- Director: Mike Nichols
- Stacker score: 89.1
- Metascore: 83
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Runtime: 106 minutes

Not only did this seminal comedy capture the spirit of its era, it also ushered in a new mode of American storytelling. It centers on disaffected grad student Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) who gets romantically entangled with both a young woman and her lascivious mother (Anne Bancroft). In addition to its modern themes, the film features unforgettable dialogue and a classic soundtrack from Simon & Garfunkel.

- Director: Arthur Penn
- Stacker score: 89.6
- Metascore: 83
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Runtime: 106 minutes

This Academy Award-winning biopic tells the true story of Anne Sullivan (played by Anne Bancroft) and Helen Keller (played by Patty Duke). As Keller's tutor, Sullivan is tasked with teaching her blind and deaf pupil how to communicate. Arthur Penn directed both the original play version and then this big screen adaptation.

- Director: Jacques Demy
- Stacker score: 89.6
- Metascore: 86
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Runtime: 91 minutes

French multi-hyphenate Jacques Demy directs Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo in this musical drama. In the spirit of certain operas or stage musicals, all the film's dialogue is sung. The story unfolds in three parts and spins a tale of romance against the backdrop of the Algerian War.

- Director: Arthur Penn
- Stacker score: 89.6
- Metascore: 86
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Runtime: 111 minutes

If there's a single film that divides Old Hollywood from new, it could very well be this seminal crime saga. Loosely based on actual events, it follows a small-town waitress (Faye Dunaway) and her ex-con boyfriend (Warren Beatty) on a Depression-era robbery spree. The two anti-heroes at its center took the world by storm, as did the movie's uncompromising portrayal of gun violence.

- Director: Guy Hamilton
- Stacker score: 89.6
- Metascore: 87
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Runtime: 110 minutes

The third official Bond entry is also the best, according to the Tomatometer and numerous fans alike. Sean Connery reprises the role and takes on his most formidable adversary yet, a thieving bullion dealer by the name of Auric Goldfinger. Everything that made the early franchise iconic was either introduced or perfected here.

- Director: John Cassavetes
- Stacker score: 89.6
- Metascore: 88
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Runtime: 130 minutes

Helmer John Cassavetes employs his signature cinéma vérité style in this acclaimed drama about a crumbling upper class marriage. It's the last of the director's works to be shot in black and white and the first to star wife Gena Rowlands. Nominated for three Oscars, it set an early and influential benchmark for DIY filmmaking.

- Director: Sergio Leone
- Stacker score: 90.2
- Metascore: 80
- IMDb user rating: 8.5
- Runtime: 165 minutes

Gritty in tone and sweeping in scope, Sergio Leone's spaghetti Western chronicles a violent dispute over a profitable piece of land. Henry Fonda plays against type as a ruthless mercenary, who kills at the behest of a greedy railroad tycoon. Quentin Tarantino is such a fan that he recently dubbed it "the movie that made [him] consider filmmaking."

- Director: Jean-Luc Godard
- Stacker score: 90.2
- Metascore: 88
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Runtime: 95 minutes

From the director of "Breathless" comes this French New Wave crime dramedy with offbeat overtones. Follow two Hollywood-obsessed crooks as they convince a young woman (Anna Karina) to help them rob her own home. Featured in the film is an improvisation-style dance sequence that took on a life of its own in pop culture.

- Director: Stanley Kubrick
- Stacker score: 90.7
- Metascore: 87
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Runtime: 197 minutes

Kirk Douglas plays the slave Spartacus and leads a revolt against the Roman Republic in this Oscar-winning epic. Douglas was so passionate about the project that he bought the rights to the source material using his own money. Stanley Kubrick wasn't originally attached to helm, only boarding the project after Douglas fell out with original director Anthony Mann.

- Director: Robert Stevenson
- Stacker score: 90.7
- Metascore: 88
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Runtime: 139 minutes

Entertaining young children to this day, "Mary Poppins" tells the story of its eponymous British nanny (Julie Andrews). Upon descending from the sky by way of a magic umbrella, Poppins whips a family into shape. The blockbuster film won five Academy Awards, including Best Original Music Score.

