102 Greatest Films by filmsite
"The Greatest Films can't be measured scientifically because greatness is extremely subjective. The artistic greatness of films (and other works of art) can never be rated or quantified, although critics, reviewers, and fans still make ten best lists, hundred best lists, all-time greatest lists, favorites lists, awards lists, and generate results of polls. Over a long period of time, it has been found that the English-language films found here in this selection of 100 Greatest Films repeatedly appear on all-time best film lists and are often noted in the collective responses of film viewers."
- filmsite
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Films (102)
1. Pulp Fiction
Directed by Quentin Tarantino | R | 154 min | 1994|
The lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster's wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.
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2. The Shawshank Redemption
Directed by Frank Darabont | R | 142 min | 1994|
Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency.
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3. Schindler's List
Directed by Steven Spielberg | R | 195 min | 1993|
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazi Germans.
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4. Blade Runner
Directed by Ridley Scott | R | 117 min | 1982|
A blade runner must pursue and try to terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
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5. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Directed by Steven Spielberg | PG | 115 min | 1982|
A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape Earth and return to his home-world.
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6. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Directed by Irvin Kershner | PG | 124 min | 1980|
After the rebels have been brutally overpowered by the Empire on their newly established base, Luke Skywalker takes advanced Jedi training with Master Yoda, while his friends are pursued by Darth Vader as part of his plan to capture Luke.
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7. Raging Bull
Directed by Martin Scorsese | R | 129 min | 1980|
An emotionally self-destructive boxer's journey through life, as the violence and temper that leads him to the top in the ring destroys his life outside it.
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8. Apocalypse Now
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola | R | 153 min | 1979|
During the Vietnam War, Captain Willard is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade colonel who has set himself up as a god among a local tribe.
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9. Annie Hall
Directed by Woody Allen | PG | 93 min | 1977|
Neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with the ditzy Annie Hall.
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10. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
Directed by George Lucas | PG | 121 min | 1977|
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle-station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the evil Darth Vader.
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11. Taxi Driver
Directed by Martin Scorsese | R | 113 min | 1976|
A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge for violent action, attempting to save a preadolescent prostitute in the process.
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12. Jaws
Directed by Steven Spielberg | PG | 124 min | 1975|
When a gigantic great white shark begins to menace the small island community of Amity, a police chief, a marine scientist and a grizzled fisherman set out to stop it.
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13. Nashville
Directed by Robert Altman | R | 159 min | 1975|
Over the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated people prepare for a political convention as secrets and lies are surfaced and revealed.
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14. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Directed by Milos Forman | R | 133 min | 1975|
A criminal pleads insanity after getting into trouble again and once in the mental institution rebels against the oppressive nurse and rallies up the scared patients.
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15. Chinatown
Directed by Roman Polanski | R | 130 min | 1974|
A private detective hired to expose an adulterer finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption and murder.
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16. The Godfather: Part II
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola | R | 202 min | 1974|
The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York is portrayed while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on his crime syndicate stretching from Lake Tahoe, Nevada to pre-revolution 1958 Cuba.
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17. The Godfather
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola | R | 175 min | 1972|
The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.
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18. Easy Rider
Directed by Dennis Hopper | R | 95 min | 1969|
Two counterculture bikers travel from Los Angeles to New Orleans in search of America.
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19. Midnight Cowboy
Directed by John Schlesinger | X | 113 min | 1969|
A naive hustler goes to New York to seek personal fortune but in the process finds himself a new friend.
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20. The Wild Bunch
Directed by Sam Peckinpah | R | 145 min | 1969|
An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.
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21. 2001: A Space Odyssey
Directed by Stanley Kubrick | G | 149 min | 1968|
Humanity finds a mysterious, obviously artificial object buried beneath the Lunar surface and, with the intelligent computer H.A.L. 9000, sets off on a quest.
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22. Bonnie and Clyde
Directed by Arthur Penn | 111 min | 1967|
A somewhat romanticized account of the career of the notoriously violent bank robbing couple and their gang.
