Jeff's Lists



1930

1. Earth (Alexander Dovzhenko)
2. Monte Carlo (Ernst Lubitsch)
3. The Big Trail (Raoul Walsh)
4. L’Age d’Or (Luis Buñuel)
5. Animal Crackers (Victor Heerman)
6. The Blood of a Poet (Jean Cocteau)
7. Under the Roofs of Paris (René Clair)
8. All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone)
9. The Tale of the Fox (Ladislas Starewicz)
10. Hell’s Angels (Howard Hughes)

Honorable Mention: The Big House (George W. Hill), The Blue Angel (Josef von Sternberg), Westfront 1918 (G.W. Pabst), Murder! (Alfred Hitchcock), The Flirting Widow (William A. Seiter), Anna Christie (Clarence Brown), Morocco (Josef von Sternberg), À propos de Nice (Jean Vigo), Hog Wild (James Parrott), Outward Bound (Robert Milton)


1931

1. City Lights (Charles Chaplin)
2. M. (Fritz Lang)
3. Le Million (René Clair)
4. The Public Enemy (William A. Wellman)
5. The Smiling Lieutenant (Ernst Lubitsch)
6. Frankenstein (James Whale)
7. Monkey Business (Norman Z. McLeod)
8. À Nous la Liberté (René Clair)
9. Little Caesar (Mervyn LeRoy)
10. Smart Money (Alfred E. Green)

Honorable Mention: Street Scene (King Vidor), The Champ (King Vidor), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian), The Maltese Falcon (Roy Del Ruth), Tokyo Chorus (Yasujiro Ozu), The ThreePenny Opera (G.W. Pabst), Dracula (Tod Browning), Taris (Jean Vigo), Blonde Crazy (Roy Del Ruth), The Easiest Way (Jack Conway)


1932

1. Me and My Gal (Raoul Walsh)
2. Scarface (Howard Hawks, Richard Rosson)
3. Horse Feathers (Norman Z. McLeod)
4. I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (Mervyn Leroy)
5. Vampyr (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
6. I Was Born, But... (Yasujiro Ozu)
7. Boudu Saved From Drowning (Jean Renoir)
8. Trouble in Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch)
9. Freaks (Tod Browning)
10. Love Me Tonight (Rouben Mamoulian)

Honorable Mention: Grand Hotel (Edmund Goulding), A Farewell to Arms (Frank Borzage), The Crowd Roars (Howard Hawks), The Old Dark House (James Whale), The Music Box (James Parrott), Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg), Island of Lost Souls (Erle C. Kenton), Red Dust (Victor Fleming), The Most Dangerous Game (Irving Pichel, Ernest B. Schoedsack), Number 17 (Alfred Hitchcock)


1933

1. Duck Soup (Leo McCarey)
2. Footlight Parade (Lloyd Bacon, Busby Berkeley)
3. King Kong (Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack)
4. Design For Living (Ernst Lubitsch)
5. Man's Castle (Frank Borzage)
6. The Invisible Man (James Whale)
7. 42nd Street (Lloyd Bacon, Busby Berkeley)
8. Lady for a Day (Frank Capra)
9. Hallelujah, I’m a Bum (Lewis Milestone)
10. Little Women (George Cukor)

Honorable Mention: Zero de conduit (Jean Vigo), Lady Killer (Roy Del Ruth), Sons of the Desert (William A. Seiter), Gold Diggers of 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy, Busby Berkeley), The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (Fritz Lang), Dinner at Eight (George Cukor), The Private Life of Henry VIII (Alexander Korda), Picture Snatcher (Lloyd Bacon), Queen Christina (Rouben Mamoulian), The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Frank Capra)


1934

1. The Thin Man (W.S. van Dyke)
2. L’Atalante (Jean Vigo)
3. The Scarlet Empress (Josef von Sternberg)
4. It Happened One Night (Frank Capra)
5. A Story of Floating Weeds (Yasujiro Ozu)
6. The Gay Divorcee (Mark Sandrich)
7. Twentieth Century (Howard Hawks)
8. The Black Cat (Edgar G. Ulmer)
9. The Man Who Knew Too Much (Alfred Hitchcock)
10. Dames (Ray Enright, Busby Berkeley)

