The Story of Film - An Odyssey
by kaleydoskop | created - 07 Apr 2016 | updated - 07 Apr 2016 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
G | 103 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his delusionally jealous screen partner are trying to make the difficult transition to talking pictures in 1920s Hollywood.
Directors: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly | Stars: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen
Votes: 260,877 | Gross: $8.82M
2. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
R | 169 min | Drama, War
Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns
Votes: 1,497,631 | Gross: $216.54M
3. Three Colors: Blue (1993)
R | 94 min | Drama, Music, Mystery
A woman struggles to find a way to live her life after the death of her husband and child.
Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski | Stars: Juliette Binoche, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Julie Delpy, Benoît Régent
Votes: 110,582 | Gross: $1.32M
4. Casablanca (1942)
PG | 102 min | Drama, Romance, War
A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
Votes: 606,426 | Gross: $1.02M
5. Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947)
72 min | Drama
A young boy follows Tashiro home to his tenement housing complex on the outskirts of Tokyo, the boy who was separated from his carpenter father somehow and somewhere in Kudan. All Tashiro ... See full summary »
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Chôko Iida, Hôhi Aoki, Eitarô Ozawa, Mitsuko Yoshikawa
Votes: 2,253
6. Odd Man Out (1947)
Approved | 116 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A wounded Irish nationalist leader attempts to evade police following a failed robbery in Belfast.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: James Mason, Robert Newton, Cyril Cusack, F.J. McCormick
Votes: 11,428
7. 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967)
Not Rated | 87 min | Comedy, Drama
A day in the life of a Parisian housewife/prostitute, interspersed with musings on the Vietnam War and other contemporary issues.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Jean-Luc Godard, Yves Beneyton, Juliet Berto, Helena Bielicic
Votes: 8,534 | Gross: $0.10M
8. Taxi Driver (1976)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama
A mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Albert Brooks
Votes: 921,620 | Gross: $28.26M
9. The French Connection (1971)
R | 104 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A pair of NYPD detectives in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a heroin smuggling ring based in Marseilles, but stopping them and capturing their leaders proves an elusive goal.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey, Tony Lo Bianco
Votes: 135,815 | Gross: $15.63M
10. Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge (1888)
1 min | Documentary, Short
A shot of people walking on The Leeds Bridge.
Director: Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince
Votes: 3,299
11. Leaving the Factory (1895)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
Workers leaving the Lumière factory for lunch in Lyon, France in 1895; a place of great photographic innovation and one of the birth places of cinema.
Director: Louis Lumière
Votes: 7,558
12. The Arrival of a Train (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
A train arrives at La Ciotat station.
Directors: Auguste Lumière, Louis Lumière | Stars: Madeleine Koehler, Marcel Koehler, Mrs. Auguste Lumiere, Jeanne-Joséphine Lumière
Votes: 12,880
13. Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1895)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
Annabelle (Whitford) Moore performs one of her popular dance routines. She uses her dance steps and her long, flowing skirts to create a variety of visual patterns.
Directors: William K.L. Dickson, William Heise | Star: Annabelle Moore
Votes: 2,406
14. Sandow (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Sport
Strong-man Eugene (Eugen) Sandow poses in a long shot on a bare stage against a black background, wearing only tight trunks and laced sandals. He begins with his arms folded against his ... See full summary »
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Star: Eugen Sandow
Votes: 1,078
15. What Happened on Twenty-third Street, New York City (1901)
Not Rated | 1 min | Short, Comedy
A winner and sure to please. In front of one of the largest newspaper offices is a hot air shaft through which immense volumes of air are forced by a blower. Ladies in crossing this shaft ... See full summary »
Directors: George S. Fleming, Edwin S. Porter | Stars: A.C. Abadie, Florence Georgie
Votes: 1,124
16. Cinderella (1899)
Not Rated | 6 min | Short, Drama, Family
A fairy godmother magically turns Cinderella's rags to a beautiful dress, and a pumpkin into a coach. Cinderella goes to the ball, where she meets the Prince - but will she remember to leave before the magic runs out?
