Introduction
As Cinema Scholars rolls along into its second year, we thought this would be a good time to reach out to you, the readers, in order to find out what you thought was considered your ‘favorite’ films of all time. Since that’s a tough and subjective question to answer and will garner a wide berth of quality films, we decided to make it a top 50 list. Split into two articles, below is the tallied results based on your response to our social media poll. We’ve also included how many Academy Awards wins and nominations each film received. Thanks for your tremendous feedback as well as your continued support!
Note: Academy Awards may include Honorary wins in both the nominations and total counts.
50. Psycho (1960) – tie
Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) is thought by many to be the greatest horror film of all time. Yet, to simply call the film a ‘horror’ film is clearly doing Hitchcock’s masterpiece a disservice. The film also changed the way that we looked at what a horror film could be. The ability to scare the viewer without blood, monsters, or ghouls, back in 1960, was truly groundbreaking. It also helps to have Anthony Perkins, portraying a mama’s boy motel clerk, turning in a subdued yet nervously frightening performance. The film’s shower scene is widely considered to be the single greatest scene in the history of horror films.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Academy Award Nominations: 4
Academy Award Wins: 0
50. Gone With the Wind (1939) – tie
Gone with the Wind (1939), adjusted for inflation, is one of the most commercially successful films in the history of Hollywood. Directed by Victor Fleming and starring Vivian Leigh and Clark Gable, the film tells the story of a Southern Belle who loses everything, yet recovers to become a smart, cunning, and capable woman with the ability to succeed as the world around her is changing. Released in the midst of the Great Depression, the film hit home for a lot of people and gave millions of Americans hope. One of the first films to be shot in technicolor, it broke the mold when it came to portraying a savvy and empowering female character.
Director: Victor Fleming
Academy Award Wins: 10
Academy Award Nominations: 15
49. Ghostbusters (1984)
Ghostbusters (1984), directed by Ivan Reitman, presents the viewer with the perfect blend of laugh-out-loud comedy and genuinely terrifying moments. it’s a difficult task to seamlessly blend these two elements into a single film. Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, and Harold Ramis are firing on all cylinders as parapsychologists who start a ghost-nabbing business in Manhattan. This crossover film has everything, great special effects, a fantastic cast, a catchy theme song, and an iconic logo. Spawning sequels, reboots, comics, cartoons, and video games, the film has since gone on to be an unheralded classic and the most financially successful comedy of the 1980s.
Director: Ivan Reitman
Academy Award Nominations: 2
Academy Award Wins: 0
48. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Set in a mental institution in 1963, Milos Forman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) was an instant classic. Much like Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel of the same name, the film is so much more than it appears on-screen. It brilliantly reflects society’s changing values and morals during both the post-Watergate (the 1970s) and post-Kennedy (the 1960s) years. As brilliant as the supporting cast is, and they are, it’s Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher who both deliver volcanic performances. They both, deservedly so, won Academy Awards for their roles as Best Actor and Best Actress respectively. The film is one of only three films to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, Actress, Director, Screenplay, and Picture, otherwise known as The Big Five.
Director: Milos Forman
Academy Award Nominations: 9
Academy Award Wins: 5
47. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
There have certainly been horror movies over the last fifty years that have had better budgets, a stronger cast of actors, and even been more terrifying. However, there has never been a horror film with a message as socially relevant as George Romero’s Night of The Living Dead (1968). Romero’s subtext is present in everything from the Civil Rights Movement to the very survival of American society itself. This is the film that started it all and every preceding film in the zombie genre should tip its blood-soaked cap to Romero’s black and white original and many have. While many subsequent zombie films – and TV shows – have an underlying theme of hope, Romero’s message is that of doom. All these years later, it’s still horrifying, and relevant.
Director: George Romero
Academy Award Nominations: 0
Academy Award Wins: 0
46. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
By far the most opulent and lavish film he’s ever made, Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) swings for the fences on almost every level. Whether it’s the over-the-top performances, or the exquisite costumes and set design, the film is an exercise in overindulgence. Both hilarious and terrifying at the same time, Gary Oldman’s performance as the titular character is a tour de force clinic in acting. Michael Ballhaus’s dream-like cinematography is nothing short of spectacular. The film’s costume design, makeup, and sound editing were all recognized at the 1993 Academy Awards. The film is visually stunning and showed the masses that Coppola was still a force to be reckoned with.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Academy Award Nominations: 4
Academy Award Wins: 3
45. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
While initially Bringing Up Baby (1938) wasn’t a film that was well received by critics or at the box office, the screwball comedy directed by Howard Hawks has been reevaluated over the last 80 years. The second of four films starring the iconic Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn is now widely considered one of the 100 greatest comedies of all time. Containing elements of multiple sub-genres of comedy, including slapstick and situational comedy, the film has influenced comedy on film and television for decades. With a razor-sharp and fast-paced script, one can see the influences that writers like David Mamet and Aaron Sorkin have gleamed from this fantastic and hilarious film.
