Best Movies of All Time
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Best Movies

A tabulation of all of the movies listed in the American Film Institutes 400 and 100 Best Movies, as well as the AMPAS "Best Picture" winners, and "Mr. Showbiz" picks for the best.

Title Year AFI 100 MS Rank AMPAS AFI 400 Director
Adam's Rib 1949   94   x George Cukor
The Adventures of Robin Hood 1938       x  
An Affair to Remember 1957       x  
The African Queen 1951 17     x John Huston
Alien 1979       x  
All About Eve 1950 16 29 1951 x Joseph L. Mankiewicz
All Quiet on the Western Front 1930 54   1930 x Lewis Milestone
All That Jazz 1979   70   x Bob Fosse
All the King's Men 1949     1950 x Robert Rossen
All the President's Men 1976       x  
Amadeus 1984 53   1985 x Milos Forman
American Graffiti 1973 77     x George Lucas
An American in Paris 1951 68   1952 x Vincente Minnelli
The Americanization of Emily 1964       x  
Anatomy of a Murder 1959       x  
Annie Hall 1977 31 32 1978 x Woody Allen
The Apartment 1960 93 77 1961 x Billy Wilder
Apocalypse Now 1979 28 46   x Francis Ford Coppola
Apollo 13 1995       x  
Around the World in 80 Days 1956     1957 x Michael Anderson
Atlantic City 1981       x  
The Awful Truth 1937       x  
Babe 1995       x  
Babes in Arms 1939       x  
Back to the Future 1985       x  
Badlands 1973       x  
Bambi 1942       x  
The Band Wagon 1953       x  
The Bank Dick 1940       x  
Barefoot in the Park 1967       x  
Bataan 1943       x  
Batman 1989       x  
Beau Geste 1939       x  
Beauty and the Beast 1991       x  
Ben-Hur 1926       x Fred Niblo
Ben-Hur 1959 72   1960 x William Wyler
The Best Years of Our Lives 1946 37   1947 x William Wyler
Beverly Hills Cop 1984       x  
Big 1988       x  
The Big Chill 1983       x  
The Big Parade 1925       x  
The Big Sleep 1946   48   x Howard Hawks
The Birds 1963       x  
The Birth of a Nation 1915 44     x D.W. Griffith
Blackboard Jungle 1955       x  
Blade Runner 1982   26   x Ridley Scott
Blazing Saddles 1974       x  
Blue Velvet 1986   34   x David Lynch
Bonnie and Clyde 1967 27 49   x Arthur Penn
Born on the Fourth of July 1989       x  
Boys Town 1938       x  
Braveheart 1995     1996 x Mel Gibson
Brazil 1985       x  
Breakfast at Tiffany's 1961       x  
Breaking Away 1979       x  
The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957 13 37 1959 x David Lean
Bringing Up Baby 1938 97 36   x Howard Hawks
Broadcast News 1987       x  
The Broadway Melody 1929     1929 x Harry Beaumont
Bullitt 1968       x  
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969 50     x George Roy Hill
Cabaret 1972       x  
Cabin in the Sky 1943       x  
The Caine Mutiny 1954       x  
Camille 1937       x  
Carmen Jones 1954       x  
Carrie 1976       x  
Casablanca 1942 2 1 1944 x Michael Curtiz
Casino 1995       x  
Cat Ballou 1965       x  
Cat People 1942       x  
Cavalcade 1933     1934 x Frank Lloyd
Chariots of Fire 1981     1982 x Hugh Hudson
The Cheat 1915       x Cecil B. DeMille
Children of a Lesser God 1986       x  
Chinatown 1974 19 8   x Roman Polanski
El Cid 1961       x  
Cimarron 1931     1932 x Wesley Ruggles
Cinderella 1950       x  
Citizen Kane 1941 1 4   x Orson Welles
City Lights 1931 76 10   x Charles Chaplin
Cleopatra 1963       x  
A Clockwork Orange 1971 46 78   x Stanley Kubrick
Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977 64     x Steven Spielberg
The Color Purple 1985       x  
Coming Home 1978       x  
The Conversation 1974       x Francis Ford Coppola
Cool Hand Luke 1967       x  
The Crowd 1928       x  
Dances with Wolves 1990 75   1991 x Kevin Costner
Dangerous Liaisons 1988       x  
David Copperfield 1935       x  
The Day the Earth Stood Still 1951       x  
Days of Heaven 1978       x  
Days of Wine and Roses 1962       x  
Dead Poets Society 1989       x  
The Deer Hunter 1978 79 54 1979 x Michael Cimino
The Defiant Ones 1958       x  
Deliverance 1972       x  
Destry Rides Again 1939       x  
The Diary of Anne Frank 1959       x  
Die Hard 1988   84   x John McTiernan
Dirty Harry 1971       x  
Do the Right Thing 1989   97   x Spike Lee
Doctor Zhivago 1965 39     x David Lean
Dodsworth 1936       x  
Dog Day Afternoon 1975       x  
Double Indemnity 1944 38 27   x Billy Wilder
Dr. Strangelove 1964 26 38   x Stanley Kubrick
Driving Miss Daisy 1989     1990 x Bruce Beresford
Duck Soup 1933 85     x Leo McCarey
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial 1982 25 24   x Steven Spielberg
East of Eden 1955       x  
Easy Rider 1969 88     x Dennis Hopper
Elmer Gantry 1960       x  
The Empire Strikes Back 1980   63   x Irvin Kershner
The English Patient 1996     1997 x Anthony Minghella
The Exorcist 1973       x  
Fantasia 1940 58     x various
Fantastic Voyage 1966       x  
Fargo 1996 84     x Joel Coen
Fast Times at Ridgemont High 1982       x  
Fatal Attraction 1987       x  
Ferris Bueller's Day Off 1986       x  
Fiddler on the Roof 1971       x  
Field of Dreams 1989       x  
Five Easy Pieces 1970       x  
Force of Evil 1949       x  
Forrest Gump 1994 71   1995 x Robert Zemeckis
42nd Street 1933       x  
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 1921       x  
Frankenstein 1931 87     x James Whale
Freaks 1932       x  
The French Connection 1971 70   1972 x William Friedkin
From Here to Eternity 1953 52 92 1954 x Fred Zinnemann
From Russia With Love 1963       x  
The Fugitive 1993       x  
Funny Girl 1968       x  
Fury 1936       x  
Gandhi 1982     1983 x Richard Attenborough
The General 1927       x  
Gentleman's Agreement 1947     1948 x Elia Kazan
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes 1953       x  
Ghostbusters 1984       x  
Giant 1956 82     x George Stevens
Gigi 1958     1959 x Vincente Minnelli
Gilda 1946       x  
Glory 1989       x  
The Godfather 1972 3 23 1973 x Francis Ford Coppola
The Godfather, Part II 1974 32 2 1975 x Francis Ford Coppola
Going My Way 1944     1945 x Leo McCarey
The Gold Rush 1925 74     x Charles Chaplin
Goldfinger 1964       x  
Gone With the Wind 1939 4 7 1940 x Victor Fleming
The Goodbye Girl 1977       x  
Goodbye, Mr. Chips 1939       x  
GoodFellas 1990 94 81   x Martin Scorsese
The Graduate 1967 7 16   x Mike Nichols
Grand Hotel 1932     1933 x Edmund Goulding
The Grapes of Wrath 1940 21 76   x John Ford
Grease 1978       x  
The Great Ziegfeld 1936     1937 x Robert Z. Leonard
The Greatest Show on Earth 1952     1953 x Cecil B. DeMille
Greed 1925       x  
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 1967 99     x Stanley Kramer
Gun Crazy 1949       x  
The Gunfighter 1950       x  
Gunga Din 1939   56   x George Stevens
Hail the Conquering Hero 1944       x  
Hamlet 1948   64 1949   Laurence Olivier
