Ron Chait's
Top 200 Films

The list that follows is a work in progress ... always subject to minor revisions.  It is an eclectic mix of films I have seen over the years, ranging from obscure titles to universal favorites, from undisputed classics to motion pictures I simply like.

Certain biases should become apparent: Bogart, De Niro, Hitchcock, Spielberg, Buster Keaton, The Marx Brothers, gangster films, silent films, musicals, science fiction.  Movie titles are linked to their respective pages at The Internet Movie Database.

The best way to view these films is 
(in order of preference):

Director's chair
Film frames
  1. On the big screen
  2. In letterboxed format

Avoid colorized prints of films that were released originally in black-and-white.  Enjoy each motion picture as it was intended to be seen.

-- Ron Chait


The Adventures of Robin Hood
(1938)

The African Queen 
(1951)

Aguirre: The Wrath of God
(German, 1972)

Alien 
(1979)

Aliens 
(1986)

All About Eve  
(1950)

All That Jazz  
(1979)

American Graffiti 
(1973)

Angels with Dirty Faces 
(1938)

Annie Hall 
(1977)

Apollo 13 
(1995)

Armour of God II: Operation Condor
(Hong Kong, 1990)

The Asphalt Jungle 
(1950)

Atlantic City 
(1980)

Back to the Future 
(1985)

Bananas 
(1971)

Being John Malkovich
(1999)

Ben-Hur  
(1959)

Berlin Alexanderplatz
(German, 1980)

The Big Sleep  
(1946)

The Birds  
(1963)

Black Orpheus
(French-Brazilian, 1959)

Blood Simple  
(1984)

The Blue Angel 
(German, 1930)

Bonnie and Clyde 
(1967)

Das Boot 
(German, 1981)

Boys Don't Cry
(1999)

Brazil 
(British, 1985)

Breathless 
(French, 1959)

Bride of Frankenstein 
(1935)

The Caine Mutiny  
(1954)

Carrie 
(1976)

Casablanca 
(1942)

Children of Paradise 
(French, 1945)

Citizen Kane 
(1941)

City Lights 
(1931)

A Clockwork Orange 
(1971)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind
(1977)

Compulsion  
(1959)

The Court Jester 
(1956)

Crime and Punishment
(Soviet Union, 1969)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
(China, 2000)

The Day the Earth Stood Still 
(1951)

Dead Again  
(1991)

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid 
(1982)

The Deer Hunter 
(1978)

Defending Your Life 
(1991)

Detour 
(1945)

Double Indemnity  
(1944)

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned 
to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
 
(British, 1964)

Duck Soup 
(1933)

E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial  
(1982)

Easy Rider 
(1969)

Edward Scissorhands 
(1990)

The Empire Strikes Back 
(1980)

Fahrenheit 451 
(British, 1966)

Fantastic Voyage 
(1966)

Fargo 
(1996)

The Fearless Vampire Killers or: Pardon Me But Your Teeth 
Are in My Neck
 
(British, 1967)

Force of Evil 
(1948)

42nd Street 
(1933)

The Four Days of Naples
(Italian, 1962)

Frankenstein 
(1931)

The French Connection
(1971)

From Here to Eternity  
(1953)

The Full Monty 
(British, 1997)

Galaxy Quest
(1999)

The General 
(1927)

The General  
(Irish, 1998)

Gettysburg 
(1993)

Giant 
(1956)

The Godfather  
(1972)

The Godfather Part II  
(1974)

The Gold Rush 
(1925)

GoodFellas  
(1990)

The Graduate 
(1967)

The Great Dictator
(1940)

The Great Escape
(1963)

Gunga Din  
(1939)

Hairspray  
(1988)

Hamlet 
(British, 1948)

Hard-Boiled  
(Hong Kong, 1992)

A Hard Day’s Night 
(British, 1964)

Heimat 
(German, 1984)

Henry V 
(British, 1989)

High School Confidential! 
(1958)

High Sierra  
(1941)

His Girl Friday 
(1940)

Horse Feathers 
(1932)

The Hustler  
(1961)

The Icicle Thief 
(Italian, 1989)

In Cold Blood 
(1967)

The Incredible Shrinking Man  
(1957)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers
(1956)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers
(1978)

