Category Archives: Top Ten Lists

I have now watched 116 films that were released in 1962.  A complete list can be found here.  It was a strong year and I had 19 films for my favorites list.   They could have been sliced and diced in any number of ways – I aimed for a balance between List and non-List films.  The  films I reluctantly left off my Top Ten were: An Autumn Afternoon; Advise and Consent; Sanjuro; Gypsy; The Music Man; Jules and Jim; The Longest Day; Cape Fear; and Vive le tour .  The list is no particular order though Harakiri would remain at the top no matter how I compiled the list.

10.  A Long Day’s Journey Into Night – directed by Sidney Lumet

9.  Whatever Happened to Baby Jane – directed by Robert Aldrich

8.  The Days of Wine and Roses – directed by Blake Edwards

7.  Cleo from 5 to 7 – directed by Agnes Varda

6.  The Manchurian Candidate – directed by John Frankenheimer

5.  The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner – directed by Tony Richardson

4.  To Kill a Mockingbird– directed by Robert Mulligan

3.  The Miracle Worker – directed by Arthur Penn

2.  Lawrence of Arabia – directed by David Lean

Harakiri – directed by Masaki Kobayashi

I have now watched 102 films that were released in 1961.  A complete list can be found here.  It was an average year and I had 12 films for my favorites list.   The two films I didn’t have room for are: Leon Morin, Priest and Judgement at Nuremberg.  The list is no particular order.  I had a hard time deciding whether to put The Hustler or Yojimbo in first place and used my usual tie-breaker – if I could rewatch only one of the films it would be Yojimbo.

10.  Il Posto – directed by Ermanno Olmi

9.  The Steamroller and the Violin – directed by Andrei Tarkovsky

8.  West Side Story – directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins

7.  The Innocents – directed by Jack Clayton

6.  A Raisin in the Sun – directed by Daniel Petrie

5.  The End of Summer – directed by Yasujiro Ozu

4.  Through a Glass Darkly – directed by Ingmar Bergman

3. Divorce Italian Style – directed by Pietro Germi

2.  The Hustler – directed by Robert Rossen

1. Yojimbo – directed by Akira Kurasawa

I have now watched 100 films that were released in 1960.  A complete list can be found here.  It was a great year and I have 17 films for my favorites list.  This may be the first year that the Best Picture winner is also my very favorite film of the year.  Excellent films I didn’t have room for are: The Bad Sleep Well; Wild River; Shoot the Piano Player; The Virgin Spring; Inherit the Wind; Two Women; and Late Autumn.  The list is no particular order, though I can’t think of anything that would move The Apartment out of the top slot!

I am having a family medical emergency (not my own) so it may be awhile until I start 1961.

10.  The Naked Island – directed by Kineto Shindo

9.  Psycho – directed by Alfred Hitchcock

8.  Peeping Tom – directed by Michael Powell

7.  Purple Noon – directed by Rene Clement

6. Le Trou – directed by Jacques Becker

5.  Rocco and His Brothers – Luchino Visconti

4.  L’Avventura – directed by Michelangelo Antonioni

3.  When a Woman Ascends the Stairs – directed by Mikio Naruse

2.  La Dolce Vita – directed by Federico Fellini

The Apartment – directed by Billy Wilder

I have now seen 91 films that were released in 1958.  While the year had its definite pleasures in the mid-range, it was a bit weak at the top end.  I have only two films left over at 9/10 for the also-ran list.  They are The Ballad of Narayama and The Defiant Ones.  The ranking doesn’t mean much except for the top two.  This is the first year in which the majority of films on my list were in living color! A complete list of the films I watched can be found here.

10.  Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – directed by Elia Kazan

9.  Gigi – directed by Vincente Minnelli

8.  Equinox Flower – directed by Yasujiro Ozu

7.  The Music Room – directed by Satyajit Ray

6.  Ashes and Diamonds – directed by Andrzej Wajda

5.  Damn Yankees! – directed by George Abbott and Stanley Donen

4.  Elevator to the Gallows – directed by Louis Malle

3.  Vertigo – directed by Alfred Hitchcock

2.  Mon Oncle – directed by Jacques Tati

1.  Touch of Evil – directed by Orson Welles

I have now watched 92 films that were released in 1957.  They can be found here.

1957 was a year full of riches.  The films proved to be impossible for me to rank so the numbers should be ignored.

Worthy favorites that did not make my list are:  Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison; The Lower Depths; The Pajama Game; Curse of the Demon; Le Notti Bianche; 3:10 to Yuma; Tokyo Twilight; and The Incredible Shrinking Man.

10.  Kanal – directed by Andrezej Wadja

9.  Throne of Blood – directed by Akira Kurosawa

8.  12 Angry Men – directed by Sidney Lumet

7.  The Bridge on the River Kwai – directed by David Lean

6.  A Face in the Crowd – directed by Elia Kazan

5.  Wild Strawberries – directed by Ingmar Bergman

4.  Paths of Glory – directed by Stanley Kubrick

3. Sweet Smell of Success – directed by Alexander MacKendrick

2.  Nights of Cabiria – directed by Federico Fellini

1. The Seventh Seal – directed by Ingmar Bergman

I have now watched 102 films released in 1956.  The complete list is here. My new randomized viewing schedule worked in keeping me interested.  1956 is not noted as a “great” year in film history but I ended it with too many films I rated 9/10 or above to fit on my list of personal favorites.  I had a hard time selecting among them or ranking them. Also rans were:  Attack; Patterns; Somebody Up There Likes Me; Street of Shame; Le mystere Picasso; Early Spring; A Town Like Alice; and Secrets of Life.  Note:  I am saving my review of Moby Dick for the upcoming Animals in Film blogathon.  Totals include that film.  I will revise this post if necessary.

10.  Baby Doll – directed by Elia Kazan

9.  The King and I – directed by Walter Lang

8.  Bigger Than Life – directed by Nicholas Ray

7.  The Killing – directed by Stanley Kubrick

6. Invasion of the Body Snatchers – directed by Don Siegel

5.  Aparajito – directed by Satyajit Ray

4.  The Bad Seed – directed by Mervyn LeRoy

3.  The Burmese Harp – directed by Kon Ichikawa

2.  The Red Balloon – directed by Albert Lamorisse

1.  The Searchers – directed by John Ford

I’ve now seen 80 films that were released in 1955.  A few were reviewed only here.  It was quite a deep year with 59 available films rated 7/10 or higher by IMDb users.  Lately, I have thought that it would never end!  That’s not to say that I didn’t watch many fantastic films – too many to fit all the films I rated 9/10 or over in this favorites list.  Also rans were: Richard III; The Desperate Hours; Night and Fog; All That Heaven Allows; Oklahoma!; Marty; and Rebel Without a Cause.

10.  Diabolique – directed by Georges-Henri Clouzot

9.  The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz – directed by Luis Buñuel

8.  Rififi – directed by Jules Dassin

7.  Bad Day at Black Rock – directed by John Sturges

6.  The Big Combo – directed by Joseph Lewis

5.  Night of the Hunter – directed by Charles Laughton

4.  The Ladykillers – directed by Alexander Mackendrick

3. Pather Panchali – directed by Satyajit Ray

2.  Ordet – directed by Carl Th. Dreyer

1.Smiles of a Summer Night – directed by Ingmar Bergman