Hannah and Her Sisters 1986   55   x Woody Allen
A Hard Day's Night 1964   90     Richard Lester
The Heiress 1949       x  
High Noon 1952 33     x Fred Zinnemann
His Girl Friday 1940       x  
How Green Was My Valley 1941     1942 x John Ford
Hud 1963   58   x Martin Ritt
The Hustler 1961   47   x Robert Rossen
I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang 1932       x  
Imitation of Life 1959       x  
In Cold Blood 1967       x  
In the Heat of the Night 1967     1968 x Norman Jewison
Intolerance 1916       x  
Intruder in the Dust 1949       x  
Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956       x  
It Happened One Night 1934 35 96 1935 x Frank Capra
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World 1963       x  
It's a Wonderful Life 1946 11 19   x Frank Capra
Jaws 1975 48 53   x Steven Spielberg
The Jazz Singer 1927 90     x Alan Crosland
Jerry Maguire 1996       x  
The Joy Luck Club 1993       x  
Judgement at Nuremberg 1961       x  
The Jungle Book 1967       x  
Jurassic Park 1993       x  
The Kid 1921       x  
The Killing Fields 1984       x  
King Kong 1933 43     x Merian C. Cooper
Kramer vs. Kramer 1979     1980 x Robert Benton
Lady and the Tramp 1955       x  
The Lady Eve 1941       x  
The Last Emperor 1987     1988 x Bernardo Bertolucci
The Last Picture Show 1971   83   x Peter Bogdanovich
Last Tango in Paris 1972   67   x Bernardo Bertolucci
The Last Temptation of Christ 1988       x  
Laura 1944       x  
Lawrence of Arabia 1962 5 5 1963 x David Lean
Leaving Las Vegas 1995       x  
Lethal Weapon 1987       x  
A Letter to Three Wives 1948       x  
The Life of Emile Zola 1937     1938 x William Dieterle
The Lion King 1994       x Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff
Little Big Man 1970       x  
Little Caesar 1930       x  
The Little Colonel 1935       x  
The Little Foxes 1941       x  
Local Hero 1983       x  
The Longest Day 1962       x  
Lost Horizon 1937       x  
The Lost Weekend 1945     1946 x Billy Wilder
Love Story 1970       x  
M*A*S*H 1970 56     x Robert Altman
The Magnificent Ambersons 1942       x  
The Maltese Falcon 1941 23 17   x John Huston
A Man for All Seasons 1966     1967 x Fred Zinnemann
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1962   9     John Ford
The Man Who Would Be King 1975       x  
The Manchurian Candidate 1962 67 28   x John Frankenheimer
Manhattan 1979   6   x Woody Allen
The Mark of Zorro 1940       x  
Marty 1955     1956 x Delbert Mann
Mary Poppins 1964       x  
McCabe and Mrs. Miller 1971       x  
Mean Streets 1973       x  
Medium Cool 1969       x  
Meet Me in St. Louis 1944       x  
Melvin and Howard 1980       x  
Midnight Cowboy 1969 36 85 1970 x John Schlesinger
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek 1944       x  
Miracle on 34th Street 1947       x  
The Misfits 1961   72     John Huston
Missing 1982       x  
Mrs. Miniver 1942     1943 x William Wyler
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town 1936       x  
Mister Roberts 1955       x  
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 1939 29 74   x Frank Capra
Modern Times 1936 81 60   x Charles Chaplin
Moonstruck 1987   80   x Norman Jewison
Morocco 1930       x  
Mutiny on the Bounty 1935 86   1936 x Frank Lloyd
My Darling Clementine 1946       x  
My Fair Lady 1964 91   1965 x George Cukor
My Man Godfrey 1936       x  