It’s a Wonderful Life 
(1946)

Jaws  
(1975)

The Killing 
(1956)

King Kong 
(1933)

King of Hearts 
(French-Italian, 1966)

Kiss Me Deadly 
(1955)

L.A. Confidential 
(1997)

The Lady Eve  
(1941)

The Last Picture Show 
(1971)

Laura 
(1944)

Let Him Have It 
(British, 1991)

Life Is Beautiful 
(Italian, 1997)

The Little Shop of Horrors 
(1960)

Living in Oblivion 
(1995)

Long Day’s Journey into Night
(1962)

The Longest Day
(1962)

The Lord of the Rings:
The Fellowship of the Ring

(2001)

The Lord of the Rings:
The Return of the King

(2003)

The Lord of the Rings:
The Two Towers

(2002)

Macbeth
(British, 1971)

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
(Australian, 1981)

Malcolm X
(1992)

The Maltese Falcon  
(1941)

The Manchurian Candidate 
(1962)

The Matrix
(1999)

Metropolis 
(German, 1926)

The Misfits
(1961)

Modern Times
(1936)

Monterey Pop 
(1969)

Much Ado About Nothing 
(British, 1993)

Mutiny on the Bounty
(1935)

Nashville 
(1975)

Near Dark 
(1987)

A Night at the Opera 
(1935)

The Nightmare Before Christmas
(1993)

North by Northwest 
(1959)

Nosferatu 
(German, 1922)

Nothing Sacred  
(1937)

Notorious 
(1946)

On the Waterfront 
(1954)

Out of the Past 
(1947)

Pandora’s Box  
(German, 1928)

Paper Moon  
(1973)

The Philadelphia Story 
(1940)

Pinocchio 
(1940)

Planet of the Apes 
(1968)

Play It Again, Sam  
(1972)

Police Story 
(Hong Kong, 1985)

The Postman Always Rings Twice
(1946)

Psycho  
(1960)

The Public Enemy  
(1931)

Pulp Fiction 
(1994)

Raging Bull 
(1980)

Raiders of the Lost Ark 
(1981)

Rear Window 
(1954)

Rebel Without a Cause 
(1955)

Saving Private Ryan 
(1998)

Schindler’s List 
(1993)

The Searchers 
(1956)

Sense and Sensibility 
(1995)

The Set-Up
(1949)

The Seven Samurai 
(Japanese, 1954)

The Seventh Seal 
(Swedish, 1957)

The Shawshank Redemption 
(1994)

Sherlock, Jr.  
(1924)

Shoah 
(French, 1985)

Singin’ in the Rain 
(1952)

Sleeper  
(1973)

Some Like It Hot 
(1959)

Star Wars 
(1977)

Starship Troopers  
(1997)

Steamboat Bill, Jr. 
(1928)

Stop Making Sense 
(1984)

The Stratton Story 
(1949)

A Streetcar Named Desire  
(1951)

Summer of ’42 
(1971)

Sunset Blvd. 
(1950)

Taxi Driver 
(1976)

The Terminator 
(1984)

Them! 
(1954)

They Drive by Night 
(1940)

They Live by Night 
(1949)

To Be or Not to Be 
(1942)

To Catch a Thief 
(1955)

To Have and Have Not
(1944)

To Kill a Mockingbird
(1962)

To Sir, with Love 
(British, 1967)

Tootsie 
(1982)

Top Hat 
(1935)

Touch of Evil 
(1958)

The Train  
(1965)

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
(1948)

Trouble in Paradise 
(1932)

12 Angry Men
(1957)

Waking Ned Devine 
(Irish, 1998)

The War of the Worlds 
(1953)

West Side Story 
(1961)

When Harry Met Sally… 
(1989)

White Heat 
(1949)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit 
(1988)

The Wizard of Oz 
(1939)

Woodstock
(1970)

Working Girl
(1988)

Yankee Doodle Dandy
(1942)

Yellow Submarine 
(British, 1968)

Young Frankenstein 
(1974)


     

If you disagree with the choices on this page, here are others with which to find fault ...


Favorite Short Films  My Favorite Animated and Live Action Short Films

Movie Quotes  The World's Smallest Page of Movie Quotes


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Original content copyright © 2005 by Ron Chait.  All rights reserved.