We are here to challenge your perception of what is classical. You can take names like Casablanca, and It Happened One Night, Citizen Kane, or other Hollywood golden age films if someone asks you to pick the finest vintage films. And though they are the greatest classical movies you may see, we have a rather broader meaning. This article will give you a very closer look at the best 35 Classic Movies of all Time.
Think about it: Anyway, what is a classic film? For one, this is a movie that has been there for a couple of years. (When it’s less than 20 years old.) However, more importantly, it is a film that is generally liked or has a culture. Here, The Wizard of Oz (1939) is leading the list, which is best known for the imprint on the kinds of anecdotes and character types, followed by Gone With The Wind (1939) and Casablanca (1942).
Without further ado, we introduce a whole new approach to classical movies that contain your favorites in Black and White but allow more recent stars, like Cher Horowitz. And the best part? Many of our best classic movies are on Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu.
35. An American In Paris
| Released Date: | 1951 |
| Director: | Vincente Minnelli |
| IMDb Rating: | 7.2 |
The cinema debut of the French ballerina Leslie Caron was Vincente Minelli’s movie, with Gene Kelly as an American artist living abroad (who later became Gigi). Minelli crafts a wonderfully vivid surreal image with music by George and Ira Gershwin, which includes a spectacular ‘dream ballet’ culminating in this loving triangular history of the city of light.
34. West Side Story
| Released Date: | 1961 |
| Director: | Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins |
| IMDb Rating: | 7.5 |
Choreographer Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, Sound of Music Director, conducted this 60s movie about New York City’s gangs. The Sharks and the Jets dance their fights on the streets in this modernized take on Romeo and Juliet. The songs by Leonard Bernstein, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, are some of the best of the era.
33. Breakfast At Tiffany’s
| Released Date: | 1961 |
| Director: | Blake Edwards |
| IMDb Rating: | 7.6 |
Blake Edwards’ comedy of girl-about-town Holly Golightly contributed to making Audrey Hepburn a fashion icon with a long black gown, stylish up-date, and distinctive black sunglasses, a favorite of dormitory posters and Halloween costumes. She also clasps a trench coat. It is one of the most elegant films of the 20th century adapted from a Truman Capote novel.
32. Meet Me In St. Louis
| Released Date: | 1944 |
| Director: | Vincente Minnelli |
| IMDb Rating: | 7.6 |
Meet me in St. Louis may feature the greatest performance in Judy Garland’s sentimental musical. She is like Esther Smith, one of the four sisters unwilling to relocate to New York and take up their mid-western life. Her rendition of “Merry Little Christmas Have Yourself” made the song a staple for a holiday. And she met her future spouse, director Vincente Minelli, on the set.
31. Rebel Without a Cause
| Released Date: | 1955 |
| Director: | Nicholas Ray |
| IMDb Rating: | 7.7 |
Hollywood icon James Dean only starred in three movies during his short life. The most iconic and one of the earliest movie representations of teen fear is Rebel without a cause, directed by Nicholas Ray. The film’s co-stars Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo, which lend the picture a mythological stature, are also catastrophic precipitation.
30. The Lady Vanishes
The Lady Vanishes, produced in Alfred’s home, England, shows spy movie director Alfred Hitchcock’s understanding of the narrative and its good mood before landing in the USA. The lively Iris, a British woman exploring the disappearance of a fellow traveler on an eastern Europe sleeper train, is the star of Margaret Lockwood.
| Released Date: | 1938 |
| Director: | Alfred Hitchcock |
| IMDb Rating: | 7.8 |
29. The Women
| Released Date: | 1939 |
| Director: | George Cukor |
| IMDb Rating: | 7.8 |
George Cukor’s The Women, in 1939, was forward-thinking about divorce, fashion, and difficult women’s intuitions. Moreover, there are no guys who speak parts! The women should be your following girls’ night film selection: Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Rosalind Russell (but feel free to skip the 2008 remake).
28. Stagecoach
| Released Date: | 1939 |
| Director: | John Ford |
| IMDb Rating: | 7.9 |
The last west of John Ford is one of the most pictures ever produced by a group of strangers traveling by coach in Apache. The first Ford movie to be shot at Monument Valley was to cast John Wayne as the Ringo Kid in a discovery performance that made him a star.
27. The Philadelphia Story
| Released Date: | 1940 |
| Director: | George Cukor |
| IMDb Rating: | 7.9 |
The pledge of Philadelphia High Society, the cold but pleasant Tracy Lord, is set to remarry after a disastrous alliance with C.K. Dexter Haven. But the night before her marriage to George Kittredge, when her ex-husband arrives, she’s forced to face her emotions for him—and she’s even mini-related to a reporter. It is a classic romantic movie with the most appealing features of Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Stewart.
26. Laura
| Released Date: | 1944 |
| Director: | Otto Preminger |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.0 |
Otto Preminger’s Laura is a mixture of the film noir and the melodrama of the family that shows the gorgeous Gene Tierney as Laura, a murderer who falls in love with her death. This swirling story has actors supporting roles, including Clifton Webb and Vincent Price, a future horror impresario.
