The Bare Essentials: The Core, the Cult and the Common
Similar to my list Essential Cinema but condensed even further.
Core being important films in history.
Cult being the cult classic.
Common being the popular movies everyone knows and talks about.
All essential.
Core being important films in history.
Cult being the cult classic.
Common being the popular movies everyone knows and talks about.
All essential.
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- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsVictor AndréBleuette BernonA group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLillian GishMae MarshHenry B. WalthallThe 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.Core
- DirectorRobert WieneStarsWerner KraussConrad VeidtFriedrich FeherHypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.Core
- DirectorVictor SjöströmStarsVictor SjöströmHilda BorgströmTore SvennbergOn New Year's Eve, the driver of a ghostly carriage forces a drunken man to reflect on his selfish, wasted life.
- DirectorRobert J. FlahertyStarsAllakariallakAlice NevalingaCunayouIn this silent predecessor to the modern documentary, film-maker Robert J. Flaherty spends one year following the lives of Nanook and his family, Inuits living in the Arctic Circle.Core
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsMax SchreckAlexander GranachGustav von WangenheimVampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter's wife.Core
- DirectorSergei EisensteinStarsAleksandr AntonovVladimir BarskiyGrigoriy AleksandrovIn the midst of the Russian Revolution of 1905, the crew of the battleship Potemkin mutiny against the brutal, tyrannical regime of the vessel's officers. The resulting street demonstration in Odessa brings on a police massacre.Core. Early Soviet Montage Cinema.
- DirectorErich von StroheimStarsGibson GowlandZasu PittsJean HersholtThe sudden fortune won from a lottery fans such destructive greed that it ruins the lives of the three people involved.TEMP
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinMack SwainTom MurrayA prospector goes to the Klondike during the 1890s gold rush in hopes of making his fortune, and is smitten with a girl he sees in a dance hall.Core
- DirectorClyde BruckmanBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonMarion MackGlen CavenderAfter being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines.Core
- DirectorFritz LangStarsBrigitte HelmAlfred AbelGustav FröhlichIn a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.Core
- DirectorAbel GanceStarsAlbert DieudonnéVladimir RoudenkoEdmond Van DaëleA film about the French general's youth and early military career.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsGeorge O'BrienJanet GaynorMargaret LivingstonA sophisticated city woman seduces a farmer and convinces him to murder his wife and join her in the city, but he ends up rekindling his romance with his wife when he changes his mind at the last moment.Core
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsMaria FalconettiEugene SilvainAndré BerleyIn 1431, Jeanne d'Arc is placed on trial on charges of heresy. The ecclesiastical jurists attempt to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions.Core
- DirectorDziga VertovStarsMikhail KaufmanElizaveta SvilovaA man travels around a city with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling invention.Core
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsPierre BatcheffSimone MareuilLuis BuñuelLuis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí present 16 minutes of bizarre, surreal imagery.Core
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsLew AyresLouis WolheimJohn WrayA German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsColin CliveMae ClarkeBoris KarloffDr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsPeter LorreEllen WidmannInge LandgutWhen the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.Core
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxRufus T. Firefly is named the dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of his wealthy backer Mrs. Teasdale, contending with two inept spies who can't seem to keep straight which side they're on.Core
- DirectorMerian C. CooperErnest B. SchoedsackStarsFay WrayRobert ArmstrongBruce CabotA film crew goes to a tropical island for a location shoot, where they capture a colossal ape who takes a shine to their blonde starlet, and bring him back to New York City.Core/Common
- DirectorJean VigoStarsDita ParloJean DastéGilles MargaritisNewly married couple Juliette and a ship captain Jean struggle through marriage as they travel on the L'atalante along with the captain's first mate Le père Jules and a cabin boy.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsClark GableClaudette ColbertWalter ConnollyA rogue reporter trailing a runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops along the way.Core
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinPaulette GoddardHenry BergmanThe Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman.Core
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsJean GabinDita ParloPierre FresnayDuring WWI, two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German P.O.W. camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are eventually sent to a seemingly inescapable fortress.
- DirectorWilliam CottrellDavid HandWilfred JacksonStarsAdriana CaselottiHarry StockwellLucille La VerneExiled into the dangerous forest by her wicked stepmother, a princess is rescued by seven dwarf miners who make her part of their household.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsKatharine HepburnCary GrantCharles RugglesWhile trying to secure a $1 million donation for his museum, a befuddled paleontologist is pursued by a flighty and often irritating heiress and her pet leopard, Baby.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneClaire TrevorAndy DevineA group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.
