What is a classic movie? Dictionaries agree that a classic is a work judged over time to be a superior example of its kind. However, how this definition is applied to motion pictures depends on the eye of the beholder. One person’s “The Thin Man” is another’s “RoboCop.”

If we look to literature for an objective metric, a classic is an older work “still in print,” that is, a work available for purchase as a new book. The early decades of cinema did see a parallel in the profitable rereleases of box office hits. However, in the 1950’s, presentations of films on television began to supplant theater rereleases.

Television’s growing demand for content soon led to presentations of forgotten box office flops and caused some, such as “Citizen Kane” (1941) and “Bringing Up Baby” (1938), to be elevated to classic status. The demand for content grew exponentially with cable television and today that demand ensures practically any movie that can be shown will be shown.  A little patience and one can watch every film that stars Huntz Hall.

This study is intended to identify film classics quantitatively by relying on a fundamental principle of the motion picture industry: That which is most watched is most shown. When applied to new film releases, this means the number of screens devoted to a film after its opening weekend or even opening day will be adjusted according to the film’s box office. A new release can only be a hit if it is screened more than other new releases. When applied to older films, this principle means a classic film is one televised significantly more than most older films based on all ratings data by which network program directors assess viewer demand.

Conclusions

Our premise that classic movies are those presented significantly more than other pre-1990 films proved too simplistic given that 96 of the top 100 films in our survey were released between 1989 and 1971. (See list below, which includes names of films, their release dates, the networks that presented them and the total presentations of each between 2018-2020.)

1) Back to the Future (1985) MAX/STARZ/SHOW/SYFY 321 

2) Road House (1989) AMC/IFC/STARZ/BBCA/PARA/SHOW/OVA/THIS 320

3) RoboCop (1987) MAX/HBO/STARZ/THIS 272

4) Back to the Future Part II (1989) MAX/STARZ/SHOW/SYFY 272

5) Field of Dreams (1989) SHOW/AMC/OVA/STARZ 258

6) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) HBO/MAX/STARZ/OVA/SYFY/SHOW 228

7) Scrooged (1988) STARZ/SHOW/AMC/BBCA 228

8) Predator (1987) HBO/MAX/AMC/BBCA/IFC/STARZ 216

9) The Blues Brothers (1980) AMC/STARZ/SHOW/HBO/IFC 212       

10) The Princess Bride (1987) HBO/MAX/BBCA/IFC/AMC/SHOW 207

11) Coming to America (1988) STARZ/PARA/SHOW/IFC 206

12) Uncle Buck (1989) AMC/IFC/STARZ/HBO 204

13) Born on the Fourth of July (1989) MAX/BBCA/OVA/STARZ/HBO 201

14) Jaws (1975) AMC/SYFY/STARZ/BBCA/MAX/HBO 199

15) Die Hard (1988) AMC/IFC/BBCA/FXM/PARA/MAX/HBO 195

16) Major League (1989) SHOW/AMC/IFC/OVA/MOVIES/PARA 195

17) Conan the Barbarian (1982) MAX/HBO/STARZ/SHOW 192

18) Teen Wolf (1985) AMC/IFC/BBCA/SHOW/PARA/STARZ/THIS/OVA 187

19) The Thing (1982) STARZ/SHOW 177

20) The Terminator (1984) AMC/IFC/BBCA/OVA/SYFY/SHOW/THIS 177

21) Young Guns (1988) BBCA/AMC/SHOW/OVA/STARZ 169  

22) Fatal Attraction (1987) SHOW/OVA/STARZ 167

23) Rain Man (1988) STARZ/OVA/THIS/SHOW 166

24) Baby Boom (1987) SHOW/THIS/STARZ/TCM 165   

25) Twins (1988) STARZ/MAX/HBO 165

26) The Great Outdoors (1988) AMC/IFC/STARZ 164                  

27) Mad Max (1979) AMC/IFC/STARZ/SYFY/OVA/SHOW/THIS 164

28) They Live (1988) SHOW/STARZ 162

29) The Untouchables (1987) SHOW/BBCA/AMC/STARZ 159

30) Weird Science (1985) AMC/BBCA/IFC/SHOW/OVA/STARZ/HBO 157

31) Willard (1971) SHOW/MAX 155

32) The Warriors (1979) STARZ/IFC/MAX 155

33) Fletch (1985) HBO/STARZ/SHOW 154

34) Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) IFC/AMC/BBCA/SHOW/PARA/STARZ 150    

