Cagle's Famous Best Movies Ever Made Lists
"When I am not near the girl I love
I love the girl I am near."
Finian's Rainbow
Through movies, we have access to more art and
music than was imaginable to even the wealthiest kings and queens
in the past--more art in a week than they experienced in an
entire lifetime. The lists of my favorite movies are rather
long, but I love and recommend them all. The focus of my particular list is not
on recent and current films, though I enjoy them too. To be a "best movie
ever made" as we use that phrase in our vernacular, a movie needs to percolate
in our memories a while. May they enrich your
life as they have mine.
Who am I? My name is John Arnton Cagle. I am an
Emeritus
Professor of Communication at California State University,
Fresno. The first movie I have any memory of was a color jungle
picture my Irish grandmother took me to see when I was about
three years old--I remember seeing a coiled boa constrictor on
the screen and remarked to my grandmother how it looked like
"dog doo," and my grandmother laughed. This story is
admittedly bizarre, but true. My parents (John Howard Cagle and
Catherine McGuinness Cagle) both went to the USC cinema school,
so by both genetics and environment I have been predestined to be
a movie person.
Send an e-mail note to
me about my list or any of your own favorites if you wish....
Here's a link to the
Cagle homepage.
This page was last edited
26 May 2021.
Short List with Links to Categories
Adventure
Antiquities:
Egyptian, Greek, and Roman Spectacles
The Best British Comedies
Best of the Super Heroes
Cartoon Movies
Christmas Movies
Comedies
The Definitive Westerns
List
The Definitive
Detectives List
Drama
Epics
Film Noir
Genuinely Comic
Science Fiction and Horror Movies--the Best
The Great Classic
Horror Films
Great Foreign Movies
Great Spy Movies
Greatest
Big Damn Monster Movies Ever Made
Greatest Fantasy Movies
Greatest Swashbuckling
Movies
Historical Spectacles
and Epics
Hysterically Funny
Westerns
Irish Movies
Jungle Movies
Knights in
Shining Armor and Arabian Nights
Musicals
My Wife's Favorites
Mysteries
Science Fiction Movies
in Color
Science
Fiction Movies in Black and White
War Movies
Back to Cagle Home Page
This Island Earth
Forbidden Planet
The Time Machine
Planet of the Apes
Soylent Green
Logan's Run
When World's Collide
War of the Worlds
Star Wars films: Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, & Return of
the Jedi
2001: A Space Odyssey
Stargate
The Puppet Masters (Robert A. Heinlein)
Total Recall
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Colossus: the Forbin Project
Tron
Blade Runner
The Birds
A Boy and His Dog
Andromeda Strain
No Blade of Grass
Day of the Triffids
Omega Man
Rollerball
Escape from New York
Battle Beyond the Stars
Alien
Dr. Cyclops
Rosemary's Baby
The Night Stalker with Darren McGavin (TV classic)
Invaders from Mars
Destination Moon
The Power
The Awakening
House of Wax
Gargoyles
The Omen
A Clockword Orange
Outland
Quest for Fire
The Puppet Masters
From the Earth to the Moon
First Men in the Moon
Fantastic Voyage
Clan of the Cave Bear
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Fahrenheit 451
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Short List
The Thing
Incredible Shrinking Man
The 27th Day
The Invisible Man with Claude Raines
The Mummy
Mighty Joe Young
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Invaders from Mars
It Came from Outer Space
The Jungle
The Lost World with Michael Rennie
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Rocketship RXM
Village of the Damned
The Cat People
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Revenge of the Creature
The Creature Walks among Us
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers
Invasion of the Saucermen
The Beast of Yucca Flats (despite Maltin's opinion, my Dad made
it)
Short List
The Invisible Man with Claude Raines
The Mummy with Boris Karloff
I Was a Teenage Werewolf
The Werewolf of London
Metropolis
Nosferatu
Dracula with Bela Lagosi
Dracula with the Mexican cast &director
The Wolf Man
Horror of Dracula
Curse of Frankenstein
Frankenstein
The Son of Frankenstein
The Bride of Frankenstein
Phantom of the Opera with Lon Chaney
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
Short List
Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid
Splash!
