AFI 100 Years... 100 Movies
40 - The Sound of Music
The hills are alive with the sound of singing siblings and nuns! In Rodgers and Hammerstein's greatest collaboration, a feisty postulant named Maria (Julie Andrews) is sent to care for the unruly, motherless Von Trapp children. She soon tames them -- and finds herself falling for their stern father (Christopher Plummer). Oscar-winning director Robert Wise used stunning Austrian locations to transform the stage musical into a cinema classic.
Musical · Not Rated · 174 minutes · 1965
39 - Dr. Strangelove
In director Stanley Kubrick's blackly comedic send-up of the nuclear age, deranged American general Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) leads an attack against the Russians that sets the stage for Armageddon. In a series of virtuoso comic performances, Peter Sellers plays an impotent U.S. president, a harried British captain and an ex-Nazi bomb maker. George C. Scott and Slim Pickens also appear in this classic Oscar-nominated satire.
Comedy · Not Rated · 95 minutes · 1964
38 - The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
John Huston won Academy Awards for writing and directing this powerful saga that pits gold against greed in the wilds of Mexico. Three poverty-stricken dreamers (Walter Huston, Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt) head to the mountains south of the border in search of gold. Their fortune and friendship grow at first, but soon, paranoia and greed begin to take over, endangering all that they've gained. Walter Huston also won an Oscar for his role.
Western · Not Rated · 126 minutes · 1948
37 - The Best Years of Our Lives
Winning seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture), this classic drama follows three World War II veterans as they return to small-town America. Homer (Harold Russell), Al (Fredric March) and Fred (Dana Andrews) are desolate as they try to come to terms with their experiences. Best Supporting Actor Russell, a real veteran who lost his hands in the war, also won an Honorary Oscar "for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans."
Drama · Not Rated · 170 minutes · 1946
36 - The Bridge on the River Kwai
Director David Lean's sweeping epic is set in a Japanese World War II prison camp where British POWs are forced to construct a railway bridge as a morale-building exercise. Yet the real battle of wills is between "play by the rules" British colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), who is dedicated to the project, and his American rival (William Holden), who vows to destroy it. The POWs' whistling work theme became legendary.
Action · PG · 167 minutes · 1957
35 - Annie Hall
Listen closely and you can actually hear the stress hormones pumping through the bodies of the characters in Annie Hall. Woody Allen's real, funny ode to love among twitchy city dwellers scooped up Oscars for Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Actress (Diane Keaton) and Best Screenplay. And don't miss cameos of not-yet-stars Jeff Goldblum, Shelley Duvall and Sigourney Weaver.
Comedy · PG · 94 minutes · 1977
34 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Walt Disney broke new ground in 1937 with this animated feature-length film about a jealous queen, her beautiful stepdaughter, seven lovable dwarfs and a handsome prince. You'd have to be "grumpy" or "dopey" not to be charmed by this film, which includes the songs "Whistle While You Work," "Heigh-Ho" and "Some Day My Prince Will Come" (which became a jazz standard via trumpeter Miles Davis in the '50s).
Family · G · 84 minutes · 1937
33 - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
The first movie since It Happened One Night to win all five major Academy Awards (picture, director, actor, actress, screenplay), Cuckoo's Nest still has the ability to entertain and inspire. Implacable rabble-rouser Randle Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) is committed to an asylum and inspires his fellow patients to rebel against the authoritarian rule of head nurse Mildred Ratched (Louise Fletcher).
Drama · R · 133 minutes · 1975
32 - The Godfather, Part II
In this unique case of a sequel superseding the original, The Godfather II follows the Corleone crime family as it relocates to Nevada in the 1950s, with Michael (Al Pacino) as the new Don. The original cast returns with Robert Duvall outstanding as consigliere Tom Hagen and John Cazale as the tragic Fredo Corleone.
Drama · R · 200 minutes · 1974
31 - The Maltese Falcon
The big bird is the stuff dreams are made of... according to gumshoe Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart). When his partner gets snuffed, Spade starts digging around for the murderer. But when the trail leads to Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Mary Astor, a sinister troika intent on nabbing the titular solid-gold bird, Spade must make some tough decisions.
