CINEMA ESSENTIALS

George O'Brien and Margaret Livingston in Sunrise: a Song of Two Humans (1927)

Cinema Essentials

In 1958 I sat in the Fox Theatre in Redondo Beach, California, and watched my first movie, Darby O'Gill and the Little People. Since then I have seen over 1,500 films.  What follows are lists of what I consider to be some of the essentials in the world of movies.  They might appear at first glance to be inconsistent with my lists of favorite movies.  But that is because I used different criteria for the essentials.  For instance, Foul Play (1978) and the original version of The Parent Trap (1961) are two of my all-time favorite movies, but they are far from essential.

A.

(Listings in this section are alphabetical.)

Paul Henreid and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942)

30 Essential Films

8½ (1963) (d. Federico Felini)

Bicycle Thieves (1948) (d. Vittorio de Sica)

Casablanca (1942) (d. Michael Curtiz)

Chinatown (1974) (d. Roman Polanski)

Citizen Kane (1941) (d. Orson Welles)

City Lights (1931) (d. Charlie Chaplin)

Dr. Stranglove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) (d. Stanley Kubrick)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) (d. Michael Gondry)

The General (1926) (d. Buster Keaton)

The Godfather (1972) (d. Francis Ford Coppola)

Grand Illusion (1937) (d. Jean Renoir)

High Noon (1952) (d. Fred Zinnemann)

Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxells (1975)✱  (d. Chantal Akerman)

M (1931) (d. Fritz Lang)

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) (d. John Ford)

Metropolis (1927) (d. Fritz Lang)

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) (d. Frank Capra)

My Dinner with Andre (1980) (d. Louis Malle)

Nashville (1975) (d. Robert Altman)

North by Northwest (1959) (d. Alfred Hitchcock)

Psycho (1960) (d. Alfred Hitchcock)

Pulp Fiction (1994) (d. Quentin Tarantino)

Raging Bull (1980) (d. Martin Scorsese)

Rear Window (1954) (d. Alfred Hitchcock)

Seven Samurai (1954) (d. Akira Kurosawa)

Spotlight (2015) (d. Tom McCarthy)

Sunrise: a Song of Two Humans (1927) (d. F.W. Murnau)

The Third Man (1949) (d. Carol Reed)

Vertigo (1958) (d. Alfred Hitchcock)

The Wizard of Oz (1939) (d. Victor Fleming)

✱Voted the Greatest Film of All Time in 2022 by a worldwide pool of 1,639 critics, programmers, curators, archivists, and academics in the decennial BFI/Sight and Sound Poll. ("The only greatest films list that serious film critics take seriously"―Roger Ebert).  It dethroned Vertigo (1958) in 2022, the most recent poll.  Vertigo had dethroned Citizen Kane (1941) just a decade earlier.  Citizen Kane had been No. 1 from the inception of the poll in 1952 until 2012.

Maureen O'Hara in How Green Was
My Valley (1941)(d. John Ford)

15 Essential Directors

Robert Altman

Ingmar Bergman

Frank Capra

Charlie Chaplin

George Cukor

Federico Fellini

John Ford

Alfred Hitchcock

Stanley Kubrick

Akira Kurosawa

Fritz Lang

Martin Scorsese

Steven Spielberg

Orson Welles

Billy Wilder

Katharine Hepburn and Constance Collier in Stage Door (1937)

25 Essential Acting Performances 

Humphrey Bogart (“Sam Spade”)—The Maltese Falcon (1941) (d. John Huston) 

Marlon Brando (“Stanley Kowalski”)—A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) (d. Elia Kazan) 

Montgomery Clift (“Robert E. Lee Prewitt”)—From Here to Eternity (1953) (d. Fred Zinnemann) 

Gary Cooper (“Longfellow Deeds”)—Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) (d. Frank Capra) 

Bette Davis (“Margo Channing”) —All About Eve (1950) (d. Joseph L. Mankiewicz) 

Daniel Day-Lewis  (“Abraham Lincoln”)—Lincoln (2014) (d. Steven Spielberg) 

Robert De Niro ("Travis Bickel")—Taxi Driver (1976) (d. Martin Scorsese) 

Kirk Douglas (“Chuck Tatum”)—Ace in the Hole (1951) (d. Billy Wilder) 