Time Bandits
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai across the Eighth Dimension
Robocop
Sleeper
Barbarella
Back to the Future I and II
Doc Savage
Flesh Gordon (once had an X rating, but see it, more naughty than
nasty)
The Magic Sword
Young Frankenstein
Army of Darkness
Ghostbusters
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy
Scared Stiff with Martin & Lewis
Ghostbreakers with Bob Hope
Saturday the 14th
Westworld
An American Werewolf in London
Battle Beyond the Stars
Short List
King Kong
Jurassic Park
Son of Kong
20 Million Miles to Earth
5 Million Years to Earth
It Came from Beneath the Sea
Them
The Blob
Rodan
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
Godzilla
Valley of Gwangi
The Monolith Monsters
Tarantula
Magnetic Monster
Deadly Mantis
Curuco Beast of the Amazon
Short List
Clash of the Titans
Jason and the Argonauts
Jack the Giant Killer
Dragonheart
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court with Bing Crosby
Dragonslayer
The Beastmaster
Three Worlds of Gulliver
The Wizard of Oz
Mary Poppins
The Addams Family
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Short List
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
A Fistful of Dollars
For a Few Dollars More
Broken Arrow
Arrowhead
My Darling Clementine
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Shane
Hondo
Rio Bravo
Breakheart Pass
Saskatchewan
Red Sun
Across the Wide Missouri
Silverado
Stagecoach
High Noon
Vera Cruz
The Treasure of Sierra Madre
Ride Lonesome
Ride the High Country
Dances with Wolves
Annie Oakley
Barbarosa
The Big Sky
Charge at Feather River
Destry
Distant Drums
The Kid from Texas
Destry Rides Again
Duel in the sun
The Iron Mistress
Last of the Mochicans
The Mark of Zorro (Tyrone Power)
The Outlaw Josey Wales
The Man from Laramie
Northwest Passage
Pony Soldier
Joe Kidd
The Professionals
The Ox-Bow Incident
Springfield Rifle
The Searchers
Rio Grande
The Virginian
Winchester '73
3:10 to Yuma
Colorado Territory
Silverado
Quigley Down Under
Naked Spur
Night Passage
How the West Was Won
Horse Soldiers
Short List
Blazing Saddles
North to Alaska
Along Came Jones
Destry Rides Again
Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox
Waterhole #3
Texas Across the River
Sergeants 3
Fancy Pants
Paleface
Son of Paleface
Support Your Local Gunfighter
Support Your Local Sheriff
The Villain
War Wagon
Two Mules for Sister Sara
Short List
Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex (But Were Afraid
to Ask)
Bananas
Mr. And Mrs. Smith
What's Up, Doc?
Shampoo
Heaven Can Wait
Foul Play
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
American Graffiti
The Graduate
Death Becomes Her
She's Working Her Way through College
Shot in the Dark
Revenge of the Pink Panther
Silver Streak
Ball of Fire
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
George Washington Slept Here
Tom Jones
Catch 22
Tough Guys
Under the Rainbow
Victor/Victoria
We're No Angels with Humphrey Bogart
Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?