Suspense · Not Rated · 100 minutes · 1941
30 - Apocalypse Now
The horror, the horror. Francis Ford Coppola disappeared into the Philippine jungle and emerged 2 years later with this film, possibly his greatest work. Based on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the story follows Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) as he journeys upriver in search of the mysterious -- and completely insane -- Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando). His mission: terminate Kurtz -- "with extreme prejudice."
Drama · R · 153 minutes · 1979
29 - Double Indemnity
Smitten insurance man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) plots the perfect murder with femme fatale client Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck): Stage her husband's "accidental" death to collect double indemnity on his life insurance, then abscond with the loot. But the lethal duo must first get past a crafty claims investigator (Edward G. Robinson) who senses something isn't kosher. What ensues is a cat-and-mouse game with fatal consequences.
Suspense · Not Rated · 108 minutes · 1944
28 - All About Eve
Joseph L. Mankiewicz's trenchant script anchors this story about New York City theater life. Bette Davis plays an aging Broadway diva who employs a starstruck fan (Anne Baxter) as her assistant, only to learn the woman is a conniving upstart with few scruples. All About Eve won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director (Mankiewicz), Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (George Sanders).
Drama · Not Rated · 139 minutes · 1950
27 - High Noon
Retiring Marshall Will Kane (Gary Cooper) insists on defending his town from a gang of hooligans who are due on the noon train -- but he faces the task alone as the cowardly townspeople flee like rats from a sinking ship. Director Fred Zinnemann creates an incredibly tense Western (rightly considered one of the true genre classics) that unfurls in real time -- as the clocks on the wall constantly remind us.
Western · G · 85 minutes · 1952
26 - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
When idealistic junior senator Jefferson Smith (James Stewart) arrives in Washington, he's full of plans and dazzled by his surroundings -- qualities he retains even in the face of widespread corruption on the part of his colleagues. Jean Arthur puts in a sharp performance as Smith's cynical secretary, and former cowboy star Harry Carey makes a fine vice president in this Academy Award-winning classic from director Frank Capra.
Drama · Not Rated · 129 minutes · 1939
25 - To Kill a Mockingbird
Southern comforts abound in this classic adaptation of Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Gregory Peck won an Oscar for his role as Atticus Finch, a widowed lawyer who takes on the task of defending an innocent black man (Brock Peters) against rape charges, only to wind up in a maelstrom of hate and prejudice that threatens to invade the lives of his children, Jem and Scout (Phillip Alford and Mary Badham).
Drama · Not Rated · 130 minutes · 1962
24 - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Steven Spielberg's 1982 smash hit tells the heartwarming story of the special bond 10-year-old Elliot forges with an alien he names E.T. The adventures they share as Elliot tries to hide his new friend and E.T. tries to get back to his planet ("E.T. phone home!") provide plenty of action, laughter and tears.
Family · PG · 117 minutes · 1982
23 - The Grapes of Wrath
Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure. He catches up with them on his Uncle's farm, and joins them the next day as they head for California and a new life... Hopefully.
Drama · Not Rated · 128 minutes · 1940
22 - Some Like It Hot
With its transvestitism, palpable sex and murder, Billy Wilder's legendary screwball comedy reveals dark, hilarious roots. Musicians Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis accidentally witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and get out of town the only way they know how -- dressed as women. On the road to Florida with an all-girl band, they meet Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe), and things start to heat up in this legendary farce.
Comedy · PG · 122 minutes · 1959
21 - Chinatown
Private eye J.J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson) uncovers intricate dirty dealings in the Los Angeles waterworks and gets his nose slashed for his grief. Suspicious, porcelain-skinned femme fatale Faye Dunaway (who harbors a nasty family secret) finances Gittes's snooping. Director Roman Polanski reimagines 1930s Los Angeles in this brilliant detective thriller. And Robert Towne's onion-like script reveals itself one complex layer at a time.
Suspense · R · 130 minutes · 1974