Favourite films, 1940-2007

Just for the heck of it, here is a list of my favourite movies of each year since 1940. I am not saying these are all the best films in terms of cinematography and all of that - just my pick of the one movie from each year I'd choose to watch above all the others of that year. Where there are none listed, I did not find any I'd like to include here.

And, for those who'd like to know, my favourite movie to date is Cinema Paradiso (1988).

The Third Man

1940: The Great Dictator (Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard)
1941: The Maltese Falcon (Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor)
1942: Casablanca (Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman)
1943: For Whom the Bell Tolls (Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman)
1944: Meet Me In St Louis (Judy Garland, Tom Drake)
1945: ––

1946: It’s a Wonderful Life (James Stewart, Henry Travers, Donna Reed)
1947: ––
1948: Easter Parade (Fred Astaire, Judy Garland)
1949: The Third Man (Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton)
1950: Father of the Bride (Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor)
1951: Showboat (Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel)
1952: Singin’ In the Rain (Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds)
1953: Calamity Jane (Doris Day, Howard Keel)
1954: The Dam Busters (Richard Todd, Michael Redgrave)
1955: Lady and the Tramp (Peggy Lee, Barbara Luddy, Larry Roberts)
1956: The Ten Commandments (Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner)
1957: ––
1958: South Pacific (Rossano Brazzi, Mitzi Gaynor)
1959: Ben Hur (Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet)
1960: Spartacus (Kirk Douglas, Jean Simmons, Laurence Olivier)
1961: One Hundred and One Dalmatians (Rod Taylor, Cate Bauer)
1962: Dr. No (Sean Connery, Joseph Wiseman, Ursula Andress)
1963: From Russia With Love (Sean Connery, Lotte Lenya, Robert Shaw)
1964: Goldfinger (Sean Connery, Honor Blackman, Gert Frobe)
1965: Help! (The Beatles)
1966: ––
1967: The Dirty Dozen (Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson)
1968: Planet of the Apes (Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall)
1969: Captain Nemo and the Underwater City (Robert Ryan, Chuck Connors)

Spartacus

1970: Woodstock (Documentary)
1971: Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum)
1972: The Poseidon Adventure (Gene Hackman, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons, Ernest Borgnine)
1973: Papillon (Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman)
1974: The Man With the Golden Gun (Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, Maud Adams, Britt Ekland)
1975: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Graham Chapman, John Cleese)
1976: The Twelve Tasks of Asterix
1977: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher)
1978: The Manitou (Tony Curtis, Susan Strasberg)
1979: Alien (Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt)
1980: Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher)
1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark (Harrison Ford, Karen Allen)
1982: Poltergeist (Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Heather O’Rourke)
1983: Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi (Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher)
1984: Top Secret! (Val Kilmer, Lucy Gutteridge, Omar Sharif)
1985: Back to the Future (Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson)
1986: Highlander (Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery)

Cinema Paradiso

1987: The Fourth Protocol (Michael Caine, Pierce Brosnan)
1988: Cinema Paradiso (Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi, Philippe Noiret)
1989: Back to the Future Part II(Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson)
1990: The Hunt For Red October (Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin)
1991: Terminator 2: Judgement Day (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton)
1992: Basic Instinct (Sharon Stone, Michael Douglas)
1993: Jurassic Park (Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum)
1994: Stargate (Kurt Russell, James Spader)
1995: Se7en (Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman)
1996: Independence Day (Jeff Goldblum, Will Smith)
1997: Men In Black (Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones)
1998: Deep Impact (Elijah Wood, Téa Leoni, Morgan Freeman)
1999: The Matrix (Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne)
2000: Gladiator (Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix)
2001: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen)
2002: Chicago (Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger, Richard Gere)
2003: Underworld (Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman)
2004: Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale)
2005: Fantastic Four (Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba)
2006: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley)
2007: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley)