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

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

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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. 1093 new

    12 Angry Men

    1957, in 30 top lists Check
  2. 121 new

    Psycho

    1960, in 39 top lists Check
  3. 1087 new

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

    1964, in 37 top lists Check
  4. 898 new

    Casablanca

    1942, in 39 top lists Check
  5. 114 new

    Rear Window

    1954, in 31 top lists Check
  6. 119 new

    Vertigo

    1958, in 42 top lists Check
  7. 222 new

    Citizen Kane

    1941, in 39 top lists Check
  8. 269 new

    It's a Wonderful Life

    1946, in 33 top lists Check
  9. 514 new

    Singin' in the Rain

    1952, in 37 top lists Check
  10. 1327 new

    The Wizard of Oz

    1939, in 38 top lists Check
  11. 829 new

    Sunset Blvd.

    1950 — a.k.a. Sunset Boulevard, in 35 top lists Check
  12. 1158 new

    The Graduate

    1967, in 29 top lists Check
  13. 834 new

    Some Like It Hot

    1959, in 35 top lists Check
  14. 120 new

    North by Northwest

    1959, in 30 top lists Check
  15. 714 new

    Rosemary's Baby

    1968, in 21 top lists Check
  16. 835 new

    The Apartment

    1960, in 28 top lists Check
  17. 1328 new

    Gone with the Wind

    1939, in 31 top lists Check
  18. 138 new

    Metropolis

    1927, in 36 top lists Check
  19. 140 new

    M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder

    1931 — a.k.a. M, in 35 top lists Check
  20. 1133 new

    The Sound of Music

    1965, in 25 top lists Check
  21. 17 new

    Modern Times

    1936, in 30 top lists Check
  22. 803 new

    The Third Man

    1949, in 37 top lists Check
  23. 16 new

    City Lights

    1931, in 34 top lists Check
  24. 826 new

    Double Indemnity

    1944, in 37 top lists Check
  25. 312 new

    Breakfast at Tiffany's

    1961, in 9 top lists Check
  26. 18 new

    The Great Dictator

    1940, in 25 top lists Check
  27. 1085 new

    Paths of Glory

    1957, in 26 top lists Check
  28. 726 new

    Les quatre cents coups

    1959 — a.k.a. The 400 Blows, in 26 top lists Check
  29. 780 new

    All About Eve

    1950, in 25 top lists Check
  30. 1154 new

    The Night of the Hunter

    1955, in 34 top lists Check
  31. 1122 new

    The Great Escape

    1963, in 14 top lists Check
  32. 1170 new

    Cool Hand Luke

    1967, in 13 top lists Check
  33. 122 new

    The Birds

    1963, in 18 top lists Check
  34. 738 new

    The Maltese Falcon

    1941, in 27 top lists Check
  35. 850 new

    Roman Holiday

    1953, in 14 top lists Check
  36. 754 new

    On the Waterfront

    1954, in 32 top lists Check
  37. 113 new

    Dial M for Murder

    1954, in 9 top lists Check
  38. 132 new

    The General

    1926, in 34 top lists Check
  39. 103 new

    Rebecca

    1940, in 23 top lists Check
  40. 111 new

    Strangers on a Train

    1951, in 17 top lists Check
  41. 741 new

    The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

    1948, in 25 top lists Check
  42. 263 new

    It Happened One Night

    1934, in 29 top lists Check
  43. 226 new

    Touch of Evil

    1958, in 30 top lists Check
  44. 590 new

    Bonnie and Clyde

    1967, in 28 top lists Check
  45. 267 new

    Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

    1939, in 16 top lists Check
  46. 173 new

    Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

    1927 — a.k.a. Sunrise, in 36 top lists Check
  47. 752 new

    A Streetcar Named Desire

    1951, in 15 top lists Check
  48. 170 new

    Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens

    1922 — a.k.a. Nosferatu, in 28 top lists Check
  49. 108 new

    Notorious

    1946, in 24 top lists Check
  50. 833 new

    Witness for the Prosecution

    1957, in 12 top lists Check
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Last updated on Sep 28, 2019;