The history of film is both long and rich with content. From the silent era that launched the medium and gave us monsters that still haunt us today to the pre-code era‘s wide-ranging freedom to French New Wave and the modern blockbuster. All of these subgenres and many more influenced countless young creatives afterward and combined to lead to what we all watch and enjoy today. Seeing every “essential” classic film can feel daunting after more than 100 years of thousands of annual releases, but consuming the legendary works that are out there can be fun and may even broaden the kind of movies you thought you enjoyed. It’s in that spirit that we’ve compiled this list of classic, must see films for you to look through and check off one by one as you expand your film knowledge; a sort of defacto enrollment in film school, CinemaBabel curated.
In our list, you can find important, classic films from each decade starting in the 1900s. We’ve envisioned this as a living document, where films will be added continuously as we expand our own cinematic knowledge and as new classics are released. Watch what came before and notice the influence they’ve had on what has followed. Does the partially lost silent masterpiece Greed remind you somewhat of There Will Be Blood? Do German legend Fritz Lang’s M and Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners have any similarities? Our founder Garrett Eberhardt thinks that Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch was just a souped up modern version of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, what do you think? And luckily, many of these films are very accessible. Silent era classics for instance are so old many are now in the public domain and can be seen for free on YouTube. Don’t worry, we did the work for you and inserted hyperlinks below. We also hope that in working through this list, you’ll discover and take advantage of resources you didn’t even know existed. Were you aware that if you go to your local library and sign up for the free card, you’ll probably gain access to Kanopy, a free streaming service you can watch on your SmartTV or other device that not only has access to classic films, but many newer releases, international films, and documentaries? So explore and enjoy our list of essential classic films. By the time you hit the 70s, you’ll be able to hold your own in any conversation with random cinephiles or film critics like us. We love film, and so should you.
Note: Notable tidbits about films are included in [brackets]
1900s
1910s
The Birth of a Nation [While extremely racist, this film must be included in film canon due to its technical and narrative innovations and the fact that historically, you learn a lot about the United States in knowing that the country’s first blockbuster movie was also a Lost Cause/KKK propaganda film.]
1920s
Within Our Gates [Oldest known surviving film from a black director]
The Symbol of the Unconquered [Director Oscar Micheaux’s response to The Birth of a Nation]
Greed
Body and Soul [Paul Robeson’s first film role]
The General [As mentioned above with Birth of a Nation, American culture begins to make a lot of sense when you discover how pervasive Lost Cause propaganda is throughout all sectors of American life, including classic, foundational films]
Wings [The first film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards]
The Jazz Singer [THE film that ushered in the era of sound. Also racist. See what we mean with our The Birth of a Nation and The General notes?]
The Passion of Joan of Arc
The Man Who Laughs [Gwynplaine was a major influence on the design of The Joker]
1930s
All Quiet on the Western Front
Little Caesar
City Lights
The Public Enemy
M
The Exile [First talking picture by a black director]
Frankenstein
Scarface (1932)
The Most Dangerous Game
King Kong
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
Duck Soup
It Happened One Night
Tarzan and His Mate
The Thin Man
Top Hat
Modern Times
Way Out West
Bringing Up Baby
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Stagecoach
Wuthering Heights
The Rules of the Game
The Wizard of Oz
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Destry Rides Again
Gone with The Wind [See our notes on The Birth of a Nation and The General]
1940s
The Shop Around The Corner
His Girl Friday
The Grapes of Wrath
Rebecca
The Great Dictator
The Philadelphia Story
The Lady Eve
Citizen Kane [For the past 60 years it has widely been considered to be the best film of all-time]
The Maltese Falcon
Sullivan’s Travels
Casablanca
The Palm Beach Story
Cat People
Shadow of a Doubt
Cabin in the Sky
Stormy Weather
Double Indemnity
Laura
To Have and Have Not
Henry V (1944)
Mildred Pierce
I Know Where I’m Going!
