John Farr's List of 150 Essential Movies

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Sorted first alphabetically (sort of), and then chronologically below:

  1. 12 Angry Men

  2. A Separation (Farsi)

  3. A Streetcar Named Desire 

  4. Adam's Rib

  5. All About Eve

  6. American Beauty

  7. Angels With Dirty Faces

  8. Annie Hall

  9. Apocalypse Now

  10. Au Revoir, Les Enfants (French)

  11. Bad Day At Black Rock

  12. Battleship Potemkin

  13. Bicycle Thieves (Italian)

  14. Bonnie and Clyde

  15. Breathless (French)

  16. Bringing Up Baby

  17. Bullitt

  18. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

  19. Cape Fear

  20. Casablanca

  21. Chinatown

  22. Citizen Kane

  23. City Lights

  24. Close Encounters of the Third Kind

  25. Cool Hand Luke

  26. Diabolique (French)

  27. Dog Day Afternoon

  28. Double Indemnity

  29. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

  30. Dracula

  31. Duck Soup

  32. East of Eden

  33. Fail-Safe

  34. Fanny and Alexander (Swedish, German)

  35. Frankenstein

  36. From Here To Eternity

  37. From Russia with Love 

  38. Gandhi

  39. Giant

  40. Goodfellas

  41. Grand Illusion (French)

  42. Harlan County, USA

  43. Harold and Maude

  44. Hearts and Minds

  45. High Noon

  46. His Girl Friday

  47. Hud

  48. In the Heat of the Night

  49. Inherit the Wind

  50. It Happened One Night

  51. It's a Wonderful Life

  52. Jaws

  53. Julia

  54. Key Largo

  55. Kind Hearts and Coronets

  56. Lawrence of Arabia

  57. Little Caesar

  58. Love and Death

  59. Man with a Movie Camera

  60. Midnight Cowboy

  61. Midnight 

  62. Mister Roberts

  63. Modern Times

  64. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town

  65. My Man Godfrey

  66. Nanook of the North

  67. Network

  68. North by Northwest

  69. Notorious

  70. Olympia (German)

  71. On the Waterfront

  72. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

  73. Ordinary People

  74. Psycho

  75. Pulp Fiction

  76. Ran (Japanese)

  77. Rashomon (Japanese)

  78. Rear Window

  79. Rebecca

  80. Red Dust

  81. Red River

  82. Rififi (French)

  83. Rio Bravo

  84. Roman Holiday

  85. Rome, Open City (Italian)

  86. Salesman

  87. Schindler's List

  88. Shane

  89. Shoah (French)

  90. Singin' in the Rain

  91. Some Like It Hot

  92. Sophie's Choice

  93. Stagecoach

  94. Strangers on a Train

  95. Sullivan's Travels

  96. Sunrise

  97. Sunset Boulevard

  98. Swing Time

  99. Taxi Driver

  100. The 400 Blows (French)

  101. The African Queen

  102. The Apartment

  103. The Asphalt Jungle

  104. The Awful Truth

  105. The Bank Dick

  106. The Best Years of Our Lives

  107. The Big Sleep

  108. The Bride of Frankenstein

  109. The Bridge on the River Kwai

  110. The Conversation

  111. The Deer Hunter

  112. The French Connection

  113. The General

  114. The Godfather

  115. The Godfather: Part II

  116. The Gold Rush

  117. The Graduate

  118. The Grapes of Wrath

  119. The Great Dictator

  120. The Great Escape

  121. The Haunting

  122. The Lady Eve

  123. The Lady Vanishes

  124. The Leopard (Italian)

  125. The Night of the Hunter

  126. The Philadelphia Story

  127. The Producers

  128. The Red Shoes

  129. The Searchers

  130. The Shop Around the Corner

  131. The Sorrow and the Pity (French)

  132. The Sound of Music

  133. The Sting

  134. The Thin Man

  135. The Third Man

  136. The Train

  137. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

  138. The Verdict

  139. The Wild Bunch

  140. The Wizard of Oz

  141. To Kill A Mockingbird

  142. Tokyo Story (Japanese)

  143. Tootsie

  144. Tunes of Glory

  145. Twentieth Century

  146. Vertigo

  147. White Heat

  148. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

  149. Wild Strawberries (Swedish)

  150. Woman of the Year


  1. Nanook of the North 1922

  2. Battleship Potemkin 1925

  3. The Gold Rush 1925

  4. Sunrise 1927

  5. The General 1927

  6. Man with a Movie Camera 1929

  7. City Lights 1931

  8. Dracula 1931

  9. Frankenstein 1931

  10. Little Caesar 1931

  11. Red Dust 1932