- Director: Jack Clayton
- Stacker score: 90.7
- Metascore: 88
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Runtime: 100 minutes

Adapted from a Henry James novella, this British horror classic explores the fine line between the psychological and supernatural. After arriving at a new estate, a young governess (Deborah Kerr) grows increasingly convinced that the grounds are haunted. Martin Scorsese considers it one of the scariest films of all time.

- Director: Stanley Kubrick
- Stacker score: 91.3
- Metascore: 84
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Runtime: 149 minutes

Something of a head-scratcher upon its 1968 debut, Kubruck's sci-fi classic has achieved true masterpiece status over time. Depicting human evolution as the result of advanced alien forces, it influenced an endless swath of subsequent space epics. Kubrick was involved in virtually every aspect of production, even choosing the fabrics for some of the actor's costumes.

- Director: Luchino Visconti
- Stacker score: 91.3
- Metascore: 84
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Runtime: 179 minutes

Luchino Visconti's sweeping Italian drama follows five brothers as they move from a small village to the big city. It breaks down into chapters and dedicates each chapter to the respective story of each brother. An original three-hour version was shortened for foreign distribution and has since been restored.

- Director: Ingmar Bergman
- Stacker score: 91.3
- Metascore: 86
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Runtime: 83 minutes

A series of intense visuals sets the stage for Bergman's surrealist nightmare. What appears to be a story about a mute actress (Liv Ullmann) and her nurse (Bibi Andersson) doubles as a meditation on various themes, including the nature of cinema itself. Critics and cinephiles are still trying to figure this one out.

- Director: Daniel Petrie
- Stacker score: 91.3
- Metascore: 87
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Runtime: 128 minutes

Playwright Lorraine Hansberry adapted her own Broadway play when writing the script for this acclaimed social drama. It tells the story of a struggling African American family, who become the unexpected recipients of a hefty insurance payout. As they hash out their plans, an alternative glimpse of American life unfolds.

- Director: Alfred Hitchcock
- Stacker score: 91.3
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Runtime: 119 minutes

Alfred Hitchcock was at a creative peak when he unleashed this classic horror flick, in which vicious birds descend upon a small town. Both real birds and mechanical ones were used during production, as were a number of "yellow screen" effects. To attract the real birds during the shoot, many of the film's actors smeared ground meat and anchovies on their hands.

- Director: Georges Franju
- Stacker score: 91.3
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Runtime: 90 minutes

A trailblazing work, this eerie French-language film set early precedents for the body horror subgenre. In the hopes of giving his daughter a new face, a guilt-ridden surgeon goes to maniacal extremes. Not just a major cinematic influence for decades to come, the movie also inspired a top-selling Billy Idol song.

- Director: John Sturges
- Stacker score: 91.8
- Metascore: 86
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Runtime: 172 minutes

Allied prisoners plot a massive escape from a German POW camp in this WWII actioner. While based on actual events, the story does take its liberties. For instance, the real-life escape didn't involve any motorbike chases.

- Director: Richard Brooks
- Stacker score: 91.8
- Metascore: 89
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Runtime: 134 minutes

Truman Capote's game-changing novel inspired this noirish docudrama. In the wake of a botched robbery turned quadruple homicide, two drifters must come to terms with their heinous act. Naturalistic performances from lead actors Robert Blake and Scott Wilson lend the work a chilling degree of verisimilitude.

- Director: George A. Romero
- Stacker score: 91.8
- Metascore: 89
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Runtime: 96 minutes

Armed with a great idea and an estimated budget of just over $100,000, filmmaker George Romero churned out this landmark horror classic. Not only did it spawn a number of sequels, but it more or less single-handedly launched the entire zombie subgenre. Funnily enough, the word "zombie" is never once uttered in the film.

