Kenneth Turan’s 54 favorite films

After nearly four decades of film criticism, the Los Angeles Times’ Kenneth Turan has compiled his list of favorite movies, which we’ve listed chronologically for you here. Turan expounds on his selections in the new book “Not to Be Missed: Fifty-Four Favorites From a Lifetime of Film.”

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  Films

Fantômas’

The promotional cover for 'Fantômas.'
The promotional cover for 'Fantômas.' (Handout)

Five silent features about a French criminal genius based on Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain’s novels.

Director: Louis Feuillade
Stars: René Navarre, Edmund Breon

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Films

Sherlock Jr.’

Buster Keaton in a publicity still from "Sherlock Jr."
Buster Keaton in a publicity still from "Sherlock Jr." (The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)

A silent comedy about a film projectionist who gets a chance to fulfill his dream of being a detective when he is framed for stealing.

Director: Buster Keaton
Stars: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire

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Films

Pass the Gravy’

When two neighbors set aside their feud over pet chickens to celebrate the engagement between their children, a misunderstanding about the fowl threatens relations.

Directors: Fred Guiol, Leo McCarey
Stars: Max Davidson, Spec O’Donnell

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Films

I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang’

Paul Muni in a scene from "I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang."
Paul Muni in a scene from "I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang." (UPI)

This drama adapted from a real-life fugitive’s autobiography follows a wrongfully convicted man amid brutal conditions on a chain gang.

Directors: Mervyn LeRoy
Stars: Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell

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Films

Bombshell’

A scene from "Bombshell." (Warner Archive)

In this romantic comedy, Jean Harlow plays an actress whose schemes to revamp her image all go awry.

Director: Victor Fleming
Stars: Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy

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Films

The Dybbuk’

A clip from "The Dybbuk." (The National Center for Jewish Film)

This adaptation of a Polish play tells the story of a young bride who is possessed by an evil spirit on the eve of her wedding.

Director: Michal Waszynski
Stars: Leon Liebgold, Lili Liliana

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Films

Make Way for Tomorrow’

Barbara Reid and  Beulah Bondi in a scene from "Make Way for Tomorrow."
Barbara Reid and Beulah Bondi in a scene from "Make Way for Tomorrow." (Paramount Pictures)

In this drama, an elderly couple must split up when none of their five children will take them both in.

Director: Leo McCarey
Stars: Victor Moore, Belulah Bondi

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Films

Love Affair’

Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne from "Love Affair."
Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne from "Love Affair." (Ernest A. Bachrach / RKO Radio Pictures)

A Frenchman and American woman fall in love aboard a ship, arranging a rendezvous atop the Empire State Building six months later to test the strength of their affections.

Director: Leo McCarey
Stars: Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, Maria Ouspenskaya

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Films

The Shop Around the Corner’

The original trailer for "The Shop Around the Corner." (Turner Classic Movies)

Two bickering gift shop employees have no idea that they’re falling in love with each other as anonymous pen pals.

Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Stars: James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan

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Films

Pride and Prejudice’

The official trailer for "Pride and Prejudice." (Turner Classic Movies)

The drama, based on Jane Austen’s novel of the same name, follows a rural family whose matriarch is eager to find husbands for her five unmarried daughters.

Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Stars: Greer Garson, Laurence Olivier

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Films

The Strawberry Blonde’

James Cagney and Olivia de Havilland in "The Strawberry Blonde."
James Cagney and Olivia de Havilland in "The Strawberry Blonde." (Warner Bros.)

A New York City man finds himself in competition with another to woo a society girl.

Director: Raoul Walsh
Stars: James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland, Rita Hayworth

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Films

The Lady Eve’

The official trailer for "The Lady Eve." (Turner Classic Movies)

A father-daughter con artist team target a socially awkward heir to great fortune, but their plan falters when the daughter falls in love with her mark.

Director: Preston Sturges
Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn

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Films

Casablanca’

A scene from "Casablanca."
A scene from "Casablanca." (Warner Bros.)

Set during the onset of World War II, the romantic drama focuses on a man who must make difficult decisions when he encounters a former lover in Africa.

Director: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Raines

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Films

To Be or Not to Be’

A clip from "To Be or Not to Be." (Turner Classic Movies)

This comedy follows a troupe of actors in Nazi-occupied Poland who get tangled in a Polish soldier’s efforts to find a German spy.

Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Stars: Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack

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Films

Random Harvest’

A scene from "Random Harvest."
A scene from "Random Harvest." (HBO / Cinemax)

In this film adaptation of the 1941 James Hilton novel, an amnesiac World War I veteran falls in love with a singer, later suffering an accident that restores his original memories but erases his post-war ones.

Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Stars: Ronald Colman, Greer Garson

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Films

Children of Paradise’

A scene from the movie "Children of Paradise."
A scene from the movie "Children of Paradise." (Criterion Collection)

This French film tells the story of a courtesan and four men (a mime, an actor, a thief and an aristocrat) who love her in their own ways.

Director: Marcel Carné
Stars: Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur

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Films

Great Expectations’

Jean Simmons, left, Martita Hunt, center, and Anthony Wager in "Great Expectations."
Jean Simmons, left, Martita Hunt, center, and Anthony Wager in "Great Expectations." (Universal Pictures)

Charles Dickens’ classic novel about an orphan who comes into unexpected wealth is the first of two Dickens adaptations from David Lean. He later directed “Oliver Twist.”

Director: David Lean
Stars: John Mills, Valerie Hobson, Alec Guinness

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Films

Bicycle Thieves’

Enzo Staiola, left, and Lamberto Maggiorani in "Bicycle Thieves."
Enzo Staiola, left, and Lamberto Maggiorani in "Bicycle Thieves." (Los Angeles Times file photo)

In this Italian film, a poor father takes his son on a search for a stolen bicycle that is vital to his job.

Director: Vittorio De Sica
Stars: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola

Tagged as
Films

The Third Man’

Orson Welles, left, as Harry Lime in "The Third Man."
Orson Welles, left, as Harry Lime in "The Third Man." (UCLA Film and Television Archive)

The British film noir follows a pulp writer who arrives in postwar Vienna for a job, only to discover that the friend who invited him there has been murdered.

Director: Carol Reed
Stars: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles

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Films

All About Eve’

A scene from "All About Eve."
A scene from "All About Eve." (20th Century Fox)

Lots of backstage intrigue in this story of an aging Broadway star battling an ambitious young actress who threatens her career.

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Stars: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm

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Films

The Asphalt Jungle’

A scene from "The Asphalt Jungle."
A scene from "The Asphalt Jungle." (American Cinematheque)

Betrayals and bad luck get a group of robbers who pull off a complex jewelry heist into trouble.

Director: John Huston
Stars: Sterling Hayden, Jean Hagen, Sam Jaffe

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Films

Sunset Boulevard’

The official trailer for "Sunset Boulevard." (Paramount Pictures)

An unsuccessful screenwriter is drawn into the world of a former silent-film star who dreams of making a comeback.

Director: Billy Wilder
Stars: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim

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Films

Singin’ in the Rain’

Gene Kelly in a scene from "Singin' in the Rain."
Gene Kelly in a scene from "Singin' in the Rain." (American Cinematheque)

Hollywood’s difficult transition from silent films to talkies is the subject of this musical comedy.

Directors: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
Stars: Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds

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Films

Casque d’Or’

Serge Reggiani and Simone Signoret in the movie "Casque D'or."
Serge Reggiani and Simone Signoret in the movie "Casque D'or." (The Criterion Collection)

A French story of love and jealousy set during the Belle Epoque.

Director: Jacques Becker
Stars: Simone Signoret, Serge Reggiani

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Films

The Importance of Being Earnest’

The British adaptation of an Oscar Wilde classic, centered on the tale of two men pretending to be who they are not to escape social obligations.

Director: Anthony Asquith
Stars: Michael Redgrave, Edith Evans, Joan Greenwood

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Films

The Earrings of Madame de…’

A scene from "The Earrings of Madame de..."
A scene from "The Earrings of Madame de..." (LACMA)

A bittersweet love drama in a world of debt-ridden characters all connected by a pair of earrings.

Director: Max Ophüls
Stars: Charles Boyer, Danielle Darrieux, Vittorio De Sica

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Films

Seven Samurai’

A scene from "Seven Samurai."
A scene from "Seven Samurai." (Kyodo News / Associated Press)

A village of farmers enlists seven samurai to help fend off an impending bandit attack.

