The 10 Best Classic Movies That Everyone Should See At Least Once

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Humphrey Bogart was at the height of his craft when he appeared in 1942’s Casablanca. As one of the Top 10 Classic Movies everyone should see at least once, the film tells the story of Rick Blaine, the owner of the Casablanca nightclub, Rick’s Café Américain, one that attracts a varied clientele.

Although Rick has a checkered past, trouble truly begins for him when “of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.” The “she” that Rick is talking about is Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), his former lover, with her husband Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid).

From there, life only gets much more challenging for Rick. Crime figures, dirty deals, and unrequited love fill the screen in classic manner. Check it out.

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Citizen Kane is considered to be one of, if not the top movie ever to grace the big screen. It most certainly belongs on the Top 10 Classic Movies everyone should see at least once.

The film stars screen and radio legend, Orson Wells, as Charles Foster, whose death is shown at the beginning of the film as he is uttering that one famous word, “Rosebud.”

From there, the film backs up as the investigation of his death shows his life before his tragic and mysterious passing. The story is through the eyes of his friend Jedediah Leland (Joseph Cotton) and Foster’s mistress, Susan Alexander (Dorothy Comingore) as pieces are put together about Foster’s life and the meaning behind Rosebud.

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By the time Alfred Hitchcock presented Psycho in 1960, he had already thrilled Hollywood with films like Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, Vertigo, and North by Northwest. All were films, by the way, that could have easily been included in this Top 10 Classic Movies that everyone should see at least once list.

For Psycho, Hitchcock took the script written by Joseph Stefano, from a 1959 novel of the same name written by horror scribe Robert Bloch, and did something not seen too many times in film, especially at that time. He took the supposed main character and killed her early on, in a scene that opened eyes and closed them at the same time.

Janet Leigh starred as Marion Crane, a young lady who sees an opportunity to help her boyfriend out of financial difficulties so they can marry and steals $40,000 she was supposed to deposit in the bank.

Now on the run, Crane finds herself at the Bates Motel, where Norman Bates (brilliantly played here by Anthony Perkins), checks her in before she checks out permanently. Psycho is noted for one of the most famous scenes ever to be filmed – the shower scene – a brutal dance of steel and flesh that even today is fear-inducing.

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Classic Brando and one of many Brando films that could be considered a Top 10 classic movie. Before Marlon Brando became well known as The Godfather, Vito Corleone, he was making his name 18 years prior as Terry Malloy, a dockworker who had also been an up-and-coming boxer, until a mob boss convinced him to throw a fight.

This mob boss (Lee J. Cobb) is a powerful one and has found ways to keep the dockworkers silent about his crimes. Malloy, along with a few others, intends to change that. Classic lines (“I coulda been a contender”) and classic Brando in a very classic movie.

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We all know the story because this film was a major part of many childhoods. If it hasn’t been, you don’t know what you’re missing. As one of the Top 10 Classic Movies that everyone needs to see at least once, The Wizard of Oz should be seen multiple times. The story, the music, and the spectacle that is all of it require multiple viewings.

The story is immediately familiar. Young Dorothy, who lives on a farm in Kansas, it transported to the world of Oz when a massive tornado sucks up the home she is living in with her Uncle Henry and Auntie Em.

Going from the black-and-white existence in Kansas to the colorful world of Oz, Dorothy is set on her path down the yellow brick road by Glenda, the good fairy, where she meets up with Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), the Tin Man (Jack Haley), and the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr).

On their journey to see the wizard, the group must deal with the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) and those creepy flying monkeys. This film defines classic in every sense of the word.

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Stagecoach is director John Ford’s masterpiece and one that put John Wayne and his affinity for Westerns on the map. In Stagecoach, Wayne plays baddie, the Ringo Kid, who has broken out of prison after hearing his father and brother were murdered. Enter the stagecoach, which is filled and on its way to New Mexico.

As the stagecoach begins its journey, the stage driver finds out that Geronimo and his Apache warriors are on the warpath and they may be heading right for them. The stagecoach, now with Marshall Curley on board, runs into the Ringo Kid, as he has been stranded by a lame horse. Ringo is taken into custody by the Marshall.

Cowboys, Indians, damsels in distress, and redemption follow in this western tale that made John Wayne the legend that he came known to be.

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Not only does Some Like it Hot offer one of the best pairings with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, it also represents one of the best films of Marilyn Monroe’s career.

Of course, what appeared on screen doesn’t even come close to the turmoil she created off-screen on the set of the movie. Set in the ‘20s, the film stars Curtis as Joe and Lemmon as Jerry, two pals playing in a jazz band who end up seeing something they were not meant to see – a Mafia murder.

Now on the run, Jerry and Joe find themselves on a train to Florida with an all-girls jazz band, led by the sexy but ditzy singer, Sugar. The boys’ quick thinking has them disguising themselves as women to play in the band and escape to Florida and away from mob hitmen.

The musical numbers are fun and Marilyn Monroe shows off her ample talents. Both Curtis and Lemmon shine in a Top 10 Classic Movie that everyone should see at least once.

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Controversy aside, Gone with the Wind is routinely considered must watch when it comes to classic movies. The film stars screen legends Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Olivia de Havilland, and Leslie Howard and tells the story of Scarlett (Leigh) and Rhett (Gable) and their eventual romance, set in the Reconstruction era as the American Civil War rages all around them.

The film, based on the 1936 Margaret Mitchell novel of the same name, was extremely popular when it was released in 1939. It took home 10 Academy Awards and if the film was adjusted for monetary inflation, it would still be the highest-grossing film in American cinema history.

The film also includes one of the greatest single lines ever to be uttered on film – “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

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There might be many of you out there who are unaware of who screen legends Bette Davis and Joan Crawford are. Their careers pretty much mirrored each other’s and while they both played in many influential classic films, the two only appeared on film once, later in their careers, in this film, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane.

The story tells of two aging sisters, Jane and Blanche Hudson. As kids, Jane was a spoiled rotten child who successfully performed vaudeville across the country with her father, while Blanche toiled in the background. But as the sisters age, Jane’s style of performing becomes less and less popular and Blanche becomes a popular Hollywood actress.

Jane begins to drink too much, falling into alcoholism. Even though Blanche tries to bring her sister along and keep her working, Jane continues to decline. One night, Blanche’s career is stopped in its tracks when she is involved in a car accident that leaves her paralyzed.

The accident is blamed on her drunk sister.

Fast forward to Jane and Blanche as middle-aged women (Davis and Crawford). Jane has continued to spiral, becoming virtually psychotic, and torments her sister brutally. It’s a battle that lasts until the final frame of the film.

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Rebel Without a Cause stars one of the most famous actors of all, James Dean, whose life was sadly snuffed out at the young age of 24 in a tragic car accident.

In this 1955 classic, Dean plays troubled youth, Jim Stark, who has forced his family to move from town to town because of said troubles. Jim and his family are once again hoping for a fresh start in his new town, but as always trouble seems to find him.

This time trouble comes in the form of Judy (Natalie Wood), whom he begins to fall for. And although Judy is beginning to show some affection towards him, she is the girlfriend of tough guy Buzz. Knife fights and car chicken races enter the picture as Jim tries to maneuver his way out of trouble that could end tragically.