CounterPunch’s 100 Favorite Films

39 steps

The 39 Steps

Alfred Hitchcock

1935

the 400 blows

The 400 Blows

François Truffaut

1959

1900

1900

Bernardo Bertolucci

1977

a man escaped

A Man Escaped

Robert Bresson

1956

my night at mauds

My Night At Maud’s

Eric Rohmer

1969

the agony and the ecstasy

The Agony and The Ecstasy

Carol Reed

1965

aguirre, the wrath of god

Aguirre, the Wrath of God

Werner Herzog

1972

anatomy of a murder

Anatomy of a Murder

Otto Preminger

1959

and god created woman

…And God Created Woman

Roger Vadim

1956

badlands

Badlands

Terence Malick

1973

the bank dick

The Bank Dick

Eddie Cline/WC Fields

1940

the battle of algiers

The Battle of Algiers

Gillo Pontecorvo

1966

Battleship Potemkin

Battleship Potemkin

Sergei Eisenstein

1925

beat the devil

Beat the Devil

John Huston

1953

Belle de Jour

Belle de Jour

Luis Buñuel

1967

Behind the Green Door

Behind the Green Door

Artie Mitchell, Jim Mitchell

1972

The Big Sleep

The Big Sleep

Howard Hawks

1946

the birds

The Birds

Alfred Hitchcock

1963

Black Orpheus

Black Orpheus

Marcel Camus

1959

The Blue Angel

The Blue Angel

Josef von Sternberg

1930

blue velvet

Blue Velvet

David Lynch

1986

Bob le Flambeur

Bob le Flambeur

Jean-Pierre Melville

1955

Body and Soul

Body and Soul

Robert Rossen

1947

The Bride of Frankenstein

The Bride of Frankenstein

James Whale

1935

Carry On Up the Khyber

Carry on Up the Kyber

Gerald Thomas

1968

Cat People

Cat People

Jacques Tourneur

1942

Celine and Julie Go Boating

Celine and Julie Go Boating

Jacques Rivette

1974

chinatown

Chinatown

Roman Polanski

1974

Closely Watched Trains

Closely Watched Trains
Jirí Menzel
1966
The Conformist

The Conformist

Bernardo Bertolucci

1970

Detour

Detour

Edgar Ulmer

1945

The Devil in Miss Jones

The Devil in Miss Jones

Gerard Damiano

1972

Dr. Strangelove

Dr. Strangelove

or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Stanley Kubrick

1964

duck soup

Duck Soup

Leo McCarey

1933

F for Fake

F for Fake

Orson Welles

1975

Floating Weeds

Floating Weeds

Yasujiru Ozu

1959

Freaks
Freaks

Todd Browning

1932

From Russia with Love

From Russia with Love

Terrence Young

1963

Fury

Fury

Fritz Lang

1936

Gap-Toothed Women

Gap-Toothed Women

Les Blank

1987

Gold and Diamond Mines of South Africa

Gold and Diamond Mines of South Africa

Edison and Company

1917

The Girl Can't Help It

The Girl Can’t Help It

Frank Tashlin

1956

Greed

Greed

Erich von Stroheim

1924

Gun Crazy

 Gun Crazy

Joseph L. Lewis

1949

Hairspray

Hairspray

John Waters

1988

hamlet

Hamlet

Grigori Kozintsev

1964

High and Low

High and Low

Akira Kurosawa

1962

History Is Made At Night

History Is Made at Night

Frank Borzage

1937

The Hustler

The Hustler

Robert Rossen

1961

Image of an Assasination

Image of an Assassination

Abraham Zapruder

1963

In a Lonely Place

In a Lonely Place

Nicholas Ray

1950

in the garden

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis

Vitorrio de Sica

1970

Jazz on a Summer's Day

Jazz on a Summer’s Day

Bert Stern

1959

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Rouben Mamoulian

1931

Johnny Guitar

Johnny Guitar

Nicholas Ray

1954

Kanal

Kanal

Andrei Wadja

1957

King Lear

 King Lear

Peter Brook

1971

Kiss Me Deadly

Kiss Me Deadly

Robert Aldrich

1955

kon tiki

 

