The Best Films According to Andrew Sarris's The American Cinema

The Best Films According to Andrew Sarris's The American Cinema's icon

Created by TomServo.

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In Andrew Sarris's The American Cinema, every director in the book has their full filmography listed, and Sarris italicizes the best films of each director. Here is the full collection of every film italicized in the book (with the exception of Out of the Past, which remains unitalicized likely as an error as he calls it Jacques Torneur's masterpiece).

The book has multiple sections, with who Sarris viewed as the pantheon directors at the top, and slowly dwindling in quality as the list goes down. However, there is merit to be found towards the bottom, as he lists a series of oddities, one-shots, and, at the time, newcomers, as well as subjects for further research.

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  1. 1328 new

    Gone with the Wind

    1939, in 31 top lists Check
  2. 222 new

    Citizen Kane

    1941, in 39 top lists Check
  3. 1327 new

    The Wizard of Oz

    1939, in 37 top lists Check
  4. 1133 new

    The Sound of Music

    1965, in 25 top lists Check
  5. 1087 new

    Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop...

    1964, in 37 top lists Check
  6. 62 new

    The Birth of a Nation

    1915, in 21 top lists Check
  7. 1132 new

    West Side Story

    1961, in 22 top lists Check
  8. 312 new

    Breakfast at Tiffany's

    1961, in 9 top lists Check
  9. 269 new

    It's a Wonderful Life

    1946, in 33 top lists Check
  10. 898 new

    Casablanca

    1942, in 39 top lists Check
  11. 1158 new

    The Graduate

    1967, in 29 top lists Check
  12. 364 new

    Duck Soup

    1933, in 24 top lists Check
  13. 119 new

    Vertigo

    1958, in 42 top lists Check
  14. 714 new

    Rosemary's Baby

    1968, in 21 top lists Check
  15. 122 new

    The Birds

    1963, in 18 top lists Check
  16. 514 new

    Singin' in the Rain

    1952, in 37 top lists Check
  17. 53 new

    The Searchers

    1956, in 26 top lists Check
  18. 661 new

    Un chien andalou

    1929 — a.k.a. An Andalusian Dog, in 25 top lists Check
  19. 138 new

    Metropolis

    1927, in 36 top lists Check
  20. 80 new

    Bringing Up Baby

    1938, in 23 top lists Check
  21. 660 new

    Blow-Up

    1966, in 20 top lists Check
  22. 121 new

    Psycho

    1960, in 39 top lists Check
  23. 1154 new

    The Night of the Hunter

    1955, in 35 top lists Check
  24. 114 new

    Rear Window

    1954, in 31 top lists Check
  25. 752 new

    A Streetcar Named Desire

    1951, in 15 top lists Check
  26. 170 new

    Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens

    1922 — a.k.a. Nosferatu, in 28 top lists Check
  27. 834 new

    Some Like It Hot

    1959, in 35 top lists Check
  28. 738 new

    The Maltese Falcon

    1941, in 27 top lists Check
  29. 1093 new

    12 Angry Men

    1957, in 30 top lists Check
  30. 1086 new

    Lolita

    1962, in 11 top lists Check
  31. 409 new

    Rebel Without a Cause

    1955, in 16 top lists Check
  32. 1105 new

    Tom Jones

    1963, in 13 top lists Check
  33. 39 new

    The Grapes of Wrath

    1940, in 24 top lists Check
  34. 1272 new

    The Nutty Professor

    1963, in 11 top lists Check
  35. 829 new

    Sunset Blvd.

    1950 — a.k.a. Sunset Boulevard, in 35 top lists Check
  36. 18 new

    The Great Dictator

    1940, in 25 top lists Check
  37. 754 new

    On the Waterfront

    1954, in 32 top lists Check
  38. 803 new

    The Third Man

    1949, in 37 top lists Check
  39. 196 new

    La règle du jeu

    1939 — a.k.a. The Rules of the Game, in 24 top lists Check
  40. 516 new

    Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

    1954, in 8 top lists Check
  41. 120 new

    North by Northwest

    1959, in 30 top lists Check
  42. 380 new

    An American in Paris

    1951, in 18 top lists Check
  43. 85 new

    The Big Sleep

    1946, in 22 top lists Check
  44. 436 new

    Shane

    1953, in 18 top lists Check
  45. 712 new

    Repulsion

    1965, in 17 top lists Check
  46. 745 new

    The African Queen

    1951, in 11 top lists Check
  47. 726 new

    Les quatre cents coups

    1959 — a.k.a. The 400 Blows, in 26 top lists Check
  48. 1196 new

    Dracula

    1931, in 11 top lists Check
  49. 63 new

    Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

    1916, in 24 top lists Check
  50. 1127 new

    The Day the Earth Stood Still

    1951, in 12 top lists Check
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Last updated on Sep 28, 2019;