Top Movies of the 1920s

1920s: Top 25 of the Decade These are the top 25 movies of the decade as determined by overall points in Dave’s Movie Database.

1) Metropolis (1927) 2) Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) 3) The General (1926) 4) The Passion of Joan of Arc (La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc) (1928) 5) Battleship Potemkin (Bronenosets Potyomkin) (1925) 6) The Gold Rush (1925) 7) Nosferatu, a Symphony of Terror (aka "Nosferatu, the Vampire") (Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens) (1922) 8) Greed (1924) 9) Sherlock Jr. (1924) 10) Man with a Movie Camera (Chelovek s Kinoapparatom) (1929) 11) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari) (1920) 12) The Kid (1921) 13) The Crowd (1928) 14) Napoléon (1927) 15) Pandora’s Box (aka “Lulu”) (Die Büchse der Pandora) (1929) 16) Safety Last! (1923) 17) Wings (1927) 18) The Big Parade (1925) 19) An Andalusian Dog (Un Chien Andalou) (1928) 20) Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) 21) Nanook of the North (1922) 22) The Jazz Singer (1927) 23) The Phantom of the Opera (1925) 24) The Wind (1928) 25) The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)

Resources: Dave’s Movie Database: Eras Dave’s Movie Database: Movies of the Year Dave’s Movie Database: Box Office Dave’s Movie Database: Awards Page Dave’s Movie Database: Ratings Page Originally posted 3/7/2025.

Silent Movies: Top 25

image of Charlie Chaplin

Top 25 Movies This list of the top 25 silent movies of all time was compiled by aggregating the lists at the bottom of this page along with the films’ overall status in Dave’s Movie Database. 1. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) 2. Metropolis (1927) 3. The General (1927) 4. The Passion of Joan of Arc (La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc) (1928) 5. Nosferatu, a Symphony of Terror (aka “Nosferatu, the Vampire”) (Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens) (1922) 6. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari) (1920) 7. City Lights (1931) 8. The Gold Rush (1925) 9. Battleship Potemkin (Bronenosets Potyomkin) (1925) 10. Sherlock, Jr. (1924) 11. The Birth of a Nation (1915) 12. The Kid (1921) 13. The Wind (1928) 14. An Andalusian Dog (Un Chien Andalou) (1928) 15. Modern Times (1936) 16. Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916) 17. Greed (1924) 18. Man with a Movie Camera (Chelovek s Kinoapparatom) (1929) 19. Safety Last! (1923) 20. Pandora's Box (aka “Lulu”) (Die Büchse der Pandora) (1929) 21. The Cameraman (1928) 22. The Thief of Bagdad (1924) 23. Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) 24. The Big Parade (1925) 25. Napoléon (1927) Resources: Dave’s Movie Database: Genre Lists Audicus.com (10/6/2014). “Switch Off Your Digital Hearing Aid: The Top 5 Silent Films of All Time” CheatSheet.com (8/27/2019). “10 Silent Movies That Everyone Should See” CriterionCast.com (1/19/2012). “TCM Reveals Their List of the 10 Most Influential Silent Films” TheCultureTrip.com (11/4/2016). “Pre-Talkie Spectacles: The 10 Most Striking Silent Films” FilmSchoolRejects.com (4/14/2018). “The Silent Film Era: 30 Essential Films You Should Watch” FilmsRanked.com “100 Greatest Silent Films” FlickChart.com “The Best Silent Films of All Time” TheGuardian.com (11/13/2013). “Top 10 silent movies” Guinness Book of Film (1999). “The Top 100 Films by Genre Type” (includes top 5 silent films) Internet Movie Database (9/15/2016). “The 20 Best Silent Movies of All Time” Independet.co.uk (1/20/2012). “The 10 best silent films” ListAmaze.com “10 Greatest Silent Films Ever” ListVerse.com (1/27/2010). “Top 15 Greatest Silent Films” Paste magazine (6/8/2015). “The 100 Best Silent Films of All Time” Ranker.com “The Best 1920s Silent Movies” SilentEra.com “The Top 100 Silent Era Films” TasteOfCinema.com (11/9/2015). “The 30 Best Silent Movies in Hollywood History” WhatCulture.com “15 Silent Films That Changed Cinema Forever” Originally posted 9/3/2019; last updated 5/25/2023.