- Director: Roman Polanski
- Stacker score: 91.8
- Metascore: 91
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Runtime: 105 minutes

The first English-language film from Roman Polanski kicked off the director's informal "Apartment Trilogy." Layering psychosexual themes beneath a veneer of claustrophobic anxiety, it chronicles the breakdown of a repressed woman (Catherine Deneuve). Writing for The A.V. Club, critic Greg Cwik claimed that the film "pioneered a new genre of gendered horror."

- Director: Costa-Gavras
- Stacker score: 92.3
- Metascore: 86
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Runtime: 127 minutes

This taut political drama centers on the assassination of a Greek pacifist leader and subsequent cover-up. Inspired by the real-life killing of political figure Grigoris Lambrakis, it follows two men on their search for truth and justice. Roger Ebert called it "a political cry of rage and a brilliant suspense thriller" in his four-star review.

- Director: Jean-Luc Godard
- Stacker score: 92.3
- Metascore: 93
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Runtime: 103 minutes

Director Jean-Luc Godard turns his attention toward "the children of Marx and Coca-Cola" in this romantic dramedy. At its heart is the Parisian love affair between a wayward idealist (Jean-Pierre Léaud) and rising pop star (Chantal Goya). In addition to its unique sense of self-awareness, the film provides a candid snapshot of 1960s youth culture.

- Director: Jean-Luc Godard
- Stacker score: 92.3
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Runtime: 88 minutes

As one of history's most influential directors, it's no surprise that Jean-Luc Godard crafted many of the decade's best films. This one takes place during the Algerian War and follows the affair between two lovers with opposing political views. It was shot in 1960 but initially banned due to stark depictions of torture and a subversive outlook.

- Director: Robert Mulligan
- Stacker score: 92.9
- Metascore: 88
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Runtime: 129 minutes

Harper Lee's timeless novel made for an equally timeless film with "To Kill a Mockingbird." Set in a small Southern town during the Depression, it puts lawyer Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) up against hostile locals in the midst of a racially charged case. The film features a classic six-and-a-half minute speech from Finch, which was reportedly nailed by Peck in one take.

- Director: Robert Rossen
- Stacker score: 92.9
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Runtime: 134 minutes

Paul Newman stars as pool shark "Fast" Eddie Felson in this acclaimed 1961 drama. Down on his luck and out of money, Felson hustles his way back to the top, grappling with his own soul along the way. Newman would later reprise the role in the 1986 follow-up "The Color of Money."

- Director: Masaki Kobayashi
- Stacker score: 93.4
- Metascore: 85
- IMDb user rating: 8.6
- Runtime: 133 minutes

Peace has spread across 17th-century Japan and that's bad news for thousands of samurai, who are left without a cause or a master. Prepared to commit the honorable act of hara-kiri—a form of ritual suicide—an elder warrior first learns of the tragic fate that befell his son-in-law. So begins a brutal showdown between the lone samurai and a feudal lord.

- Director: Federico Fellini
- Stacker score: 93.4
- Metascore: 91
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Runtime: 138 minutes

Federico Fellini's autobiographical masterpiece follows the misadventures of his thinly veiled counterpart, an overstressed director named Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni). Against a whirling backdrop of fantasy and memory, Anselmi prepares for his next film. Roger Ebert once called it "the best film ever made about filmmaking."

- Director: Joseph Losey
- Stacker score: 94
- Metascore: 93
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Runtime: 116 minutes

This British drama explores the shifting dynamic between a wealthy aristocrat (James Fox) and his scheming servant (Sir Dirk Bogarde). When adapting the source novella, screenwriter Harold Pinter was tasked with tempering its overtly gay themes. The film is also often viewed as a commentary on Britain's postwar decline.

- Director: Orson Welles
- Stacker score: 94
- Metascore: 94
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Runtime: 115 minutes

Adapting multiple Shakespeare plays, this once-overlooked drama follows the adventures of Sir John Falstaff (Orson Welles) and Prince Hal (Keith Baxter). It debuted at Cannes to hostile reception and then all but vanished for decades. Resurrected and reappraised, it's now considered one of Welles' greatest achievements.