Katharine Hepburn (“Terry Randall”)—Stage Door (1937) (p. Pandro S. Berman) 

Dustin Hoffman (“Michael Dorsey” / "Dorothy Michaels")—Tootsie (1982) (d. Sydney Pollack) 

Jennifer Lawrence (“Ree”)—Winter’s Bone (2010) (d. Debra Kranik) 

Jack Lemmon (“Jerry/Daphne”)—Some Like It Hot (1959) (d. Billy Wilder) 

Carole Lombard (“Irene Bullock”)—My Man Godfrey (1936) (d. Gregory La Cava) 

Jack Nicholson ("Randall Patrick McMurphy”)—One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) (d. Milos Forman) 

Peter O’Toole (“T.E. Lawrence”)—Lawrence of Arabia (1962) (d. David Lean) 

Gregory Peck (“Atticus Finch”)—To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) (d. Robert Mulligan) 

Sidney Poitier (“Virgil Tibbs”)—In the Heat of the Night (1967) (d. Norman Jewison) 

James Stewart (“George Bailey”)—It's a Wonderful Life (1946) (d. Frank Capra) 

Meryl Streep (“Sophie Zawistowsi”)—Sophie's Choice (1982) (d. Alan J. Pakula) 

Spencer Tracy (“John J. Macreedy”)—Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) (d. John Sturges)

William Powell (“Godfrey Parks")—My Man Godfrey (1936) (d. Gregory La Cava) 

George C. Scott ("George S. Patton")—Patton (1970) (d. Franklin Schaffner 

Peter Sellers (“Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake” / “President Merkin Muffley” / “Dr. Strangelove”)—Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) (d. Stanley Kubrick) 

Elizabeth Taylor (“Martha”)—Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) (d. Mike Nichols)

The Red Shoes (1948) (c. Jack Cardiff) (d. Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger

16 Essential Cinematographers and Their Signature Films

Jack Cardiff—The Red Shoes (1948) (d. Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger); Black Narcissus (1947) (d. Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)

William Daniels—Grand Hotel (1932) (d. Edmund Goulding); Ninotchka (1939) (d. Ernst Lubitsch); Harvey (1950) (d. Henry Koster); How the West Was Won (1962) (d. John Ford)

Karl Freund—Metropolis (1927) (d. Fritz Lang); All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) (d. Lewis Milestone); Dracula (1931) (d. Todd Browning); Key Largo (1948) (d. John Huston)

Conrad Hall—In Cold Blood (1967) (d. Richard Brooks); Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) (d. George Roy Hill); Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) (d. Steven Zaillian) 

James Wong Howe—Algiers (1938) (d. John Cromwell;)The Rose Tattoo (1955) (d. Daniel Mann); Sweet Smell of Success (1957) (d. Alexander

Mackendrick); Hud (1964) (d. Martin Ritt) 

Charles Lang, Jr.—A Farewell to Arms (1932); The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) (Joseph L. Mankiewicz); The Big Heat (1947) (d. Fritz Lang); The Magnificent Seven (1960) (d. John Sturges); Charade (1963) (d. Stanley Donen) 

Emmanuel Lubezki—Gravity (2013) (d. Alfonso Cuaró); Birdman (2014) (d. Alejandro Iñárritu); The Revenant (2015) (d. Alejandro Iñárritu)

Sven Nyquist—Fanny and Alexander (1982) (d. Ingmar Bergman); The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) (d. Philip Kaufman); Crimes and Misdemeaners (1989) (d. Woody Allen) 

Joseph Ruttenberg—The Philadephia Story (1940) (d. George Cukor); Mrs. Miniver (1942) (d. William Wyler); Gaslight (1944) (d. George Cukor); Gigi (1958) (d. Vincente Minnelli) 

John Seitz—Sullivan's Travels (1941) (d. Preston Sturges); Double Indemnity (1944) (d. Billy Wilder); The Lost Weekend (1945) (d. Billy Wilder); Sunset Blvd. (1950) (d. Billy Wilder) 

Leon Shamroy—Leave Her to Heaven (1945) (d. John M. Stahl); The Robe (1953) (d. Henry Koster); South Pacific (1958) (d. Joshua Logan); Cleopatra (1963) (Joseph L. Mankiewicz) 

Karl Struss—Ben-Hur: a Tale of the Christ (1925) (d. Fred Niblo); Sunrise: a Song of Two Humans (1927) (F. W. Murnau); Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) (d. Rouben Mamoulian) 