Kon Tiki

Thor Heyerdahl

1951

The Lady Eve

The Lady Eve

Preston Sturges

1941

Last Tango in Paris

Last Tango in Paris

Bernardo Bertolucci

1972

L'Atalante
L’Atalante

Jean Vigo

1932

L'Avventura

L’Avventura

Michelangelo Antonioni

1960

La Marseillaise

La Marseillaise

Jean Renoir

1938

Le Samouraï

Le Samouraï

Jean-Pierre Melville

1967

Lola Montes
Lola Montès

Max Ophuls

1955

Les Bonnes Femmes

Les Bonnes Femmes

Claude Chabrol

1960

The Life of Oharu

The Life of Oharu

Kenji Mizoguchi

1952

Lucifier Rising

Lucifer Rising

Kenneth Anger

1972

m

M

Fritz Lang

1931

Man with a Movie Camera

Man with a Movie Camera

Dziga Vertov

1929

The Ministry of Fear

Ministry of Fear

Fritz Lang

1944

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek

The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek

Preston Sturges

1944

Modern Times

Modern Times

Charles Chaplin

1936

Nanook of the North

Nanook of the North

Robert Flaherty

1922

Night and Fog

Night and Fog

Alain Resnais

1955Night of the Hunter
The Night of the Hunter

Charles Laughton

1955

The Nutty Professor

The Nutty Professor

Jerry Lewis

1963

Oedipus Rex

Oedipus Rex

Pier Paolo Pasolini

1967

Once Upon a Time in the West

Once Upon a Time in the West

Sergio Leone

1968

Ordet

Ordet

Carl Dreyer

1955

Ossessione

Ossessione

Luchino Visconti

1942

Pandora's Box

Pandora’s Box

G.W. Pabst

1929

The Passion of Joan of Arc

The Passion of Joan of Arc

Carl Dreyer

1928

The Piano

The Piano

Jane Campion

1993

 

Pickup on South Street
Pickup on South Street

Samuel Fuller

1953Pierrot Le Fou
Pierrot le Fou

Jean-Luc Godard

1965

Point of Order
Point of Order

Emile di Antonio

1964The Producers
The Producers

Mel Brooks

1967 Purple Noon

Purple Noon

René Clement

1960Red Desert
Red Desert

Michelangelo Antonioni

1964Repo Man
Repo Man

Alex Cox

1984

Richard Pryor Live In Concert

 Richard Pryor: Live in Concert

Jeff Margolis / Richard Pryor

1979

Rodney King Beating Videotape
 

Rodney King Beating Videotape

George Halliday

March 3, 1991

 Rome Open City
Rome, Open City

Roberto Rossellini

1945

 

Rules of the Game
The Rules of the Game

Jean Renoir

1939

Safety Last
Safety Last!

Sam Taylor / Harold Lloyd

1923

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

Pier Paolo Pasolini

1975

 Satan's Brew

Satan’s Brew

Rainier Werner Fassbinder

1976
Stray Dog

Stray Dog

Akira Kurosawa

1964

Shoeshine  Shoeshine

Vittorio de Sica

1947

The Silent World

The Silent World

Jacques Cousteau / Louis Malle

1957

The Sorrow and the Pity

The Sorrow and the Pity

Marcel Ophuls

1969

SpartacusSpartacus

Stanley Kubrick

1960

Strike

Strike

Sergei Eisenstein

1925Summer With Monika
Summer with Monika

Ingmar Bergman

1952

Sunrise

Sunrise

FW Murnau

1927

Sweet Smell of Success

 

 Sweet Smell of Success

Alexander Mackendrick

1957

Sherlock Jr.
Sherlock Jr.

Buster Keaton

1924

Tabu A Story of the South SeasTabu: A Story of the South Seas 

FW Murnau

1931

The Tomb of Ligeia

The Tomb of Ligeia

Roger Corman

1964Touch of Evil Touch of Evil

Orson Welles

1958

trash

Trash

Paul Morrisey/Andy Warhol

1970

Un Chien Andalou
Un Chien Andalou

Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali

1929

ViridianaViridiana 

Luis Buñuel

1961
The Wages of Fear

The Wages of Fear

Henri-Georges Clouzot

1953

WalkaboutWalkabout

Nicholas Roeg

1971

Week-End 

Week-End

Jean-Luc Godard

1967

White Heat
White Heat

Raoul Walsh

1949

The Wild BunchThe Wild Bunch

Sam Peckinpah

1969

 Written on the Wind

Written on the Wind

Douglas Sirk

1956

 

 

Jeffrey St. Clair is editor of CounterPunch. His new book is The Big Heat: Earth on the Brink co-written with Joshua Frank. He can be reached at: sitka@comcast.net. Alexander Cockburn’s Guillotined! and A Colossal Wreck are available from CounterPunch.