The following is by no means a definitive list. Many wonderful films have been neglected. However, I have tried to compile a list that is as well-rounded as possible. I apologize for missing anyone’s favorites. My intent was to create an “essentials” list of films and performers with which aspiring theatre professionals should be familiar and conversant. In order to keep the list manageable, I have confined myself to English language films. I have also concentrated on films made before 1990- assuming that more recent films will already be better known. Enjoy!

1931 Wuthering Heights 1952 City Lights Laurence Olivier, Merl It's a Wonderful Life Singing in the Rain Charles Chaplin Oberon, David Niven James Stewart, Donna Reed, Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Ninotchka Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Donald O'Connor, Jean 1934 Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas Mitchell Hagen It Happened One Night High Noon Claudette Colbert, Clark 1940 1947 Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly Gable The Grapes of Wrath Out of the Past Twentieth Century Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, 1954 John Barrymore, Carol The Philadelphia Story Kirk Douglas On the Waterfront Lombard Cary Grant, Katherine Black Narcissus Marlon Brando, Rod Steiger, The Thin Man Hepburn, James Stewart Deborah Kerr Eva Marie Saint, Lee J Cobb, William Powell, Myrna Loy His Girl Friday Karl Malden Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell 1948 Rear Window 1935 Rebecca Hamlet James Stewart, Grace Kelly, The 39 steps Laurence Olivier, Joan Laurence Olivier, Basil Thelma Ritter Robert Donat, Madeleine Fontaine, Judith Anderson Sydney, Jean Simmons A Star is Born Carroll The Treasure of the Sierra Judy Garland, James Mason Top Hat 1941 Madre Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Citizen Kane Humpherey Bogart, Walter 1955 Edward Everett Horton Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton Huston Night of the Hunter A Night at the Opera The Maltese Falcon The Red Shoes Robert Mitchum The Marx Brothers, Margaret Humphrey Bogart, Mary Anton Walbrook, Moira Richard III Dumont Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Shearer Laurence Olivier, Ralph Greenstreet Richardson, Claire Bloom, 1938 1949 John Gielgud Bringing up Baby 1942 White Heat Bad Day at Black Rock Cary Grant, Katherine Casablanca James Cagney Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Hepburn Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid The Third Man Ernest Borgnine The Adventures of Robin Bergman, Paul Henreid, Joseph Cotton, Alida Valli, Rebel Without a Cause Hood Claude Rains Trevor Howard, Orson Welles James Dean, Natalie Wood Errol Flynn, Olivia de To Be Or Not To Be Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Jack Benny, Carol Lombard, 1950 1956 Claude Rains Lionel Atwill, Sunset Boulevard The Searchers Sig Ruman William Holden, Gloria John Wayne 1939 Swanson, Erich Von Stroheim The Court Jester Gone with the Wind 1944 All About Eve Danny Kaye, Basil Rathbone, Vivian Leigh, Clark Gable, Meet Me in Saint Louis Betty Davis, Georgie Sanders, Cecil Parker, Angela Leslie Howard, Olivia de Judy Garland Anne Baxter Lansbury, Mildred Natwick Havilland, Hattie McDaniel, Double Indemnity Thomas Mitchell Fred MacMurry, Barnard 1951 1957 Stagecoach Stanwick, Edward G. A Streetcar Named Paths of Glory John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Robinson. Desire Kirk Douglas John Carradine, Thomas Vivian Leigh, Marlon Brando, 12 Angry Men Mitchell 1946 Kim Hunter, Karl Malden Henry Fonda, Lee J Cobb, The Hunchback of Notre Notorious An Ace in the Hole EG Marshall, Martin Balsam Dame Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant, Kirk Douglas The Bridge on the River Kwai Charles Laughton, Maureen Claude Rains An American in Paris Alec Guinness, William O'Hara Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron Holden

