Top 100 Classics (USA)

Essential viewing listed chronologically (1920-1960):

1921 – THE KID (Charles Chaplin)

1922 – NANOOK OF THE NORTH (Robert J.Flaherty)

1923 – OUR HOSPITALITY (Buster Keaton)

1927 – SUNRISE: A SONG OF TWO HUMANS (F.W.Murnau)

1927 – UNDERWORLD (Josef Von Sternberg)

1928 – STEAMBOAT BILL JR. (Buster Keaton)

1928 – THE MAN WHO LAUGHS (Paul Leni)

1928 – THE CROWD (King Vidor)

1930 – ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (Lewis Milestone)

1931 – CITY LIGHTS (Charles Chaplin)

1931 – THE PUBLIC ENEMY (William A.Wellman)

1932 – GRAND HOTEL (Edmund Goulding)

1932 – I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG (Mervyn LeRoy)

1932 – SCARFACE (Howard Hawks)

1932 – TROUBLE IN PARADISE (Ernst Lubitsch)

1934 – IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (Frank Capra)

1934 – THE THIN MAN (W.S. Van Dyke)

1935 – THE INFORMER (John Ford)

1935 – TOP HAT (Mark Sandrich)

1936 – MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN (Frank Capra)

1936 – MY MAN GODFREY (Gregory La Cava)

1936 – DODSWORTH (William Wyler)

1936 – MODERN TIMES (Charles Chaplin)

1937 – THE AWFUL TRUTH (Leo McCarey)

1938 – CASABLANCA (Michael Curtiz)

1938 – YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (Frank Capra)

1938 – ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES (Michael Curtiz)

1939 – THE ROARING TWENTIES (Raoul Walsh)

1939 – MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (Frank Capra)

1939 – WUTHERING HEIGHTS (William Wyler)

1940 – THE GRAPES OF WRATH (John Ford)

1940 – THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (Ernst Lubitsch)

1941 – BALL OF FIRE (Howard Hawks)

1941 – CITIZEN KANE (Orson Welles)

1941 – HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (John Ford)

1941 – THE MALTESE FALCON (John Huston)

1941 – SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (Preston Sturges)

1942 – TO BE OR NOT TO BE (Ernst Lubitsch)

1942 – NOW, VOYAGER (Irving Rapper)

1942 – THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (Orson Welles)

1943 – SHADOW OF A DOUBT (Alfred Hitchcock)

1943 – THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (William A.Wellman)

1944 – DOUBLE INDEMNITY (Billy Wilder)

1944 – THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW (Fritz Lang)

1944 – LAURA (Otto Preminger)

1945 – THE LOST WEEKEND (Billy Wilder)

1945 – MILDRED PIERCE (Michael Curtiz)

1946 – THE KILLERS (Robert Siodmak)

1946 – THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (William Wyler)

1946 – IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (Frank Capra)

1946 – MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (John Ford)

1946 – THE BIG SLEEP (Howard Hawks)

1946 – NOTORIOUS (Alfred Hitchcock)

1947 – BODY AND SOULS (Robert Rossen)

1947 – ODD MAN OUT (Carol Reed)

1947 – OUT OF THE PAST (Jacques Tourneur)

1948 – THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE (John Huston)

1948 – I REMEMBER MAMA (George Stevens)

1948 – THE ROPE (Alfred Hitchcock)

1948 – LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN (Max Ophuls)

1948 – KEY LARGO (John Huston)

1949 – ALL THE KING'S MEN (Robert Rossen)

1949 – THE HEIRESS (William Wyler)

1949 – 12 O'CLOCK HIGH (Henry King)

1949 – THE THIRD MAN (Carol Reed)

1949 – WHITE HEAT (Raoul Walsh)

1950 – SUNSET BOULEVARD (Billy Wilder)

1950 – THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (John Huston)

1950 – IN A LONELY PLACE (Nicholas Ray)

1950 – ALL ABOUT EVE (Joseph L.Mankiewicz)

1950 – HARVEY (Henry Koster)

1951 – ACE IN THE HOLE (Billy Wilder)

1951 – A STREETCAR NAMD DESIRE (Elia Kazan)

1951 – A PLACE IN THE SUN (George Stevens)

1951 – STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (Alfred Hitchcock)

1952 – HIGH NOON (Fred Zinnemann)

1952 – SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (Gene Kelly)

1952 – THE NARROW MARGIN (Richard Fleischer)

1953 – THE BIG HEAT (Fritz Lang)

1954 – DIAL M FOR MURDER (Alfred Hitchcock)

1954 – REAR WINDOW (Alfred Hitchcock)

1954 – ON THE WATERFRONT (Elia Kazan)

1955 – THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (Charles Laughton)

1955 – REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (Nicholas Ray)

1956 – THE KILLING (Stanley Kubrick)

1957 – PATHS OF GLORY (Stanley Kubrick)

1957 – SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (Alexander MacKendrick)

1957 – WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (Billy Wilder)

1957 – A FACE IN THE CROWD (Elia Kazan)

1957 – 12 ANGRY MEN (Sidney Lumet)

1958 – TOUCH OF EVIL (Orson Welles)

1958 – VERTIGO (Alfred Hitchcock)

1959 – NORTH BY NORTHWEST (Alfred Hitchcock)

1959 – SOME LIKE IT HOT (Billy Wilder)

1959 – RIO BRAVO (Howard Hawks)

1959 – ANATOMY OF A MURDER (Otto Preminger)

1959 – SHADOWS (John Cassavettes)

1960 – PSYCHO (Alfred Hitchcock)

1960 – THE APARTMENT (Billy Wilder)

1960 – SPARTACUS (Stanley Kubrick)