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Mlle Barral, Bleuette Bernon, Carmelli, Jehanne d'Alcy
Votes: 1,809
17. The Astronomer's Dream; or, the Man in the Moon (1898)
Not Rated | 3 min | Short, Comedy, Fantasy
An astronomer falls asleep and has a strange dream involving a fairy queen and the Moon.
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Jehanne d'Alcy, Georges Méliès
Votes: 4,733
18. A Kiss in the Tunnel (I) (1899)
1 min | Short, Comedy, Romance
A humorous subject intended to be run as a part of a railroad scene during the period in which the train is passing through a tunnel.
Director: George Albert Smith | Stars: Laura Bayley, George Albert Smith
Votes: 1,697
19. Shoah (1985)
Not Rated | 566 min | Documentary, History, War
Claude Lanzmann's epic documentary recounts the story of the Holocaust through interviews with witnesses - perpetrators as well as survivors.
Director: Claude Lanzmann | Stars: Simon Srebnik, Michael Podchlebnik, Motke Zaïdl, Hanna Zaïdl
Votes: 10,561 | Gross: $0.02M
20. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
G | 149 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
After uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter
Votes: 720,165 | Gross: $56.95M
21. The Sick Kitten (1903)
1 min | Short, Comedy, Family
A girl gives a spoonful of medicine to a kitten.
Director: George Albert Smith
Votes: 1,156
22. October (Ten Days that Shook the World) (1927)
95 min | Drama, History
A large-scale view on the events of 1917 in Russia, when the monarchy was overthrown.
Directors: Grigoriy Aleksandrov, Sergei Eisenstein | Stars: Boris Livanov, Nikolay Popov, Vasili Nikandrov, Layaschenko
Votes: 8,455
23. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
PG-13 | 166 min | Western
A mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards
Votes: 349,299 | Gross: $5.32M
24. The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight (1897)
100 min | Documentary, News, Sport
Documentary film depicting the 1897 boxing match between James J. Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons in Carson City, Nevada on St. Patrick's Day. Originally running for more than 100 minutes, it is the world's first feature film.
Director: Enoch J. Rector | Stars: James J. Corbett, Bob Fitzsimmons, Billy Madden, George Siler
Votes: 513
25. Life of an American Fireman (1903)
Not Rated | 6 min | Short, Action
A fireman rushes into a carriage to rescue a woman from a house fire. He breaks the windowpanes and carries the woman to safety; after dangerous and uncertain moments he also saves the woman's son.
Directors: George S. Fleming, Edwin S. Porter | Stars: Edwin S. Porter, Vivian Vaughan, Arthur White, James H. White
Votes: 2,709
26. Sherlock Jr. (1924)
Passed | 45 min | Action, Comedy, Romance
A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meagre skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch.
Director: Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton, Erwin Connelly
Votes: 57,099 | Gross: $0.98M
27. The Runaway Horse (1908)
Not Rated | 7 min | Short, Action, Comedy
A laundry man parks his horse-drawn cart to make a delivery. While he is inside, his horse sees a bag of oats and starts to eat them. By the time the man comes back outside, the horse has ... See full summary »
Director: Louis J. Gasnier
Votes: 484
28. The Assassination of the Duke de Guise (1908)
15 min | Short, History, Drama
France, at the end of the sixteenth century. Henry III decided to eliminate his rival, the Duke of Guise, and, therefore, calls him in the castle of Blois. The mistress of the duke, warned ... See full summary »
Directors: André Calmettes, Charles Le Bargy | Stars: Charles Le Bargy, Albert Lambert, Gabrielle Robinne, Berthe Bovy
Votes: 783
29. 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: 35,022
30. Those Awful Hats (1909)
Not Rated | 5 min | Comedy, Short
Set in an early cinema house, this comic short illustrates the problems with the gals' hats obscuring the movie patron's line of vision.
