--- description: See what made TIME's list of the 100 best movies of the past 100 years title: The 100 Best Movies of the Past 10 Decades image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a35152348e57f67/698a3e9ed07533e18fe6e30e/DIGITAL_BORDER_02.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The 100 Best Movies of the Past 10 Decades The top films from the 1920s through the 2010s [How TIME’s Film Critic Made the List](/7380714/how-times-film-critic-chose-the-100-best-movies-of-the-past-10-decades/) ## 1920s *  [_The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari_ (1920)](/collections/100-best-movies/6293460/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari/) byTIME Staff *  [_Within Our Gates_ (1920)](/collections/100-best-movies/6293479/within-our-gates-1920/) byTIME Staff *  [_The Kid_ (1921)](/collections/100-best-movies/6293477/the-kid-1921/) byTIME Staff *  [_Orphans of the Storm_ (1921)](/collections/100-best-movies/6293473/orphans-of-the-storm/) byTIME Staff *  [_Nanook of the North_ (1922)](/collections/100-best-movies/6293464/nanook-of-the-north/) byTIME Staff *  [_The Thief of Bagdad_ (1924)](/collections/100-best-movies/6293468/thief-of-bagdad-1924/) byTIME Staff *  [_Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans_ (1927)](/collections/100-best-movies/6292658/sunrise-a-song-of-two-humans/) byTIME Staff *  [_The Passion of Joan of Arc_ (1928)](/collections/100-best-movies/6293462/the-passion-of-joan-of-arc/) byTIME Staff *  [_Steamboat Bill, Jr._ (1928)](/collections/100-best-movies/6293475/steamboat-bill-jr/) byTIME Staff *  [_Pandora’s Box_ (1929)](/collections/100-best-movies/6293458/pandoras-box/) byTIME Staff ## 1930s *  [_I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang_ (1932)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295189/i-am-a-fugitive-from-a-chain-gang-1932/) byTIME Staff *  [_Scarface_ (1932)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295186/scarface-1932/) byTIME Staff *  [_L'Atalante_ (1934)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295175/latalante-1934/) byTIME Staff *  [_The 39 Steps_ (1935)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295181/the-39-steps-1935/) byTIME Staff *  [_Top Hat_ (1935)](/collections/100-best-movies/6294284/top-hat-1935/) byTIME Staff *  [_My Man Godfrey_ (1936)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295179/my-man-godfrey-1936/) byTIME Staff *  [_Holiday_ (1938)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295173/holiday-1938/) byTIME Staff *  [_Stagecoach_ (1939)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295193/stagecoach-1939/) byTIME Staff *  [_The Rules of the Game_ (1939)](/collections/100-best-movies/6294282/the-rules-of-the-game-1939/) byTIME Staff *  [_Gone with the Wind_ (1939)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295177/gone-with-the-wind-1939/) byTIME Staff ## 1940s *  [_His Girl Friday_ (1940)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295234/his-girl-friday-1940/) byTIME Staff *  [_The Lady Eve_ (1941)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295206/the-lady-eve-1941/) byTIME Staff *  [_The Magnificent Ambersons_ (1942)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295231/the-magnificent-ambersons-1942/) byTIME Staff *  [_Mildred Pierce_ (1945)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295225/mildred-pierce-1945/) byTIME Staff *  [_Beauty and the Beast_ (1946)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295215/beauty-and-the-beast-1946/) byTIME Staff *  [_Let There Be Light_ (1946)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295240/let-there-be-light-1946/) byTIME Staff *  [_The Best Years of Our Lives_ (1946)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295196/the-best-years-of-our-lives-1946/) byTIME Staff *  [_Out of the Past_ (1947)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295220/out-of-the-past-1947/) byTIME Staff *  [_Black Narcissus_ (1947)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295223/black-narcissus-1947/) byTIME Staff *  [_Bicycle Thieves_ (1948)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295208/bicycle-thieves-1948/) byTIME Staff ## 1950s *  [_The Band Wagon_ (1953)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295272/the-band-wagon-1953/) byTIME Staff *  [_On the Waterfront_ (1954)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295270/on-the-waterfront-1954/) byTIME Staff *  [_Seven Samurai_ (1954)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295262/seven-samurai-1954/) byTIME Staff *  [_Pather Panchali_ (1955)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295244/pather-panchali-1955/) byTIME Staff *  [_Nights of Cabiria_ (1957)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295248/nights-of-cabiria-1957/) byTIME Staff *  [_Vertigo_ (1958)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295260/vertigo-1958/) byTIME Staff *  [_The 400 Blows_ (1959)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295268/the-400-blows-1959/) byTIME Staff *  [_Imitation of Life_ (1959)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295266/imitation-of-life-1959/) byTIME Staff *  [_Rio Bravo_ (1959)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295252/rio-bravo-1959/) byTIME Staff *  [_Some Like It Hot_ (1959)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295257/some-like-it-hot-1959/) byTIME Staff ## 1960s *  [_Breathless_ (1960)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295274/breathless-1960/) byTIME Staff *  [_Psycho_ (1960)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295282/psycho-1960/) byTIME Staff *  [_Cléo from 5 to 7_ (1962)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295276/cleo-from-5-to-7-1962/) byTIME Staff *  [_The Manchurian Candidate_ (1962)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295887/the-manchurian-candidate-1962/) byTIME Staff *  [_The Leopard_ (1963)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295890/the-leopard-1963/) byTIME Staff *  [_Black Girl_ (1966)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295885/black-girl-1966/) byTIME Staff *  [_Bonnie and Clyde_ (1967)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295280/bonnie-and-clyde-1967/) byTIME Staff *  [_Night of the Living Dead_ (1968)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295848/night-of-the-living-dead-1968/) byTIME Staff *  [_Shame_ (1968)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295882/shame-1968/) byTIME Staff *  [_Army of Shadows_ (1969)](/collections/100-best-movies/6295873/army-of-shadows-1969/) byTIME Staff The 100 Best Movies of the Past 10 Decades ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-movies/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-movies/"},"headline":"The 100 Best Movies of the Past 10 Decades","description":"TIME’s Stephanie Zacharek on the top films from the 1920s through the 2010s","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-movies/","datePublished":"2026-06-17T13:52:30.435Z","dateModified":"2026-06-17T13:52:25.553Z","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156}},"mainEntity":{"@type":"ItemList","numberOfItems":100,"itemListOrder":"Descending"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a35152348e57f67/698a3e9ed07533e18fe6e30e/DIGITAL_BORDER_02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-movies/","name":"The 100 Best Movies of the Past 10 Decades"}}]}] ```