The Yellow Cab Man
Teahouse of the August Moon
His Girl Friday
The In-Laws
Champagne for Caesar
The Fuller Brush Man
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
The Naked Gun
The Boob Tube
My Favorite Blonde
Fatal Instinct
My Favorite Spy
Cat and the Canary
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the
Bomb
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Horn Blows at Midnight (great Jack Benny)
Sixteen Candles
Bringing Up Baby
The Philadelphia Story
Monkey Business with Ginger Rogers and Cary Grant
The Palm Beach Story
Lady of Burlesque
Arsenic and Old Lace
Harvey
Auntie Mame
Animal House
Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer
The Bank Dick (the definitive W. C. Fields)
Casanova's Big Night
Cheap Detective
Murder by Death
Fun with Dick and Jane
The Great Race
The Hot Rock
Oceans 11
Hotel Paradiso
How to Murder Your Wife
Devil's Disciple
City Heat
Life with Father
The Sting
It Happened One Night
Man with a Million
Mister Roberts
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
M*A*S*H
National Lampoon's Vacation
Out of Towners
Some Like It Hot
A Fish Called Wanda
Airplane
1941
Topper
Pillow Talk
Man Who Came to Dinner
Short List
Blithe Spirit
Captain's Paradise
Genevieve
The Mouse that Roared
Tight Little Island
Kind Hearts and Coronets
The Man in the White suit
The Lavender Hill Mob
Short List
Darby O'Gill and the Little People
The Quiet Man
Ryan's Daughter
Beloved Enemy
The Commitments
In the Name of the Father
The Informer
Michael Collins
Patriot Games
The Devil's Own
Circle of One
Short List
Epics
Ben-Hur
Spartacus
Gone with the Wind
Unconquered
Drums along the Mohawk
Ten Commandments
The Robe
The Egyptian
Cleopatra with Claudette Cobert
Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor
El Cid
Lawrence of Arabia
Dr. Zhivago
Shogun
Greatest Show on Earth
San Francisco with Clark Gable
Short List
Antiquities: Egyptian, Greek, and Roman Spectacles
Demetrius and the Gladiators
Land of the Pharaohs
Helen of Troy
Last Days of Pompeii
Samson and Delilah
Sign of the Pagan
The Silver Chalace
Sodom and Gommorah
The Prodigal
The Trojan Horse
Ulysses
Hercules with Steve Reeves
Hercules Unchained
Fellini Satyricon
The Fall of the Roman Empire
The Vikings
The Long Ships
Short List
King Richard &the Crusaders
Henry V with Lawrence Olivier
The War Lord
Cromwell
Becket
Lion in Winter
Hunchback of Notre Dame with Charles Laughton
A Tale of Two Cities with Ronald Coleman
Three Musketeers with Gene Kelly
Captain Horatio Hornblower
The Man Who Would Be King
Young Winston
The Sand Pebbles
Short List
The Black Shield of Falsworth
Prince Valiant
Robin and Marion
The Warriors
Ivanhoe
The Knights of the Round Table
Quentin Durwood
Excalibur!
Sword of Lancelot
Excaliber
Thief of Bagdad with Sabu
Thief of Bagdag with Douglas Fairbanks
Prince Who Was a Thief
7th Voyage of Sinbad
Golden Voyage of Sinbad
Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves
Son of Ali Baba
The Desert Hawk
Short List
Scaramouche
The Crimson Pirate
Cutthroat Island
The Court Jester with Danny Kaye (greatest comedy ever made)
Prisoner of Zenda with Stewart Granger
The Scarlet Pimpernel with Leslie Howard
Robin Hood with Errol Flynn
Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (Disney)
Mutiny on the Bounty with Clark Gable
Flame and the Arrow
Master of Ballantrae
Captain Blood
Man in the Iron Mask
Captain from Castille
The Black Rose
The Adventures of Marco Polo
Against All Flags
Short List
The Ipcress File
Funeral in Berlin
James Bond movies
The Quiller Memorandum
