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. 25 new

    Men Without Women

    1930, in 0 top lists Check
  2. 36 new

    The Hurricane

    1937, in 0 top lists Check
  3. 56 new

    Gideon's Day

    1958 — a.k.a. Gideon of Scotland Yard, in 0 top lists Check
  4. 75 new

    The Dawn Patrol

    1930, in 1 top list Check
  5. 76 new

    Scarface

    1932, in 16 top lists Check
  6. 83 new

    Air Force

    1943, in 2 top lists Check
  7. 86 new

    Red River

    1948, in 16 top lists Check
  8. 91 new

    Hatari!

    1962, in 3 top lists Check
  9. 106 new

    Saboteur

    1942, in 2 top lists Check
  10. 120 new

    North by Northwest

    1959, in 30 top lists Check
  11. 130 new

    The Navigator

    1924, in 14 top lists Check
  12. 132 new

    The General

    1926, in 34 top lists Check
  13. 134 new

    Steamboat Bill, Jr.

    1928, in 13 top lists Check
  14. 234 new

    Attack

    1956, in 2 top lists Check
  15. 238 new

    The Dirty Dozen

    1967, in 8 top lists Check
  16. 295 new

    The Squaw Man

    1914, in 1 top list Check
  17. 306 new

    North West Mounted Police

    1940 — a.k.a. Northwest Mounted Police, in 0 top lists Check
  18. 307 new

    Reap the Wild Wind

    1942, in 0 top lists Check
  19. 315 new

    The Great Race

    1965, in 2 top lists Check
  20. 319 new

    The Steel Helmet

    1951, in 2 top lists Check
  21. 320 new

    Fixed Bayonets!

    1951, in 1 top list Check
  22. 324 new

    China Gate

    1957, in 0 top lists Check
  23. 354 new

    Bend of the River

    1952 — a.k.a. Where the River Bends, in 3 top lists Check
  24. 358 new

    Strategic Air Command

    1955, in 0 top lists Check
  25. 406 new

    The Lusty Men

    1952, in 4 top lists Check
  26. 477 new

    Desperate Journey

    1942, in 0 top lists Check
  27. 480 new

    Objective, Burma!

    1945, in 1 top list Check
  28. 488 new

    Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.

    1951, in 0 top lists Check
  29. 489 new

    Distant Drums

    1951, in 0 top lists Check
  30. 491 new

    The World in His Arms

    1952, in 1 top list Check
  31. 494 new

    The Tall Men

    1955, in 1 top list Check
  32. 504 new

    Westbound

    1959, in 0 top lists Check
  33. 536 new

    Sands of Iwo Jima

    1949, in 2 top lists Check
  34. 552 new

    A Terrible Beauty

    1960 — a.k.a. The Night Fighters, in 0 top lists Check
  35. 556 new

    99 River Street

    1953, in 3 top lists Check
  36. 565 new

    The Silencers

    1966, in 0 top lists Check
  37. 613 new

    The Crimson Pirate

    1952, in 1 top list Check
  38. 638 new

    Canyon Passage

    1946, in 2 top lists Check
  39. 739 new

    Across the Pacific

    1942, in 0 top lists Check
  40. 746 new

    Beat the Devil

    1953, in 3 top lists Check
  41. 815 new

    Beau Geste

    1939, in 0 top lists Check
  42. 820 new

    Battleground

    1949, in 3 top lists Check
  43. 822 new

    The High and the Mighty

    1954, in 1 top list Check
  44. 885 new

    Captain Blood

    1935, in 3 top lists Check
  45. 886 new

    The Charge of the Light Brigade

    1936, in 2 top lists Check
  46. 888 new

    The Adventures of Robin Hood

    1938, in 17 top lists Check
  47. 895 new

    The Sea Hawk

    1940, in 2 top lists Check
  48. 939 new

    Souls at Sea

    1937, in 0 top lists Check
  49. 940 new

    Spawn of the North

    1938, in 0 top lists Check
  50. 944 new

    Wing and a Prayer

    1944, in 0 top lists Check
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Last updated on Sep 28, 2019;