94.99
Release date (U.S.): 08/15/46
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains
A U.S. agent (Cary Grant) brings a traitor's daughter (Ingrid Bergman) to Rio de Janeiro to seduce an exiled Nazi (Claude Rains).
#77. A Streetcar Named Desire
Charles K. Feldman Group / Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 95
Release date (U.S.): 01/01/51
Genre: Drama
Starring: Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter
Tennessee Williams' Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) moves in with her sister, Stella (Kim Hunter), and brutish brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando).
#76. Shadow of a Doubt
Skirball Productions / Universal Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.04
Release date (U.S.): 01/01/43
Genre: Crime Drama, Mystery
Starring: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Hume Cronyn
A girl (Teresa Wright) thinks her visiting uncle (Joseph Cotten) is the strangler dubbed the Merry Widow Murderer.
#75. High Noon
Stanley Kramer Productions / United Artists
Smart Rating: 95.04
Release date (U.S.): 07/24/52
Genre: Western
Starring: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Katy Jurado
On the verge of retirement, a marshal (Gary Cooper) stands alone to face a vengeful gunman and his gang.
#74. Repulsion
Compton Films / Royal Films International
Smart Rating: 95.05
Release date (U.S.): 10/03/65
Genre: Horror
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Yvonne Furneaux, Ian Hendry
A chilling tale of the mental deterioration of a sexually repressed woman whose tenuous grip on reality snaps violently.
#73. Barry Lyndon
Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 95.05
Release date (U.S.): 12/18/75
Genre: Drama
Starring: Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee
Thackeray's 18th-century Irish rogue (Ryan O'Neal) woos and wins a rich widow (Marisa Berenson), then plays aristocrat.
#72. The Killing
Harris-Kubrick Productions / United Artists
Smart Rating: 95.07
Release date (U.S.): 05/20/56
Genre: Crime Drama
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards
The organizers of a brilliantly conceived racetrack heist find their perfect crime beginning to unravel.
#71. The Last Picture Show
Columbia Pictures Corporation
Smart Rating: 95.12
Release date (U.S.): 01/01/71
Genre: Drama
Starring: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd
The lives of high schoolers (Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges), a debutante (Cybill Shepherd) and others overlap in a dying 1950s Texas town.
#70. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Avon Productions (II) / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Smart Rating: 95.12
Release date (U.S.): 09/18/58
Genre: Drama
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives
Two brothers, one an alcoholic (Paul Newman) who resents his devoted wife (Elizabeth Taylor), visit their dying millionaire father (Burl Ives) in the South.
#69. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Decla-Bioscop AG / Goldwyn Distributing Company
Smart Rating: 95.13
Release date (U.S.): 02/26/20
Genre: Horror
Starring: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher
A hypnotist (Werner Krauss) in black exhibits a cabinet, which contains a pale man (Conrad Veidt) in black in a trance.
#68. Diabolique
Filmsonor / United Motion Pictures Organization
Smart Rating: 95.14
Release date (U.S.): 01/29/55
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzot, Paul Meurisse
A wife (Vera Clouzot) and a mistress (Simone Signoret) conspire to murder the brutal headmaster (Paul Meurisse) of a school for boys, then the body disappears.
#67. Stalag 17
Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.14
Release date (U.S.): 07/01/53
Genre: War
Starring: William Holden, Otto Preminger, Robert Strauss
In a Nazi prison barracks, other POWs believe that a cynical American sergeant (William Holden) is an informer.
#66. The Bridge on the River Kwai
Columbia Pictures Corporation
Smart Rating: 95.15
Release date (U.S.): 12/18/57
Genre: War
Starring: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Sessue Hayakawa
A British POW colonel (Alec Guinness) orders his men to build their Japanese captor (Sessue Hayakawa) a railway bridge in the jungle.
#65. The Apartment
Mirisch Corporation, The / United Artists
Smart Rating: 95.17
Release date (U.S.): 06/15/60
Genre: Comedy Drama
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray
A corporate climber (Jack Lemmon), whose boss (Fred MacMurray) and others use his apartment for hanky-panky, aids a young woman (Shirley MacLaine).
#64. Solaris
Creative Unit of Writers & Cinema Workers / Magna
Smart Rating: 95.18
Release date (U.S.): 03/20/72
Genre: Science Fiction, Drama, Crime Drama
Starring: Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, JÃŧri Järvet
A psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.