Nashville 1975   45   x Robert Altman
National Lampoon's Animal House 1978       x  
Network 1976 66 51   x Sidney Lumet
A Night at the Opera 1935       x  
The Night of the Hunter 1955       x  
Night of the Living Dead 1968       x  
Ninotchka 1939   33   x Ernst Lubitsch
El Norte 1983       x  
North by Northwest 1959 40 3   x Alfred Hitchcock
Notorious 1946   65   x Alfred Hitchcock
Now, Voyager 1942       x  
Oklahoma! 1955       x  
Oliver! 1968     1969 x Carol Reed
On Golden Pond 1981       x  
On the Beach 1959       x  
On the Waterfront 1954 8 41 1955 x Elia Kazan
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975 20 42 1976 x Milos Forman
101 Dalmations 1961       x  
Only Angels Have Wings 1939       x  
Ordinary People 1980     1981 x Robert Redford
Out of Africa 1985     1986 x Sydney Pollack
Out of the Past 1947   69   x Jacques Tourneur
The Outlaw Josey Wales 1976       x  
The Ox-Bow Incident 1943       x  
The Palm Beach Story 1942   25     Preston Sturges
Paths of Glory 1957       x  
Patton 1970 89 99 1971 x Franklin J. Schaffner
The Phantom of the Opera 1925       x  
Philadelphia 1993       x  
The Philadelphia Story 1940 51 14   x George Cukor
The Piano 1993   93     Jane Campion
Pillow Talk 1959       x  
The Pink Panther 1964       x  
Pinocchio 1940       x  
A Place in the Sun 1951 92     x George Stevens
Planet of the Apes 1968       x  
Platoon 1986 83   1987 x Oliver Stone
The Player 1992       x  
The Poor Little Rich Girl 1917       x  
Pretty Woman 1990       x  
Pride of the Yankees 1942       x  
The Producers 1967       x  
Psycho 1960 18 79   x Alfred Hitchcock
The Public Enemy 1931       x  
Pulp Fiction 1994 95 39   x Quentin Tarantino
The Quiet Man 1952   87   x John Ford
Raging Bull 1980 24 11   x Martin Scorsese
Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981 60 61   x Steven Spielberg
Rain Man 1988     1989 x Barry Levinson
A Raisin in the Sun 1961       x  
Rambling Rose 1991       x  
Rear Window 1954 42 31   x Alfred Hitchcock
Rebecca 1940     1941 x Alfred Hitchcock
Rebel Without a Cause 1955 59 89   x Nicholas Ray
Red River 1948   62   x Howard Hawks
Reds 1981   88   x Warren Beatty
Return of the Jedi 1983       x  
Return of the Secaucus 7 1980       x  
Richard III 1912       x  
The Right Stuff 1983       x  
Risky Business 1983       x  
Road to Morocco 1942       x  
Rocky 1976 78   1977 x John G. Avildsen
The Rocky Horror Picture Show 1975       x  
A Room With a View 1986   91     James Ivory
Rosemary's Baby 1968       x  
Run Silent, Run Deep 1958       x  
Safety Last 1923       x  
Salt of the Earth 1954       x  
Sands of Iwo Jima 1949       x  
Saturday Night Fever 1977       x  
Scarface: The Shame of a Nation 1932       x Howard Hawks
The Scarlet Empress 1934       x  
Schindler's List 1993 9 57 1994 x Steven Spielberg
The Searchers 1956 96 30   x John Ford
Sense and Sensibility 1995       x  
Sergeant York 1941       x  
The Seven Year Itch 1955       x  
sex, lies, and videotape 1989       x  
Shadow of a Doubt 1943       x  
Shadows 1960       x  
Shane 1953 69     x George Stevens
The Shawshank Redemption 1994       x  
She Done Him Wrong 1933       x  
Short Cuts 1993   75     Robert Altman
The Silence of the Lambs 1991 65 52 1992 x Jonathan Demme
Singin' in the Rain 1952 10 22   x Stanley Donen
Sleepless in Seattle 1993       x  
