1910's

1. Intolerance (D.W. Griffith)
2. Birth of a Nation (D.W. Griffith)
3. Broken Blossoms (D.W. Griffith)
4. Blind Husbands (Erich von Stroheim)

1920

1. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene)
2. Way Down East (D.W. Griffith)
3. The Scarecrow (s) (Buster Keaton and Edwards F. Kline)
4. The Parson's Widow (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
5. Neighbors (s) (Buster Keaton and Edward F. Kline)
6. The Golem (Carl Boese and Paul Wegener)

1921

1. Leaves From Satan's Book (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
2. Orphans of the Storm (D.W. Griffith)
3. Destiny (Fritz Lang)
4. The Kid (Charles Chaplin)
5. The Saphead (Herbert Blanche' and Winchell Smith)

1922

1. Nanook of the North (Robert Flaherty)
2. Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horrors (F.W. Murnau)
3. Phantom (F.W. Murnau)
4. The Paleface (s) (Buster Keaton)
5. Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (Benjamin Christensen)
6. Robin Hood (Allan Dwan)

1923

1. Our Hospitality (John G. Blystone and Buster Keaton)
2. Three Ages (Buster Keaton)
3. Safety Last (Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor)
4. A Woman of Paris (Charles Chaplin)

1924

1. Greed (Erich von Stroheim)
2. The Last Laugh (F.W. Murnau)
3. Sherlock, Jr. (Buster Keaton)
4. The Navigator (Donald Crisp and Buster Keaton)
5. America (D.W. Griffith)
6. Michael (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
7. The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh)

1925

1. Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein)
2. The Gold Rush (Charles Chaplin)
3. Seven Chances (Buster Keaton)
4. Chess Fever (s) (Vsevolod Pudovkin and Nikolai Shpikovsky)
5. Go West (Buster Keaton)
6. The Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian)

1926

1. Faust (F.W. Murnau)
2. Battling Butler (Buster Keaton)
3. Anemic Cinema (s) (Marcel Duchamp)
4. Tartuffe (F.W. Murnau)

1927

1. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau)
2. 7th Heaven (Frank Borzage)
3. The General (Buster Keaton)
4. Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (Walter Ruttmann)
5. The End of St. Petersberg (Vsevolod Pudovkin and Mikhail Doller)
6. Metropolis (Fritz Lang)
7. College (James W. Horne)
8. The Lodger (Alfred Hitchcock)

1928

1. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
2. The Circus (Charles Chaplin)
3. Street Angel (Frank Borzage)
4. Arsenal (Aleksandr Dovzhenko)
5. Steamboat Bill, Jr. (Buster Keaton)
6. October (Sergei Eisenstein)
7. Spies (Fritz Lang)
8. Speedy (Ted Wilde)

1929

1. The Man With the Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov)
2. Un Chien Andalou (s) (Luis Bunuel)
3. Queen Kelly (Erich von Stroheim)
4. The Love Parade (Ernst Lubitsch)
5. Blackmail (Alfred Hitchcock)
6. The Cocoanuts (Robert Florey and Joseph Santley)

1930

1. L'Age D'Or (Luis Bunuel)
2. Earth (Aleksandr Dovzhenko)
3. City Girl (F.W. Murnau)
4. The Blue Angel (Josef von Sternberg)
5. The Big Trail (Raoul Walsh)
6. The Blood of a Poet (Jean Cocteau)
7. Monte Carlo (Ernst Lubitsch)
8. Animal Crackers (Victor Heerman)
9. Murder (Alfred Hitchcock)
10. All Quiet On the Western Front (Lewis Milestone)

1931

1. City Lights (Charles Chaplin)
2. Scarface (Howard Hawks)
3. M (Fritz Lang)
4. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian)
5. Frankenstein (James Whale)
6. The 3 Penny Opera (G.W. Pabst)
7. The Smiling Lieutenant (Ernst Lubitsch)
8. The Public Enemy (William A. Wellman)
9. Dracula (Tod Browning)
10. Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (F.W. Murnau)

Honorable Mentions:
Indiscreet (Leo McCarey), Little Caesar (Mervyn LeRoy), Arrowsmith (John Ford), Night Nurse (William A. Wellman), Rich and Strange (Alfred Hitchcock), The Champ (King Vidor), The Skin Game (Alfred Hitchcock)

1932

1. Shanghai Express (Joseph von Sternberg)
2. Vampyr (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
3. Freaks (Tod Browning)
4. Que Viva Mexico! (Sergei Eisenstein)
5. A Farewell to Arms (Frank Borzage)
6. Boudu Saved From Drowning (Jean Renoir)
7. I Am a Fugitve From a Chain Gang (Mervyn LeRoy)
8. The Most Dangerous Game (Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack)
9. The Old Dark House (James Whale)
10. One Hour With You (Ernst Lubitsch)

