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