Honorable Mention: The Merry Widow (Ernst Lubitsch), It’s a Gift (Norman Z. McLeod), Man of Aran (Roberty J. Flaherty),  The Count of Monte Cristo (Rowland V. Lee), Of Human Bondage (John Cromwell), Manhattan Melodrama (W.S. van Dyke), Imitation of Life (John M. Stahl), Judge Priest (John Ford), Evelyn Prentice (William K. Howard), The Little Minister (Richard Wallace)


1935

1. The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. The Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale)
3. Ruggles of Red Gap (Leo McCarey)
4. Top Hat (Mark Sandrich)
5. The Informer (John Ford)
6. A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood)
7. “G” Men (William Keighley)
8. The Whole Town's Talking (John Ford)
9. David Copperfield (George Cukor)
10. Sylvia Scarlett (George Cukor)

Honorable Mention: Captain Blood (Michael Curtiz), Alice Adams (George Stevens), A Tale of Two Cities (Jack Conway), Roberta (William A. Seiter), Gold Diggers of 1935 (Busby Berkeley), Mutiny on the Bounty (Frank Lloyd), Anna Karenina (Clarence Brown), China Seas (Tay Garnett), Barbary Coast (Howard Hawks), Triumph of the Will (Leni Riefenstahl)


1936

1. My Man Godfrey (Gregory La Cava)
2. Dodsworth (William Wyler)
3. Modern Times (Charles Chaplin)
4. After the Thin Man (W.S. van Dyke)
5. The Petrified Forest (Archie Mayo)
6. Libeled Lady (Jack Conway)
7. The Lower Depths (Jean Renoir)
8. Fury (Fritz Lang)
9. Follow the Fleet (Mark Sandrich)
10. The Only Son (Yasujiro Ozu)

Honorable Mention: Partie de Campagne (Jean Renoir), The Prisoner of Shark Island (John Ford), Osaka Elegy (Kenji Mizoguchi), Sabotage (Alfred Hitchcock), Swing Time (George Stevens), Bullets or Ballots (William Keighley), San Francisco (W.S. van Dyke), Camille (George Cukor), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (Frank Capra), Gold Diggers of 1937 (Lloyd Bacon, Busby Berkeley)


1937

1. Grand Illusion (Jean Renoir)
2. Make Way for Tomorrow (Leo McCarey)
3. Stage Door (Gregory La Cava)
4. Young and Innocent (Alfred Hitchcock)
5. Pépé le Moko (Julien Duvivier)
6. Mannequin (Frank Borzage)
7. Way Out West (James W. Horne)
8. Stella Dallas (King Vidor)
9. The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey)
10. Dead End (William Wyler)

Honorable Mention: Nothing Sacred (William A. Wellman), You Only Live Once (Fritz Lang), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (lots of people), The Prisoner of Zenda (John Cromwell), The Hurricane (John Ford), Shall We Dance (Mark Sandrich), Topper (Norman Z. Mcleod), The Life of Emile Zola (William Dieterle), A Day at the Races (Sam Wood), Captains Courageous (Victor Fleming), A Star is Born (William A. Wellman)


1938

1. Port of Shadows (Marcel Carné)
2. The Lady Vanishes (Alfred Hitchcock)
3. The Adventures of Robin Hood (Michael Curtiz)
4. La Bête humaine (Jean Renoir)
5. Holiday (George Cukor)
6. Angels With Dirty Faces (Michael Curtiz)
7. Hotel Du Nord (Marcel Carné)
8. You Can’t Take it With You (Frank Capra)
9. Vivacious Lady (George Stevens)
10. Three Comrades (Frank Borzage)

Honorable Mention: Merrily We Live (Norman Z. McLeod), The Shopworn Angel (H.C. Potter), Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks), Alexander Nevsky (Sergei Eisenstein), Jezebel (William Wyler), The Shining Hour (Frank Borzage), Pygmalion (Anthony Asquaith, Leslie Howard), The Citadel (King Vidor), A Slight Case of Murder (Lloyd Bacon), Carefree (Mark Sandrich)