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Matt Helm: Murder's Row, The Ambushers, The Silencers, and the
Wrecking Crew
In Like Flynn and Our Man Flint
The Eiger Sanction
The Odessa File
Arabesque
Blindfold
Three Days of the Condor
The President's Analyst
Condorman (Disney movie with Michael Crawford)
That Man from Rio
Short List
Superman
Batman with Adam West
Flash Gordon
The Phantom
Short List
Indiana Jones trilogy
Lost Horizon
Gunga Din
Jaws
Secret of the Incas
55 Days at Peking
Around the World in 80 Days
True Lies
Die Hard
Conan the Barbarian
20 Leagues Under the Sea
Short List
The Jungle Book with Sabu
King Solomon's Mines with Stewart Granger
Tarzan, the Ape Man
Tarzan and His Mate
The African Queen
The Naked Prey
Sheena Queen of the Jungle
Mogambo with Clark Gable
Greystoke
Tarzan's Greatest Adventure
Trader Horn
White Witch Doctor
Short List
The Maltese Falcon
The Big Sleep
Angel Face
Touch of Evil
Laura
The Lady from Shanghai
Double Indemnity
Short List
Cinema Paradiso
Cyrano De Bergerac with Gerard Depardieu
Seven Beauties
The Seventh Seal
Jupiter's Thigh
King of Hearts
The Hidden Fortress
High and Low
Diva
La Cage Aux Follies
Get Out Your Handkerchiefs
Swept Away
8-1/2
The Stranger (Albert Camus novel)
Divorce Italian Style
The Seduction of Mimi
Umbrellas of Cherbourg
The Tenth Victim
Closely Watched Trains
Blow-Up
Les Comperes
Seven Samurai
Yojimbo
Ran
Kagemusha
Confidentially Yours
Napoleon (1929 silent Gance)
Short List
The Saint in New York
The Gay Falcon
The Thin Man
Marlowe
The Long Goodbye
The Maltese Falcon
The Big Sleep
Murder My Sweet with Robert Mitchum
Murder My Sweet with Dick Powell
Bullitt
Chinatown
Dirty Harry
Shaft
Tony Rome
The Third Man
Harper
Gunn
Shamus
Short List
The French Connection
Odd Man Out
The Godfather I and II
Play Misty for Me
The Name of the Rose
North by Northwest
Rebecca
Notorious
Suspicion
Vertigo
Dial M for Murder
No Way Out with Kevin Kostner
Anatomy of a Murder
Casablanca
To Have and To Have Not
The 39 Steps
The Dain Curse
Marathon Man
Body Heat
Body Double
Coma
Lethal Weapon
Torn Curtain
Short List
Peter Pan
Heavy Metal
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Mickey and the Beanstalk
Asterix the Gaul
Alice in Wonderland
Animal Farm
Fantastic Planet
Short List
Grease
Li'l Abner
Annie Get Your Gun
Calamity Jane
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Cabaret
Bye Bye Birdie
Chicago!
Damn Yankees
Finian's Rainbow
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
How to succeed in Business without Really Trying
Hair
Guys and Dolls
King and I
My Fair Lady
Camelot
Fred and Ginger (Fellini)
West side Story
Singin' in the Rain
Funny Girl
Annie
Carousel
Oklahoma
Oliver!
On the Town
Thoroughly Modern Millie
The Sound of Music
The Music Man
South Pacific
A Hard Day's Night
Short List
Brief Encounter
Citizen Kane
The Caine Mutiny
Field of Dreams
Somewhere in Time
To Kill a Mockingbird
Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolff?
Lust for Life
The Bad Seed with Patty McCormick
Becket
Lion in Winter
Charly
Citizen Kane
Cyrano De Bergerac with Jose Ferrer
Dark Victory
The Mudlark
Roman Holiday
Romeo and Juliet
Short List
It's a Wonderful Life
A Christmas Story
The Miracle on 34th Street
It Happened on Fifth Avenue
O'Henry's Full House
A Pocketful of Miracles
White Christmas
The Bishop's Wife
Short List
Apocalypse Now
The Great Escape
Where Eagles Dare
Bridge on the River Kwai
Battleground
The Frogmen
To Hell and Back
The Sands of Imo Jima
Guns of Navarone
Stalag 17
The Train
Von Ryan's Express
Seven Days in May
Failsafe
Short List
The Breakfast Club
Terms of Endearment
The Bad Seed
Rebecca
Grease
Short List