Honorable Mentions:
Love Me Tonight (Rouben Mamoulian), The Mummy (Karl Freund), Horse Feathers (Norman Z. McLeod), Blonde Venus (Joseph von Sternberg), Number 17 (Alfred Hitchcock)

1933

1. Duck Soup (Leo McCarey)
2. King Kong (Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack)
3. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (Fritz Lang)
4. The Invisible Man (James Whale)
5. Gold Diggers of 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy)
6. Design For Living (Ernst Lubitsch)
7. Outskirts (Boris Barnet)
8. Heroes For Sale (William A. Wellman)
9. Queen Christina (Rouben Mamoulian)
10. Wild Boys of the Road (William A. Wellman)

Honorable Mentions:
Little Women (George Cukor), Damaged Lives (Edgar G. Ulmer)

1934

1. Man of Aran (Robert Flaherty)
2. L'Atalante (Jean Vigo)
3. Liliom (Fritz Lang)
4. The Scarlet Empress (Joseph von Sternberg)
5. The Black Cat (Edgar G. Ulmer)
6. Twentieth Century (Howard Hawks)
7. It Happened One Night (Frank Capra)
8. The Lost Patrol (John Ford)
9. The Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke)
10. The Man Who Knew Too Much (Alfred Hitchcock)

Honorable Mentions:
The Story of Floating Weeds (Yasujiro Ozu), Treasure Island (Victor Fleming)

1935

1. The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale)
3. A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood)
4. The Informer (John Ford)
5. Peter Ibbetson (Henry Hathaway)
6. Steamboat Round the Bend (John Ford)
7. Triumph of the Will (Leni Reifenstahl)
8. Captain Blood (Michael Curtiz)
9. Barbary Coast (Howard Hawks)
10. Les Miserables (Richard Boleslawski)

1936

1. Modern Times (Charles Chaplin)
2. My Man Godfrey (Gregory La Cava)
3. Fury (Fritz Lang)
4. Come and Get It (Howard Hawks and William Wyler)
5. The Prisoner of Shark Island (John Ford)
6. The Charge of the Light Brigade (Michael Curtiz)
7. Camille (George Cukor)
8. Sabotage (Alfred Hitchcock)
9. Swing Time (George Stevens)
10. The Lower Depths (Jean Renoir)

Honorable Mentions:
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (Frank Capra), Big Brown Eyes (Raoul Walsh), These Three (William Wyler), Secret Agent (Alfred Hitchcock)

1937

1. Grand Illusion (Jean Renoir)
2. The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey)
3. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (lots of people)
4. Drole de Drame (Marcel Carne')
5. You Only Live Once (Fritz Lang)
6. A Day at the Races (Sam Wood)
7. Young and Innocent (Alfred Hitchcock)
8. Heidi (Allan Dwan)
9. Lost Horizon (Frank Capra)
10. The Prisoner of Zenda (John Cromwell)

1938

1. Alexander Nevsky (Sergei Eisenstein)
2. The Lady Vanishes (Alfred Hitchcock)
3. Holiday (George Cukor)
4. Olympia (Leni Reifenstahl)
5. The Adventures of Robin Hood (Michael Curtiz)
6. Port of Shadows (Marcel Carne')
7. La Bete Humaine (Jean Renoir)
8. Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks)
9. Angels With the Dirty Faces (Michael Curtiz)
10. A Christmas Carol (Edwin L. Marin)

1939

1. Gone With the Wind (Victor Fleming)
2. Stagecoach (John Ford)
3. The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming)
4. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (Kenji Mizoguchi)
5. Drums Along the Mohawk (John Ford)
6. Only Angels Have Wings (Howard Hawks)
7. Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir)
8. The Roaring Twenties (Raoul Walsh)
9. Young Mr. Lincoln (John Ford)
10. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (Frank Capra)

Honorable Mentions:
Gunga Din (George Stevens), The Huchback of Notre Dame (William Dieterle), Love Affair (Leo McCarey), Ninotchka (Ernst Lubitsch), The Women (George Cukor), Golden Boy (Rouben Mamoulian), The Little Princess (Walter Lang), The Four Feathers (Zoltan Korda), Wuthering Heights (William Wyler), Son of Frankenstein (Rowland V. Lee)

1940

1. Rebecca (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks)
3. Fantasia (James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Ford Beebe, Norman Ferguson, Jim Handley, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Ben Sharpsteen)
4. The Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch)
5. The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford)
6. Foreign Correspondent (Alfred Hitchcock)
7. Pinocchio (Hamilton Luske and Ben Sharpsteen)
8. The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor)
9. Christmas In July (Preston Sturges)
10. They Drive By Night (Raoul Walsh)