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23. The Graduate
Directed by Mike Nichols | 106 min | 1967|
A disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.
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24. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Directed by Mike Nichols | TV-MA | 131 min | 1966|
A bitter, aging couple, with the help of alcohol, use a young couple to fuel anguish and emotional pain towards each other.
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25. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Directed by Stanley Kubrick | PG | 95 min | 1964|
An insane general triggers a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically try to stop.
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26. Lawrence of Arabia
Directed by David Lean | PG | 216 min | 1962|
The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and lead the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.
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27. To Kill a Mockingbird
Directed by Robert Mulligan | 129 min | 1962|
Atticus Finch, a lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his kids against prejudice.
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28. West Side Story
Directed by Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise | 152 min | 1961|
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
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29. Psycho
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock | R | 109 min | 1960|
A Phoenix secretary steals $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.
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30. Ben-Hur
Directed by William Wyler | G | 212 min | 1959|
When a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.
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31. North by Northwest
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock | 136 min | 1959|
A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive.
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32. Some Like It Hot
Directed by Billy Wilder | 120 min | 1959|
When two musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.
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33. Touch of Evil
Directed by Orson Welles | PG-13 | 95 min | 1958|
A stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping, and police corruption in a Mexican border town.
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34. Vertigo
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock | PG | 128 min | 1958|
A San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her.
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35. The Bridge on the River Kwai
Directed by David Lean | PG | 161 min | 1957|
After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men's construction of a railway bridge for their captors - while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it.
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36. Paths of Glory
Directed by Stanley Kubrick | 88 min | 1957|
After refusing to attack an enemy position, a general accuses the soldiers of cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.
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37. The Searchers
Directed by John Ford | 119 min | 1956|
A Civil War veteran embarks on a journey to rescue his niece from an Indian tribe.
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38. The Night of the Hunter
Directed by Charles Laughton, Robert Mitchum, Terry Sanders | 92 min | 1955|
A religious fanatic marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real daddy hid $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.
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39. Rebel Without a Cause
Directed by Nicholas Ray | PG-13 | 111 min | 1955|
A rebellious young man with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies.
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40. On the Waterfront
Directed by Elia Kazan | 108 min | 1954|
An ex-prize fighter turned longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses.
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41. Rear Window
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock | 112 min | 1954|
A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
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42. A Star Is Born
Directed by George Cukor | 154 min | 1954|
A film star helps a young singer and actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career on a downward spiral.
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43. Roman Holiday
Directed by William Wyler | 118 min | 1953|
A bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.
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44. Shane
Directed by George Stevens | 118 min | 1953|
A weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smoldering settler/rancher conflict forces him to act.
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45. High Noon
Directed by Fred Zinnemann | PG | 85 min | 1952|
A marshall, personally compelled to face a returning deadly enemy, finds that his own town refuses to help him.
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46. The Quiet Man
Directed by John Ford | 129 min | 1952|
A retired American boxer returns to the village of his birth in Ireland, where he finds love.
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47. Singin' in the Rain
Directed by Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly | 103 min | 1952|
A silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound.
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48. The African Queen
Directed by John Huston | PG | 105 min | 1951|
In Africa during WWI, a gin-swilling riverboat captain is persuaded by a strait-laced missionary to use his boat to attack an enemy warship.
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49. An American in Paris
Directed by Vincente Minnelli | 113 min | 1951|
Three friends struggle to find work in Paris. Things become more complicated when two of them fall in love with the same woman.
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50. A Streetcar Named Desire
Directed by Elia Kazan | PG | 122 min | 1951|
Disturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her.
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51. All About Eve
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz | 138 min | 1950|
An ingenue insinuates herself into the company of an established but aging stage actress and her circle of theater friends.
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52. Sunset Boulevard
Directed by Billy Wilder | 110 min | 1950|
A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent-film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.
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53. The Third Man
Directed by Carol Reed | 93 min | 1949|
Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.