1939

1. Only Angels Have Wings (Howard Hawks)
2. Ninotchka (Ernst Lubitsch)
3. Le Jour se leve (Marcel Carné)
4. Stagecoach (John Ford)
5. The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir)
6. The Roaring Twenties (Raoul Walsh)
7. Young Mr. Lincoln (John Ford)
8. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (William Dieterle
9. Destry Rides Again (George Marshall)
10. Drums Along The Mohawk (John Ford)

Honorable Mention: Midnight (Mitchell Leisen), Goodbye Mr. Chips (Sam Wood), The Women (George Cukor), Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra), Each Dawn I Die (William Keighley), Another Thin Man (W.S. van Dyke), The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming), Jamaica Inn (Alfred Hitchcock), Son of Frankenstein (Rowland V. Lee)


1940

1. Rebecca (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. They Drive By Night (Raoul Walsh)
3. The Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch)
4. Christmas in July (Preston Sturges)
5. I Love You Again (W.S. van Dyke)
6. His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks)
7. My Favorite Wife (Garson Kanin)
8. Foreign Correspondent (Alfred Hitchcock)
9. The Great Dictator (Charles Chaplin)
10. Primrose Path (Gregory La Cava)

Honorable Mention: The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor), The Mortal Storm (Frank Borzage), The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford), Night Train to Munich (Carol Reed), Pinocchio (lots of people), City for Conquest (Anatole Litvak), The Great McGinty (Preston Sturges), The Bank Dick (Edward F. Cline), The Sea Hawk (Michael Curtiz), The Letter (William Wyler)


1941

1. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles)
2. Man Hunt (Fritz Lang)
3. Sullivan’s Travels (Preston Sturges)
4. High Sierra (Raoul Walsh)
5. How Green Was My Valley (John Ford)
6. The Maltese Falcon (John Huston)
7. Ball of Fire (Howard Hawks)
8. The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges)
9. Suspicion (Alfred Hitchcock)
10. They Died With Their Boots On (Raoul Walsh)

Honorable Mention: Dumbo (lots of people), Manpower (Raoul Walsh), Buck Privates (Arthur Lubin), Hellzapoppin' (H.C. Potter), The Strawberry Blonde (Raoul Walsh), Shadow of the Thin Man (W.S. van Dyke), Love Crazy (Jack Conway), The Wolf Man (George Waggner), Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Alfred Hitchcock), That Uncertain Feeling (Ernst Lubitsch), The Sea Wolf (Michael Curtiz)


1942

1. To Be or Not to Be (Ernst Lubitsch)
2. Gentleman Jim (Raoul Walsh)
3. The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles)
4. Cat People (Jacques Tourneur)
5. There Was a Father (Yasujiro Ozu)
6. I Married a Witch (René Clair)
7. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz)
8. Moontide (Archie Mayo)
9. Les Visiteurs du Soir (Marcel Carné)
10. The Palm Beach Story (Preston Sturges)

Honorable Mention: The Major and the Minor (Billy Wilder), Random Harvest (Mervyn LeRoy), Saboteur (Alfred Hitchcock), Bambi (lots of people), The Talk of the Town (George Stevens), This Gun For Hire (Frank Tuttle), Desperate Journey (Raoul Walsh), Rio Rita (S. Sylvan Simon), All Through the Night (Vincent Sherman), You Were Never Lovelier (William A. Seiter)


1943

1. Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger)
3. Heaven Can Wait (Ernst Lubitsch)
4. Hangmen Also Die! (Fritz Lang)
5. The Ox-Bow Incident (William A. Wellman)
6. Ossessione (Luchino Visconti)
7. The Leopard Man (Jacques Tourneur)
8. The More the Merrier (George Stevens)
9. Edge of Darkness (Lewis Milestone)
10. Day of Wrath (Carl Theodor Dreyer)

Honorable Mention: Northern Pursuit (Raoul Walsh),  I Walked With a Zombie (Jacques Tourneur), Five Graves to Cairo (Billy Wilder), The Ghost Ship (Mark Robson), Sahara (Zoltán Korda), Le Corbeau (Henri-Georges Clouzot), The Seventh Victim (Mark Robson), Cabin in the Sky (Vincente Minnelli), The Outlaw (Howard Hughes), Destination Tokyo (Delmer Daves)