- Director: Mel Brooks
- Stacker score: 94
- Metascore: 96
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Runtime: 88 minutes

Comedy legend Mel Brooks presents the story of producers Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom, who put together a play called "Springtime for Hitler." If the play sounds like a guaranteed disaster in the making, that's the plan, as both men realize they can make more money by producing a flop. The film pulls off an impressive feat in that it both celebrates and skewers Broadway musicals at the very same time. For somewhat obvious reasons, it was banned in Germany for many years.

- Director: Richard Lester
- Stacker score: 94
- Metascore: 96
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Runtime: 87 minutes

Released at the height of Beatlemania, this whimsical romp spends nearly two days in the life of the Fab Four. Zany antics and killer songs move the story forward at a brisk pace, lending the film a certain timeless allure. The opening scene of the band running from hordes of fans has been more or less ingrained into the collective cultural consciousness.

- Director: Stuart Rosenberg
- Stacker score: 94.5
- Metascore: 92
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Runtime: 127 minutes

A laid-back southerner arrives in prison, where—to the chagrin of a cruel warden—his infectious behavior has a discernible effect on his fellow inmates. So goes 1967's "Cool Hand Luke," starring Paul Newman in the iconic title role. An ex-convict named Don Pearce wrote the source novel and also co-wrote the script, basing the character on a real-life legend.

- Director: John Frankenheimer
- Stacker score: 94.5
- Metascore: 94
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Runtime: 126 minutes

This taut political thriller stars Frank Sinatra as former POW Major Bennett Marco, who gets brainwashed into becoming a Cold War assassin. To get the film greenlit by reluctant studio executives, Sinatra had his friend, President John F. Kennedy, give them a call. It didn't perform too well at the box office, but has since endured as a favorite among cinema buffs and conspiracy theorists alike.

- Director: George Cukor
- Stacker score: 94.5
- Metascore: 95
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Runtime: 170 minutes

In this adaptation of a Broadway musical, a phonetics professor (Rex Harrison) wagers he can transform a lowly flower girl into a member of high society. Screen legend Audrey Hepburn plays the female lead, a role portrayed by Julie Andrews in the Broadway version. Both Andrews and Hepburn received Best Actress nominations at the 1965 Golden Globes. It was Andrews who ended up walking away with the award, for her performance in "Mary Poppins."

- Director: Masaki Kobayashi
- Stacker score: 95.1
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 8.4
- Runtime: 128 minutes

A samurai is torn between two codes in this acclaimed Japanese drama. On one side is the demands of a feudal lord and on the other is the love between his son and daughter-in-law. When the daughter-in-law gets kidnapped, all bets are off.

- Director: John Ford
- Stacker score: 95.6
- Metascore: 94
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Runtime: 123 minutes

One among a number of collaborations between director John Ford and actor John Wayne, this black and white drama centers on a supposedly heroic senator (James Stewart). Heralded as the man who once shot and killed a notorious criminal, he returns to the town in which the deed took place. It's only then that the true story is revealed.

- Director: Federico Fellini
- Stacker score: 95.6
- Metascore: 95
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Runtime: 174 minutes

Striking a balance between satire and sentimentality, Fellini dives into the world of Rome's elite class. His avatar for the journey is lustful journalist Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni), who indulges in a variety of hedonistic whims. If not for this film and a character named Paparazzo (Walter Santesso), the word "paparazzi" wouldn't exist.

- Director: François Truffaut
- Stacker score: 95.6
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Runtime: 105 minutes

From French New Wave icon François Truffaut comes the story of a love triangle between two men and one woman. Based on a semi-autobiographical novel, it kicks off just before WWI and unfolds over the course of many years. On Empire's list of "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema," this one lands at #46.

- Director: Roman Polanski
- Stacker score: 96.2
- Metascore: 96
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Runtime: 137 minutes

This horror classic tells the story of Catholic housewife, Rosemary (Mia Farrow), who believes that something's terribly wrong with her unborn child. As it turns out, she's carrying the spawn of the devil himself. It's the second installment in Polanski's unofficial "Apartment Trilogy."