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54. Letter from an Unknown Woman
Directed by Max Ophüls | 86 min | 1948|
A pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember, who may hold the key to his downfall.
55. Red River
Directed by Howard Hawks, Arthur Rosson | 133 min | 1948|
Dunson leads a cattle drive, the culmination of over 14 years of work, to its destination in Missouri. But his tyrannical behavior along the way causes a mutiny, led by his adopted son.
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56. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Directed by John Huston | 126 min | 1948|
Fred Dobbs and Bob Curtin, two Americans searching for work in Mexico, convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.
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57. Out of the Past
Directed by Jacques Tourneur | 97 min | 1947|
A private eye escapes his past to run a gas station in a small town, but his past catches up with him. Now he must return to the big city world of danger, corruption, double crosses and duplicitous dames.
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58. The Best Years of Our Lives
Directed by William Wyler | 172 min | 1946|
Three World War II veterans return home to small-town America to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.
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59. The Big Sleep
Directed by Howard Hawks | 114 min | 1946|
Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a rich family. Before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail, and what might be love.
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60. It's a Wonderful Life
Directed by Frank Capra | PG | 130 min | 1946|
An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like if he never existed.
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61. My Darling Clementine
Directed by John Ford | 97 min | 1946|
A Western retelling the tale of the Shoot-out at the OK Corral.
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62. Notorious
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock | 101 min | 1946|
A woman is asked to spy on a group of Nazi friends in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them?
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63. Double Indemnity
Directed by Billy Wilder | 107 min | 1944|
An insurance representative lets himself be talked into a murder/insurance fraud scheme that arouses an insurance investigator's suspicions.
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64. Meet Me in St. Louis
Directed by Vincente Minnelli | 113 min | 1944|
In the year before the 1904 St Louis World's Fair, the four Smith daughters learn lessons of life and love, even as they prepare for a reluctant move to New York.
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65. Casablanca
Directed by Michael Curtiz | PG | 102 min | 1942|
In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.
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66. The Magnificent Ambersons
Directed by Orson Welles, Fred Fleck, Robert Wise | 88 min | 1942|
The spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.
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67. Yankee Doodle Dandy
Directed by Michael Curtiz | 126 min | 1942|
A film of the life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer, and singer George M. Cohan.
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68. Citizen Kane
Directed by Orson Welles | 119 min | 1941|
Following the death of a publishing tycoon, news reporters scramble to discover the meaning of his final utterance.
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69. The Lady Eve
Directed by Preston Sturges | 94 min | 1941|
A trio of classy card sharps targets the socially awkward heir to brewery millions for his money, till one of them falls in love with him.
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70. The Maltese Falcon
Directed by John Huston | 100 min | 1941|
A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.
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71. Fantasia
Directed by James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Ford Beebe Jr., Norman Ferguson, Jim Handley, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Ben Sharpsteen | G | 125 min | 1940|
A collection of animated interpretations of great works of Western classical music.
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72. The Grapes of Wrath
Directed by John Ford | 129 min | 1940|
A poor Midwest family is forced off of their land. They travel to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.
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73. His Girl Friday
Directed by Howard Hawks | 92 min | 1940|
A newspaper editor uses every trick in the book to keep his ace reporter ex-wife from remarrying.
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74. The Philadelphia Story
Directed by George Cukor | 112 min | 1940|
When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.
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75. Rebecca
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock | 130 min | 1940|
A self-conscious bride is tormented by the memory of her husband's dead first wife.
76. Gone with the Wind
Directed by Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood | G | 238 min | 1939|
A manipulative Southern belle carries on a turbulent affair with a blockade runner during the American Civil War.
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77. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Directed by Frank Capra | 129 min | 1939|
A naive man is appointed to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate. His plans promptly collide with political corruption, but he doesn't back down.
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78. Ninotchka
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch | 110 min | 1939|
A stern Russian woman sent to Paris on official business finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.
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79. Stagecoach
Directed by John Ford | 96 min | 1939|
A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.