1944

1. Meet Me in St. Louis (Vincente Minnelli)
2. Phantom Lady (Robert Siodmak)
3. To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks)
4. Hail the Conquering Hero (Preston Sturges)
5. Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder)
6. The Children are Watching Us (Vittorio De Sica)
7. Tall in the Saddle (Edwin L. Marin)
8. The Curse of the Cat People (Gunther von Fritsch, Robert Wise)
9. Laura (Otto Preminger)
10. The Woman in the Window (Fritz Lang)

Honorable Mention: The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (Preston Sturges), The Princess and the Pirate (David Butler), Ministry of Fear (Fritz Lang), Lifeboat (Alfred Hitchcock), Arsenic and Old Lace (Frank Capra), A Canterbury Tale (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger), The Uninvited (Lewis Allen), Murder, My Sweet (Edward Dmytryk), Dark Waters (Andre De Toth), Gaslight (George Cukor)


1945

1. Children of Paradise (Marcel Carné)
2. Scarlet Street (Fritz Lang)
3. Leave Her To Heaven (John M. Stahl) 
4. Spellbound (Alfred Hitchcock)
5. Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz)
6. The Southerner (Jean Renoir)
7. Brief Encounter (David Lean)
8. Rome, Open City (Roberto Rossellini)
9. Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (Robert Bresson)
10. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Elia Kazan)

Honorable Mention: The Clock (Vincente Minnelli), Dead of Night (lots of people), And Then There Were None (René Clair), Fallen Angel (Otto Preminger), Christmas in Connecticut (Peter Godfrey), I Know Where I’m Going! (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger), The Lost Weekend (Billy Wilder), State Fair (Walter Lang), The Story of G.I. Joe (William Wellman), Detour (Edgar G. Ulmer)


1946

1. My Darling Clementine (John Ford)
2. It’s a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra)
3. The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks)
4. Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock)
5. Canyon Passage (Jacques Tourneur)
6. The Spiral Staircase (Robert Siodmak)
7. Shoeshine (Vittorio De Sica)
8. Monsieur Beaucaire (George Marshall) & Road to Utopia (Hal Walker)
9. A Matter of Life and Death (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger)
10. Great Expectations (David Lean)

Honorable Mention: The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler), Paisan (Roberto Rossellini), Beauty and the Beast (Jean Cocteau), The Stranger (Orson Welles), Gilda (Charles Vidor), Bedlam (Mark Robson), The Killers (Robert Siodmak), The Dark Corner (Henry Hathaway), The Postman Always Rings Twice (Tay Garnett), The Blue Dahlia (George Marshall)


1947

1. Odd Man Out (Carol Reed)
2. Black Narcissus (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger)
3. Quai Des Orfèvres (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
4. Pursued (Raoul Walsh)
5. Monsieur Verdoux (Charles Chaplin)
6. Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur)
7. Daisy Kenyon (Otto Preminger)
8. The Lady From Shanghai (Orson Welles)
9. Dark Passage (Delmer Daves)
10. Trail Street (Ray Enright)

Honorable Mention: Kiss of Death (Henry Hathaway), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Norman Z. McLeod), Crossfire (Edward Dmytryk), Nightmare Alley (Edmund Goulding), The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (Joseph L. Mankiewicz), Brute Force (Jules Dassin), Woman on the Beach (Jean Renoir), Miracle on 34th Street (George Seaton), It Happened on Fifth Avenue (Roy Del Ruth), Where There's Life (Sidney Lanfield)


1948

1. Letter From an Unknown Woman (Max Ophüls)
2. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston)
3. Red River (Howard Hawks)
4. Moonrise (Frank Borzage)
5. Rope (Alfred Hitchcock)
6. Unfaithfully Yours (Preston Sturges)
7. Portrait of Jennie (William Dieterle)
8. Germany Year Zero (Roberto Rossellini)
9. The Red Shoes (William Powell, Emeric Pressburger)
10. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (Charles Barton)

Honorable Mention: La Terra Trema (Luchino Visconti), Four Faces West (Alfred E. Green), Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica), Key Largo (John Huston), 3 Godfathers (John Ford),  The Fallen Idol (Carol Reed), Force of Evil (Abraham Polonsky), The Paleface (Norman Z. McLeod), Call Northside 777 (Henry Hathaway), Berlin Express (Jacques Tourneur)