- Director: Sam Peckinpah
- Stacker score: 96.2
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Runtime: 135 minutes

Gritty director Sam Peckinpah offers this violent Western, in which a group of aging gunslingers get together for one last job. Set in 1913, the story finds its rugged protagonists struggling to keep pace with a rapidly changing society. The action culminates with a deadly standoff in a Mexican village.

- Director: Billy Wilder
- Stacker score: 96.7
- Metascore: 94
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Runtime: 125 minutes

Billy Wilder's 1960 comedy centers on aspiring corporate type C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon), who lends his pad to company executives for their extramarital trysts. Things get complicated when it turns out the personnel director is having an affair with the girl of Baxter's dreams. The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

- Director: Gillo Pontecorvo
- Stacker score: 96.7
- Metascore: 96
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Runtime: 121 minutes

One of the most influential political films ever made, this gripping war drama presents the Algerian Revolution from alternating perspectives. Fact-based storytelling and realistic violence generate a documentary-like aesthetic and so too does the black-and-white palette. Viewers may occasionally forget that they're watching a fictionalized version of events.

- Director: Sergio Leone
- Stacker score: 97.3
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 8.8
- Runtime: 178 minutes

Sergio Leone's brutal "Dollars Trilogy" redefined the Western genre and made Clint Eastwood one of Hollywood's hottest stars. In this series apex, three rugged gunslingers square off over a buried fortune. The film's ruthless characters and unforgettable score continue to bolster its enduring legacy among critics and fans.

- Director: Robert Bresson
- Stacker score: 97.8
- Metascore: 100
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Runtime: 95 minutes

Robert Bresson's minimalist masterpiece follows the tragic life of a mistreated donkey and the girl who once owned him. A spiritual companion piece to 1967's "Mouchette," it likewise tackles themes of powerlessness and abuse in a hostile world. This one is not for the faint of heart.

- Director: Luchino Visconti
- Stacker score: 98.4
- Metascore: 100
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Runtime: 186 minutes

Italian director Luchino Visconti chronicles the waning days of the Sicilian aristocracy in this historical epic. As the world rapidly changes around him, a prince (Burt Lancaster) proves himself inert against the rising tide. The story builds to a 45-minute ballroom sequence of considerable regard.

- Director: Stanley Kubrick
- Stacker score: 98.9
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 8.4
- Runtime: 95 minutes

Based on a decidedly non-comic novel, this pitch black comedy escalates a series of military mishaps to the point of global destruction. Actor Slim Pickens—who plays an overzealous cowboy pilot—thought they were making a serious war drama the whole time. While that wasn't the case, director Stanley Kubrick has indeed depicted war from a more sobering perspective in other films.

- Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
- Stacker score: 98.9
- Metascore: 99
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Runtime: 145 minutes

This acclaimed thriller adapts a novel of the same name and goes deep into the French underground during WWII. Pulling no punches, it tracks the efforts of resistance fighters as they attempt to take down the Nazi regime. Once a member of the French Resistance himself, director Jean-Pierre Melville drew upon personal experience when crafting the work.

- Director: Alfred Hitchcock
- Stacker score: 99.5
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 8.5
- Runtime: 109 minutes

Hitchcock went to great lengths to ensure this groundbreaking slasher film delivered maximum thrills and surprises. That included prohibiting late admittance to the theater, and reportedly having his assistant buy up copies of the source novel so as to prevent spoilers. Bear witness to serial killer Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) and the legendary shower scene that's still dissected in film schools to this day.

- Director: David Lean
- Stacker score: 100
- Metascore: 100
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Runtime: 228 minutes

Winner of seven Academy Awards, director David Lean's WWI epic tells the story of British officer T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole). On assignment in Arabia, Lawrence helps lead native tribes in a guerrilla war against the Turks. The film's wide-reaching influence touched down on a number of subsequent blockbusters, including "Star Wars."