Director: Howard Hawks
Academy Award Nominations: 0
Academy Award Wins: 0
44. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the 1961 film based on Truman Capote’s novella released in 1958 may be most famous for its Oscar-winning theme song Moon River and its trend-setting costume design created by legends Edith Head and Givenchy. However, Audrey Hepburn’s iconic performance as Holly Golightly deserves just as much credit for this Blake Edward’s directed film becoming the classic it has become. It was both a critical and commercial success upon its release and has since become one of the most legendary romantic comedies of all time. Written by George Axelrod, the film won two Academy Awards and five Grammys. Hepburn’s ‘cafe society’ girl in dark tortoiseshell Oliver Goldsmith sunglasses, chignon hairstyle, and long cigarette holder is one of the more iconic images in film history.
Director: Blake Edwards
Academy Award Nominations: 5
Academy Award Wins: 2
43. Now, Voyager (1942)
While Now, Voyager (1942) may not be a film that is on the AFI’s list of top 100 films, it’s certainly on their list of greatest love stories. Starring Bette Davis and Paul Henreid, the Irving Rapper-directed film has one of the great closing lines in cinema history, when Davis’ character exclaims: “Oh, Jerry, don’t let’s ask for the moon…we have the stars!” 80 years later Davis’s transformation from a frumpy spinster into a self-assured and seductive take-charge woman is still astonishing. The film is arguably the actress’s greatest performance.
Director: Irving Rapper
Academy Award Nominations: 3
Academy Award Wins: 1
42. Dances With Wolves (1990)
Only four westerns have won the Academy Award for Best Picture since the Oscars were first introduced back in 1929. Dances With Wolves (1990), produced, directed, and starring Kevin Costner has the honor of being one of those four. Costner’s passion project was also a massive hit at the box office, grossing over $420 million worldwide. Along with its stunning visuals and breathtaking cinematography, the film succeeds in breaking down cultural differences perhaps better than any western film before it. Costner’s expansive scope and touching romanticism rival that of the greatest films of John Ford and Howard Hawks.
Director: Kevin Costner
Academy Award Nominations: 12
Academy Award Wins: 7
41. Hoosiers (1986)
Generally considered to be one of the greatest sports films of all time, and perhaps the greatest basketball film ever, Hoosiers (1986) underdog tale of pride and teamwork is as much beloved today as it was almost 40 years ago. The film is loosely based on the Milan High School basketball team and its improbable march towards the 1954 state championship game. Gene Hackman’s performance as a washed-out coach recruited to resurrect the dysfunctional team is one of his best. Dennis Hopper and Barbara Hershey also turn in fantastic supporting performances. Along with Rocky (1976) and Field of Dreams (1989), the film remains one of the finest sports films, and underdog stories, in cinema history.
Director: David Anspaugh
Academy Award Nominations: 2
Academy Award Wins: 0
40. Aliens (1986)
Aliens (1986), as directed by legendary auteur James Cameron, doesn’t ever really spell things out or explain to the viewer what is actually unfolding. We are front and center with Sigourney Weaver and her team as things unfold. This creative decision makes the film all that more breathtaking and horrific. The advancement in technology along with H.R. Giger’s surreal and creepy designs, make this sequel to Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979) one of the great science fiction films of all time. Faster-paced and with a tighter screenplay than its predecessor, the film is also considered one of the greatest sequels in film history.
Director: James Cameron
Academy Award Nominations: 3
Academy Award Wins: 2
39. Seven Samurai (1954)
How, could Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (1954), a three-and-a-half-hour black-and-white epic that takes place in feudal 16th-Century Japan be such a classic in America and the Western World? That’s the magic of Kurosawa’s masterpiece. Combining his influences from John Ford westerns with the Japanese swordplay dramas of the day, no one had ever seen anything like it before. Starring Kurosawa regular Toshiro Mifune, the film has since gone on to influence a legion of filmmakers, becoming one of the most remade and worked films in the history of the medium. The story of the seven ronin has since been reworked or remade in such films as The Magnificent Seven (1960), Star Wars (1977), and Django Unchained (2012).