Director: D.W. Griffith | Stars: Linda Arvidson, John R. Cumpson, Flora Finch, George Gebhardt
Votes: 1,285
31. The Mended Lute (1909)
11 min | Western, Short
Rising Moon loves Little Bear, but her father prefers Standing Rock, a richer suitor. Standing Rock takes her to his teepee under guard, but she escapes and joins Little Bear as they attempt to escape.
Director: D.W. Griffith | Stars: Florence Lawrence, Frank Powell, Owen Moore, James Kirkwood
Votes: 306
32. The Woman Always Pays (1910)
38 min | Short, Drama
At a tramcar in Copenhagen the piano teacher Magda Vang meets the young man Knud Svane, who falls in love with her. She is invited to spend the summer with him and his parents at the ... See full summary »
Director: Urban Gad | Stars: Asta Nielsen, Robert Dinesen, Poul Reumert, Hans Neergaard
Votes: 1,036
33. Stage Struck (1925)
70 min | Comedy
A young woman dreams of becoming a great actress. When her boyfriend starts to flirt with an actual actress, she becomes jealous and decides to fight with her rival.
Director: Allan Dwan | Stars: Gloria Swanson, Lawrence Gray, Gertrude Astor, Oliver Sandys
Votes: 1,066 | Gross: $0.24M
34. Sealed Orders (1914)
84 min | Drama, Mystery
On the brink of war, Lt. van Hauen is summoned to take command of the cruiser, but due to unforeseen events, he is wrongfully convicted as a traitor.
Director: Benjamin Christensen | Stars: Benjamin Christensen, Karen Caspersen, Otto Reinwald, Fritz Lamprecht
Votes: 688
35. Häxan (1922)
Not Rated | 91 min | Documentary, Fantasy, Horror
Fictionalized documentary showing the evolution of witchcraft, from its pagan roots to its confusion with hysteria in Eastern Europe.
Director: Benjamin Christensen | Stars: Benjamin Christensen, Elisabeth Christensen, Maren Pedersen, Clara Pontoppidan
Votes: 16,746
36. Ingeborg Holm (1913)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama
Financial struggles separate a single mother from her children.
Director: Victor Sjöström | Stars: Hilda Borgström, Georg Grönroos, Aron Lindgren, William Larsson
Votes: 1,432
37. The Phantom Carriage (1921)
Not Rated | 107 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
On New Year's Eve, the driver of a ghostly carriage forces a drunken man to reflect on his selfish, wasted life.
Director: Victor Sjöström | Stars: Victor Sjöström, Hilda Borgström, Tore Svennberg, Astrid Holm
Votes: 14,100
38. Shanghai Express (1932)
Approved | 82 min | Adventure, Drama, Film-Noir
A notorious woman rides a train through a dangerous situation with a British captain she loved.
Director: Josef von Sternberg | Stars: Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong, Warner Oland
Votes: 10,343
39. The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906)
Not Rated | 70 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
Originally 70 minutes in running time, only 17 minutes of the world's first full-length narrative feature film survived in stills and other fragments and tell the story of Ned Kelly, an infamous 19th-century Australian outlaw.
Director: Charles Tait | Stars: Elizabeth Tait, John Tait, Nicholas Brierley, Norman Campbell
Votes: 900
40. The Squaw Man (1918)
60 min | Drama, Western
Captain Wynnegate leaves England, accepting the blame for embezzling charity funds though knowing that his cousin Sir Henry is guilty. Out West he and the Indian girl Nat-U-Rich save each ... See full summary »
Director: Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: Elliott Dexter, Ann Little, Katherine MacDonald, Theodore Roberts
Votes: 45 | Gross: $0.62M
41. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
PG | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After the Rebel Alliance are overpowered by the Empire, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,381,069 | Gross: $290.48M
42. Falling Leaves (1912)
Not Rated | 12 min | Short, Drama
Trixie believe the only way she can save her older sister from dying of tuberculosis is by preventing the autumn leaves from falling, so one night she steals into the garden in her nightie and fastens fallen leaves to branches with twine.