35) Commando (1985) MAX/HBO 150

36) Big Trouble in Little China (1986) MAX/HBO 150

37) Scarface (1983) AMC/IFC/BBCA/OVA/STARZ/TCM/PARA 149

38) The Abyss (1989) MAX/HBO 149

39) Conan the Destroyer (1984) MAX/HBO/STARZ/SHOW 148

40) Shane (1953) STARZ 145

41) Midnight Run (1988) HBO/SHOW/MAX 143

42) Friday the 13th Part II (1981) SHOW/AMC/SYFY/IFC/MOVIES/STARZ 142  

43) The Running Man {1987) SHOW/MOVIES/AMC/STARZ 141

44) The Naked Gun: from the Files of Police Squad (1988) SHOW/IFC/STARZ 141

45) Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) STARZ 140

46) Rocky (1976) AMC/BBCA/IFC/SHOW/PARA/TCM 139

47) Flashdance (1983) STARZ/IFC/MOVIES/0VA/SHOW 139

48) The Karate Kid (1984) AMC/BBCA/WE/OVA/MOVIES/SHOW 139

49) Revenge of the Nerds (1984) AMC/IFC/BBCA/MAX 135

50) Smokey and the Bandit (1977) STARZ/IFC/OVA/SHOW 132

51) The Deer Hunter (1978) STARZ/MAX/SHOW 130

52)Tootsie (1982) SHOW/STARZ 130

53) Firestarter (1984) SHOW/STARZ/MAX 130

54) Annie (1982) STARZ/MOVIES/AMC/TCM 129

55) Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) SHOW/IFC/BBCA/PARA/AMC/MOVIES 127