The Sweet Smell of Success The Great Escape 1972 Apocalypse Now Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster James Garner, Steve The Godfather Martin Sheen, Fredrick McQueen, Charles Bronson, Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, Forest, Laurence Fishburn, 1958 James Coburn James Cann, Robert Duvall, Marlon Brando, Dennis Touch of Evil Dian Keaton Hopper Orson Welles, Janet Leigh, 1964 Cabaret Charlton Heston, Marlene Dr. Strangelove Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey 1980 Dietrich Peter Sellers, George C Scott, Deliverance Raging Bull Vertigo Sterling Hayden Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, James Stewart, Kim Novak Ned Beatty Long Good Friday The Defiant Ones 1966 Sleuth Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren Sidney Poitier, Tony Curtis Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf Laurence Olivier, Michael The Shining Richard Burton, Elizabeth Caine Jack Nicholson 1959 Taylor The Elephant Man North by Northwest A Man For All Seasons 1973 John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, Paul Scofield, Robert Shaw, Badlands James Mason Wendy Hiller Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek 1982 Some Like it Hot Don't Look Now Blade Runner Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, 1967 Donald Sutherland, Julie Harrison Ford, Hutger Hauer, Marilyn Monroe Bonnie and Clyde Christie Sean Young, M Emmet Walsh, Anatomy of a Murder Warren Beatty, Fay Dunaway, Edward James Olmos James Stewart, George C Gene Hackman, Michael J 1974 Tootsie Scott, Lee Remick Pollard Chinatown Dustin Hoffman, Jessica The Graduate Jack Nicholson, Fay Lange 1960 Dustin Hoffman, Anne Dunaway Gandhi Psycho Bancroft, Katherine Ross The Godfather part II Ben Kingsley Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, In the Heat of the Night Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, My Favorite Year Janet Leigh, Martin Balsam Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger John Cazale, Robert DeNiro Peter O’Toole, Mark Linn- Spartacus Cool Hand Luke The Conversation Baker Kirk Douglas, Jean Simmons, Paul Newman, George Gene Hackman, John Cazale Peter Ustinov, Charles Kennedy, Strother Martin Young Frankenstein 1984 Laughton, Laurence Oliver Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Amadeus 1968 Cloris Leachman, Marty F. Murray Abraham, Tom 1961 The Producers Feldman, Madeline Kahn Hulce The Hustler Gene Wilder, Zero Mostel Paul Newman, George C The Lion in Winter 1975 1986 Scott, Piper Laurie, Jackie Peter O'Toole, Katherine One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Blue Velvet Gleason Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins Nest Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis A Raisin in the Sun Oliver! Jack Nicholson, Louise Hopper, Isabella Rossellini Sidney Poitier Ron Moody Fletcher 1987 1962 1969 1976 Moonstruck Lawrence of Arabia Butch Cassidy and the All the President's Men Cher, Nicholas Cage, Peter O'Toole, Arthur Sundance Kid Dustin Hoffman, Robert Olympia Dukakis Kennedy, Alec Guinness, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Jason Robards Jr Omar Sharif Redford Network 1988 Lonely Are the Brave Midnight Cowboy Peter Finch, William Holden, A Fish Called Wanda Kirk Douglas, Walter Matthau Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman Fay Dunaway John Cleese, Jamie Leigh To Kill A Mockingbird Taxi Driver Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Gregory Peck 1970 Robert DeNiro Palin Long Day's Journey Into M*A*S*H Marathon Man Night Donald Sutherland, Elliot Dustin Hoffman, Laurence 1989 Ralph Richardson, Jason Gould, Robert Duvall, Tom Olivier, Roy Scheider Do the Right Thing Robards Jr, Katherine Skerritt, Sally Kellerman Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, Hepburn, Dean Stockwell 1977 Ossie Davis Annie Hall My Left Foot 1963 1971 Diane Keaton, Woody Allen Daniel Day Lewis, Brenda Hud The French Connection Flicker Paul Newman, Melvyn Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, 1979 Douglas, Patricia Neal Fernado Ray Alien 1990 Tom Jones A Clockwork Orange Sigourney Weaver, Tom Goodfellas Albert Finney, Susannah York Malcolm McDowell Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Robert DeNiro, Lorraine Bracco