25. Citizen Kane
| Released Date: | 1941 |
| Director: | Orson Welles |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.0 |
It isn’t easy to live up to the moniker of the “greatest ever produced picture,” but Orson Welles’ portrayal of a wicked milliardaire publisher made an industry success. Welles introduced focus and chiaroscuro lighting methods for filming. William Randolph Hearst’s life narrative inspired it, but it is necessary to look at it to know what “Rosebud” signifies properly.
24. The Sound Of Music
| Released Date: | 1965 |
| Director: | Robert Wise |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.0 |
Julie Andrews, a trainee, and now turning governess Maria, based on a true-life war of the Von Trapp family singers, is the star of The Sound of Music, one of the last great street musical shows directed by Robert Wise. This is one of the most loved music of all time with the songs by Rodgers and Hammerstein.
23. The Wizard of Oz
| Released Date: | 1939 |
| Director: | Victor Fleming |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.0 |
No place like home, and no classic film as well-loved as Dorothy’s Oz escapades. The film has left its impact on stories and character types, scarves, scares, and cowardly lions. It has an amazing storyline. That’s what we see in the picture. Singing lovely by Judy Garland, ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ is the cherry at its top.
22. La Dolce Vita
| Released Date: | 1960 |
| Director: | Federico Fellini |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.0 |
Marcello Mastroianni, Federico Fellini’s epic star, has a sexy reporter like Marcello Rubini. The latter has experienced all types of misadventure during a week with gorgeous cinema stars and other glitterati from Rome. Who could forget the view in the high couture of the Scandinavian goddess Anita Ekberg?
21. The Night of the Hunter
| Released Date: | 1955 |
| Director: | Charles Laughton |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.0 |
The remainder of the pastor, Harry Powell, who turned murderer, and marries a widow to uncover a cash hoard of her husband, Robert Mitchum, has never been any grimmer. The script is conceptually sophisticated, replete with symbolism, created by the film critic James Agee, such as Harry’s tattoos “love” and “hate.”
20. Roman Holiday
| Released Date: | 1953 |
| Director: | William Wyler |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.0 |
Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck explore Rome? Swoon. Peck plays a journalist in William Wyler’s film, which comes across Hepburn, an unknown Princess who hopes to get some liberty. In one of the most romances of all time, Hepburn was awarded the best actress Oscar.
19. Rebecca
| Released Date: | 1940 |
| Director: | Alfred Hitchcock |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.1 |
In Hitchcock’s first American film, Joan Fontaine features a new bride shut up in a secluded mansion, tormented by the remembrance of her husband’s dead first wife. Based on Daphne du Maurier’s novel, this classic mystery thriller is made even more spoken about with Hitch’s inimitable style.
18. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
| Released Date: | 1962 |
| Director: | Robert Aldrich |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.1 |
The famous horror movie What Ever Happened to Baby Jane is joined by Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. In an old Hollywood, home dwells two old sister children’s stars, one of wheelchair-bound; as one plotted retribution against the crash that paralyzed her, the other plans a spectacular comeback – one without her paralyzed relative.
17. On The Waterfront
| Released Date: | 1954 |
| Director: | Elia Kazan |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.1 |
Marlon Brando’s Terry Malloy “can’ be a contestant in the ring of the boxer. Still, he was catapulted directly to the top by Brando’s performance in the movie of Elia Kazan. As a longshoreman who opposed union corruption, Brando won a Best Actor Oscar, and the movie also collected seven other trophies.
16. The Best Years of Our Lives
| Released Date: | 1946 |
| Director: | William Wyler |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.1 |
The World War II movie of William Wyler has set the golden standard for soldiers’ films who come back from the front and way home to life is not that simple. Even Harold Russell, a real combat veteran, lost his hands and earned an Oscar for his replica in the Best Years of our lives.
15. It Happened One Night
| Released Date: | 1934 |
| Director: | Frank Capra |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.1 |
This is a romantic movie, produced by Frank Capra. The genre is known as “screwball comedy,” developed back when good movies were called “talkies.” Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert exhibited a sensual, mature, intelligent romance in one of the earliest street movies ever.
14. Gone With The Wind
| Released Date: | 1939 |
| Director: | Victor Fleming |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.1 |
The original “sweeping epic,” this film features Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara, the plucky Southern belle who fictions Clark Gable’s Rhett Butler against the backdrop of the Civil War. One of the best unforgettable films ever produced, the actress’ backing Hattie McDaniel was the first African-American performer to receive an academy award. She has been questioned for her racial views.
13. Some Like It Hot
| Released Date: | 1959 |
| Director: | Billy Wilder |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.2 |
Marilyn Monroe had several performances, but her keen comical skills showed the finest of Billy Wilder’s cross-gender humor. Co-starring Tony and Jack Lemmon, who bother to hide from mob killers, Some Like It Hot are one of the most entertaining movies of the 20th century.