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Academy Award Nominations: 2
Academy Award Wins: 0
38. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) is generally recognized as director David Lean’s masterpiece. The story of T.E. Lawrence (Peter O’Toole) is also one of the most critically celebrated films in Hollywood history, winning seven Oscars. This includes Best Picture and Best Director. O’Toole’s career was launched by this film, and it’s the one film that he is truly synonymous with. Depicting Lawrence’s experiences during WWI in the Ottoman Empire, specifically the Arab regions of Aqaba and Damascus, the film is funny, dramatic, brutal, heartbreaking, and stunning, all under Lean’s masterful direction. Add to that one of the great soundtracks in cinema history and a supporting performance by Jose Ferrer for the ages, and you have a film that will be relevant and studied for centuries.
Director: David Lean
Academy Award Nominations: 10
Academy Award Wins: 7
37. King Kong (1933)
When one thinks of a “classic” film, there are a few that come to mind. One of those is the immortal and legendary King Kong (1933). Remade, reformatted, and retold in the decades since its release, nothing can come close to the magic and wonder of the original. Directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Shoedsack, the film was released during the pre-code era of films. As a result, one often forgets how truly horrific this almost ninety-year-old film is. The ground-breaking stop-motion visual effects by Willis O’Brien still hold up all these decades later. The scenes that take place on Skull Island are truly frightening. Much like many of the other films on this list, King Kong is a true masterpiece that has influenced legions of filmmakers in the ensuing years.
Director: Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack
Academy Award Nominations: 0
Academy Award Wins: 0
36. Jules et Jim (1962)
Jules et Jim (1962) is widely regarded as one of the classic French New Wave films, of which there were several. Directed by François Truffaut, the film epitomizes the bohemian lifestyle of the early 1960s, while wrapping itself up in a tragic love triangle. Starring Jeanne Moreau and Oskar Werner, Truffaut’s film featured revolutionary styles of direction. This included voiceover, narration, quick cuts as well as freeze frame shots. Numerous filmmakers, especially Martin Scorsese, were influenced by Jules et Jim and the works of Truffaut and his contemporaries such as Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol, and Anna Karina. Much like the works of Scorsese, Truffaut’s masterwork moves at a brisk pace that leaves the viewer energized and wanting more.
Director: François Truffaut
Academy Award Nominations: 0
Academy Award Wins: 0
35. It’s A Wonderful Life (1948)
While It’s A Wonderful Life (1948) had received mixed reviews and did average numbers at the box office, director Frank Capra’s masterpiece has since gone on to become one of the great American films of all time, and perhaps the greatest Christmas film of all time. At the center of the film is a masterclass in acting by Jimmy Stewart. Back from World War II where we flew over sixty treacherous bombing missions over Germany, the actor looks thinner and haggard. The result is a convincing performance about a man who wonders if his life has any real meaning. Becoming a television staple in the mid-1970s, Capra’s film has become a classic morality tale in which one only needs to look at the friends and family around them to see if their life has any true meaning.
Director: Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack
Academy Award Nominations: 5
Academy Award Wins: 0
34. The Searchers (1956)
The Searchers (1956) was the perfect collaboration between star and director. John Wayne had been looking for a role that he felt could elevate his career to the next level. Director John Ford’s film not only elevated Duke’s career but also cemented his legacy as the film is widely considered the greatest western film of all time and one of the top twenty American films ever made. Wayne turns in a haunting performance as a vengeful and openly racist Civil War soldier looking for his kidnapped niece. Stunningly filmed in Monument Valley, Utah, Ford’s tale of redemption has been emulated and paid homage to by the likes of Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas. It’s John Wayne’s greatest performance and one of John Ford’s finest achievements.
Director: John Ford
Academy Award Nominations: 0
Academy Award Wins: 0
33. Ben-Hur (1959)
William Wyler’s Ben Hur (1959) is the very definition of an ‘epic.’ Made on a scale and budget never before seen or achieved in the 1950s, the film remains a homage to the Old Hollywood-style epic that simply doesn’t exist anymore. Over sixty years since its release, the film is still jaw-dropping in its scope. Running at over three-and-a-half hours in length, and starring Charlton Heston, the religious epic had the largest budget ($15 million) of any film in history up to that point. Employing hundreds of costume and set designers, the gamble paid off as Ben Hur was a massive box-office hit, earning over $145 million during its initial release. The film remains one of the most visually stunning films ever produced.
Director: William Wyler
Academy Award Nominations: 12
Academy Award Wins: 11
32. Back to the Future (1985)
While perhaps not as deep as some of the other films on this list, Back to the Future (1985) remains a classic 1980s blockbuster and a clinic on expert direction and screenwriting. Written and directed by Robert Zemeckis (with a co-writing credit to Bob Gale), the film merges all the ingredients masterfully that make a great Summer blockbuster. Romance, action, humor, Rock & Roll, and science fiction, it’s all there in this taut and well-paced screenplay. Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly shows that he can handle physical comedy with the best of them. This time-traveling science fiction classic is arguably one of the greatest and most successful films of the 1980s, earning almost $400 million worldwide. The film’s themes of hopes and dreams and the bridge that kids have with their parents remain timeless.