#63. Anatomy of a Murder
Carlyle Productions / Columbia Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.26
Release date (U.S.): 07/01/59
Genre: Crime Drama, Mystery
Starring: James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara
A Michigan lawyer (James Stewart) and his colleague defend an Army lieutenant (Ben Gazzara) who killed the man who raped the officer's wife (Lee Remick).
#62. Wild Strawberries
Svensk Filmindustri (SF) / Janus Films
Smart Rating: 95.29
Release date (U.S.): 06/22/57
Genre: Drama
Starring: Victor SjÃļstrÃļm, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin
An old Swedish professor sees his life pass by in a series of nightmarish flashbacks.
#61. To Kill a Mockingbird
Universal International Pictures (UI) / Universal Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.29
Release date (U.S.): 12/25/62
Genre: Drama
Starring: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford
A widowed lawyer (Gregory Peck) with two bright children (Mary Badham, Phillip Alford) defends a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman in 1930s Alabama.
#60. Gone With the Wind
Selznick International Pictures / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Smart Rating: 95.29
Release date (U.S.): 12/15/39
Genre: Romance, Historical Drama
Starring: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard
A fiery Southern belle struggles to return her family's estate to its original magnificence after the Civil War.
#59. The Hustler
Rossen Films / Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Smart Rating: 95.3
Release date (U.S.): 09/25/61
Genre: Drama
Starring: Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, George C. Scott
A gambler (George C. Scott) stakes pool shark "Fast Eddie" Felson (Paul Newman) in a smoke-filled marathon against Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason).
#58. Throne of Blood
Kurosawa Production Co. / Toho Company
Smart Rating: 95.33
Release date (U.S.): 11/22/57
Genre: Drama
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimura
A Japanese version of "Macbeth" features a samurai (Toshiro Mifune), his scheming wife (Isuzu Yamada) and a flurry-of-arrows finale.
#57. The Best Years of Our Lives
Samuel Goldwyn Company, The / RKO Radio Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.35
Release date (U.S.): 11/21/46
Genre: Drama
Starring: Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews
A disabled serviceman and two other veterans (Fredric March, Dana Andrews) have difficulty adjusting to civilian life after World War II.
#56. Strangers on a Train
Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 95.37
Release date (U.S.): 06/30/51
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Robert Walker, Farley Granger, Ruth Roman
A psychopath (Robert Walker) and a tennis player (Farley Granger) meet in a club car and plot that each will murder someone for the other.
#55. For a Few Dollars More
Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA) / United Artists
Smart Rating: 95.38
Release date (U.S.): 05/10/67
Genre: Western
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volonte
A man with no name (Clint Eastwood) and a man with a mission (Lee Van Cleef) hunt a Mexican bandit (Gian Maria Volonte) for different reasons.
#54. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA) / United Artists
Smart Rating: 95.4
Release date (U.S.): 09/15/72
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig, Paul Frankeur
Bizarre events frustrate an ambassador (Fernando Rey), his wife (Delphine Seyrig) and friends, hoping to dine in Paris.
#53. It Happened One Night
Columbia Pictures Corporation / Columbia Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.41
Release date (U.S.): 02/22/34
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Starring: Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable, Walter Connolly
A newsman (Clark Gable) rides a bus and shares a cabin with a tycoon's (Walter Connolly) runaway daughter (Claudette Colbert).
#52. The French Connection
D'Antoni Productions / Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Smart Rating: 95.41
Release date (U.S.): 10/07/71
Genre: Crime Drama, Thriller
Starring: Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider
New York Detective "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) and his partner (Roy Scheider) chase a French heroin smuggler.
#51. The Sting
Zanuck/Brown Productions / Universal Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.43
Release date (U.S.): 12/25/73
Genre: Comedy Drama
Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw
To avenge a murder, two con men (Paul Newman, Robert Redford) bilk a mobster (Robert Shaw) with their betting-room scam in 1930s Chicago.
Fox Film Corporation
Smart Rating: 95.44
Release date (U.S.): 09/23/27
Genre: Drama
Starring: George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston
A woman (Margaret Livingston) from the city tempts a farmer (George O'Brien) to kill his wife (Janet Gaynor).
