The Kid
Year Released: 1921 The oldest and only silent film on our list so far, The Kid is a black and white film starring the legendary Charlie Chaplin in his first full-length feature. But Chaplin wasn’t just the star of the show, he also wrote, directed, and produced it.
Critics had nothing but wonderful things to say about it upon its release, including one review in Theatre Magazine that said, “The Kid may be counted as a screen masterpiece.”
Rebecca
Year Released: 1940 Next on our list is an Alfred Hitchcock film. This time, it’s for his 1940 picture, Rebecca. This was actually Hitchcock’s first American-made movie, and by far one of his best.
Rebecca won several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture (the only one of those particular awards the director ever won.) It was also awarded Best Cinematography and was nominated for nine others.
L.A. Confidential
Year Released: 1997 This 1997 neo-noir crime thriller was based on Jame’s Ellroy’s novel which was published seven years before the film hit theaters. It stars Kim Basinger, Kevin Spacey and Danny Devito, along with Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe, whose careers both skyrocketed after taking part in this production.
L.A Confidential, which tells the tale of police corruption in Los Angeles during Hollywood’s Golden Age, was nominated for nine Academy Awards. Of the nine, it won two, including Best Supporting Actress (for Kim Basinger,) and Best Adapted Screenplay.
His Girl Friday
Year Released: 1940 If you haven’t seen this 1940 romantic comedy, you must add it to your list for movie nights. His Girl Friday stars Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell and tells the story of a newspaper editor and reporter who get wrapped up in a murder case.
The film made number 19 on the American Film Institute’s list of 100 Years and 100 Laughs. In 1993, the Library of Congress selected it for preservation for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
All the President’s Men
Year Released: 1976 This 1976 film starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford delves into the story of the infamous Watergate scandal that occurred during the presidency of Richard Nixon. Based on a 1974 novel from Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, the movie was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress in 2010.
All the President’s Men has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and was nominated for several awards upon its release, including multiple Golden Globes and Oscars. It’s also made a number of lists, like placing 34th on the American Film Institute’s list of “America’s Most Inspiring Movies.”