Director: Akira Kurosawa
Stars: Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune

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Films

Kiss Me Deadly’

A scene from "Kiss Me Deadly."
A scene from "Kiss Me Deadly." (MGM Home Entertainment)

A Los Angeles private eye embarks on his most mysterious case when flagged down by a desperate hitchhiker.

Director: Robert Aldrich
Stars: Ralph Meeker, Maxine Cooper, Gaby Rodgers

Tagged as
Films

Seven Men From Now’

The trailer for "Seven Men From Now." (Paramount Pictures)

An ex-sheriff tracks down the seven men responsible for killing his wife in this action-packed western.

Director: Budd Boetticher
Stars: Randolph Scott, Gail Russell, Lee Marvin

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Films

Sweet Smell of Success’

Burt Lancaster in the film "Sweet Smell of Success."
Burt Lancaster in the film "Sweet Smell of Success." (United Artists)

A tale of immorality unfolds as a powerful newspaper columnist attempts to sabotage his sister’s relationship with a man he disapproves of.

Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Stars: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis

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Films

Touch of Evil’

Charleton Heston and Janet Leigh in a scene from "A Touch of Evil," directed by Orson Welles.
Charleton Heston and Janet Leigh in a scene from "A Touch of Evil," directed by Orson Welles. (October Films)

Set south of the border, “Touch of Evil” pits a Mexican policeman against his corrupt colleague when his investigation of a bomb explosion threatens his and his new bride’s life.

Director: Orson Welles
Stars: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles

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Films

Vertigo’

James Stewart as Detective John "Scottie" Ferguson and Kim Novak as Madeleine Elster/Judy Barton in "Vertigo."
James Stewart as Detective John "Scottie" Ferguson and Kim Novak as Madeleine Elster/Judy Barton in "Vertigo." (UCLA Arts Special Collections)

A retired detective suffering from acrophobia becomes dangerously obsessed with an old college buddy’s wife after he is asked to investigate her strange behavior.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: James Stewart, Kim Novak

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Films

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance’

The trailer for "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance." (Paramount Pictures)

When recognized by reporters, a high-profile senator attending a small town funeral decides to set the record straight about what made him famous.

Director: John Ford
Stars: James Stewart, John Wayne, Lee Marvin

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Films

The Gospel According to St. Matthew’

A scene from "The Gospel According to St. Matthew."
A scene from "The Gospel According to St. Matthew." (Los Angeles Times file photo)

An Italian film in the neorealism tradition that retells the story of Christ.

Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Stars: Enrique Irazoqui

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Films

Falstaff’ / ‘Chimes at Midnight’

Orson Welles in the 1965 movie "Falstaff" (also known as "Chimes at Midnight").
Orson Welles in the 1965 movie "Falstaff" (also known as "Chimes at Midnight"). (Peppercorn-Wormser)

This film’s plot centers on the relationship between Shakespeare’s Sir John Falstaff and his patriarchal relationship with Prince Hal, King Henry IV’s son.

Director: Orson Welles
Stars: Orson Welles, Keith Baxter, John Gielgud

Tagged as
Films

Point Blank’

Lee Marvin during a scene in the 1967 film noir classic "Point Blank."
Lee Marvin during a scene in the 1967 film noir classic "Point Blank." (Paramount Pictures)

The film, based on a novel by Donald Westlake, focuses on a man who is determined to seek revenge after his business partner leaves him for dead.

Director: John Boorman
Stars: Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson

Tagged as
Films

Le Samouraï’

A still from the film "Le Samourai."
A still from the film "Le Samourai." (Artificial Eye Film Co.)

A usually meticulous assassin finds himself pushed into a corner when witnesses see him at the scene of a nightclub murder.

Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Stars: Alain Delon

Tagged as
Films

Kes’

A personal story about an English working-class boy’s passion for a kestrel falcon.

Director: Ken Loach
Stars: David Bradley

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Films

The Godfather’

A special trailer for "The Godfather." (Paramount Pictures)

A view of the dark side of the American dream shown through a man’s reluctant succession of his aging father’s crime empire.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Stars: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall

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Films

Chinatown’

The official trailer for "Chinatown." (Paramount Pictures)

A private eye hired to expose the infidelity of the city’s water system builder gets ensnared in plots of corruption much bigger than adultery.