56) High Plains Drifter (1973) SHOW/AMC 126

57) Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) SHOW/IFC 126

58) Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) STARZ/IFC/PARA 125

59) Grease 2 (1982) STARZ/OVA 125

60) Grease (1978) AMC/STARZ/PARA/BBCA 124

61) Black Widow (1987) MAX/FXM 124

62) Fletch Lives (1989) HBO/STARZ/SHOW 124    

63) Big (1988) PARA/MAX/HBO/SHOW 123

64) Carrie (1976) STARZ/AMC/IFC/THIS/SHOW 121

65) Aliens (1986) STARZ/IFC/BBCA/AMC/HBO 120

66) Alien (1979) AMC/IFC/BBCA/HBO 118

67) Brewster’s Millions (1985) STARZ 118

68) Friday the 13th (1980) MAX/SHOW/SYFY/STARZ/IFC/BBCA 116

69) Stakeout (1987) MAX/HBO 115

70) Raging Bull (1980) MAX/SHOW/THIS 114

71) Top Gun (1986) AMC/PARA/SHOW 114

72) 9 to 5 (1980) TCM/STARZ 113

73) Airplane! (1980) IFC/AMC/SHOW/MOVIES 113

74) Footloose (1984) AMC/BBCA/STARZ/IFC 113

75) The Beguiled (1971) MAX/STARZ 112

76) Sixteen Candles (1984) PARA/AMC/IFC/STARZ/SHOW 112

77) The Money Pit (1986) STARZ/OVA/SHOW 111

78) Psycho (1960) OVA/STARZ/BBCA/IFC 110

79) The Hustler (1961) MAX/TCM/FXM 109 

80) A Fistful of Dollars (1964) STARZ/THIS 108

81) Action Jackson (1988) STARZ 107

82) Crocodile Dundee (1986) MOVIES/STARZ 106

83) The ‘Burbs (1989) STARZ/IFC/SHOW 106

84) Mystic Pizza (1988) SHOW/NEXT/THIS/OVA/STARZ 105

85) Serpico (1973) STARZ/TCM/THIS/SHOW 104       

86) Red Dawn (1984) STARZ/OVA/SHOW/TNT/TBS/MAX 104

87) The Wizard (1989) STARZ/MOVIES/SHOW/HBO 104

88) National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) STARZ 102  

89) Romancing the Stone (1984) WE/IFC/STARZ 102  

90) Rocky IV (1985) AMC/IFC/BBCA/PARA 102

91) Witness (1985) STARZ/SHOW 102  

92) A Fish Called Wanda (1988) SHOW/MAX/HBO 102  

93) Beaches (1988) SHOW/TCM/HBO/MAX 102      

94) The War of the Roses (1989) MAX/OVA/STARZ 102

95) Victory (1981) MAX 101

96) Crocodile Dundee II (1987) STARZ 101

97) True Grit (1969) STARZ/AMC/MOVIES 100

98) Urban Cowboy (1980) STARZ/MOVIES/SHOW 100

99) Terms of Endearment (1983) MOVIES/OVA/SHOW 100

100) Jaws 3-D (1983) AMC/STARZ/BBCA/MAX/HBO 100

One obvious explanation here is that people are favorably biased toward films released during their lifetimes. The more recent a film, the more people living today were alive when the film was released. Conversely, few people living today were alive—let alone of moviegoing age—when 1930s films were released.

The spike in presentations of 1985 to 1989 releases further suggests that people become most attached to films released during their adolescences and young adulthoods. Representing this demographic for late 1980s films are people now aged 40 to 60—a group that would also be inclined to introduce their favorite movies to their adolescent and young adult offspring. It’s fitting that the top film in our survey, “Back in the Future,” is a film about a teenager going back in time to encounter his teenage parents.

Other factors at play include a prejudice against black-and-white films, a preference for remakes over originals, and familiarity or lack thereof with a film’s stars. Then too, there is overfamiliarity with a favorite film. For instance, one may regard “Casablanca” as the best film ever made and yet have watched the film so many times that he or she is not inclined to watch it again anytime soon.

So how can our data lead us to identify the leading classic movies of all time?. A comparison of the six decades shows presentations of films averaged 27.7 for the 1980s, 12.3 for the 1970s, 8.8 for the 1960s, 6.7 for the 1950s, 5.1 for the 1940s, and 3.1 for the 1950s. In other words, a 1980s film with 27 presentations approximates a 1930s film with 3 presentations. But again, this is an approximation. Therefore, instead of ranking all pre-1990 films according to presentatiion calculations, we prefer to maintain that the 25 top films of each decade deserve the status of classic films.