Brief Encounter
Scarlet Street
Notorious
The Big Sleep
My Darling Clementine
The Best Years of Our Lives
It’s A Wonderful Life
Miracle on 34th Street
Out of The Past
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Hamlet (1948)
Red River
Bicycle Thieves
The Third Man
White Heat
Stray Dog
1950s
In A Lonely Place
Sunset Boulevard
Rashomon [So good it had a psychological phenomenon named after it]
All About Eve
The Thing (From Another World)
Ace in The Hole
Strangers on a Train
A Streetcar Named Desire
The Day The Earth Stood Still
The African Queen
Singin’ in the Rain
High Noon
Ikiru
Shane
Julius Caesar [Watch to see John Gielgud in his prime and the third of Marlon Brando’s four straight Best Actor Oscar nominations]
Roman Holiday
The Big Heat
Tokyo Story
The Wild One
Seven Samurai [Influenced every action ensemble that followed it]
On the Waterfront
Rear Window
Godzilla
Diabolique
East of Eden
Rififi
The Seven Year Itch
The Night of the Hunter
Rebel Without a Cause
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Searchers
Forbidden Planet
The Ten Commandments
Throne of Blood
The Seventh Seal
12 Angry Men
Paths of Glory
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Touch of Evil
Vertigo
Rio Bravo
Some Like It Hot
North by Northwest
Ben-Hur
1960s
La Dolce Vita [The paparazzi were named after a character in this film]
L’Avventura
The Apartment
Psycho
Spartacus
Yojimbo
The Hustler
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
West Side Story
Sanjuro
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Harakiri
Dr. No
The Manchurian Candidate
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
Lawrence of Arabia
To Kill a Mockingbird
8 ½
High and Low
Shock Corridor
From Russia With Love
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
A Fistful of Dollars
Goldfinger
My Fair Lady
The Sound of Music
Doctor Zhivago
Sergey Bondarchuk’s War and Peace
Persona
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Cool Hand Luke
Bonnie and Clyde
In the Heat of the Night
The Producers
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
The Graduate
Planet of the Apes
The Odd Couple
2001: A Space Odyssey
Rosemary’s Baby
Night of The Living Dead
Once Upon a Time in the West
Easy Rider
Midnight Cowboy
The Wild Bunch
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
1970s
M*A*S*H
Little Big Man
Shaft
The French Connection
A Clockwork Orange
Harold and Maude
The Godfather
Deliverance
Super Fly
Cleopatra Jones
American Graffiti
The Exorcist
Foxy Brown
The Conversation
Chinatown
Uptown Saturday Night
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
The Godfather II
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Love and Death
Nashville
Jaws
Cooley High
Dog Day Afternoon
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Taxi Driver
All the President’s Men
Network
Carrie
Rocky
Suspiria
Eraserhead
Annie Hall
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Saturday Night Fever
Grease
Halloween
Superman: The Movie
Norma Rae
Mad Max
Manhattan
Apocalypse Now
Alien
1980s
Friday The 13th
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
The Shining
The Blues Brothers
Airplane!
Raging Bull
Excalibur
Friday the 13th Part 2
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Body Heat
Das Boot
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Blade Runner
The Thing
An Officer and a Gentleman
First Blood
48 Hrs.
Tootsie
The King of Comedy
Trading Places
The Right Stuff
Scarface (1983)
Beverly Hills Cop
Paris, Texas
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Amadeus
The Terminator
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The Breakfast Club
Brazil
Ran
Back to The Future
The Color Purple
Top Gun
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Aliens
Blue Velvet
Stand By Me
Platoon
Lethal Weapon
Hollywood Shuffle
The Untouchables
Predator
Spaceballs
Full Metal Jacket
The Princess Bride
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Dangerous Liaisons
Coming to America
Die Hard
The Last Temptation of Christ
Child’s Play
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
Dangerous Liaisons
sex, lies, and videotape
My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown
Do the Right Thing
When Harry Met Sally
Glory
1990s
House Party
Pretty Woman
Goodfellas
Home Alone
Dances with Wolves
The Silence of the Lambs
Thelma & Louise
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Boyz n The Hood
JFK
A League of Their Own
Unforgiven
Malcolm X
Menace II Society
Jurassic Park
A Bronx Tale
Schindler’s List
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Forrest Gump
Pulp Fiction
The Shawshank Redemption
Before Sunrise
The Usual Suspects
Bad Boys
Friday
Se7en
Heat
Fargo
Independence Day
Scream
L.A. Confidential
Boogie Nights
Titanic
Good Will Hunting
The Truman Show
There’s Something About Mary
Saving Private Ryan
The Blair Witch Project
The Matrix
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace [Started the modern CGI revolution. You have none of those comic book movies you love without it]
The Sixth Sense
Fight Club
2000s
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Scary Movie
Almost Famous
Joint Security Area
Requiem for a Dream
Meet the Parents
Bamboozled
Mulholland Drive
Y Tu Mama Tambien
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
City of God
Memories of Murder
Lost in Translation
Oldboy
Saw
Before Sunset
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Shaun of the Dead
Collateral
Sideways
The Descent
Pan’s Labyrinth
Children of Men
Zodiac
No Country for Old Men
Superbad
Juno
There Will Be Blood
The Dark Knight
The Hurt Locker
The Hangover
2010s
The Social Network
A Separation
The Tree of Life
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Her
Whiplash
Boyhood
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
John Wick
Interstellar
Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
Sicario
Spotlight
The Handmaiden
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Moonlight
Wind River
Get Out
Wonder Woman
The Florida Project
Detroit
mother!
Blade Runner 2049
Black Panther
Parasite
The Irishman