Honorable Mentions:
Gaslight (Thorold Dickinson), The Long Voyage Home (John Ford), The Great McGinty (Preston Sturges), Return of Frank James (Fritz Lang), The Thief of Bagdad (Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, Tim Whelan), The Mark of Zorro (Rouben Mamoulian), Dark Command (Raoul Walsh), The Great Dictator (Charles Chaplin)

1941

1. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles)
2. How Green Was My Valley (John Ford)
3. The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges)
4. Meet John Doe (Frank Capra)
5. Sullivan's Travels (Preston Sturges)
6. The 49th Parallel (Michael Powell)
7. The Maltese Falcon (John Huston)
8. That Uncertain Feeling (Ernst Lubitsch)
9. Suspicion (Alfred Hitchcock)
10. High Sierra (Raoul Walsh)

Honorable Mentions:
Dumbo (Ben Sharpsteen), The Shanghai Gesture (Josef von Sternberg), Ball of Fire (Howard Hawks), The Devil and Daniel Webster (William Dieterle), The Wolf Man (George Waggner), Tobacco Road (John Ford), Sergeant York (Howard Hawks), The Devil Commands (Edward Dmytryk), They Died With Their Boots On (Raoul Walsh)

1942

1. The Magnificent Amberson's (Orson Welles)
2. Cat People (Jacques Tourneur)
3. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz)
4. The Palm Beach Story (Preston Sturges)
5. Saboteur (Alfred Hitchcock)
6. Bambi (David Hand)
7. To Be Or Not To Be (Ernst Lubitsch)
8. Yankee Doodle Dandy (Michael Curtiz)
9. Reap the Wild Wind (Cecil B. DeMille)
10. Woman of the Year (George Cukor)

Honorable Mention:
Reunion In France (Jules Dassin), Secrets of a Co-Ed (Joseph H. Lewis), Talk of the Town (George Stevens), Flying Tigers (David Miller), Holiday Inn (Mark Sandrich), Now Voyager (Irving Rapper)

1943

1. Day of Wrath (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
2. I Walked With a Zombie (Jacques Tourneur)
3. The Ox-Bow Incident (William Wellman)
4. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
5. The Leopard Man (Jacques Tourneur)
6. Hi Diddle Diddle (Andrew L. Stone)
7. Heaven Can Wait (Ernst Lubitsch)
8. The Seventh Victim (Mark Robson)
9. Hangmen Also Die (Fritz Lang)
10. Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock)

Honorable Mentions:
Les Anges du Peche (Robert Bresson), The Ghost Ship (Mark Robson), Air Force (Howard Hawks), Ossessione (Luchino Visconti), Journey Into Fear (Norman Foster), The Song of Bernadette (Henry King), The Phantom of the Opera (Arthur Lubin)

1944

1. Ivan the Terrible (Sergei Eisenstein)
2. Going My Way (Leo McCarey)
3. The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (Preston Sturges)
4. A Canterbury Tale (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
5. The Woman In the Window (Fritz Lang)
6. Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder)
7. Curse of the Cat People (Robert Wise)
8. Gaslight (George Cukor)
9. Jane Eyre (Robert Stevenson)
10. Bluebeard (Edgar G. Ulmer)

Honorable Mentions:
Lifeboat (Alfred Hitchcock), Meet Me In St. Louis (Vincente Minnelli), Hail the Conquering Hero (Preston Sturges), Laura (Otto Preminger), Murder, My Sweet (Edward Dmytryk), The Uninvited (Lewis Allen), The Fighting Seabees (Edward Ludwig)

1945

1. Scarlet Street (Fritz Lang)
2. Detour (Edgar G. Ulmer)
3. Open City (Roberto Rossellini)
4. Children of Paradise (Marcel Carne')
5. Isle of the Dead (Mark Robson)
6. Fallen Angel (Otto Preminger)
7. Leave Her To Heaven (John M. Stahl)
8. Spellbound (Alfred Hitchcock)
9. The Body Snatcher (Robert Wise)
10. Objective Burma (Raoul Walsh)

Honorable Mentions:
Strange Illusion (Edgar G. Ulmer), Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (Robert Bresson), I Know Where I'm Going (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger), They Were Expendable (John Ford), Dead of Night (Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer), The Bells of St. Mary's (Leo McCarey), The Lost Weekend (Billy Wilder), The Picture of Dorian Gray (Albert Lewin), The Southerner (Jean Renoir)

1946

1. My Darling Clementine (John Ford)
2. The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks)
3. It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra)
4. The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler)
5. A Matter of Life and Death (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
6. Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock)
7. Shoeshine (Vittorio De Sica)
8. Bedlam (Mark Robson)
9. Beauty and the Beast (Jean Cocteau)
10. Duel In the Sun (King Vidor)