Charles Chaplin Productions / United Artists
Smart Rating: 95.45
Release date (U.S.): 10/15/40
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie
A Jewish barber looks like Adenoid Hynkel (Charles Chaplin), dictator of Tomania, who meets Benzino Napaloni (Jack Oakie), dictator of Bacteria.
Loew's / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Smart Rating: 95.49
Release date (U.S.): 12/01/40
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Starring: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart
A snooty socialite (Katharine Hepburn) fights with her ex-husband (Cary Grant) and flirts with a reporter (James Stewart).
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Smart Rating: 95.49
Release date (U.S.): 01/25/70
Genre: Biography, Drama, War
Starring: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates
Flamboyant Gen. George S. Patton (George C. Scott) receives accolades and censure as he fights World War II.
Stanley Kubrick Productions / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Smart Rating: 95.56
Release date (U.S.): 04/02/68
Genre: Science Fiction
Starring: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester
Supercomputer HAL 9000 guides astronauts (Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester) on a trip to find the origins of humans.
Selznick International Pictures / United Artists
Smart Rating: 95.57
Release date (U.S.): 04/12/40
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, Judith Anderson
A British gentleman's (Laurence Olivier) innocent bride (Joan Fontaine) grapples with intrusive reminders of his deceased wife.
Proscenium Films / United Artists Corporation
Smart Rating: 95.59
Release date (U.S.): 08/11/64
Genre: Musical Comedy
Starring: The Beatles, Wilfrid Brambell, Norman Rossington
John, Paul, George and Ringo (The Beatles) spend 36 wild hours in London, besieged by exuberant fans.
Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 95.63
Release date (U.S.): 10/03/41
Genre: Crime Drama
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre
Private eye Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) encounters sundry characters (Mary Astor, Peter Lorre), all seeking a coveted statuette.
Bryna Productions / United Artists
Smart Rating: 95.64
Release date (U.S.): 10/25/57
Genre: War
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou
A World War I French colonel (Kirk Douglas) defends three soldiers picked to be shot for a general's blunder.
Goldcrest Films International / Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 95.65
Release date (U.S.): 03/01/59
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe
To evade gangsters, two men (Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon) don skirts and makeup and join an all-girl band with a sizzling singer (Marilyn Monroe).
Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.7
Release date (U.S.): 09/06/44
Genre: Crime Drama
Starring: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
An insurance man (Fred MacMurray) helps a platinum blonde (Barbara Stanwyck) kill her husband, but all does not go as planned.
Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.73
Release date (U.S.): 06/20/74
Genre: Crime Drama
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston
A 1930s gumshoe named Jake (Jack Nicholson) sticks his nose into a sordid mess over Los Angeles land and water.
Charles Chaplin Productions / United Artists
Smart Rating: 95.75
Release date (U.S.): 06/26/25
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Charles Chaplin, Mack Swain, Tom Murray
Mostly isolated in the Yukon, the little tramp (Charles Chaplin) cooks a shoe, falls in love, hangs from a cliff and strikes it rich.
Les Films du Carrosse / Cocinor
Smart Rating: 95.75
Release date (U.S.): 05/04/59
Genre: Crime Drama
Starring: Jean-Pierre LÊaud, Albert RÊmy, Claire Maurier
Neglected by his parents (Claire Maurier, Albert RÊmy), Parisian schoolboy Antoine Doinel runs away from home and turns to petty crime.
Kurosawa Production Co. / Seneca Productions
Smart Rating: 95.76
Release date (U.S.): 10/15/61
Genre: Adventure, Dark Comedy
Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Eijiro Tono, Tatsuya Nakadai
A free-lance samurai (Toshirô Mifune) works both sides of the street in a village split by warring merchants.
Kurosawa Production Co. / Seneca Productions
Smart Rating: 95.77
Release date (U.S.): 01/06/48
Genre: Adventure
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt
Three unlucky Americans (Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt) seek gold in Mexico, agreeing beforehand to split it equally.
Compagnie Industrielle et Commerciale Cin?matographique (CICC) / Cin?dis
Smart Rating: 95.79
Release date (U.S.): 01/01/53
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter Van Eyck
Four men take on the dangerous mission of driving two nitroglycerin-laden trucks through harsh terrain.