1949

1. Late Spring (Yasujiro Ozu)
2. Le Silence de la Mer (Jean-Pierre Melville)
3. The Third Man (Carol Reed)
4. White Heat (Raoul Walsh)
5. They Live By Night (Nicholas Ray)
6. Colorado Territory (Raoul Walsh)
7. Stray Dog (Akira Kurosawa)
8. The Heiress (William Wyler)
9. A Letter to Three Wives (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
10. The Set-Up (Robert Wise)

Honorable Mention: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (John Ford), Criss Cross (Robert Siodmak), Whirlpool (Otto Preminger), On the Town (Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen), Reign of Terror (Anthony Mann), Orpheus (Jean Cocteau), Kind Hearts and Coronets (Robert Hamer), Adam's Rib (George Cukor), Under Capricorn (Alfred Hitchcock), The Reckless Moment (Max Ophüls)


1950

1. In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray)
2. Rio Grande (John Ford)
3. All About Eve (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
4. La Ronde (Max Ophüls)
5. Broken Arrow (Delmer Daves)
6. Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa)
7. Gun Crazy (Joseph H. Lewis)
8. Stromboli (Roberto Rossellini)
9. Winchester '73 (Anthony Mann)
10. Harvey (Henry Koster)

Honorable Mention: Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder), Wagon Master (John Ford), House by the River (Fritz Lang), Los Olvidados (Luis Buñuel), The Furies (Anthony Mann), The Asphalt Jungle (John Huston), Born Yesterday (George Cukor), Stage Fright (Alfred Hitchcock), Side Street (Anthony Mann), The Flowers of Saint Francis (Roberto Rossellini)


1951

1. Diary of a Country Priest (Robert Bresson)
2. Early Summer (Yasujiro Ozu)
3. The Tall Target (Anthony Mann)
4. The African Queen (John Huston)
5. Ace in the Hole (Billy Wilder)
6. Strangers on a Train (Alfred Hitchcock)
7. The Thing From Another World (Christian Nyby)
8. Flying Leathernecks (Nicholas Ray)
9. The Steel Helmet (Samuel Fuller)
10. The Prowler (Joseph Losey)

Honorable Mention: Summer Interlude (Ingmar Bergman), The River (Jean Renoir), A Streetcar Named Desire (Elia Kazan), The Tales of Hoffmann (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger), Europa '51 (Roberto Rossellini), The House on Telegraph Hill (Robert Wise), A Place in the Sun (George Stevens), An American in Paris (Vincente Minnelli), People Will Talk (Joseph L. Mankiewicz), Detective Story (William Wyler


1952

1. Casque d'Or (Jacques Becker)
2. The Quiet Man (John Ford)
3. Le Plaisir (Max Ophüls)
4. Angel Face (Otto Preminger)
5. Umberto D. (Vittorio De Sica)
6. Singin' in the Rain (Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen)
7. Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa)
8. The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (Yasujiro Ozu)
9. The Bad and the Beautiful (Vincente Minnelli)
10. The Narrow Margin (Richard Fleischer) & Bend of the River (Anthony Mann)

Honorable Mention: The Big Sky (Howard Hawks), Forbidden Games (René Clement), The Life of Oharu (Kenji Mizoguchi), On Dangerous Ground (Nicholas Ray), Limelight (Charles Chaplin), The Lusty Men (Nicholas Ray), Clash by Night (Fritz Lang), Don't Bother to Knock (Roy Ward Baker), The Marrying Kind (George Cukor), Carson City (Andre De Toth)


1953

1. The Earrings of Madame de...(Max Ophüls)
2. Stalag 17 (Billy Wilder)
3. The Wages of Fear (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
4. Ugetsu (Kenji Mizoguchi)
5. Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu)
6. The Big Heat (Fritz Lang)
7. Summer With Monika (Ingmar Bergman)
8. The Naked Spur (Anthony Mann)
9. Niagra (Henry Hathaway)
10. Pickup on South Street (Samuel Fuller)

