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Film Recs

Films are organized by release date. These are movies I recommend on the basis of over all excellence (though, admittedly, you'll find some guilty pleasures on here). On my favorite actresses and actors page, I have suggested movies that showcase respective best performances regardless of the over all quality of the movie.

1930s



  • CITY LIGHTS (1931) | Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill 
  • IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934) | Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert 
  • THE THIN MAN (1934) | William Powell, Myrna Loy 
  • TOP HAT (1935) | Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers
  • LIBELED LADY (1936) | William Powell, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy
  • MODERN TIMES (1936) | Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard 
  • MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN (1936) | Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur 
  • MY MAN GODFREY (1936) | Carole Lombard, William Powell 
  • NOTHING SACRED (1937) | Carole Lombard, Fredric March 
  • STAGE DOOR (1937) | Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball, Ann Miller
  • THE AWFUL TRUTH (1937) | Cary Grant, Irene Dunne 
  • BRINGING UP BABY (1938) | Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant 
  • GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) | Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland
  • MIDNIGHT (1939) | Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche 
  • MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939) | Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur 
  • NINOTCHKA (1939) | Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas 

1940s 



  • THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940) | Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart
  • REBECCA (1940) | Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier 
  • THE LETTER (1940) | Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall 
  • THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (1940) | Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullivan 
  • MR. AND MRS. SMITH (1941) | Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery 
  • SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (1941) | Veronica Lake, Joel McCrea
  • CASABLANCA (1942) | Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman 
  • RANDOM HARVEST (1942) | Greer Garson, Ronald Colman 
  • NOW VOYAGER (1942) | Bette Davis, Paul Henreid 
  • TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942) | Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack 
  • THE PALM BEACH STORY (1942) | Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea 
  • WOMAN OF THE YEAR (1942) | Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy
  • SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943) | Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotton 
  • THE MORE THE MERRIER (1943) | Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea 
  • DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944) | Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck 
  • GASLIGHT (1944) | Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer
  • MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944) | Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor
  • LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN (1945) | Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain 
  • MILDRED PIERCE (1945) | Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth 
  • THE BELLS OF ST. MARY'S (1945) | Ingrid Bergman, Bing Crosby 
  • GILDA (1946) | Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford 
  • IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) | Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed 
  • NOTORIOUS (1946) | Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman 
  • THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946) | Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright 
  • THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946) | Lana Turner, Joseph Cotton 
  • BLACK NARCISSUS (1947) | Deborah Kerr, Jean Simmons 
  • I REMEMBER MAMA (1948) | Irene Dunne 
  • THE SNAKE PIT (1948) | Olivia de Havilland, Mark Stevens 
  • THE HEIRESS (1949) | Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift 
  • ADAM'S RIB (1949) | Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy


1950s



  • BORN YESTERDAY (1950) | Judy Holliday, William Holden 
  • FATHER OF THE BRIDE (1950) | Spencer Tracy, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Bennett 
  • SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950) | Gloria Swanson, William Holden 
  • STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951) | Robert Walker, Farley Granger 
  • THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951) | Katharine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart 
  • SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952) | Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Conner
  • THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (1952) | Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon 
  • FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953) | Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Montgomery Clift, Donna Reed 
  • ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953) | Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck 
  • THE LONG, LONG TRAILER (1953) | Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz
  • DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954) | Ray Milland, Grace Kelly 
  • REAR WINDOW (1954) | Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly 
  • SABRINA (1954) | Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, William Holden 
  • THE COUNTRY GIRL (1954) | Grace Kelly, William Holden 
  • PICNIC (1955) | William Holden, Kim Novak 
  • SUMMERTIME (1955) | Katharine Hepburn, Rossano Brazzi 
  • ANASTASIA (1956) | Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner 
  • FRIENDLY PERSUASION (1956) | Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire
  • GIANT (1956) | Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean 
  • THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956) | Jimmy Stewart, Doris Day 
  • THE SEARCHERS (1956) | John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Natalie Wood
  • 12 ANGRY MEN (1957) | Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb 
  • AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (1957) | Deborah Kerr, Cary Grant 
  • LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON (1957) | Audrey Hepburn, Gary Cooper 
  • PEYTON PLACE (1957) | Lana Turner, John Gavin
  • VERTIGO (1958) | Jimmy Stewart, Kim Novak 
  • CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (1958) | Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor 
  • SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959) | Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe
  • ANATOMY OF A MURDER (1959) | Jimmy Stewart, Lee Remick 
  • PILLOW TALK (1959) | Doris Day, Rock Hudson 
  • NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) | Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint 
  • THE NUN'S STORY (1959) | Audrey Hepburn, Peter Finch 
  • SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER (1959) | Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, Katharine Hepburn

1960s



  • PSYCHO (1960) | Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh 
  • THE APARTMENT (1960) | Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine 
  • BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (1961) | Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard 
  • THE CHILDREN'S HOUR (1961) | Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine 
  • WEST SIDE STORY (1961) | Natalie Wood, Rita Moreno, Richard Beymer 
  • LOLITA (1962) | James Mason, Sue Lyon 
  • THE MIRACLE WORKER (1962) | Anne Bancroft, Patty Duke 
  • WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962) | Bette Davis, Joan Crawford 
  • THE BIRDS (1963) | Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor 
  • THE PUMPKIN EATER (1964) | Anne Bancroft, Peter Finch
  • DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965) | Omar Sharif, Julie Christie 
  • THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965) | Julie Andrews, Christoper Plummer 
  • A BIG HAND FOR THE LITTLE LADY (1966) | Henry Fonda, Joanne Woodward
  • BAREFOOT IN THE PARK (1967) | Robert Redford, Jane Fonda 
  • BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967) | Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway 
  • GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (1967) | Sidney Poitier, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn 
  • THE GRADUATE (1967) | Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross 
  • TO SIR, WITH LOVE (1967) | Sidney Poitier 
  • RACHEL, RACHEL (1968) | Joanne Woodward, Estelle Parsons 
  • YOURS, MINE AND OURS (1968) | Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda 
  • THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE (1969) | Maggie Smith, Gordon Jackson 
  • BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969) | Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross 

(...PLUS) 
post 60s favorites
  • THE GODFATHER (1972) | Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, DIane Keaton
  • BADLANDS (1973) | Sissy Spacek, Martin Sheen 
  • THE STING (1973) | Paul Newman, Robert Redford 
  • THE WAY WE WERE (1973) | Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford 
  • ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (1974) | Ellen Burstyn, Kris Kristofferson 
  • YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974) | Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn 
  • ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976) | Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman 
  • ANNIE HALL (1977) | Woody Allen, Diane Keaton
  • AN UNMARRIED WOMAN (1978) | Jill Clayburgh, Alan Bates
  • GREASE (1978) | John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John
  • ALIEN (1979) | Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt 
  • KRAMER VS. KRAMER (1979) | Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep 
  • THE COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER (1980) | Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones 
  • THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980) | John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins, Anne Bancroft 
  • ON GOLDEN POND (1981) | Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda 
  • SOPHIE'S CHOICE (1982) | Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline 
  • TOOTSIE (1982) | Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange 
  • TERMS OF ENDEARMENT (1983) | Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson 
  • SIXTEEN CANDLES (1984) | Molly Ringwald
  • MOONSTRUCK (1987) | Cher, Nicholas Cage 
  • RAIN MAN (1988) | Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise 

1 comments:

Dylan Patrick said...

How refreshing to find your blog, and a list like I make for myself as well! I wouldn't quibble with a single one of your choices, but would only add a few more. Nice work!

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