1) Jaws (1975) AMC/SYFY/STARZ/BBCA/MAX/HBO 199

2) Mad Max (1979) AMC/IFC/STARZ/SYFY/OVA/SHOW/THIS 164

3) Willard (1971) SHOW/MAX 155

4) The Warriors (1979) STARZ/IFC/MAX 155

5) Rocky (1976) AMC/BBCA/IFC/SHOW/PARA/TCM 139

6) Smokey and the Bandit (1977) STARZ/IFC/OVA/SHOW 132

7) The Deer Hunter (1978) STARZ/MAX/SHOW 130

8) Grease (1978) AMC/STARZ/PARA/BBCA 124

9) Carrie (1976) STARZ/AMC/IFC/THIS/SHOW 121

10) The Beguiled (1971) MAX/STARZ 112

11) Serpico (1973) STARZ/TCM/THIS/SHOW 104

12) National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) STARZ 102

13) Fist of Fury (1972) MAX 94

14) Death Wish (1974) AMC/SHOW/STARZ 92

15) Patton (1970) MOVIES/MAX/FXM 90                      

16) Way of the Dragon (1972) MAX 89

17) American Graffiti (1973) STARZ/SHOW/HBO 85

18) Chinatown (1974) SHOW/MOVIES/STARZ 83

19) Paper Moon (1973) MOVIES 8apillon (1973) STARZ/MOVIES 78

20) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) STARZ/THIS/SHOW 76

21) The Eiger Sanction (1975) STARZ 73

22) Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) AMC/BBCA/IFC 73

23) Annie Hall (1977) MAX/HBO/TCM/STARZ 67

24) The French Connection (1971) TCM/STARZ 65

25) The Bad News Bears (1976) STARZ/MOVIES 65

1) Psycho (1960) OVA/STARZ/BBCA/IFC 110

2) The Hustler (1961) MAX/TCM/FXM 109 

3) A Fistful of Dollars (1964) STARZ/THIS 108

4) True Grit (1969) STARZ/AMC/MOVIES 100

5) West Side Story (1961) MAX/THIS/STARZ 97

6) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) TCM/OVA/STARZ 90

7) The Last Sunset (1961) STARZ 88

8) Casino Royale (1967) STARZ/MAX/TCM 85

9) Rosemary’s Baby (1968) STARZ/MOVIES/SHOW 84

10) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) STARZ/MOVIES 83

11) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1967) STARZ/THIS 83

12) Once Upon a Time in the West (1969) STARZ/MOVIES 83

13) The Magnificent Seven (1960) THIS/STARZ/OVA/TCM 75

14) Goldfinger (1964) PARA/STARZ/BBCA 75

15) From Russia with Love (1963) BBCA/STARZ 71

16) For a Few Dollars More (1965) STARZ/THIS 71

17) Rio Conchos (1964) FXM/MOVIES/STARZ 69

18) Hang ‘Em High (1968) THIS/OVA/STARZ 68           

19) The Second Time Around (1961) STARZ/FXM 66

20) Return of the Seven (1966) THIS/STARZ 65

21) Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) STARZ/MOVIES 64

22) Flaming Star (1960) MOVIES/STARZ 64

23) One Foot in Hell (1960) MOVIES/STARZ 62

24) The Great Escape (1963) THIS/TCM 62

25) Night of the Living Dead (1968) THIS/IFC/STARZ/TCM/OVA/MOVIES 61

1) Shane (1053) STARZ 145

2) The Bravados (1958) STARZ/FXM 78

3) Rio Grande (1950) TCM/MOVIES/STARZ 66

4) The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) FXM/STARZ/TCM 59

5) The Man from the Alamo (1953) STARZ 58

6) The True Story of Jesse James (1957) STARZ 57

7) Rawhide (1951) MOVIES/STARZ 56

8) Love Me Tender (1956) MOVIES/STARZ/FXM 56

9) The Duel at Silver Creek (1952) STARZ 54

10) Man without a Star (1955) STARZ 54

11) Hondo (1953) MOVIES/STARZ 52

12) River of No Return{1954) STARZ/TCM 51

13) Day of the Bad Man (1958) STARZ 50

14) Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) FXM/STARZ 50

15) Rear Window (1954) STARZ/BBCA/TCM/IFC 49

16) The Horse Soldiers (1959) STARZ 47

17) Broken Arrow (1950) TCM/STARZ 46

18) The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) TCM/STARZ 46

19) Broken Lance (1954) STARZ/TCM 45

20) Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) TCM/FXM 45

21) An Affair to Remember (1957) MAX/HBO/FXM 44

22) Let’s Make It Legal (1951) FXM 43

23) The Proud Ones (1956) MOVIES/STARZ 43

24) Decision Before Dawn (1959) MOVIES/FXM 41

25) The Three Faces of Eve (1957) TCM/FXM 41

2) The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) TCM/STARZ/FXM 62

3) Red River (1948) THIS/STARZ 51

4) The Shepherd of the Hills (1941) STARZ 48

5) My Darling Clementine (1946) STARZ/TCM 47

6) I Wake Up Screaming (1941) FXM/MOVIES 44

7) The Spoilers (1942) STARZ 42

8) Mildred Pierce (1945) MOVIES/SHOW/TCM 39

9) The Blue Bird (1940) FXM/MOVIES/TCM 38

10) Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) STARZ 36

11) The Man Who Wouldn’t Die (1942) FXM 34

12) The Woman in Green (1945) MOVIES/TCM/STARZ 33

13) The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) MOVIES/TCM 31

14) House of Strangers (1949) MOVIES/TCM 31

15) The Dark Command (1940) STARZ 30

16) High Sierra (1941) MOVIES/TCM 30

17) Key Largo (1948) MOVIES/TCM 28

18) A Bell for Adano (1945) FXM 28

19) Dressed to Kill (1946) MOVIES/TCM 26

20) Call Northside 777 (1948) MOVIES/FXM 25

21) Dark Passage (1947) TCM/MOVIES 25

22) Dangerous Passage (1944) MOVIES/TCM 25

23) Out of the Past (1947) TCM/MOVIES 24

24) Adam’s Rib (1949) TCM/MOVIES 24

25) The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) TCM/FXM 24