Honorable Mention: I Vitelloni (Federico Fellini), I Confess (Alfred Hitchcock), Roman Holiday (William Wyler), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks), The Band Wagon (Vincente Minnelli), Sawdust and Tinsel (Ingmar Bergman), Peter Pan (lots of people), The Hitch-Hiker (Ida Lupino), Shane (George Stevens), The Wild One (László Benedek))


1954

1. Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa)
3. Sansho the Bailiff (Kenji Mizoguchi)
4. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Stanley Donen)
5. Johnny Guitar (Nicholas Ray)
6. La Strada (Federico Fellini)
7. On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan)
8. The Far Country (Anthony Mann)
9. Dial M For Murder (Alfred Hitchcock)
10. Crime Wave (Andre De Toth)

Honorable Mention: Track of the Cat (William A. Wellman), French Cancan (Jean Renoir), Hobson's Choice (David Lean), Human Desire (Fritz Lang), River of No Return (Otto Preminger), Senso (Luchino Visconti), Vera Cruz (Robert Aldrich), The Bounty Hunter (Andre De Toth), The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (Luis Buñuel), The Caine Mutiny (Edward Dmytryk)

1955

1. The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton)
2. Lola Montès (Max Ophüls)
3. Smiles of a Summer Night (Ingmar Bergman)
4. Ordet (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
5. The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (Luis Buñuel)
6. Kiss Me Deadly (Robert Aldrich)
7. All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk)
8. Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray)
9. Les Diaboliques (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
10. The Big Combo (Joseph H. Lewis)

Honorable Mention: The Trouble With Harry (Alfred Hitchcock), Bad Day at Black Rock (John Sturges), East of Eden (Elia Kazan), The Man From Laramie (Anthony Mann), Summertime (David Lean), Wichita (Jacques Tourneur), To Catch a Thief (Alfred Hitchcock), Night and Fog (Alain Resnais), The Desperate Hours (William Wyler), The Ladykillers (Alexander Mackendrick)


1956

1. The Searchers (John Ford)
2. A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson)
3. While the City Sleeps (Fritz Lang)
4. Seven Men From Now (Budd Boetticher)
5. Bigger Than Life (Nicholas Ray)
6. Jubal (Delmer Daves)
7. The Killing (Stanley Kubrick)
8. The Wrong Man (Alfred Hitchcock)
9. Street of Shame (Kenji Mizoguchi)
10. The Court Jester (Melvin Frank, Norman Panama)

Honorable Mention: Bob Le Flambeur (Jean-Pierre Melville), The Man Who Knew Too Much (Alfred Hitchcock), Early Spring (Yasujiro Ozu), The Burmese Harp (Kon Ichikawa), Attack! (Robert Aldrich), Written on the Wind (Douglas Sirk), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel), Autumn Leaves (Robert Aldrich), Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (Fritz Lang), Forbidden Planet (Fred M. Wilcox)


1957

1. Wild Strawberries & The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman)
2. Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick)
3. The Bridge on the River Kwai (David Lean)
4. Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini)
5. Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosawa)
6. The Tall T (Budd Boetticher)
7. 3:10 to Yuma (Delmer Daves)
8. Curse of the Demon (Jacques Tourneur)
9. A Face in the Crowd (Elia Kazan)
10. Witness for the Prosecution (Billy Wilder)

Honorable Mention: Le Notti Bianche (Luchino Visconti), Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (Frank Tashlin), Nightfall (Jacques Tourneur), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (John Sturges), A King in New York (Charles Chaplin), Decision at Sundown (Budd Boetticher), Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick), 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet), The Curse of Frankenstein (Terrence Fisher), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (John Huston)


1958

1. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. Buchanan Rides Alone (Budd Boetticher)
3. The Big Country (William Wyler)
4. Touch of Evil (Orson Welles)
5. The Magician (Ingmar Bergman)
5. The Hidden Fortress (Akira Kurosawa)
7. Some Came Running (Vincente Minnelli)
8. Terror in a Texas Town (Joseph H. Lewis)
9. Bonjour Tristesse (Otto Preminger)
10. Horror of Dracula (Terrence Fisher)

