Must-See Movies

The films in Must-See Movies: An Essential Guide were selected by Ward Calhoun, who has previously written stocking-filler books about cute animals (!). He really needs an editor or collaborator to remove some of the more subjective entries. He also needs to add one more film, as there are 299 films on the list whereas he was presumably aiming for an even 300. Similarly, an appendix of extra titles (More Must-See Movies) lists 201 films, rather than an even 200.

The Must-See Movies are as follows:

• Abbot & Costello Meet Frankenstein
  
• The African Queen
  
• Airplane!
  
• Alien
  
• All About Eve
  
• All Quiet On The Western Front
  
• All The President's Men
  
• Amadeus
  
• American Beauty
  
• American Graffiti
  
• An American In Paris
  
• Animal House
  
• Annie Hall
  
• The Apartment
  
• Apocalypse Now
  
• Apollo 13
  
• Arthur
  
• As Good As It Gets
  
• Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery
  
• Bad Day At Black Rock
  
• The Bad News Bears
  
• Bad Santa
  
• Bambi
  
• The Bank Dick
  
• Being There
  
• The Best Years Of Our Lives
  
• The Big Chill
  
• The Big Lebowski
  
• Big Night
  
• Blazing Saddles
  
• Blue Velvet
  
• Body Heat
  
• Bonnie & Clyde
  
• The Breakfast Club
  
• Breaking Away
  
• Breathless
  
• The Bridge On The River Kwai
  
• The Bridges Of Madison County
  
• Bringing Up Baby
  
• Bull Durham
  
• Bullitt
  
• Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
  
• Cabaret
  
• Caddyshack
  
• Casablanca
  
• Chinatown
  
• A Christmas Story
  
• Cinema Paradiso
  
• Citizen Kane
  
• A Clockwork Orange
  
• Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
  
• The Color Purple
  
• Cool Hand Luke
  
• Dances With Wolves
  
• Das Boot
  
• The Day The Earth Stood Still
  
• Days Of Heaven
  
• Dead Poets Society
  
• The Deer Hunter
  
• Defending Your Life
  
• The Departed
  
• Die Hard
  
• Diner
  
• Dirty Dancing
  
• Dirty Harry
  
• Do The Right Thing
  
• Dr Zhivago
  
• Dog Day Afternoon
  
• Double Indemnity
  
• Down By Law
  
• Dr Strangelove
  
• Dracula
  
• Duck Soup
  
• Easy Rider
  
• 8½
  
• The Endless Summer
  
• Enter The Dragon
  
• The Exorcist
  
• ET: The Extra-Terrestrial
  
• Fargo
  
• Fast Times At Ridgemont High
  
• Fatal Attraction
  
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off
  
• Field Of Dreams
  
• Fight Club
  
• A Fish Called Wanda
  
• The 40-Year-Old Virgin
  
• Forrest Gump
  
• Frankenstein
  
• The Frech Connection
  
• The Freshman
  
• From Here To Eternity
  
• Gandhi
  
• Gaslight
  
• The General
  
• Ghost
  
• Ghostbusters
  
• Gilda
  
• Gladiator
  
• Glengarry Glen Ross
  
• The Godfather
  
• The Godfather II
  
• Godzilla
  
• Goldfinger
  
• Gone With The Wind
  
• The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
  
• Good Will Hunting
  
• GoodFellas
  
• The Graduate
  
• Grand Illusion
  
• The Grapes Of Wrath
  
• Grease
  
• The Great Escape
  
• Groundhog Day
  
• Gunga Din
  
• Halloween
  
• Harold & Maude
  
• Harvey
  
• Heaven Can Wait
  
• High Noon
  
• Hoosiers
  
• Hope & Glory
  
• I Remember Mama
  
• In The Heat Of The Night
  
• It Happened One Night
  
• It's A Gift
  
• It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
  
• It's A Wonderful Life
  
• Jaws
  
• The Jerk
  
• Jerry Maguire
  
• Juno
  
• Jurassic Park
  
• The Karate Kid
  
• The Killing Fields
  
• King Kong
  
• Kiss Of Death
  
• Kramer Vs Kramer
  
• La Strada
  
• Lady & The Tramp
  
• The Last Picture Show
  
• Laura
  
• Lawrence Of Arabia
  
• Little Miss Sunshine
  
• Local Hero
  
• The Lord Of The Rings III: The Return Of The King
  
• Lost In America
  
• Lost In Translation
  
• The Lost Weekend
  
• M
  
• The Maltese Falcon
  