Gregg Toland—Wuthering Heights (1939) (d. William Wyler);The Grapes of Wrath (1940) (d. John Ford); Citizen Kane (1941) (d. Orson Welles) 

Haskell Wexler—Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) (d. Mike Nichols); In the Heat of the Night (1967) (d. Norman Jewison) 

Gordon Willis—The Godfather (1972) (d. Francis Ford Coppola); The Parallax View (1974) (d. Alan J. Pakula); All the President's Men (1976) (d. Alan J. Pakula); Manhattan (1979) (d. Woody Allen)  

Freddie Young—Lawrence of Arabia (1962) (d. David Lean); Dr. Zhivago (1965) (d. David Lean)

Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)(s.Charlie Kaufman)

11 Essential Screenwriters and Their Signature Films

Woody Allen—Annie Hall (1977) (d. Woody Allen)

Paddy Chayefsky—Network (1976) (d. Sidney Lumet)

Charlie Kaufman—Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) (d. Michael Gondry)

Ernest Lehman—Sweet Smell of Success (1957) (d. Alexander Mackendrick)

Herman J. Mankiewicz—Citizen Kane (1941) (d. Orson Welles)

Robert Riskin—It Happened One Night (1934) (d. Frank Capra)

Morrie Ryskind—My Man Godfrey (1936) (d. Gregory La Cava)

Rod Serling—Seven Days in May (1964) (d. John Frankenheimer)

Jo Swerling—The Pride of the Yankees (1942) (d. Sam Wood)

Quentin Tarantino—Pulp Fiction (1994) (d. Quentin Tarantino)

Billy Wilder—Sunset Blvd. (1950) (d. Billy Wilder)

B. 

(Listings in this section are in order of relevance to the category.)

Henry Fonda as Juror #8 in 12 Angry Men (1957)

5 Essential Films About Lawyers / The Law / The Legal System

12 Angry Men (1957) (d. Sidney Lumet)

Anatomy of a Murder (1959) (d. Otto Preminger)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) (d. Robert Mulligan)
The Verdict (1982) (d. Sidney Lumet)
. . . And Justice for All (1979) (d. Norman Jewison)

 

Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, and Martin Milner in Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

5 Essential Films About Journalism

Spotlight (2015) (d. Tom McCarthy)

All the President’s Men (1976) (d. Alan J. Pakula)

Network (1976) (d. Sidney Lumet)

Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) (d. George Clooney)

Ace in the Hole (1951) (d. Billy Wilder)

Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)

5 Essential Films of Intrigue / Conspiracy

Seven Days in May (1964) (d. John Frankenheimer)

Chinatown (1974) (d. Roman Polanski)

The Conversation (1974) (d. Francis Ford Coppola)

The Third Man (1949) (d. Carol Reed)

The Parallax View (1974) (d. Alan J. Pakula)

 

Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster in Seven Days in May (1964)

5 Essential Films About Politics

Seven Days in May (1964) (d. John Frankenheimer)

The American President (1995) (d. Rob Reiner)

The Candidate (1972) (d. Michael Ritchie)

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) (d. Frank Capra)

All the President’s Men (1976) (d. Alan J. Pakula)

Gregory Peck and James Anderson in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

5 Essential Films About Race

In the Heat of the Night (1967) (d. Norman Jewison)

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) (d. Robert Mulligan)

Do the Right Thing (1989) (d. Spike Lee)

Glory (1989) (d. Edward Zwyck)

Schindler’s List (1993) (d. Steven Spielberg)

Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947)

11 Essential Films Noir*

The Maltese Falcon (1941) (d. John Huston)

The Third Man (1949) (d. Carol Reed)

Double Indemnity (1944) (d. Billy Wilder)

Out of the Past (1947) (d. Jacques Tourneur)

Sunset Blvd. (1950) (d. Billy Wilder) 

Sweet Smell of Success (1957) (d. Alexander Mackendrick) 

Notorious (1946) (d. Alfred Hitchcock)

Leave Her to Heaven (1945) (d. John Stahl)

Laura (1944) (d. Otto Preminger)

The Big Heat (1953) (d. Fritz Lang)

The Night of the Hunter (1955) (d. Charles Laughton)

*Citizen Kane (1941) is sometimes included in lists of films noir.  If I included it here, it would be at the top.

