Cahiers du Cinéma's Annual Top 10 Lists

by thierry-05295 | created - 4 months ago | updated - 4 months ago | Public

Cahiers du cinéma is an influential French film magazine founded in 1951.

The magazine has picked its top ten films of the year, most years. Top ten films were not picked in the years 1952-1954, 1969-1980, and in the year 2003. Rankings can be viewed in my source list URL, or via the link provided in the comments section. In some cases, films tie for a certain spot in the yearly top 10; for example, 2012's #4 spot is tied between three films (consequently, there is no #5 or #6). Some directors definitely appear to be heavily preferred by those responsible for selecting the list.

This list does not include the special "best of 1990s" and "best of 2000s" decade lists, though most of those twenty films are included here. (The exceptions are David Lynch's TV show Twin Peaks on the 1990s list, and Gus Van Sant's Elephant, Abdellatif Kechiche's The Secret of the Grain, and Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds on the 2000s decade list.)

Other anomalies: The TV show "24" tied for the #10 spot in 2002, along with Gus Van Sant's Gerry. Gerry also tied for #6 on the 2004 list.

A TV episode "Travolta et moi" (dir. Patricia Mazuy) from the show "Tous les garçons et les filles de leur âge..." was selected as #6 in 1994. Claire Denis' episode "US Go Home" from the same series rated #9 in 1994.

Raul Ruiz's Les trois couronnes du matelot (Three Crowns of the Sailor) tied for #7 in 1983 and tied for #8 in 1982.

1968's #4 spot for Histoires extraordinaires is specifically for Federico Fellini's segment "Toby Damnit."

1965's #4 spot for Paris vu par... is specifically for the Jean Rouch episode.

1959's #3 spot was claimed by Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible. Since Part II was released in 1958, it is possible that the award was for Part II, but since my sources didn't specify a part and both parts may have been shown together, I have included Parts I & II in the list.

Love it or hate it, here it is...

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1. The River (1951)

Approved | 99 min | Drama, Romance

The growing pains of three young women contrast with the immutability of the holy Bengal River, around which their daily lives unfold.

Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Patricia Walters, Nora Swinburne, Esmond Knight, Arthur Shields

Votes: 6,890

2. Diary of a Country Priest (1951)

Not Rated | 95 min | Drama

A young priest taking over the parish at Ambricourt tries to fulfill his duties even as he fights a mysterious stomach ailment.

Director: Robert Bresson | Stars: Claude Laydu, Nicole Ladmiral, Jean Riveyre, Adrien Borel

Votes: 12,725

3. Miracle in Milan (1951)

Not Rated | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

78 Metascore

An open-hearted, unrelentingly energetic orphan struggles to make the best of his life on the streets of Milan.

Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Emma Gramatica, Francesco Golisano, Paolo Stoppa, Guglielmo Barnabò

Votes: 8,549

4. The Young and the Damned (1950)

Not Rated | 80 min | Crime, Drama

A group of juvenile delinquents live a violent and crime-filled life in the festering slums of Mexico City, as the morals of young Pedro are gradually corrupted and destroyed by the others.

Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Alfonso Mejía, Roberto Cobo, Estela Inda, Miguel Inclán

Votes: 22,011

5. All About Eve (1950)

Passed | 138 min | Drama

98 Metascore

A seemingly timid but secretly ruthless ingénue insinuates herself into the lives of an aging Broadway star and her circle of theater friends.

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm

Votes: 138,798 | Gross: $0.01M

6. Miss Julie (1951)

Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Romance

An heiress begins to realize her attraction to one of her family's servants.

Director: Alf Sjöberg | Stars: Anita Björk, Ulf Palme, Märta Dorff, Lissi Alandh

Votes: 2,076

7. Story of a Love Affair (1950)

Not Rated | 98 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

Paola is a young, beautiful woman married to a wealthy entrepreneur. She meets her former lover Guido after seven years, but their relationship is marked by tragic events.