Honorable Mentions:
The Stranger (Orson Welles), A Scandal In Paris (Douglas Sirk), Oliver Twist (David Lean), Crisis (Ingmar Bergman), The Spiral Staircase (Robert Siodmak, The Postman Always Rings Twice (Tay Garnett), A Night In Casablanca (Archie Mayo)

1947

1. Black Narcissus (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
2. The Red House (Delmer Daves)
3. Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur)
4. Lady From Shanghai (Orson Welles)
5. A Double Life (George Cukor)
6. T-Men (Anthony Mann)
7. Brute Force (Jules Dassin)
8. Pursued (Raoul Walsh)
9. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
10. Gentleman's Agreement (Elia Kazan)

Honorable Mentions:
Dark Passage (Delmer Daves), The Paradine Case (Alfred Hitchcock), Body and Soul (Robert Rossen), Woman on the Beach (Jean Renoir), Gran Casino (Luis Bunuel), Lady in the Lake (Robert Montgomery), Miracle On 34th Street (George Seaton), Monsieur Verdoux (Charles Chaplin)

1948

1. Red River (Howard Hawks)
2. Letter From an Unknown Woman (Max Ophuls)
3. The Red Shoes (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
4. Rope (Alfred Hitchcock)
5. Germany, Year Zero (Roberto Rossellini)
6. Unfaithfully Yours (Preston Sturges)
7. Force of Evil (Abraham Polonsky)
8. La Terra Trema (Luchino Visconti)
9. Louisiana Story (Robert Flaherty)
10. Fort Apache (John Ford)

Honorable Mentions:
The Bicycle Thief (Vittorio De Sica), Macbeth (Orson Welles), Yellow Sky (William A. Wellman), The Fallen Idol (Carol Reed), The Naked City (Jules Dassin), A Song Is Born (Howard Hawks), Great Expectations (David Lean), 3 Godfathers (John Ford), Sorry, Wrong Number (Anatole Litvak), Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston)

1949

1. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (John Ford)
2. Late Spring (Yasujiro Ozu)
3. Sands of Iwo Jima (Allan Dwan)
4. I Was a Male War Bride (Howard Hawks)
5. The Reckless Moment (Max Ophuls)
6. Gun Crazy (Joseph H. Lewis)
7. Thieves Highway (Jules Dassin)
8. White Heat (Raoul Walsh)
9. A Letter to Three Wives (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
10. Battleground (William A. Wellman)

Honorable Mentions:
The Quiet Duel (Akira Kurosawa), The Set-Up (Robert Wise), I Shot Jesse James (Samuel Fuller), The Heiress (William Wyler), Whirlpool (Otto Preminger), The Third Man (Carol Reed), Border Incident (Anthony Mann), Thirst (Ingmar Bergman), Adam's Rib (George Cuckor), Kind Hearts and Coronets (Robert Hamer)

1950

1. Los Olvidados (Luis Bunuel)
2. Orpheus (Jean Cocteau)
3. The Flowers of St. Francis (Roberto Rossellini)
4. In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray)
5. Winchester '73 (Anthony Mann)
6. Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder)
7. House By the River (Fritz Lang)
8. La Ronde (Max Ophuls)
9. Wagon Master (John Ford)
10. Broken Arrow (Delmer Daves)

Honorable Mentions:
D.O.A. (Rudolph Mate'), Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa), All About Eve (Joseph L. Mankiewicz), Stage Fright (Alfred Hitchcock), Night and the City (Jules Dassin), The Baron of Arizona (Sam Fuller), Where the Sidewalk Ends (Otto Preminger), Panic In the Streets (Elia Kazan), No Way Out (Joseph L. Mankiewicz), Father of the Bride (Vincente Minnelli)

1951

1. Diary of a Country Priest (Robert Bresson)
2. Early Summer (Yasujiro Ozu)
3. Strangers on a Train (Alfred Hitchcock)
4. Ace In the Hole (Billy Wilder)
5. The River (Jean Renoir)
6. A Streetcar Named Desire (Elia Kazan)
7. The Thing From Another World (Christian Nyby and Howard Hawks)
8. Summer Interlude (Ingmar Bergman)
9. The Steel Helmet (Samuel Fuller)
10. The Day the Earth Stood Still (Robert Wise)

Honorable Mentions:
An American In Paris (Vincente Minnelli), The Prowler (Joseph Losey), Flying Leathernecks (Nicholas Ray), The African Queen (John Huston), Man In the Saddle (Andre De Toth), St. Benny the Dip (Edgar G. Ulmer), The Man In the White Suit (Alexander Mackendrick), Susana (Luis Bunuel), The Idiot (Akira Kurosawa), The Enforcer (Bretaigne Windust and Raoul Walsh)