Produzioni De Sica (PDS) / Arthur Mayer & Joseph Burstyn
Smart Rating: 95.79
Release date (U.S.): 10/24/48
Genre: Drama
Starring: Lamberto Maggiorani, Lianella Carell, Enzo Staiola
A poor man (Lamberto Maggiorani) and his son (Enzo Staiola) search postwar Rome for the stolen bicycle he needs to work as a bill poster.
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Smart Rating: 95.89
Release date (U.S.): 10/13/50
Genre: Drama
Starring: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm
A Broadway star (Bette Davis) takes a young and seemingly naive aspiring actress (Anne Baxter) under her wing.
Horizon Pictures / Columbia Pictures Corporation
Smart Rating: 95.89
Release date (U.S.): 07/28/54
Genre: Drama
Starring: Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden
A conscience-stricken ex-boxer (Marlon Brando) stands up to a corrupt union boss after unwittingly participating in a fellow longshoreman's murder.
Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions / Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 95.92
Release date (U.S.): 05/09/58
Genre: Thriller
Starring: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes
A former San Francisco detective (James Stewart) who dreads heights falls for a woman (Kim Novak) he is hired to protect.
Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 95.96
Release date (U.S.): 02/11/38
Genre: Adventure
Starring: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone
The Sherwood Forest outlaw (Errol Flynn) and his men save King Richard and Maid Marian (Olivia de Havilland) from Prince John and Sir Guy (Basil Rathbone).
London Film Productions / Selznick Releasing Organization
Smart Rating: 95.96
Release date (U.S.): 02/01/49
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Trevor Howard
Visiting postwar Vienna, a writer (Joseph Cotten) of pulp Westerns probes the suspicious death of an old friend (Orson Welles).
Jalem Productions / Warner Brothers / Seven Arts
Smart Rating: 95.97
Release date (U.S.): 11/01/67
Genre: Drama
Starring: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J.D. Cannon
A likable Southern loner (Paul Newman) on a chain gang resists the captain and keeps trying to escape.
Mercury Productions / RKO Radio Pictures
Smart Rating: 96.03
Release date (U.S.): 05/01/41
Genre: Drama
Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Ruth Warrick
Enigmatic newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) rises, falls and leaves behind a riddle with his dying breath.
Edward Small Productions / MGM / United Artists
Smart Rating: 96.07
Release date (U.S.): 12/21/57
Genre: Crime Drama, Mystery
Starring: Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton
An aging barrister (Charles Laughton) defends a man (Tyrone Power) for murder despite damaging testimony from the accused's wife (Marlene Dietrich).
Liberty Films (II) / RKO Radio Pictures
Smart Rating: 96.09
Release date (U.S.): 01/07/46
Genre: Holiday, Comedy Drama
Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
Ruined by a miser (Lionel Barrymore) on Christmas Eve, a suicidal family man (James Stewart) sees life anew thanks to his guardian angel.
Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 96.12
Release date (U.S.): 08/10/50
Genre: Drama
Starring: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim
Hack screenwriter Joe (William Holden) moves in with Hollywood has-been Norma (Gloria Swanson) and her chauffeur, Max (Erich von Stroheim).
Toho Company
Smart Rating: 96.13
Release date (U.S.): 10/09/52
Genre: Drama
Starring: Takashi Shimura, Nobuo Kaneko, Shin'ichi Himori
A rigid clerk (Takashi Shimura) resolves to do something of lasting importance after learning that he is dying of cancer.
Nero-Film AG / Foremco Pictures Corp.
Smart Rating: 96.15
Release date (U.S.): 05/11/31
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut
Fritz Lang's classic tells of the Berlin underworld's efforts to capture the loathsome murderer of a child.
Loew's / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Smart Rating: 96.15
Release date (U.S.): 04/10/52
Genre: Musical Comedy
Starring: Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor
A silent-film star (Gene Kelly) loves a chorus girl (Debbie Reynolds) who dubs his squeaky-voiced co-star in a 1927 Hollywood talkie.
Charles Chaplin Productions / First National Pictures
Smart Rating: 96.18
Release date (U.S.): 01/21/21
Genre: Comedy Drama
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Coogan, Edna Purviance
The Little Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) raises the abandoned child (Jackie Coogan) of an unwed mother (Edna Purviance).