- DirectorVictor FlemingGeorge CukorSam WoodStarsClark GableVivien LeighThomas MitchellA sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.Core/Common
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.Core/Common
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsMarcel DalioNora GregorPaulette DubostA bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II, as the rich and their poor servants meet up at a French chateau.Core
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaJane DarwellJohn CarradineAn Oklahoma family, driven off their farm by the poverty and hopelessness of the Dust Bowl, joins the westward migration to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.
- DirectorJames AlgarSamuel ArmstrongFord Beebe Jr.StarsLeopold StokowskiDeems TaylorThe Philadelphia OrchestraA series of eight famous pieces of classical music, conducted by Leopold Stokowski and interpreted in animation by Walt Disney's team of artists.TEMP
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenDorothy ComingoreFollowing the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'Core
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartMary AstorGladys GeorgeSan Francisco private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar and their quest for a priceless statuette, with the stakes rising after his partner is murdered.Core
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsBarbara StanwyckHenry FondaCharles CoburnA trio of classy card sharks targets a socially awkward brewery heir, until one of them falls in love with him.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsJoel McCreaVeronica LakeRobert WarwickHollywood director John L. Sullivan sets out to experience life as a homeless person in order to gain relevant life experience for his next movie.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsCarole LombardJack BennyRobert StackDuring the German occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.
- DirectorOtto PremingerRouben MamoulianStarsGene TierneyDana AndrewsClifton WebbA police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he is investigating.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsFred MacMurrayBarbara StanwyckEdward G. RobinsonA Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsHumphrey BogartIngrid BergmanPaul HenreidA 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.Core
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsCelia JohnsonTrevor HowardStanley HollowayMeeting a stranger in a railway station, a woman is tempted to cheat on her husband.TEMP
- DirectorSergei EisensteinStarsNikolay CherkasovLyudmila TselikovskayaSerafima BirmanDuring 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.
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsArlettyJean-Louis BarraultPierre BrasseurThe theatrical life of a beautiful courtesan in 1830s Paris and the four men who love her.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDavid NivenKim HunterRobert CooteA British wartime aviator who cheats death must argue for his life before a celestial court, hoping to prolong his fledgling romance with an American girl.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsJames StewartDonna ReedLionel BarrymoreAn angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaLinda DarnellVictor MatureAfter their cattle are stolen and their brother murdered, the Earp brothers have a score to settle with the Clanton family.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsHumphrey BogartLauren BacallJohn RidgelyPrivate detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy family. Before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail and what might be love.
- DirectorJean CocteauRené ClémentStarsJean MaraisJosette DayMila ParélyA beautiful young woman takes her father's place as the prisoner of a mysterious beast, who wishes to marry her.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantIngrid BergmanClaude RainsThe daughter of a convicted German spy is asked by American agents to gather information on a ring of German scientists in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them?TEMP
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsMyrna LoyDana AndrewsFredric MarchThree World War II veterans, two of them traumatized or disabled, return home to the American midwest to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsJohn MillsValerie HobsonTony WagerA humble orphan boy in 1810s Kent is given the opportunity to go to London and become a gentleman, with the help of an unknown benefactor.TEMP
- DirectorVittorio De SicaStarsLamberto MaggioraniEnzo StaiolaLianella CarellIn post-war Italy, a working-class man's bicycle is stolen, endangering his efforts to find work. He and his son set out to find it.Core
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsAnton WalbrookMarius GoringMoira ShearerA young ballet dancer is torn between the man she loves and her pursuit to become a prima ballerina.Core
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartWalter HustonTim HoltTwo down-on-their-luck Americans searching for work in 1920s Mexico convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.Core
- DirectorRoberto RosselliniStarsAnna MagnaniAldo FabriziMarcello PaglieroDuring the Nazi occupation of Rome in 1944, the Resistance leader, Giorgio Manfredi, is chased by the Nazis as he seeks refuge and a way to escape.Core
- DirectorRobert HamerStarsDennis PriceAlec GuinnessValerie HobsonA distant poor relative of the Duke D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenAlida ValliPulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.Core
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsBette DavisAnne BaxterGeorge SandersA seemingly timid but secretly ruthless ingénue insinuates herself into the lives of an aging Broadway star and her circle of theater friends.Core
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMachiko KyôMasayuki MoriThe rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband are recalled from the perspectives of a bandit, the bride, the samurai's ghost and a woodcutter.Core
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsWilliam HoldenGloria SwansonErich von StroheimA screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.Core
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsAlfonso MejíaRoberto CoboEstela IndaA 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.