Entertainment Weekly: Top 100 Movies

Entertainment Weekly: The 100 All-Time Greatest Movies

Entertainment Weekly’s 100 Greatest Movies of All Time was a 1999 hardcover book published by Time-Life Inc. In 2013, the magazine updated it as a top 100 list + another 25 honorable mentions. 60 movies appeared on both lists. The list below is an aggregate of the two lists. 1. The Godfather (1972) 2. Citizen Kane (1941) 3. Casablanca (1942) 4. Psycho (1960) 5. Gone with the Wind (1939) 6. The Gold Rush (1925) 7. The Searchers (1956) 8. Singin’ in the Rain (1952) 9. The Seven Samurai (Schichinin no Samurai) (1954) 10. Some Like It Hot (1959) 11. Chinatown (1974) 12. Nashville (1975) 13. Pulp Fiction (1994) 14. The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di Biciclette) (1947) 15. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 16. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) 17. Blue Velvet (1986) 18. Vertigo (1958) 19. The Maltese Falcon (1941) 20. King Kong (1933) 21. The Wizard of Oz (1939) 22. On the Waterfront (1954) 23. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) 24. Jaws (1975) 25. Mean Streets (1973) 26. North by Northwest (1959) 27. Annie Hall (1977) 28. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) 29. Duck Soup (1933) 30. Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916) 31. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) 32. Taxi Driver (1976) 33. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 34. The Graduate (1967) 35. Notorious (1946) 36. Double Indemnity (1944) 37. The Sweet Life (La Dolce Vita) (1960) 38. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 39. Schindler’s List (1939) 40. The Rules of the Game (La Règle du Jeu) (1939) 41. The Seventh Seal (Det Sjunde Inseglet) (1957) 42. All About Eve (1950) 43. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) 44. Breathless (A Bout de Souffle) (1959) 45. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) 46. Touch of Evil (1958) 47. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1982) 48. The Wild Bunch (1969) 49. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) 50. Sweet Smell of Success (1957) 51. Rebel Without a Cause (1955) 52. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) 53. Apocalypse Now (1979) 54. Do the Right Thing (1969) 55. It Happened One Night (1934) 56. A Hard Day’s Night (1964) 57. The Piano (1993) 58. American Graffiti (1973) 59. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 60. Sullivan’s Travels (1941) 61. Raging Bull (1980) 62. The Godfather Part II (1974) 63. Bambi (1942) 64. Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) 65. The Sorrow and the Pity (1969) 66. Toy Story (1995) 67. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) 68. The Sound of Music (1965) 69. Bringing Up Baby (1938) 70. The Grapes of Wrath (1940) 71. Sunset Boulevard (1950) 72. Jules and Jim (Jules et Jim) (1961) 73. Sherlock, Jr. (1924) 74. Adam’s Rib (1949) 75. The Philadelphia Story (1940) 76. 8 ½ (Otto e Mezzo) (1963) 77. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) 78. Manhattan (1979) 79. Swing Time (1936) 80. Aliens (1986) 81. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) 82. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) 83. A Clockwork Orange (1971) 84. Goldfinger (1964) 85. Children of Paradise (Les Enfants du Paradis) (1945) 86. Titanic (1997) 87. Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) 88. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) 89. Frankenstein (1931) 90. Midnight Cowboy (1969) 91. All the President’s Men (1976) 92. The Lady Eve (1941) 93. Top Hat (1935) 94. Henry V (1944) 95. Network (1976) 96. The Third Man (1949) 97. Last Tango in Paris (Ultimo Tango a Parigi) (1973) 98. The Shining (1980) 99. Airplane! (1980) 100. Goodfellas (1990) Resources: Dave’s Music Database: Movie Lists Entertainment Weekly (7/12/2013). “Movies: Top 100”: slide show with commentary Filmsite.org (7/11/2013). “The 100 All-Time Greatest”: list-only version of Entertainment Weekly’s 2013 edition Filmsite.org (1999). “100 Greatest Movies of All Time”: Entertainment Weekly Originally posted 7/12/2013.