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937 49     x David Hand
Some Like It Hot 1959 14 40   x Billy Wilder
Sons of the Desert 1933       x  
Sophie's Choice 1982       x  
The Sound of Music 1965 55   1966 x Robert Wise
Sounder 1972       x  
Spartacus 1960       x  
Splendor in the Grass 1961       x  
Stagecoach 1939 63 82   x John Ford
Stalag 17 1953       x  
A Star is Born 1937       x William A. Wellman
A Star is Born 1954       x George Cukor
Star Wars 1977 15 18   x George Lucas
The Sting 1973     1974 x George Roy Hill
Stranger Than Paradise 1984       x  
Strangers on a Train 1951       x  
A Streetcar Named Desire 1951 45 66   x Elia Kazan
Sullivan's Travels 1941       x  
Sunrise 1927     1929 x F.W. Murnau
Sunset Boulevard 1950 12 12   x Billy Wilder
Sweet Smell of Success 1957   68     Alexander Mackendrick
Swing Time 1935       x  
Taxi Driver 1976 47 43   x Martin Scorsese
The Ten Commandments 1956       x  
The Terminator 1984   100     James Cameron
Terminator 2: Judgement Day 1991       x James Cameron
Terms of Endearment 1983     1984 x James L. Brooks
Thelma & Louise 1991       x  
The Thief of Bagdad 1924       x  
The Thin Man 1934   98   x W.S. Van Dyke
The Third Man 1949 57 59   x Carol Reed
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo 1944       x  
This Is Spinal Tap 1984   95     Rob Reiner
Titanic 1997     1998   James Cameron
To Be or Not To Be 1942       x  
To Have and Have Not 1944   15   x Howard Hawks
To Kill a Mockingbird 1962 34     x Robert Mulligan
Tom Jones 1963     1964 x Tony Richardson
Tootsie 1982 62 73   x Sydney Pollack
Top Hat 1935   71   x Mark Sandrich
Touch of Evil 1958   44   x Orson Welles
Toy Story 1995       x  
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 1948 30     x John Huston
Trouble in Paradise 1932       x  
12 Angry Men 1957       x  
Twelve O'Clock High 1949       x  
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 1954       x  
Two for the Road 1967       x  
2001: A Space Odyssey 1968 22 13   x Stanley Kubrick
Unforgiven 1992 98 50 1993 x Clint Eastwood
The Untouchables 1987       x  
Vertigo 1958 61 21   x Alfred Hitchcock
War of the Worlds 1953       x  
The Way We Were 1973       x  
West Side Story 1961 41 86 1962 x Robert Wise
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? 1962       x  
White Heat 1949       x  
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1966       x  
The Wild Bunch 1969 80 20   x Sam Peckinpah
Winchester '73 1950       x  
The Wind 1928       x  
Wings 1927     1929 x William A. Wellman
Within Our Gates 1919       x  
Witness 1985       x  
The Wizard of Oz 1939 6 35   x Victor Fleming
Woman of the Year 1942       x  
Wuthering Heights 1939 73     x William Wyler
Yankee Doodle Dandy 1942 100     x Michael Curtiz
The Yearling 1946       x  
You Can't Take It With You 1938     1939 x Frank Capra
Young Mr. Lincoln 1939       x  

Sources:

AFI 100 = American Film Institute "100 Greatest Movies" 6/16/98, http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/movies.aspx
AFI 400 = American Film Institure 400 nominations for AFI 100, http://www.afi.com/Docs/tvevents/pdf/movies400.pdf
AMPAS = Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture
MS Rank = Mr. Showbiz "100 Best Movies of All Time" 6/12/98, http://www.mrshowbiz.com/reviews/moviereviews/criticspicks/26.html

Last Updated on 10/22/2006