- DirectorVincente MinnelliStarsGene KellyLeslie CaronOscar LevantThree friends struggle to find work in Paris. Things become more complicated when two of them fall in love with the same woman.
- DirectorStanley DonenGene KellyStarsGene KellyDonald O'ConnorDebbie ReynoldsA 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.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTakashi ShimuraNobuo KanekoShin'ichi HimoriA bureaucrat tries to find meaning in his life after he discovers he has terminal cancer.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsGary CooperGrace KellyThomas MitchellA town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon train.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûChieko HigashiyamaSô YamamuraAn old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city, but receive little attention.Core
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsMasayuki MoriMachiko KyôKinuyo TanakaA tale of ambition, family, love, and war set in the midst of the Japanese Civil Wars of the sixteenth century.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsAlan LaddJean ArthurVan HeflinA weary gunfighter in 1880s Wyoming begins to envision a quieter life after befriending a homestead family with a young son who idolizes him, but a smoldering range war forces him to act.Core
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsYves MontandCharles VanelPeter van EyckIn a decrepit South American village, four men are hired to transport an urgent nitroglycerine shipment without the equipment that would make it safe.Core
- DirectorFederico FelliniStarsAnthony QuinnGiulietta MasinaRichard BasehartA care-free girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsJoan CrawfordSterling HaydenMercedes McCambridgeAfter helping a wounded gang member, a strong-willed female saloon owner is wrongly suspected of murder and bank robbery by a lynch mob.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraKeiko TsushimaFarmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartGrace KellyWendell CoreyA 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.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsMarlon BrandoKarl MaldenLee J. CobbAn ex-prize fighter turned New Jersey longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses, including his older brother, as he starts to connect with the grieving sister of one of the syndicate's victims.Core
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsTakashi ShimuraAkihiko HirataAkira TakaradaAmerican nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable dinosaur-like beast.Common TEMP
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsKinuyo TanakaYoshiaki HanayagiKyôko KagawaIn 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.Core
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsKanu BannerjeeKaruna BannerjeeSubir BanerjeeImpoverished priest Harihar Ray, dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsRalph MeekerAlbert DekkerPaul StewartA doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious "great whatsit".
- DirectorCharles LaughtonStarsRobert MitchumShelley WintersLillian GishA self-proclaimed preacher marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real dad hid the $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.Core
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsHenrik MalbergEmil Hass ChristensenPreben Lerdorff RyeFollows 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.
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsSimone SignoretVéra ClouzotPaul MeurisseThe wife and mistress of a loathed school principal plan to murder him with what they believe is the perfect alibi.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsJames DeanNatalie WoodSal MineoA rebellious young man with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies.
- DirectorDon SiegelStarsKevin McCarthyDana WynterLarry GatesA small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneJeffrey HunterVera MilesAn American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.Core
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsFrançois LeterrierCharles Le ClaincheMaurice BeerblockA captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from a German prison in France.
- DirectorFederico FelliniStarsGiulietta MasinaFrançois PérierFranca MarziA waifish prostitute wanders the streets of Rome looking for true love but finds only heartbreak.
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsBurt LancasterTony CurtisSusan HarrisonPowerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsHenry FondaLee J. CobbMartin BalsamThe 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.Core/Common
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsWilliam HoldenAlec GuinnessJack HawkinsBritish POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.Core
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKirk DouglasRalph MeekerAdolphe MenjouAfter a failed attack on a German position, a general orders three soldiers, chosen at random, court-martialed for cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.Core
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMax von SydowGunnar BjörnstrandBengt EkerotA 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.Core
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsVictor SjöströmBibi AnderssonIngrid ThulinAfter living a life marked by coldness, an aging professor is forced to confront the emptiness of his existence.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartKim NovakBarbara Bel GeddesA 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.Core
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsCharlton HestonOrson WellesJanet LeighA stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping and police corruption in a Mexican border town.Core
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsMarilyn MonroeTony CurtisJack LemmonAfter two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.Core
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantEva Marie SaintJames MasonA New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.Core
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsMartin LaSalleMarika GreenJean PélégriMichel 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.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsJohn WayneDean MartinRicky NelsonA 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.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsEmmanuelle RivaEiji OkadaStella DassasA 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.