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Turner Classic Movies published two books – The Essentials: 52 Must-See Movies and Why They Matter (2016) and
The Essentials Vol. 2: 52 More Must-See Movies and Why They Matter (2020) with content written by Jeremy Arnold. He writes an essay for each movie explaining why it is essential. The two books present movies in chronological order. The list below consolidates the two lists into one with a 1 or 2 following the title to indicate which volume the movie appeared in.
1. Metropolis (1927) 1
2. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) 2
3. Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) 2
4. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) 1
5. City Lights (1931) 1
6. Grand Hotel (1932) 1
7. Freaks (1932) 2
8. King Kong (1933) 1
9. Duck Soup (1933) 1
10. Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) 2
11. It Happened One Night (1934) 1
12. The Thin Man (1934) 1
13. Twentieth Century (1934) 2
14. Bride of Frankenstein (1935) 1
15. Top Hat (1935) 2
16. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) 2
17. Swing Time (1936) 1
18. Dodsworth (1936) 2
19. The Awful Truth (1937) 2
20. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) 2
21. Gone with the Wind (1939) 1
22. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) 1
23. Stagecoach (1939) 2
24. The Women (1939) 2
25. The Philadelphia Story (1940) 2
26. The Great Dictator (1940) 2
27. Citizen Kane (1941) 1
28. The Lady Eve (1941) 1
29. The Maltese Falcon (1941) 2
30. Sullivan’s Travels (1941) 2
31. Ball of Fire (1941) 2
32. Casablanca (1942) 1
33. Now, Voyager (1942) 1
34. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) 2
35. Cat People (1942) 2
36. Double Indemnity (1944) 1
37. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) 1
38. Laura (1944) 2
39. Leave Her to Heaven (1945) 1
40. Mildred Pierce (1945) 2
41. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) 1
42. Notorious (1946) 2
43. Brief Encounter (1946) 2
44. Out of the Past (1947) 1
45. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) 2
46. Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di Biciclette) (1948) 1
47. The Red Shoes (1948) 1
48. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) 2
49. The Third Man (1949) 1
50. White Heat (1949) 1
51. Adam’s Rib (1949) 1
52. All About Eve (1950) 1
53. Sunset Boulevard (1950) 1
54. Gun Crazy (1950) 1
55. Winchester ‘73 (1950) 1
56. Rashômon (1950) 2
57. The Asphalt Jungle (1950) 2
58. An American in Paris (1951) 2
59. A Place in the Sun (1951) 2
60. Singin’ in the Rain (1952) 1
61. High Noon (1952) 2
62. The Quiet Man (1952) 2
63. Roman Holiday (1953) 1
64. Rear Window (1954) 1
65. The Seven Samurai (Schichinin no Samurai) (1954) 1
66. On the Waterfront (1954) 1
67. The Night of the Hunter (1955) 2
68. The Apu Trilogy: Pather Panchali (1955) 2
69. Rebel Without a Cause (1955) 2
70. Kiss Me Deadly (1955) 2
71. The Searchers (1956) 1
72. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) 1
73. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) 2
74. Sweet Smell of Success (1957) 2
75. A Face in the Crowd (1957) 2
76. Vertigo (1958) 2
77. Some Like It Hot (1959) 1
78. North by Northwest (1959) 1
79. Ben-Hur (1959) 1
80. Breathless (A Bout de Souffle) (1959) 1
81. Pillow Talk (1959) 2
82. Psycho (1960) 2
83. The Apartment (1960) 2
84. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 1
85. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) 1
86. Ride the High Country (1962) 2
87. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 1
88. The Battle of Algiers (La Battaglia di Algeria) (1966) 2
89. The Graduate (1967) 1
90. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) 1
91. In the Heat of the Night (1967) 1
92. The Producers (1967) 2
93. Once Upon a Time in the West (C’era Una Volta il West) (1968) 1
94. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 2
95. The Sting (1973) 2
96. Jaws (1975) 1
97. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) 2
98. Rocky (1976) 1
99. Network (1976) 2
100. Harlan County U.S.A. (1976) 2
101. Annie Hall (1977) 1
102. This Is Spinal Tap (1984) 1
103. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) 2
104. Field of Dreams (1989) 2
Resources:
- Jeremy Arnold (5/3/2016). The Essentials: 52 Must-See Movies and Why They Matter Running Press: Philadelphia, PA.
- Jeremy Arnold (10/20/2020). The Essentials Vol. 2: 52 More Must-See Movies and Why They Matter Running Press: Philadelphia, PA.
Originally posted 5/18/2025. | 
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