Honorable Mention: Man of the West (Anthony Mann), Equinox Flower (Yasujiro Ozu), Party Girl (Nicholas Ray), The Defiant Ones (Stanley Kramer), Le Beau Serge (Claude Chabrol), Ashes and Diamonds (Andrzej Wajda), Mon Oncle (Jacques Tati), Elevator to the Gallows (Louis Malle), A Night to Remember (Roy Ward Baker), The Fly (Kurt Neumann)


1959

1. Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks)
2. Good Morning (Yasujiro Ozu)
3. Anatomy of a Murder (Otto Preminger)
4. The 400 Blows (Francois Truffaut)
5. Floating Weeds (Yasujiro Ozu)
6. Pickpocket (Robert Bresson)
7. Shadows (John Cassavetes)
8. North By Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock)
9. Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder)
10. Ballad of a Soldier (Grigori Chukhrai)

Honorable Mention: Ride Lonesome (Budd Boetticher), Les Cousins (Claude Chabrol), The Horse Soldiers (John Ford), Imitation of Life (Douglas Sirk), The Hanging Tree (Delmer Daves), The Bridge (Bernhard Wicki), The Mummy (Terence Fisher), Room at the Top (Jack Clayton), Black Orpheus (Marcel Camus), Odds Against Tomorrow (Robert Wise)


1960

1. The Virgin Spring (Ingmar Bergman)
2. La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini)
3. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock)
4. Shoot the Piano Player (Francois Truffaut)
5. Rocco and His Brothers (Luchino Visconti)
6. Late Autumn (Yasujiro Ozu)
7. Eyes Without a Face (Georges Franju)
8. The Apartment (Billy Wilder)
9. Peeping Tom (Michael Powell)
10. The Bad Sleep Well (Akira Kurosawa)

Honorable Mention: Sergeant Rutledge (John Ford), Les Bonnes Femmes (Claude Chabrol), The Magnificent Seven (John Sturges), Purple Noon (René Clément), L'Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni), Comanche Station (Budd Boetticher), North to Alaska (Henry Hathaway), Black Sunday (Mario Bava), Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard), Spartacus (Stanley Kubrick)


1961

1. Yojimbo (Akira Kurosawa)
2. The Hustler (Robert Rossen)
3. Viridiana (Luis Bunuel)
4. Through a Glass Darkly (Ingmar Bergman)
5. The End of Summer (Yasujiro Ozu)
6. A Woman is a Woman (Jean-Luc Godard)
7. Blast of Silence (Allen Baron)
8. Lola (Jacques Demy)
9. The Comancheros (Michael Curtiz)
10. The Innocents (Jack Clayton)

Honorable Mention: Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Blake Edwards), La Notte (Michelangelo Antonioni), Last Year at Marienbad (Alain Resnais), The Pit and the Pendulum (Roger Corman), 101 Dalmations (lots of people), Underworld U.S.A (Samuel Fuller), Il Posto (Ermanno Olmi), Pigs and Battleships (Shohei Imamura), Two Rode Together (John Ford), Chronicle of a Summer (Jean Rouche, Edgar Marin)


1962

1. An Autumn Afternoon (Yasujiro Ozu)
2. Ivan’s Childhood (Andrei Tarkovsky)
3. Lolita (Stanley Kubrick)
4. The Trial of Joan of Arc (Robert Bresson)
5. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford)
6. Ride the High Country (Sam Peckinpah)
7. The Exterminating Angel (Luis Bunuel)
8. Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean)
9. Advise and Consent (Otto Preminger)
10. Sanjuro (Akira Kurosawa)

Honorable Mention: Cléo From 5 to 7 (Agnès Varda), L’eclisse (Michelangelo Antonioni), La Jetée (Chris Marker), Lonely are the Brave (David Miller), Knife in the Water (Roman Polanski), Vivra sa Vie (Jean-Luc Godard), Jules and Jim (Francois Truffaut), Antoine et Colette (Francois Truffaut), Cape Fear (J. Lee Thompson), To Kill a Mockingbird (Robert Mulligan)


1963

1. High and Low (Akira Kurosawa)
2. 8 1/2 (Federico Fellini)
3. Winter Light (Ingmar Bergman)
4. The Leopard (Luchino Visconti)
5. Irma la Douce (Billy Wilder)
6. Les Carabiniers (Jean-Luc Godard)
7. The Silence (Ingmar Bergman)
8. The Great Escape (John Sturges)
9. Billy Liar (John Schlesinger)
10. Muriel or the Time of Return (Alain Resnais)