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: Massimo Girotti, Lucia Bosè, Gino Rossi, Marika Rowsky

Votes: 3,420

8. Sunset Blvd. (1950)

Passed | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir

94 Metascore

A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.

Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson

Votes: 236,516

9. Edward and Caroline (1951)

88 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

Edouard is a pianist, married with Caroline. This evening, they are invited to Claude's. Claude is the snobbish uncle of Caroline, his son Alain (as snobbish as his father) is in love with ... See full summary »

Director: Jacques Becker | Stars: Daniel Gélin, Anne Vernon, Elina Labourdette, Jacques François

Votes: 736

10. The Flowers of St. Francis (1950)

Not Rated | 85 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama

A series of vignettes depicting the lives of the original Franciscan monks, including their leader and the bumbling Ginepro.

Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Aldo Fabrizi, Gianfranco Bellini, Peparuolo, Severino Pisacane

Votes: 4,045

11. Journey to Italy (1954)

Not Rated | 97 min | Drama, Romance

100 Metascore

An unhappily married couple attempts to find direction and insight while vacationing in Naples.

Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Ingrid Bergman, George Sanders, Maria Mauban, Anna Proclemer

Votes: 12,256

12. Ordet (1955)

Not Rated | 126 min | Drama

Follows the lives of the Borgen family, as they deal with inner conflict, as well as religious conflict with each other, and the rest of the town.

Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer | Stars: Henrik Malberg, Emil Hass Christensen, Preben Lerdorff Rye, Hanne Aagesen

Votes: 17,413

13. The Big Knife (1955)

Passed | 111 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

Hollywood actor Charles Castle is pressured by his studio boss into a criminal cover-up to protect his valuable career.

Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen

Votes: 4,267

14. Lola Montès (1955)

Not Rated | 116 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

When she is reduced to appearing in a circus, a notorious beauty thinks back on her past loves.

Director: Max Ophüls | Stars: Martine Carol, Peter Ustinov, Anton Walbrook, Henri Guisol

Votes: 6,052 | Gross: $0.11M

15. Rear Window (1954)

PG | 112 min | Mystery, Thriller

100 Metascore

A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his Greenwich Village courtyard apartment window and, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend, becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter

Votes: 522,231 | Gross: $36.76M

16. Les mauvaises rencontres (1955)

84 min | Drama

A woman tells her life story to a police investigator after a doctor's suicide.

Director: Alexandre Astruc | Stars: Jean-Claude Pascal, Anouk Aimée, Gaby Sylvia, Philippe Lemaire

Votes: 252

17. The Road (1954)

Not Rated | 108 min | Drama

A care-free girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way.

Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart, Aldo Silvani

Votes: 66,599

18. The Barefoot Contessa (1954)

Not Rated | 128 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

70 Metascore

This is the life of a Hollywood movie star named Maria, as told by writer/director Harry Dawes, from being discovered in Madrid, Spain, until her funeral in Italy.

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Marius Goring

Votes: 12,718

19. Johnny Guitar (1954)

Not Rated | 110 min | Drama, Western

83 Metascore

After helping a wounded gang member, a strong-willed female saloon owner is wrongly suspected of murder and bank robbery by a lynch mob.

Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden, Mercedes McCambridge, Scott Brady

Votes: 19,750

20. Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Not Rated | 106 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery

A doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious "great whatsit".

Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernandez

Votes: 22,090

21. A Man Escaped (1956)

Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, Thriller, War

A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from a German prison in France.

Director: Robert Bresson | Stars: François Leterrier, Charles Le Clainche, Maurice Beerblock, Roland Monod

Votes: 25,012

22. Elena and Her Men (1956)

Not Rated | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

Polish countess Elena falls in love with a French radical party's candidate - a general - in pre-World War I Paris, but another officer pines for her. Starring Ingrid Bergman, with Mel ... See full summary »

Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Ingrid Bergman, Jean Marais, Mel Ferrer, Jean Richard

Votes: 2,162

23. Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

PG-13 | 111 min | Drama

89 Metascore

A rebellious young man with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies.

Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus

Votes: 97,982

24. Confidential Report (1955)

Not Rated | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

An elusive billionaire hires an American smuggler to investigate his past, leading to a dizzying descent into a cold-war European landscape.

Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Peter van Eyck, Michael Redgrave, Patricia Medina

Votes: 9,241

25. Senso (1954)

Not Rated | 123 min | Drama, Romance, War

An Italian Countess is allied with Nationalists during the Italian-Austrian war of unification. However, she risks betraying their cause when she falls in love with an Austrian lieutenant.

Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Farley Granger, Alida Valli, Massimo Girotti, Heinz Moog

Votes: 7,523 | Gross: $0.03M

26. Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)

Not Rated | 109 min | Comedy, Romance

In Sweden at the turn of the century, members of the upper class and their servants find themselves in a romantic tangle that they try to work out amidst jealousy and heartbreak.

Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Ulla Jacobsson, Eva Dahlbeck, Harriet Andersson, Margit Carlqvist

Votes: 14,686

27. The Swindle (1955)

Not Rated | 92 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

A trio of con-men led by a lonesome swindler must deal with their job and family pressures.

Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Broderick Crawford, Richard Basehart, Giulietta Masina, Franco Fabrizi

Votes: 6,903

28. Love (1948)

69 min | Drama

In part one, a heartbroken woman talks to her ex-lover on the phone. In part two, a pregnant woman believes she is carrying the child of Saint Joseph.

Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Anna Magnani, Federico Fellini, Peparuolo, Amelia Robert

Votes: 1,946

29. Picnic (1955)

Approved | 115 min | Drama, Romance

Emotions are ignited among the complacent townsfolk when a handsome drifter arrives in a small Kansas community on the morning of the Labor Day picnic.

Director: Joshua Logan | Stars: William Holden, Kim Novak, Betty Field, Susan Strasberg

Votes: 9,838

30. Fear (1954)

84 min | Drama

Irene Wagner, the wife of prominent scientist Albert Wagner, finds herself blackmailed about her affair by her lover's jealous ex-girlfriend. The plot, an experiment in causing fear, drives her into a rage.

Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Ingrid Bergman, Mathias Wieman, Renate Mannhardt, Kurt Kreuger

Votes: 1,773

31. A King in New York (1957)

G | 105 min | Comedy, Drama

A recently-deposed European monarch seeks shelter in New York City, where he becomes an accidental television celebrity and is later wrongly accused of being a Communist.

Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Maxine Audley, Jerry Desmonde, Oliver Johnston

Votes: 8,882

32. Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957)

Not Rated | 93 min | Comedy, Romance

To save his career, a writer for television advertising wants a famous actress to endorse a lipstick. In return, he has to pretend to be her new lover.

Director: Frank Tashlin | Stars: Tony Randall, Jayne Mansfield, Betsy Drake, Joan Blondell

Votes: 4,085

33. Nights of Cabiria (1957)

Not Rated | 110 min | Drama

A waifish prostitute wanders the streets of Rome looking for true love but finds only heartbreak.

Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Giulietta Masina, François Périer, Franca Marzi, Dorian Gray

Votes: 51,950 | Gross: $0.75M

34. The Wrong Man (1956)

Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, Film-Noir

83 Metascore

In 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle, Harold J. Stone

Votes: 31,376

35. The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (1955)

Not Rated | 89 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

The delirious journey of a mentally disordered man, who is obsessed with committing the perfect crime.

Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Ernesto Alonso, Miroslava, Rita Macedo, Ariadne Welter

Votes: 5,891

36. Sawdust and Tinsel (1953)

Not Rated | 93 min | Drama

The complicated relationships between a circus ringmaster, his estranged wife and his lover.

Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Åke Grönberg, Harriet Andersson, Hasse Ekman, Anders Ek

Votes: 7,382

37. Bigger Than Life (1956)

Not Rated | 95 min | Drama

A seriously-ill schoolteacher becomes dependent on a "miracle" drug that begins to affect his sanity.

Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: James Mason, Barbara Rush, Walter Matthau, Robert F. Simon

Votes: 8,146

38. The Girl Can't Help It (1956)

Approved | 98 min | Comedy, Music

A gangster hires a down-and-out press agent to make his airheaded girlfriend a singing star.

Director: Frank Tashlin | Stars: Tom Ewell, Jayne Mansfield, Edmond O'Brien, Julie London

Votes: 3,919

39. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956)

Not Rated | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

A novelist aided by his future father-in-law conspires to frame himself for the murder of a burlesque dancer as part of an effort to ban capital punishment.

Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer, Arthur Franz

Votes: 5,901

40. 12 Angry Men (1957)

Approved | 96 min | Crime, Drama

97 Metascore

The jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.

Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam, John Fiedler

Votes: 865,462 | Gross: $4.36M

41. Touch of Evil (1958)

PG-13 | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

99 Metascore

A stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping and police corruption in a Mexican border town.

Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh, Joseph Calleia

Votes: 109,827 | Gross: $2.24M

42. The Seventh Seal (1957)

Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Fantasy

88 Metascore

A knight returning to Sweden after the Crusades seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.

Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe

Votes: 198,519

43. White Nights (1957)

Not Rated | 97 min | Drama, Romance

A humble clerk courts a woman who awaits her lover's return night after night.

Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Maria Schell, Marcello Mastroianni, Jean Marais, Marcella Rovena

Votes: 9,007

44. Il Grido (1957)

Not Rated | 116 min | Drama

A man wanders aimlessly away from his town, away from the woman he loves, emotionally and socially inactive.

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: Gabriella Pallotta, Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, Dorian Gray

Votes: 5,446

45. Bonjour Tristesse (1958)

Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Romance

Spoiled Cecile, 17, spends her summer at the French Riviera with her rich, widower, playboy dad and Elsa. Anne, her late mom's friend, visits and brings changes to all.

Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Jean Seberg, David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Mylène Demongeot

Votes: 5,580

46. Dreams (1955)

Not Rated | 87 min | Drama

Two different women - a young photo model and her boss - dream about a happy life with beloved men. Their dreams are as different as they are.

Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Eva Dahlbeck, Harriet Andersson, Gunnar Björnstrand, Ulf Palme

Votes: 3,467

47. One Life (1958)

Not Rated | 86 min | Drama

Normandy, second half of the nineteenth century. Jeanne Dandieu lives in a manor house with her parents and their servant Rosalie. She gets to know Julien, a handsome man, whom she soon ... See full summary »

Director: Alexandre Astruc | Stars: Maria Schell, Christian Marquand, Pascale Petit, Louis Arbessier

Votes: 355

48. My Uncle (1958)

Not Rated | 116 min | Comedy

Monsieur Hulot visits the technology-driven world of his sister, brother-in-law, and nephew, but he can't quite fit into the surroundings.

Director: Jacques Tati | Stars: Jacques Tati, Jean-Pierre Zola, Adrienne Servantie, Lucien Frégis

Votes: 24,260

49. The Quiet American (1958)

TV-PG | 120 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller

A young naive American and a cynical older British diplomat disagree over politics in 1952 Vietnam and over a beautiful young native girl.

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Audie Murphy, Michael Redgrave, Claude Dauphin, Giorgia Moll

Votes: 2,102

50. Summer Interlude (1951)

Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Romance

A lonely woman recalls her first love thirteen years prior during a brief summer vacation.

Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Maj-Britt Nilsson, Birger Malmsten, Alf Kjellin, Annalisa Ericson

Votes: 6,663

51. Ugetsu (1953)

Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Fantasy, War

A tale of ambition, family, love, and war set in the midst of the Japanese Civil Wars of the sixteenth century.

Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyô, Kinuyo Tanaka, Mitsuko Mito

Votes: 25,823 | Gross: $0.01M

52. Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)

Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Romance

A French actress filming an anti-war film in Hiroshima has an affair with a married Japanese architect as they share their differing perspectives on war.

Director: Alain Resnais | Stars: Emmanuelle Riva, Eiji Okada, Stella Dassas, Pierre Barbaud

Votes: 35,901 | Gross: $0.09M

53. Ivan the Terrible, Part I (1944)

Not Rated | 95 min | Biography, Drama, History

During the early part of his reign, Ivan the Terrible faces betrayal from the aristocracy and even his closest friends as he seeks to unite the Russian people.

Director: Sergei Eisenstein | Stars: Nikolay Cherkasov, Lyudmila Tselikovskaya, Serafima Birman, Mikhail Nazvanov

Votes: 10,866

54. Ivan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars' Plot (1958)

Not Rated | 88 min | Biography, Drama, History

As Ivan the Terrible attempts to consolidate his power by establishing a personal army, his political rivals, the Russian boyars, plot to assassinate their Tsar.

Director: Sergei Eisenstein | Stars: Nikolay Cherkasov, Serafima Birman, Pavel Kadochnikov, Mikhail Zharov

Votes: 8,056

55. Pickpocket (1959)

Not Rated | 76 min | Crime, Drama

Michel passes the time by picking pockets, careful to never be caught despite being watched by the police. His friend Jacques may suspect, while both men may have their eyes on Jeanne, the pretty neighbor of Michel's ailing mother.

Director: Robert Bresson | Stars: Martin LaSalle, Marika Green, Jean Pélégri, Dolly Scal

Votes: 25,365

56. The 400 Blows (1959)

Not Rated | 99 min | Crime, Drama

A young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.

Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, Claire Maurier, Guy Decomble

Votes: 128,097

57. Rio Bravo (1959)

Passed | 141 min | Western

93 Metascore

A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.

Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson

Votes: 68,087 | Gross: $12.54M

58. Wild Strawberries (1957)

Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, Romance

88 Metascore

After living a life marked by coldness, an aging professor is forced to confront the emptiness of his existence.

Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Victor Sjöström, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand

Votes: 115,008

59. Vertigo (1958)

PG | 128 min | Mystery, Romance, Thriller

100 Metascore

A former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore

Votes: 427,059 | Gross: $3.20M

60. Yôkihi (1955)

Not Rated | 98 min | Drama, History, Romance

In 8th-century China, the Emperor is grieving over the death of his wife. The Yang family wants to provide the Emperor with a consort so that they may consolidate their influence over the ... See full summary »

Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Machiko Kyô, Masayuki Mori, Sô Yamamura, Eitarô Shindô

Votes: 2,062

61. The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959)

101 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance

In Eschnapur, a local Maharajah and a German architect fall in-love with the same temple dancer.

Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Debra Paget, Paul Hubschmid, Walther Reyer, Claus Holm

Votes: 3,219

62. Sansho the Bailiff (1954)

Not Rated | 124 min | Drama

96 Metascore

In medieval Japan, a compassionate governor is sent into exile. His wife and children try to join him, but are separated, and the children grow up amid suffering and oppression.

Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Kinuyo Tanaka, Yoshiaki Hanayagi, Kyôko Kagawa, Eitarô Shindô

Votes: 18,237

63. L'Avventura (1960)

Not Rated | 144 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance

A woman disappears during a Mediterranean boating trip. During the search, her lover and her best friend become attracted to each other.

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: Gabriele Ferzetti, Monica Vitti, Lea Massari, Dominique Blanchar

Votes: 32,646

64. Breathless (1960)

Not Rated | 90 min | Crime, Drama

A small-time crook, hunted by the authorities for a car theft and the murder a police officer, attempts to persuade a hip American journalism student to run away with him to Italy.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, Van Doude, Jean-Luc Godard

Votes: 87,953 | Gross: $0.34M

65. Shoot the Piano Player (1960)

Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

A pianist helps his brother escape from two gangsters, who retaliate by abducting their kid brother.

Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois, Nicole Berger, Michèle Mercier

Votes: 20,635

66. Poem of the Sea (1958)

95 min | Drama

Interconnected stories of Soviet citizens trying to build a new future after World War II. Memories of the old, dreams of the young, and the residues of class mingle and clash.

Director: Yuliya Solntseva | Stars: Boris Livanov, Boris Andreyev, Mikhail Tsaryov, Mikhail Romanov

Votes: 202

67. The Good Time Girls (1960)

Not Rated | 100 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance

Four Parisian women navigate the world of romance and daily life looking to fulfill their dreams but often find real-life to be inescapable.

Director: Claude Chabrol | Stars: Bernadette Lafont, Clotilde Joano, Stéphane Audran, Lucile Saint-Simon

Votes: 3,182 | Gross: $0.01M

68. Nazarin (1959)

Not Rated | 94 min | Drama

A priest in a poor community lives a charitable life in accordance with his religious principles, but many others do not return the favor.

Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Francisco Rabal, Marga López, Rita Macedo, Ignacio López Tarso

Votes: 6,455

69. Moonfleet (1955)

Approved | 87 min | Adventure, Drama

A young orphan is sent to the village of Moonfleet in Dorset, England to stay with his mother's former lover, who has the facade of a gentleman but leads a gang of swashbuckling bootleggers; the duo go on a treasure hunt.

Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Stewart Granger, George Sanders, Joan Greenwood, Viveca Lindfors

Votes: 3,979

70. Psycho (1960)

R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

97 Metascore

A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin

Votes: 718,490 | Gross: $32.00M

71. The Hole (1960)

Not Rated | 131 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

Distrust and uncertainty arise when four long-term inmates cautiously induct a new prisoner into their elaborate prison-break scheme.

Director: Jacques Becker | Stars: André Bervil, Jean Keraudy, Michel Constantin, Philippe Leroy

Votes: 20,380 | Gross: $0.03M

72. Lola (1961)

Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Romance

73 Metascore

A bored young man meets with his former girlfriend, now a cabaret dancer and single mother, and soon finds himself falling back in love with her.

Director: Jacques Demy | Stars: Anouk Aimée, Marc Michel, Jacques Harden, Alan Scott

Votes: 7,530

73. A Woman Is a Woman (1961)

Not Rated | 84 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

71 Metascore

An exotic dancer is desperate to become a mother and accepts her reluctant boyfriend's suggestion that she be impregnated by his best friend.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Anna Karina, Jean-Claude Brialy, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Henri Attal

Votes: 19,193 | Gross: $0.10M

74. Paris Belongs to Us (1961)

Not Rated | 120 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Anne Goupil is a literature student in Paris in 1957. Her elder brother, Pierre, takes her to a friend's party where the guests include Philip Kaufman, an expatriate American escaping ... See full summary »

Director: Jacques Rivette | Stars: Betty Schneider, Giani Esposito, Françoise Prévost, Daniel Crohem

Votes: 2,716

75. Rocco and His Brothers (1960)

Not Rated | 179 min | Crime, Drama, Sport

84 Metascore

Having recently been uprooted to Milan, Rocco and his four brothers each look for a new way in life when a prostitute comes between Rocco and his brother Simone.

Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Girardot, Claudia Cardinale

Votes: 21,204

76. Taira Clan Saga (1955)

108 min | Drama, History

After his father is not rewarded for his military achievements, Taira Kiyomori rebels against the court and the monks who rule the country. He also falls in love with Tokiko and discovers unsettling revelations about his parentage.

Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Narutoshi Hayashi, Raizô Ichikawa, Tatsuya Ishiguro, Michiyo Kogure

Votes: 1,101

77. Dorogoy tsenoy (1957)

98 min | Drama

An adaptation of a story by Mikhailo Kotsyubinsky, a Ukrainian writer executed in the Stalinist purges but rehabilitated in 1955, that anticipates the Ukrainian "poetic cinema" of the '60s ... See full summary »

Director: Mark Donskoy | Stars: Vera Donskaya, Yuri Dedovich, Ivan Tverdokhleb, Olga Petrova

Votes: 137

78. La Notte (1961)

Not Rated | 122 min | Drama

A day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship.

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: Jeanne Moreau, Marcello Mastroianni, Monica Vitti, Bernhard Wicki

Votes: 24,041 | Gross: $0.04M

79. Last Year at Marienbad (1961)

Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance

In a strange and isolated chateau, a man becomes acquainted with a woman and insists that they have met before.

Director: Alain Resnais | Stars: Delphine Seyrig, Giorgio Albertazzi, Sacha Pitoëff, Françoise Bertin

Votes: 24,888 | Gross: $0.06M

80. Elmer Gantry (1960)

Approved | 146 min | Drama

A fast-talking traveling salesman with a charming, loquacious manner convinces a sincere evangelist that he can be an effective preacher for her cause.

Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Jean Simmons, Arthur Kennedy, Dean Jagger

Votes: 12,824 | Gross: $11.34M

81. Two Rode Together (1961)

Passed | 109 min | Drama, Western

A corrupt marshal is pressured by his army friend into negotiating the release of white captives of the Comanches, but finds that their reintegration into society has its consequences.

Director: John Ford | Stars: James Stewart, Richard Widmark, Shirley Jones, Linda Cristal

Votes: 6,954

82. Vivre sa vie (1962)

Not Rated | 85 min | Drama

Twelve episodic tales in the life of a Parisian woman and her slow descent into prostitution.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Anna Karina, Sady Rebbot, André S. Labarthe, Guylaine Schlumberger

Votes: 35,008

83. Jules and Jim (1962)

Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, Romance

97 Metascore

Decades of a love triangle concerning two friends and an impulsive woman.

Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre, Vanna Urbino

Votes: 44,425

84. Hatari! (1962)

Approved | 157 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

A group of men trap wild animals in Africa and sell them to zoos before the arrival of a female wildlife photographer threatens to change their ways.

Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: John Wayne, Elsa Martinelli, Hardy Krüger, Red Buttons

Votes: 14,246 | Gross: $14.00M

85. Viridiana (1961)

Not Rated | 91 min | Drama

Viridiana, a young nun about to take her final vows, pays a visit to her widowed uncle at the request of her Mother Superior.

Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Silvia Pinal, Francisco Rabal, Fernando Rey, José Calvo

Votes: 26,139

86. Sign of the Lion (1962)

103 min | Drama

A French-American in Paris lives by sponging off his working friends, and throws a party using borrowed money when his rich American aunt dies, believing firmly in his horoscope.

Director: Éric Rohmer | Stars: Jess Hahn, Michèle Girardon, Van Doude, Paul Bisciglia

Votes: 2,352

87. Wild River (1960)

Approved | 110 min | Drama, History, Romance

A TVA bureaucrat comes to the river to do what none of his predecessors have been able to do - evict a stubborn octogenarian from her island before the rising waters engulf her.

Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Montgomery Clift, Lee Remick, Jo Van Fleet, Albert Salmi

Votes: 6,184

88. The Trial (1962)

Not Rated | 119 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

An unassuming office worker is arrested and stands trial, but he is never made aware of his charges.

Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Anthony Perkins, Arnoldo Foà, Jess Hahn, Billy Kearns

Votes: 24,034

89. Through a Glass Darkly (1961)

Not Rated | 90 min | Drama

84 Metascore

Recently released from a mental hospital, Karin rejoins her emotionally disconnected family in their island home, only to slip from reality as she begins to believe she is being visited by God.

Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Harriet Andersson, Gunnar Björnstrand, Max von Sydow, Lars Passgård

Votes: 27,388

90. The Elusive Corporal (1962)

TV-PG | 90 min | Comedy, Drama, War

An upper-class corporal from Paris is captured by the Germans when they invade France in 1940. Assisted and accompanied by characters as diverse as a morose dairy farmer, a waiter, a myopic... See full summary »

Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Jean-Pierre Cassel, Claude Brasseur, O.E. Hasse, Claude Rich

Votes: 1,038

91. The Betrayer (1961)

127 min | Drama

Vanina Vanini, a bored, spoiled Roman countess, falls in love with a dedicated young patriot who is in Rome to assassinate a traitor to the brotherhood of the Free Masons.

Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Sandra Milo, Laurent Terzieff, Martine Carol, Isabelle Corey

Votes: 364

92. Contempt (1963)

Not Rated | 102 min | Drama, Romance

A French writer's marriage deteriorates while working on Fritz Lang's version of "The Odyssey", as his wife accuses him of using her to court favor with the film's brash American producer.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Brigitte Bardot, Jack Palance, Michel Piccoli, Giorgia Moll

Votes: 36,047 | Gross: $0.04M

93. The Birds (1963)

PG-13 | 119 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery

90 Metascore

A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette

Votes: 204,574 | Gross: $11.40M

94. The Exterminating Angel (1962)

Not Rated | 95 min | Drama, Fantasy

The guests at an upper-class dinner party find themselves unable to leave.

Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Silvia Pinal, Jacqueline Andere, Enrique Rambal, José Baviera

Votes: 35,553

95. Adieu Philippine (1962)

106 min | Drama, Romance

Paris, summer 1960. Michel is about to leave for Algeria for military service. He meets Liliane and Juliette, two inseparable friends. Michel goes on vacation to Corsica, where the two girls decide to join him

Director: Jacques Rozier | Stars: Jean-Claude Aimini, Daniel Descamps, Stefania Sabatini, Yveline Céry

Votes: 1,020

96. The Trial of Joan of Arc (1962)

64 min | Biography, Drama, History

A Joan of Arc's trial reconstruction concerning her imprisonment, interrogation and final execution at the hands of the English. Filmed in a spare, low-key fashion.

Director: Robert Bresson | Stars: Florence Delay, Jean-Claude Fourneau, Roger Honorat, Marc Jacquier

Votes: 5,968

97. Muriel (1963)

Not Rated | 115 min | Drama

In the seaside town of Boulogne, no one seems to be able to cope with their past, least of all Hélène, an antique furniture saleswoman, her stepson Bernard, and her former lover Alphonse.

Director: Alain Resnais | Stars: Delphine Seyrig, Jean-Pierre Kérien, Nita Klein, Jean-Baptiste Thiérrée

Votes: 3,736

98. The Nutty Professor (1963)

Not Rated | 107 min | Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi

A timid chemistry teacher discovers a magical potion that can transform him into a suave and handsome womanizer.

Director: Jerry Lewis | Stars: Jerry Lewis, Stella Stevens, Del Moore, Kathleen Freeman

Votes: 19,427 | Gross: $7.63M

99. The Carabineers (1963)

80 min | Comedy, Drama, War

During a war in an imaginary country, unscrupulous soldiers recruit poor farmers with promises of an easy and happy life. Two of these farmers write to their wives of their exploits.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Patrice Moullet, Marino Masé, Geneviève Galéa, Catherine Ribeiro

Votes: 3,614

100. Salvatore Giuliano (1962)

Not Rated | 125 min | Crime, Drama, History

The unclear and complicated twists between governal powers, independentist party and Mafia in the Sicily of the '40s culminate with the death of Salvatore Giuliano.

Director: Francesco Rosi | Stars: Frank Wolff, Salvo Randone, Frederico Zardi, Pippo Agusta

Votes: 3,707



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