 

Anthony Quinn and Giulietta Masina in La Strada (1954)

7 Essential Foreign Language Films

Seven Samurai (1954) (d. Akira Kurosawa)
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxells (1975) (d. Chantal Akerman)
Grand Illusion (1937) (d. Jean Renoir)
Bicycle Thieves (1948) (d. Vittorio De Sica)
Metropolis (1927) (d. Fritz Lang)
M (1931) (d. Fritz Lang)
La Strada (1954) (d. Federico Fellini)

 

Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves (1990)

7 Essential Westerns

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) (d. John Ford)

High Noon (1952) (d. Fred Zinnemann)

The Big Country (1958) (d. William Wyler)

Dances with Wolves (1990) (d. Kevin Costner)

The Magnificent Seven (1960) (d. John Sturges)

The Gunfighter (1950) (d. Henry King)

The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) (d. William Wellman)

 

Cathy O'Donnell, Harry Cheshire and Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

8 Essential War Films

Black Hawk Down (2001) (d. Ridley Scott)

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) (d. William Wyler)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962) (d. David Lean)

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) (d. David Lean)

Das Boot (1981) (d. Wolfgang Petersen)

Grand Illusion (1937) (d. Jean Renoir)

Stalag 17 (1953) (d. Billy Wilder)

Apocalypse Now (1979) (d. Francis Ford Coppola)

Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot (1959)

 5 Essential Comedies

City Lights (1931) (d. Charlie Chaplin)

Fargo (1996) (d. Joel & Ethan Coen)

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) (d. Stanley Kubrick)

Some Like It Hot (1959) (d. Billy Wilder)

Young Frankenstein (1974) (d. Mel Brooks)

Norma Shearer in Lady of the Night (1925)

10 Essential Silent Films

City Lights (1931) (d. Charlie Chaplin)

The General (1926) (d. Buster Keaton)

Sunrise: a Song of Two Humans (1927) (d. F.W. Murnau)

Metropolis (1927) (d. Fritz Lang)

The Gold Rush (1925) (d. Charlie Chaplin)

Wings (1927) (d. William Wellman)

Greed (1924) (d. Erich von Stroheim)

Lady of the Night (1925) (d. Monta Bell)

What Price Glory (1926) (d. Raoul Walsh)

Don Juan (1926) (d. Alan Crosland)

Robert De Niro in Raging Bull (1980)

 

5 ESSENTIAL SPORTS FILMS

The Pride of the Yankees (1942) (p. Samuel Goldwyn)

The Natural (1984) (d. Barry Levinson)

Raging Bull (1980) (d. Martin Scorsese)

The Harder They Fall (1956) (d. Mark Robson)

Chariots of Fire (1981) (d. Hugh Hudson)

West Side Story (1961)

6 ESSENTIAL MUSICALS

West Side Story (1961) (d. Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins)

The Wizard of Oz (1939) (p. Mervyn LeRoy)

Singin’ in the Rain (1952) (d. Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly)

Top Hat (1935) (p. Pandro S. Berman)

The Sound of Music (1965) (d. Robert Wise)

Fiddler on the Roof (1971) (d. Norman Jewison)

Jackie Robinson

7 Essential Documentaries

The Civil War (TV-1990) (d. Ken Burns)

Bowling for Columbine (2002) (d. Michael Moore)

Baseball (TV-1994, -2010) (d. Ken Burns)

Capturing the Friedmans (2003) (d. Andrew Jarecki)

Harlan County U.S.A. (1976) (d. Barbara Kopple)

The Thin Blue Line (1988) (d. Errol Morris)

Crumb (1994) (d. Terry Zwigoff)

Kelly McGillis in Witness (1985)

The Parallax View (1974)

9 Essential or Nearly-Essential, Puzzlingly-Underrated Films 

Shakespeare in Love (1998) (d. John Madden)

Best in Show (2000) (d. Christopher Guest)

Witness (1985) (d. Peter Weir)

Norma Rae (1979) (d. Martin Ritt)

Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980) (d. Michael Apted)

Biloxi Blues (1988) (d. Mike Nichols)

The Parallax View (1974) (d. Alan J. Pakula)

The Out of Towners (1970) (d. Arthur Hiller)

Life with Father (1947) (d. Michael Curtiz)