12. All About Eve
| Released Date: | 1950 |
| Director: | Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.2 |
Fasten your seatbelts, and the night will be rocky as two fighting actors head to head in a dueling diva drama by Joseph Mankiewicz. Bette Davis is the theatrical actress Margot Channing, a young upstart seeking to take her position with Anne Baxter’s Eve Harrington. The performances of George Sanders and Marilyn Monroe are remarkable.
11. Lawrence of Arabia
| Released Date: | 1962 |
| Director: | David Lean |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.3 |
It is a sweeping movie about the British archaeologist, military official, and the World War I Liaison with the Ottoman Empire, David Lean’s 70-meter desert epic starring Peter O’Toole. It was shot in Morocco, Spain, and England – an attempt to get the wonderful places and baby blues of O’Toole on the big screen if possible.
10. Double Indemnity
| Released Date: | 1944 |
| Director: | Billy Wilder |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.3 |
Billy Wilder directs double Indemnity. Barbara Stanwyck sizzles as the woman fatal Phyllis, and based on the book by Raymond Chandler. Fred MacMurray co-stars as the square security man drawn into her plot, the poor simp never stood a prospect against her charms. Stylish and sexy, Double Compensation is the perfect entry point for perfect film noir.
9. Singin’ In The Rain
| Released Date: | 1952 |
| Director: | Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.3 |
Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds were representatives of the great productions of the 1950’s while also enjoying the transition from silent to sound movies. Thank you very much for this lovely music that we wouldn’t have unbelievable dancing numbers like “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Good Morning” without.
8. North By Northwest
| Released Date: | 1959 |
| Director: | Alfred Hitchcock |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.3 |
Tom Cruise couldn’t see what he does if, in this case, of mistaken identity, Cary Grant and his famous grey costume did not overrun aircraft, trains, and cars. Hitchcock’s thriller is the model of action hero pictures we see today, and it has more flair, humor, and oddity than most recent blockbusters.
7. Vertigo
| Released Date: | 1958 |
| Director: | Alfred Hitchcock |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.3 |
In the love story of love, passion, control—and dubbing, Hitchcock’s strange San Francisco thriller puts Jimmy Stewart’s good man into his head. While the picture garnered mixed reviews, it earned an academic year, and Citizen Kane compiled the top film ranking by the British Film Institute in 2012.
6. The Apartment
| Released Date: | 1960 |
| Director: | Billy Wilder |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.3 |
Billy Wilder’s sweet, sad The Apartment features funnyman Jack Lemmon in a performance filled with pathos. His C.C. allows the upper ranks of his firm to use his Apartment for their affairs, and this is difficult when he finds that the lift girl Fran is one of the mistresses, a delightfully acted Shirley MacClaine. The Apartment is exciting and one of the excellent movies.
5. Sunset Boulevard
| Released Date: | 1950 |
| Director: | Billy Wilder |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.4 |
This classic Hollywood murder story, directed by Billy Wilder, was born ready for its close-up, Mr. DeMille. The plot is based on the foundation of a body in the pool of an elderly silent actress Norma Desmond, played by Gloria Swanson.
4. Psycho
| Released Date: | 1960 |
| Director: | Alfred Hitchcock |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.5 |
Alfred Hitchcock’s agreement with exploitation cinema witnessed the Master of Suspense by the Master of Marketing and became his most notorious movie in a career of classics. The Norman Bates from Anthony Perkins is one of the most famous cinematic weirdos of all time, and the strings from Bernard Herrmann have continued to impact cinema scoring.
3. Casablanca
| Released Date: | 1942 |
| Director: | Michael Curtiz |
| IMDb Rating: | 8.5 |
The most cited script of all time is Casablanca with the godfather. This classic WWII led by Michael Curtiz combines Ingrid Bergman and hard-working Humphrey Bogart to tell the story of a war-torn Moroccan piano bar with every gin connection in the globe.
2. 12 Angry Men
| Released Date: | 1957 |
| Director: | Sidney Lumet |
| IMDb Rating: | 9 |
Sidney Lumet’s one-room play is a must for those who may be on a jury since this gripping chronicles the process of a guy, portrayed by Henry Fonda, who persuades every other juror to go on his side. The character’s study and dramatological lessons.
1. The Godfather
| Released Date: | 1972 |
| Director: | Francis Ford Coppola |
| IMDb Rating: | 9.2 |
The first film in the epic Mafia Trilogy of Francis Ford Coppola, adapted from Mario Puzo’s novel, starred Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro as superstardom. It’s a mafia movie that you can not reject. The film spawned a thousand Marble-mouthed Brando imitations.
Conclusion!
We have picked together a few clicks to dig your teeth into if you want to spend hours enjoying vintage cinema marathon shows or maybe an amateur who only wants to taste the film history and the movies that have altered it. Each of these flicks offers a powerful taste of nostalgia, is entertaining, and makes the sound of a cocktail more appealing.