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
  
• The Manchurian Candidate
  
• Manhattan
  
• Mary Poppins
  
• M*A*S*H
  
• The Matrix
  
• Memento
  
• Men In Black
  
• Midnight Cowboy
  
• Midnight Run
  
• Miracle On 34th Street
  
• Mississippi Burning
  
• Mr Roberts
  
• Monty Python & The Holy Grail
  
• Moonstruck
  
• Mr Smith Goes To Washington
  
• The Muppet Movie
  
• Murphy's Romance
  
• Mutiny On The Bounty
  
• My Man Godfrey
  
• The Natural
  
• Network
  
• A Night At The Opera
  
• The Night Of The Hunter
  
• Night Of The Living Dead
  
• No Country For Old Men
  
• Norma Rae
  
• North By Northwest
  
• The Odd Couple
  
• An Officer & A Gentleman
  
• Office Space
  
• Oliver!
  
• On The Waterfront
  
• Once Upon A Time In America
  
• Once Upon A Time In The West
  
• One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
  
• Ordinary People
  
• The Out-Of-Towners
  
• The Palm Beach Story
  
• Paper Moon
  
• Patton
  
• Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
  
• The Philadelphia Story
  
• Pillow Talk
  
• The Pink Panther Strikes Again
  
• Pinocchio
  
• Planes, Trains, & Automobiles
  
• Planet Of The Apes
  
• Platoon
  
• Poltergeist
  
• The Pope Of Greenwich Village
  
• Pretty Woman
  
• The Princess Bride
  
• The Producers
  
• Psycho
  
• Pulp Fiction
  
• The Queen
  
• The Quiet Man
  
• Quiz Show
  
• Raging Bull
  
• Raiders Of The Lost Ark
  
• Rain Man
  
• A Raisin In The Sun
  
• Raising Arizona
  
• Rashomon
  
• Ray
  
• Rear Window
  
• Rebecca
  
• Rebel Without A Cause
  
• Reds
  
• Repo Man
  
• Risky Business
  
• Rocky
  
• Roman Holiday
  
• Rosemary's Baby
  
• Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
  
• The Royal Tenenbaums
  
• Saving Private Ryan
  
• Saturday Night Fever
  
• Say Anything
  
• Schindler's List
  
• The Searchers
  
• Seven
  
• Seven Samurai
  
• The Seven-Year Itch
  
• Shane
  
• The Shawshank Redemption
  
• The Shining
  
• Sideways
  
• The Silence Of The Lambs
  
• Singin' In The Rain
  
• The Sixth Sense
  
• Slap Shot
  
• Sleeper
  
• Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs
  
• A Soldier's Story
  
• Some Like It Hot
  
• Something Wild
  
• Sophie's Choice
  
• The Sound Of Music
  
• Spartacus
  
• Spirited Away
  
• Stagecoach
  
• Stalag 17
  
• Stand By Me
  
• Star Wars IV: A New Hope
  
• The Sting
  
• A Streetcar Named Desire
  
• Stripes
  
• Sullivan's Travels
  
• Sunset Boulevard
  
• Superman: The Movie
  
• Sweet Smell Of Success
  
• The Taking Of Pelham 123
  
• Taxi Driver
  
• The Ten Commandments
  
• The Terminator
  
• Terms Of Endearment
  
• The Third Man
  
• This Is Spinal Tap
  
• Titanic
  
• To Kill A Mockingbird
  
• Tootsie
  
• Toy Story
  
• Trading Places
  
• The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre
  
• 12 Angry Men
  
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
  
• The Usual Suspects
  
• The Verdict
  
• Vertigo
  
• Vision Quest
  
• The Wages Of Fear
  
• Waiting For Guffman
  
• West Side Story
  
• When Harry Met Sally
  
• White Heat
  
• Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
  
• The Wild Bunch
  
• Wild Strawberries
  
• Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory
  
• The Wizard Of Oz
  
• Wonder Boys
  
• Working Girl
  
• Wuthering Heights
  
• Yankee Doodle Dandy
  
• Young Frankenstein
  
• Zorba The Greek

(Several remakes are included, all of which are more famous than the originals: Cecil B de Mille's sound version of The Ten Commandments, the James Cameron version of Titanic, the James Whale version of Frankenstein, and the John Huston version of The Maltese Falcon. Also, Some Like It Hot is the 1959 comic masterpiece, not the obscure 1939 comedy.)