Paul Gregory Productions / United Artists
Smart Rating: 96.19
Release date (U.S.): 09/29/55
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish
The Rev. Harry Powell, a religious fanatic and serial killer, meets condemned murderer Ben Harper in prison, who tells him about hiding $10,000 in stolen loot. After he's released, Powell tracks down Harper's widow, Willa, and her two children.
Casbah Film / Argent Films
Smart Rating: 96.22
Release date (U.S.): 03/13/67
Genre: War, Historical Drama
Starring: Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Brahim Haggiag
In the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.
United Artists
Smart Rating: 96.27
Release date (U.S.): 01/30/31
Genre: Comedy Drama
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Harry Myers
A little tramp (Charlie Chaplin) gets money from a drunken millionaire (Harry Myers) for an operation to restore a flower girl's (Virginia Cherrill) sight.
Fantasy Films / United Artists
Smart Rating: 96.28
Release date (U.S.): 11/19/75
Genre: Drama
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Brad Dourif
Mental patients follow Randle P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), the social-misfit hero of Ken Kesey's novel.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Smart Rating: 96.3
Release date (U.S.): 07/17/59
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason
Mistaken identity spurs a foreign spy (James Mason) to pursue an innocent New Yorker (Cary Grant), all the way to Mount Rushmore.
Shamley Productions / Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 96.4
Release date (U.S.): 06/16/60
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles
A woman (Janet Leigh) on the run stops at a 12-cabin motel with showers, run by mother-fixated Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins).
Python (Monty) Pictures / Cinema 5 Distributing
Smart Rating: 96.48
Release date (U.S.): 04/01/75
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam
King Arthur (Graham Chapman) goes questing on a pretend horse, followed by his lackey clacking coconut shells.
Universum Film (UFA) / Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 96.63
Release date (U.S.): 03/13/27
Genre: Science Fiction
Starring: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav FrÃļhlich
An industrialist (Alfred Abel) rules a 21st century city where the rich play above and slaves toil below.
Warner Bros.
Smart Rating: 96.67
Release date (U.S.): 11/26/42
Genre: Drama
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid
A cynical nightclub owner (Humphrey Bogart) protects an old flame (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband (Paul Henreid) from Nazis in Morocco.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Smart Rating: 96.68
Release date (U.S.): 08/25/39
Genre: Children, Fantasy, Musical
Starring: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger
After a tornado whisks Kansas farm girl Dorothy (Judy Garland) to a magic land, she must travel to the Emerald City for help in getting back home.
Paramount Pictures / Cinema International Corporation
Smart Rating: 96.73
Release date (U.S.): 09/01/54
Genre: Thriller
Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey
Sitting in a wheelchair, his leg in a cast, a photographer (James Stewart) spies on courtyard neighbors and sees a murder.
Charles Chaplin Productions / United Artists
Smart Rating: 97.13
Release date (U.S.): 02/05/36
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman
In Chaplin's classic comedy of the Machine Age, a bolt tightener (Charlie Chaplin) fails at everything but falling in love.
Horizon Pictures (II) / Columbia Pictures
Smart Rating: 97.13
Release date (U.S.): 12/16/62
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn
Controversial British officer T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) learns the culture of Arabs (Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn) and unites their tribes against the Turks.
Hawk Films / Columbia Pictures
Smart Rating: 97.22
Release date (U.S.): 01/29/64
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Keenan Wynn
President Muffley (Peter Sellers) and his advisers (George C. Scott, Keenan Wynn) man the Pentagon war room, as planes with bombs head toward Moscow.
Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA) / United Artists
Smart Rating: 97.46
Release date (U.S.): 12/20/67
Genre: Western
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef
A drifter (Clint Eastwood), a bandit (Eli Wallach) and a bounty hunter (Lee Van Cleef) reach a standoff over buried gold.
United Artists
Smart Rating: 97.67
Release date (U.S.): 04/20/57
Genre: Drama
Starring: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley
One (Henry Fonda) of 12 jurors holds out in the case of a boy from the slums who is accused of killing his father.
Toho Company / Columbia Pictures
Smart Rating: 97.82
Release date (U.S.): 11/19/56
Genre: Action
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Yoshio Inaba
A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves.
Paramount Pictures
Smart Rating: 100
Release date (U.S.): 03/15/72
Genre: Drama, Crime Drama
Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan
Crime boss Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) and his sons (Al Pacino, James Caan) rule their New York empire with Mafia justice.
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