Director: Roman Polanski
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston

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Films

The Day After Trinity’

A documentary that details the lives of the scientists behind the creation of the atomic bomb, and why those people made the world’s most destructive weapon.

Director: Jon Else

Tagged as
Films

First Contact’

A scene from the movie "First Contact."
A scene from the movie "First Contact." (Handout)

A documentary that showcases the first contact between highland tribes in Papua New Guinea and European explorers.

Directors: Bob Connolly, Robin Anderson

Tagged as
Films

Distant Voices, Still Lives’

A scene from "Distant Voices, Still Lives."
A scene from "Distant Voices, Still Lives." (UCLA Film & Television Archive)

The second installment in an autobiographical trilogy about living as a working-class family in Liverpool in the 1940s and 1950s.

Director: Terence Davies
Stars: Pete Postlethwaite, Freda Dowie

Tagged as
Films

Howards End’

Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson in "Howards End."
Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson in "Howards End." (Associated Press)

An Edwardian era film based on an E.M. Forster novel about the love and conflict between three families, each from different socioeconomic classes.

Director: James Ivory
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave

Tagged as
Films

Léolo’

Maximine Collin in the movie "Léolo."
Maximine Collin in the movie "Léolo." (Roger Dufresne / Fine Line Features)

A young boy retreats to his imagination to escape the life he lives with his dysfunctional family.

Director: Jean-Claude Lauzon
Stars: Maxime Collin, Ginette Reno, Pierre Bourgault

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Films

Unforgiven’

Clint Eastwood in a scene from "Unforgiven."
Clint Eastwood in a scene from "Unforgiven." (Warner Bros.)

A retired gunslinger takes up one last job after years away from that lifestyle.

Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman

Tagged as
Films

Spirited Away’

A scene from the animated movie "Spirited Away."
A scene from the animated movie "Spirited Away." (Walt Disney Studios)

After moving to the suburbs, a 10-year-old girl becomes an unlikely hero when she wanders into a world of gods, spirits and monsters.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Stars: Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irina

Tagged as
Films

The Best of Youth’

Jasmine Trica, Luigi Lo Cascio and Alessio Boni star in the Italian movie "The Best of Youth."
Jasmine Trica, Luigi Lo Cascio and Alessio Boni star in the Italian movie "The Best of Youth." (Miramax Films)

An epic that follows one family for nearly four decades, and how its members react to the defining events of Italian history.

Director: Marco Tullio Giordana
Stars: Luigi Lo Cascio, Alessio Boni, Sonia Bergamasco

Tagged as
Films

The Five Obstructions’

A scene from Danish movie "The Five Obstructions."
A scene from Danish movie "The Five Obstructions." (Koch Lorber Films)

A documentary in which one director challenges another to remake his favorite film five times, each with a different “obstruction,” or obstacle.

Directors: Jørgen Leth, Lars von Trier

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Films

Stranded: I’ve Come From a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains’

Photo taken by the survivors during their 72 days in the mountains, featured in the documentary movie, "Stranded."
Photo taken by the survivors during their 72 days in the mountains, featured in the documentary movie, "Stranded." (Zeitgeist Films)

A documentary that recounts the story of a rugby team from Uruguay and their struggle to survive after their plane crashes in the Andes Mountains.

Director: Gonzalo Arijon

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Films

A Prophet’

The trailer for "A Prophet." (Sony Pictures)

The film centers on a peaceful Arab sent to prison for six years and how he becomes a mafia kingpin.

Director: Jacques Audiard
Stars: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup

Tagged as
Films

Of Gods and Men’

Film critic Kenneth Turan reviews "Of Gods and Men." (The Los Angeles Times)

Tension surfaces in unlikely places in “Of Gods and Men,” a film based on a true story about a group of French monks facing a life-or-death crisis.

Director: Xavier Beauvois
Stars: Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale

Tagged as
Films

Senna’

A trailer for 2010 documentary "Senna." (Universal Pictures)

This documentary follows the life and death of Brazilian Formula One racing champion Ayrton Senna.

Director: Asif Kapadia
Stars: Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost

Tagged as
Films

Footnote’

The official trailer for "Footnote." (UK Jewish Film Festival)

The Israeli film deals with the relationship between two rival professors who happen to be father and son.

Director: Joseph Cedar
Stars: Shlomo Bar-Aba, Lior Ashkenazi

Tagged as
Films