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. 35 new

    The Prisoner of Shark Island

    1936, in 2 top lists Check
  2. 62 new

    The Birth of a Nation

    1915, in 21 top lists Check
  3. 63 new

    Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

    1916, in 24 top lists Check
  4. 69 new

    Orphans of the Storm

    1921, in 7 top lists Check
  5. 72 new

    Abraham Lincoln

    1930, in 0 top lists Check
  6. 83 new

    Air Force

    1943, in 2 top lists Check
  7. 209 new

    The Last Command

    1928, in 9 top lists Check
  8. 217 new

    The Scarlet Empress

    1934, in 12 top lists Check
  9. 293 new

    Bhowani Junction

    1956, in 2 top lists Check
  10. 299 new

    The King of Kings

    1927, in 3 top lists Check
  11. 300 new

    The Sign of the Cross

    1932, in 2 top lists Check
  12. 301 new

    Cleopatra

    1934, in 5 top lists Check
  13. 302 new

    The Crusades

    1935, in 0 top lists Check
  14. 303 new

    The Plainsman

    1936, in 0 top lists Check
  15. 304 new

    The Buccaneer

    1938, in 0 top lists Check
  16. 308 new

    Unconquered

    1947, in 0 top lists Check
  17. 318 new

    I Shot Jesse James

    1949, in 1 top list Check
  18. 348 new

    Reign of Terror

    1949 — a.k.a. The Black Book, in 1 top list Check
  19. 360 new

    The Last Frontier

    1955, in 0 top lists Check
  20. 397 new

    Saint Joan

    1957, in 0 top lists Check
  21. 420 new

    Captain Lightfoot

    1955, in 0 top lists Check
  22. 422 new

    Battle Hymn

    1957, in 0 top lists Check
  23. 462 new

    'Northwest Passage' (Book I -- Rogers' Rangers)

    1940, in 0 top lists Check
  24. 491 new

    The World in His Arms

    1952, in 1 top list Check
  25. 495 new

    Band of Angels

    1957, in 1 top list Check
  26. 505 new

    The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond

    1960, in 1 top list Check
  27. 529 new

    The Iron Mask

    1929, in 2 top lists Check
  28. 530 new

    Suez

    1938, in 0 top lists Check
  29. 531 new

    Frontier Marshal

    1939, in 0 top lists Check
  30. 592 new

    She Done Him Wrong

    1933, in 8 top lists Check
  31. 710 new

    Der letzte Akt

    1955 — a.k.a. The Last Ten Days, in 0 top lists Check
  32. 718 new

    Francesco, giullare di Dio

    1950 — a.k.a. The Flowers of St. Francis, in 10 top lists Check
  33. 723 new

    Viva l'Italia!

    1961 — a.k.a. Garibaldi, in 0 top lists Check
  34. 725 new

    La prise de pouvoir par Louis XIV

    1966 — a.k.a. The Taking of Power by Louis XIV, in 6 top lists Check
  35. 733 new

    Senso

    1954, in 12 top lists Check
  36. 753 new

    Viva Zapata!

    1952, in 2 top lists Check
  37. 774 new

    Queen Christina

    1933, in 3 top lists Check
  38. 783 new

    Julius Caesar

    1953, in 4 top lists Check
  39. 861 new

    A Man for All Seasons

    1966, in 14 top lists Check
  40. 893 new

    The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

    1939, in 0 top lists Check
  41. 921 new

    We Are Not Alone

    1939, in 0 top lists Check
  42. 953 new

    The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel

    1951 — a.k.a. Rommel, Desert Fox, in 1 top list Check
  43. 974 new

    That Hamilton Woman

    1941 — a.k.a. Lady Hamilton, in 2 top lists Check
  44. 988 new

    Kitty

    1945, in 0 top lists Check
  45. 1010 new

    The War Lord

    1965, in 0 top lists Check
  46. 1047 new

    The Man in the Iron Mask

    1939, in 0 top lists Check
  47. 1056 new

    In Cold Blood

    1967, in 8 top lists Check
  48. 1105 new

    Tom Jones

    1963, in 13 top lists Check
  49. 1122 new

    The Great Escape

    1963, in 14 top lists Check
  50. 1138 new

    Marat/Sade

    1967, in 1 top list Check
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Last updated on Sep 28, 2019;