  12. Duck Soup 1933

  13. It Happened One Night 1934

  14. The Thin Man 1934

  15. Twentieth Century 1934

  16. The Bride of Frankenstein 1935

  17. Modern Times 1936

  18. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town 1936

  19. My Man Godfrey 1936

  20. Swing Time 1936

  21. Grand Illusion (French) 1937

  22. The Awful Truth 1937

  23. Angels With Dirty Faces 1938

  24. Bringing Up Baby 1938

  25. Olympia (German) 1938

  26. The Lady Vanishes 1938

  27. Midnight 1939

  28. Stagecoach 1939

  29. The Wizard of Oz 1939

  30. His Girl Friday 1940

  31. Rebecca 1940

  32. The Bank Dick 1940

  33. The Grapes of Wrath 1940

  34. The Great Dictator 1940

  35. The Philadelphia Story 1940

  36. The Shop Around the Corner 1940

  37. Citizen Kane 1941

  38. Sullivan's Travels 1941

  39. The Lady Eve 1941

  40. Casablanca 1942

  41. Woman of the Year 1942

  42. Double Indemnity 1944

  43. Rome, Open City (Italian) 1945

  44. Notorious 1946

  45. The Best Years of Our Lives 1946

  46. The Big Sleep 1946

  47. It's a Wonderful Life 1947

  48. Bicycle Thieves 1948

  49. Key Largo 1948

  50. Red River 1948

  51. The Red Shoes 1948

  52. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 1948

  53. Adam's Rib 1949

  54. Kind Hearts and Coronets 1949

  55. The Third Man 1949

  56. White Heat 1949

  57. All About Eve 1950

  58. Rashomon (Japanese) 1950

  59. Sunset Boulevard 1950

  60. The Asphalt Jungle 1950

  61. A Streetcar Named Desire 1951

  62. Strangers on a Train 1951

  63. The African Queen 1951

  64. High Noon 1952

  65. Singin' in the Rain 1952

  66. From Here To Eternity 1953

  67. Roman Holiday 1953

  68. Shane 1953

  69. Tokyo Story 1953

  70. Diabolique (French) 1954

  71. On the Waterfront 1954

  72. Rear Window 1954

  73. Bad Day At Black Rock 1955

  74. East of Eden 1955

  75. Mister Roberts 1955

  76. Rififi (French) 1955

  77. The Night of the Hunter 1955

  78. Giant 1956

  79. The Searchers 1956

  80. 12 Angry Men 1957

  81. The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957

  82. Wild Strawberries 1957

  83. Vertigo 1958

  84. North by Northwest 1959

  85. Rio Bravo 1959

  86. Some Like It Hot 1959

  87. The 400 Blows (French) 1959

  88. Inherit the Wind 1960

  89. Psycho 1960

  90. The Apartment 1960

  91. Tunes of Glory 1960

  92. Breathless 1961

  93. Cape Fear 1962

  94. Lawrence of Arabia 1962

  95. To Kill A Mockingbird 1962

  96. From Russia with Love 1963

  97. Hud 1963

  98. The Great Escape 1963

  99. The Haunting 1963

  100. The Leopard (Italian) 1963

  101. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 1964

  102. Fail-Safe 1964

  103. The Train 1964

  104. The Sound of Music 1965

  105. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1966

  106. Bonnie and Clyde 1967

  107. Cool Hand Luke 1967

  108. In the Heat of the Night 1967

  109. The Graduate 1967

  110. The Producers 1967

  111. Bullitt 1968

  112. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969

  113. Midnight Cowboy 1969

  114. Salesman 1969

  115. The Wild Bunch 1969

  116. Harold and Maude 1971

  117. The French Connection 1971

  118. The Godfather 1972

  119. The Sorrow and the Pity (French) 1972

  120. The Sting 1973

  121. Chinatown 1974

  122. Hearts and Minds 1974

  123. The Conversation 1974

  124. The Godfather: Part II 1974

  125. Dog Day Afternoon 1975

  126. Harlan County, USA 1975

  127. Jaws 1975

  128. Love and Death 1975

  129. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975

  130. Network 1976

  131. Taxi Driver 1976

  132. Annie Hall 1977

  133. Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977

  134. Julia 1977

  135. The Deer Hunter 1978

  136. Apocalypse Now 1979

  137. Ordinary People 1980

  138. Fanny and Alexander (Swedish, German) 1982

  139. Gandhi 1982

  140. Sophie's Choice 1982

  141. The Verdict 1982

  142. Tootsie 1982

  143. Ran (Japanese) 1985

  144. Shoah (French) 1985

  145. Au Revoir, Les Enfants (French) 1987

  146. Goodfellas 1990

  147. Schindler's List 1993

  148. Pulp Fiction 1994

  149. American Beauty 1999

  150. A Separation (Farsi) 2011