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Academy Award Nominations: 4
Academy Award Wins: 1
31. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Maltese Falcon (1941) is not strong in terms of plot or narrative, and it doesn’t need to be. Widely considered to be one of the greatest films of all time, the John Huston-directed classic is all about character and mood. Of all the films on this list, perhaps none has influenced an entire genre as much as this one. One of the founding films of the film-noir genre, The Maltese Falcon reinvented Humphrey Bogart’s career and saved him from the B-level gangster movies that he was churning out. His hardened and smooth portrayal of private-eye Sam Spade has been imitated and emulated for generations.
Director: John Huston
Academy Award Nominations: 3
Academy Award Wins: 0
30. Chinatown (1974)
Chinatown (1974) is the neo-noir crime drama that secured star Jack Nicholson’s legacy as one of the greatest American actors in cinema history. It was also director Roman Polanski’s final film before he fled the jurisdiction of the United States, convicted of statutory rape of a minor. Almost 50 years later, the film is considered to be one of the greatest films in cinema history and widely regarded as the greatest screenplay ever written. Robert Townes’s neo-noir script weaves an intricate tale of infidelity, murder and corruption. Faye Dunaway and John Huston both turn in fantastic performances. Chinatown is a classic noir film in the same vein as The Maltese Falcon, only updated for a 1970s audience. Produced by Hollywood legend Robert Evans, its one of the very best films of the last hundred years, garnering eleven Oscar nominations and Towne winning for Best Original Screenplay.
Director: Roman Polanski
Academy Award Nominations: 11
Academy Award Wins: 1
29. A Star is Born (1954)
Remade five times, George Cukor’s masterpiece A Star is Born (1954) remains the definitive version of this timeless classic. Ironically, what may be considered her greatest performance, also marked the end of Judy Garlands ‘leading lady’ status in cinema. With a screenplay written by Moss Hart, the 1954 film is considered to be one of the greatest filmed musicals in the history of the medium. While the film barely broke even at the box-office, it was a critical success, earning six Academy-Award nominations. Both Garland and James Mason turn in heart-wrenching performances in this harrowing tale of fame, love, jealousy and alcoholism.
Director: George Cukor
Academy Award Nominations: 6
Academy Award Wins: 0
28. Top Hat (1935)
Top Hat (1935) is one of many ‘dance musicals’ that premiered in theaters in the 1930s. Its also one of the very best. Pairing legendary screen couple Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers together for the fourth of nine times for RKO Radio Pictures, this film is Astaire and Rogers at their absolute best and most charismatic. The film is also one of the most financially successful films the pair made together, grossing over $3 million on a $600,000 budget. While the plot is overtly simple, it doesn’t matter, as Irving Berlin’s songs and Max Steiner’s score soothes the viewer like a warm blanket. Filmed during the Depression Era, Top Hat was means of escapism for millions of Americans. The dance routines between Astaire and Rogers are some of the very best they ever performed on screen.
Director: Mark Sandrich
Academy Award Nominations: 4
Academy Award Wins: 0
27. Some Like It Hot (1959)
Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot (1959) is a romantic comedy disguised as a crime caper, disguised as a musical. The script, co-written by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is generally viewed as one of the greatest comedic screenplays ever written. The film is a cross-dressing comedy that doesn’t go for cheap gimmicks and tacky laughs. Further, the film’s stance on gender identity is progressive and incredibly ahead of its time. Add to that Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Marylin Monroe, all turning in performances for the ages, and you have a classic comedy that has remained relevant for over sixty years.
Director: Billy Wilder
Academy Award Nominations: 6
Academy Award Wins: 0
26. The Return of the King (2003)
The Return of the King (2003) marked the end of Peter Jackson’s adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. This critically acclaimed film was a box office smash earning over $1 billion globally. At the 76th Academy Awards Jackson’s epic film went on to win eleven Oscars, tying it with 1959’s Ben-Hur and 1997’s Titanic as the film with the most Academy Award wins. While the first two films in the series are spectacles in and of themselves, Jackson takes this final installment to another level with some of the most incredible action scenes ever committed to film. The CGI used in making The Return of the King is equally astonishing. It should be noted that Jackson’s incredible film isn’t all flash and thunder as one of the Oscars won was for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Director: Peter Jackson
Academy Award Nominations: 11
Academy Award Wins: 11
To continue reading the rest of the results click here.