Director: Alice Guy | Stars: Mace Greenleaf, Blanche Cornwall, Marian Swayne, Magda Foy
Votes: 1,654
43. Suspense (1913)
Not Rated | 10 min | Short, Drama, Horror
Abandoned by her maidservant in an isolated country house, a mother must protect herself and her baby from an invading tramp while her husband races home in a stolen car to save them.
Directors: Phillips Smalley, Lois Weber | Stars: Lois Weber, Val Paul, Douglas Gerrard, Sam Kaufman
Votes: 2,190
44. The Wind (1928)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
A frail young woman from the East moves in with her cousin in the West, where she causes tension within the family and is slowly driven mad.
Director: Victor Sjöström | Stars: Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson, Montagu Love, Dorothy Cumming
Votes: 7,163
45. Rescued from an Eagle's Nest (1908)
Not Rated | 8 min | Action, Short
A family is terrified when an eagle carries off its young child.
Director: J. Searle Dawley | Stars: Miss Earle, Jinnie Frazer, D.W. Griffith, Henry B. Walthall
Votes: 860
46. The House with Closed Shutters (1910)
Not Rated | 17 min | Short, Drama, War
A Confederate soldier shames his mother and sister by going AWOL during battle. His sister takes his place, with tragic results, leaving him to live out his life in shame, hiding to protect his family name.
Director: D.W. Griffith | Stars: Henry B. Walthall, Dorothy West, Grace Henderson, Charles West
Votes: 583
47. Way Down East (1920)
Passed | 145 min | Drama, Romance
A naive country girl is tricked into a sham marriage by a wealthy womanizer, then must rebuild her life despite the taint of having borne a child out of wedlock.
Director: D.W. Griffith | Stars: Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess, Mrs. David Landau, Lowell Sherman
Votes: 5,901 | Gross: $4.50M
48. Orphans of the Storm (1921)
Not Rated | 150 min | Drama, History, Romance
Two orphaned sisters are caught up in the turmoil of the French Revolution, encountering misery and love along the way.
Director: D.W. Griffith | Stars: Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, Joseph Schildkraut, Frank Losee
Votes: 5,482 | Gross: $0.79M
49. The Birth of a Nation (1915)
TV-PG | 195 min | Drama, History, War
The Stoneman family finds its friendship with the Camerons affected by the Civil War, both fighting in opposite armies. The development of the war in their lives plays through to Lincoln's assassination and the birth of the Ku Klux Klan.
Director: D.W. Griffith | Stars: Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall, Miriam Cooper
Votes: 26,354 | Gross: $10.00M
50. Rebirth of a Nation (2007)
100 min | Documentary
Director: DJ Spooky | Star: Stien Davis
Votes: 78
51. Cabiria (1914)
Not Rated | 148 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Cabiria is a Roman child when her home is destroyed by a volcano. Sold in Carthage to be sacrificed in a temple, she is saved by Fulvio, a Roman spy. But danger lurks, and hatred between Rome and Carthage can only lead to war.
Director: Giovanni Pastrone | Stars: Italia Almirante-Manzini, Lidia Quaranta, Bartolomeo Pagano, Carolina Catena
Votes: 3,959
52. Intolerance (1916)
Passed | 163 min | Drama, History
The story of a poor young woman separated by prejudice from her husband and baby is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
Director: D.W. Griffith | Stars: Lillian Gish, Robert Harron, Mae Marsh, F.A. Turner
Votes: 16,731 | Gross: $2.18M
53. Souls on the Road (1921)
91 min | Drama
A small town boy dreams of being a famous fiddler; meanwhile, two convicts escape from prison and hide in the woods
Director: Minoru Murata | Stars: Kaoru Osanai, Haruko Sawamura, Denmei Suzuki, Mikiko Hisamatsu
Votes: 229
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