Release Date: 1941-04-17

Overview: Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.

Rating: 8 (5708 votes)

Release Date: 1939-08-15

Overview: Young Dorothy finds herself in a magical world where she makes friends with a lion, a scarecrow and a tin man as they make their way along the yellow brick road to talk with the Wizard and ask for the things they miss most in their lives. The Wicked Witch of the West is the only thing that could stop them.

Rating: 7.6 (5778 votes)

Release Date: 1948-01-15

Overview: Two jobless Americans convince a prospector to travel to the mountains of Mexico with them in search of gold. But the hostile wilderness, local bandits, and greed all get in the way of their journey.

Rating: 7.954 (1250 votes)

Release Date: 1946-12-20

Overview: A holiday favourite for generations... George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.

Rating: 8.3 (4534 votes)

Release Date: 1941-10-18

Overview: A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a beautiful liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.

Rating: 7.7 (1758 votes)

Release Date: 1946-08-23

Overview: Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.

Rating: 7.607 (1086 votes)

Release Date: 1939-12-15

Overview: The spoiled daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a tumultuous romance with a cynical profiteer during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era.

Rating: 7.928 (4161 votes)

Release Date: 1946-12-25

Overview: It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to become a nightmare.

Rating: 7.792 (687 votes)

Release Date: 1968-12-21

Overview: As the railroad builders advance unstoppably through the Arizona desert on their way to the sea, Jill arrives in the small town of Flagstone with the intention of starting a new life.

Rating: 8.3 (4574 votes)

Release Date: 1974-06-20

Overview: Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together.

Rating: 7.918 (3980 votes)

Release Date: 1952-04-10

Overview: In 1927 Hollywood, a silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound.

Rating: 8.149 (3277 votes)

Release Date: 1952-01-07

Overview: At the start of the First World War, in the middle of Africa’s nowhere, a gin soaked riverboat captain is persuaded by a strong-willed missionary to go down river and face-off a German warship.

Rating: 7.353 (992 votes)

Release Date: 1950-05-17

Overview: A violent screenwriter and a female neighbor fall in love after she clears him of murder, but she begins to have second thoughts.

Rating: 7.6 (611 votes)

Release Date: 1978-12-08

Overview: A group of working-class friends decide to enlist in the Army during the Vietnam War and finds it to be hellish chaos -- not the noble venture they imagined. Before they left, Steven married his pregnant girlfriend -- and Michael and Nick were in love with the same woman. But all three are different men upon their return.

Rating: 7.99 (3967 votes)

Release Date: 1959-07-08

Overview: Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.

Rating: 7.983 (4257 votes)

Release Date: 1962-12-11

Overview: The story of British officer T.E. Lawrence's mission to aid the Arab tribes in their revolt against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Lawrence becomes a flamboyant, messianic figure in the cause of Arab unity but his psychological instability threatens to undermine his achievements.

Rating: 8 (3183 votes)

Release Date: 1959-03-19

Overview: Two musicians witness a mob hit and struggle to find a way out of the city before they are found by the gangsters. Their only opportunity is to join an all-girl band as they leave on a tour. To make their getaway they must first disguise themselves as women, then keep their identities secret and deal with the problems this brings - such as an attractive bandmate and a very determined suitor.

Rating: 8.095 (3626 votes)

Release Date: 1949-08-31

Overview: In postwar Vienna, Austria, Holly Martins, a writer of pulp Westerns, arrives penniless as a guest of his childhood chum Harry Lime, only to learn he has died. Martins develops a conspiracy theory after learning of a "third man" present at the time of Harry's death, running into interference from British officer Major Calloway, and falling head-over-heels for Harry's grief-stricken lover, Anna.

Rating: 7.92 (1965 votes)

Release Date: 1944-01-01

Overview: Youthful Father Chuck O'Malley led a colorful life of sports, song, and romance before joining the Roman Catholic clergy. After being appointed to a run-down New York parish, O'Malley's worldly knowledge helps him connect with a gang of boys looking for direction, eventually winning over the aging, conventional Parish priest.

Rating: 6.715 (181 votes)

Release Date: 1959-06-03

Overview: For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.

Rating: 8.026 (2210 votes)