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80. The Wizard of Oz
Directed by Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Mervyn LeRoy, Norman Taurog, King Vidor | 102 min | 1939|
Dorothy Gale is swept away to a magical land in a tornado and embarks on a quest to see the Wizard who can help her return home.
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81. Wuthering Heights
Directed by William Wyler | 104 min | 1939|
A servant in the house of Wuthering Heights tells a traveler the unfortunate tale of lovers Cathy and Heathcliff.
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82. The Adventures of Robin Hood
Directed by Michael Curtiz, William Keighley | PG | 102 min | 1938|
When Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a rebel guerrilla army.
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83. Bringing Up Baby
Directed by Howard Hawks | 102 min | 1938|
While trying to secure a $1 million donation for his museum, a befuddled paleontologist is pursued by a flighty and often irritating heiress and her pet leopard, Baby.
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84. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Directed by William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen | 83 min | 1937|
Snow White, pursued by a jealous queen, hides with the Dwarfs; the queen soon learns of this and prepares to feed her a poison apple.
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85. Modern Times
Directed by Charles Chaplin | G | 87 min | 1936|
The Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman.
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86. The Bride of Frankenstein
Directed by James Whale | 75 min | 1935|
Mary Shelley reveals the main characters of her novel survived: Dr. Frankenstein, goaded by an even madder scientist, builds his monster a mate.
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87. A Night at the Opera
Directed by Sam Wood, Edmund Goulding | 96 min | 1935|
A sly business manager and two wacky friends of two opera singers help them achieve success while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.
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88. Top Hat
Directed by Mark Sandrich | 101 min | 1935|
An American dancer comes to Britain and falls for a model whom he initially annoyed, but she mistakes him for his goofy producer.
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89. It Happened One Night
Directed by Frank Capra | 105 min | 1934|
A spoiled heiress, running away from her family, is helped by a man who is actually a reporter in need of a story.
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90. Duck Soup
Directed by Leo McCarey | 68 min | 1933|
Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale.
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91. 42nd Street
Directed by Lloyd Bacon | 89 min | 1933|
A producer puts on what may be his last Broadway show and, at the last moment, a chorus girl has to replace the star.
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92. King Kong
Directed by Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack | 100 min | 1933|
A film crew goes to a tropical island for an exotic location shoot and discovers a colossal giant gorilla who takes a shine to their female blonde star. Then he's captured and brought back to New York City for public exhibition.
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93. Trouble in Paradise
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch | 83 min | 1932|
A gentleman thief and a lady pickpocket join forces to con a beautiful perfume company owner. Romantic entanglements and jealousies confuse the scheme.
94. City Lights
Directed by Charles Chaplin | 87 min | 1931|
With the aid of a wealthy erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed tramp who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl accumulates money to be able to help her medically.
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95. All Quiet on the Western Front
Directed by Lewis Milestone | 136 min | 1930|
A young soldier faces profound disillusionment in the soul-destroying horror of World War I.
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96. The Crowd
Directed by King Vidor | 98 min | 1928|
The life of a man and woman together in a large, impersonal metropolis through their hopes, struggles and downfalls.
97. Sunrise
Directed by F.W. Murnau | 94 min | 1927|
A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.
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98. The General
Directed by Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton | 67 min | 1926|
When Union spies steal an engineer's beloved locomotive, he pursues it single-handedly and straight through enemy lines.
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99. The Gold Rush
Directed by Charles Chaplin | 95 min | 1925|
A prospector goes to the Klondike in search of gold and finds it and more.
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100. Greed
Directed by Erich von Stroheim | 140 min | 1924|
The sudden fortune won from a lottery fans such destructive greed that it ruins the lives of the three people involved.
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101. Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
Directed by D.W. Griffith | 197 min | 1916|
The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
102. The Birth of a Nation
Directed by D.W. Griffith | 165 min | 1915|
The American Civil War divides friends and destroys families, but that's nothing compared to the anarchy in the black-ruled South after the war.
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