Honorable Mention: The Sword and the Stone (lots of people), Donovan’s Reef (John Ford), The Haunting (Robert Wise), Black Sabbath (Mario Bava), Hud (Martin Ritt), Charade (Stanley Donen), The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock), Shock Corridor (Samuel Fuller), The Suitor (Pierre Etaix),  The Girl of the Monceau Bakery & Suzanne's Career (Eric Rohmer)


1964

1. Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick)
2. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy)
3. Red Desert (Michelangelo Antonioni)
4. Soy Cuba (Mikhail Kalatozov)
5. Gertrud (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
6. A Fistful of Dollars (Sergio Leone)
7. Band of Outsiders (Jean-Luc Godard)
8. Woman in the Dunes (Hiroshi Teshigahara)
9. The Gospel According to Saint Matthew (Pier Paolo Pasolini)
10. Pale Flower (Mashahiro Shinoda)

Honorable Mention: Séance on a Wet Afternoon (Bryan Forbes), Seven Days In May (John Frankenheimer), The Naked Kiss (Samuel Fuller), The Soft Skin (Francois Truffaut), Diary of a Chambermaid (Luis Bunuel), A Hard Day’s Night (Richard Lester), The Train (John Frankenheimer), Goldfinger (Guy Hamilton), Cheyenne Autumn (John Ford), Marnie (Alfred Hitchcock)


1965

1. Repulsion (Roman Polanski)
2. For a Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone)
3. Pierrot le fou (Jean-Luc Godard)
4. Yoyo (Pierre Étaix)
5. Red Beard (Akira Kurosawa)
6. Doctor Zhivago (David Lean)
7. Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles)
8. The Sons of Katie Elder (Henry Hathaway)
9. Bunny Lake is Missing (Otto Preminger)
10. Le Bonheur (Agnès Varda)

Honorable Mention: Von Ryan’s Express (Mark Robson), Simon of the Desert (Luis Bunuel), Juliet of the Spirits (Federico Fellini), Alphaville (Jean-Luc Godard), Sword of the Beast (Hideo Gosha), The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (Martin Ritt), Help! (Richard Lester), The Sound of Music (Robert Wise), Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (Russ Meyer)


1966

1. Blow-up (Michelangelo Antonioni)
2. Au Hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson)
3. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Sergio Leone)
4. Masculin Feminine (Jean-Luc Godard)
5. Andrei Rublev (Andrie Tarkovsky)
6. Le Deuxieme Souffle (Jean-Pierre Melville)
7. El Dorado (Howard Hawks)
8. Persona (Ingmar Bergman)
9. The Face of Another (Hiroshi Teshigahara)
10. Seconds (John Frankenheimer)

Honorable Mentions:  As Long As You’ve Got Your Health (Pierre Etaix), The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo), The Fortune Cookie (Billy Wilder), Sword of Doom (Kihachi Okamoto), Torn Curtain (Alfred Hitchcock), Black Girl (Ousmane Sembene), The Shooting (Monte Hellman), Kill Baby, Kill! (Mario Bava), Tokyo Drifter (Seijun Suzuki), A Man For All Seasons (Fred Zinnemann)


1967

1. Samurai Rebellion (Masaki Kobeyashi)
2. Mouchette (Robert Bresson)
3. Marketa Lazarova (Frantisek Vlacil)
4. Playtime (Jacques Tati)
5. La Collectioneuse (Eric Rohmer)
6. Scattered Clouds (Mikio Naruse)
7. Le Samourai (Jean-Pierre Melville)
8. The Dirty Dozen (Robert Aldrich)
9. Branded to Kill (Seijun Suzuki)
10. Cool Hand Luke (Stuart Rosenberg)

Honorable Mentions:  Belle de Jour (Luis Bunuel), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (Jean-Luc Godard), The War Wagon (Burt Kennedy), Point Blank (John Boorman), The Young Girls of Rochefort (Jacques Demy), Wait Until Dark (Terence Young), Double Suicide (Nagisa Oshima) The Graduate (Mike Nichols), Marat/Sade (Peter Brook), Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn)