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A Statistical Definition of "Classic Movie":
Introduction
Listed below are the most popular 25 films of each decade between 1927-1989 (films from 1927-29 are included in the 1930s decade). The results are based on data collected through the second year of a three-year study that is tracking the programming of television networks which regularly schedule pre-1990 films. Included, when applicable, are all outlets of a network, e.g., STARZ, STARZ Edge, STARZ Comedy, etc. Networks include:
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 “High Noon” is another’s “RoboCop.” To identify movie classics quantitatively, this study relies on a fundamental principle of the motion picture industry: That which is watched is shown; that which is shown is watched. When applied to new film releases, this means the number of screens devoted to a film after its opening weekend will be adjusted according to the film’s box office. A new release can only be a box office hit if it is screened more than most of its competition. When applied to older films, the principle means a classic film is one televised significantly more than most older films because data indicates they are the films most watched. Of course, older films are also streamed on the Internet or viewed “on demand.” However, because the platforms for streaming and on-demand are largely the same networks surveyed for this study, it follows that the frequency with which a network programs a film reflects its streaming and on-demand popularity. Not all networks which present movies were included in this survey. However, those excluded present movies sporadically and pre-1990 releases sparingly if at all. At best their presentations might slightly alter the order of rankings, but not the movies ranked. Rankings by Decade Listed under each decade are 1) a film's ranking among films of that decade according to combined statistics of 2018 and 2019, 2) the name of the film, 3) the networks which presented the film, and 4) the number of times the film was presented in 2018 and 2019. You'll note that the numbers of film presentations decrease significantly with each older decade.This is attributable to a bias viewers have for films released in their lifetimes, and particularly films released during and after their adolescence. Accordingly, when two or more movies in a decade post the same number of presentations, the films are ranked in order of seniority. 1. Back to the Future (1985) MAX / STARZ 254 3. Road House (1989) AMC / IFC / STARZ / BBCA / PARA / SHOW / OVA / THIS 214 4. Back to the Future Part II (1989) MAX / STARZ 212 7. The Princess Bride (1987) HBO / MAX / BBCA / IFC / AMC 187 8. Scrooged (1988) STARZ 170 9. Splash (1984) SHOW / FAM / WOM / TMC / FLIX / MAX 156 10. Field of Dreams (1989) SHOW / FLIX / TMC / FAM / AMC / OVA / STARZ 149 11. Weekend at Bernie’s (1989) MAX / HBO 149 12. Uncle Buck (1989) AMC / IFC / STARZ 141 13. Big Trouble in Little China (1986) MAX / HBO 133 14. Conan the Barbarian (1982) MAX / HBO 130 15. Born on the Fourth of July (1989) STARZ / BBCA / OVA 130 16. Baby Boom (1987) SHOW / WOMEN / FAM / THIS / TMC / FLIX / STARZ 129 17. John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) STARZ 128 18. The Abyss (1989) MAX / HBO 128 19. The Blues Brothers (1980) AMC / STARZ 126 20. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) SHOW / FAM / FLIX / TMC / IFC 126 21. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad (1988) SHOW / FLIX / TMC 125 22. Big (1988) PARA / MAX / HBO 124 23. Weird Science (1985) AMC / BBCA / IFC / SHOW / FAM / OVA / TMC / STARZ 121 24. Black Widow (1987) MAX 121 25. The Star Chamber (1983) MAX / SHOW 118 Twins (1988) 117, Fletch (1985) 114, Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) 112, La Bamba (1987) 112, Stripes (1981) 111, Rain Man (1988) 111 1970s 1. Jaws (1975) AMC / SYFY / STARZ / BBCA 128 2. Willard (1971) SHOW / FLIX / TMC 119 3. The Warriors (1979) STARZ 104 4. Way of the Dragon (1972) MAX 99 5. The Beguiled (1971) MAX / STARZ 97 6. Rocky (1976) AMC / BBCA / IFC / SHOW / PARA / TCM 92 7. Joe Kidd (1972) STARZ 87 8. Mad Max (1979) AMC / IFC / STARZ / SYFY / OVA 87 9. The Deer Hunter (1978) MAX / STARZ 84 10. Jaws 2 (1978) AMC / STARZ / BBCA 84 11. Smokey and the Bandit (1977) AMC / STARZ 79 12. Fist of Fury (1972) MAX 77 13. Alien (1979) HBO / AMC / IFC / BBCA 77 14. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) STARZ / AMC / BBCA / IFC 73 15. The Eiger Sanction (1975) MAX 72 16. The Jerk (1979) IFC / STARZ 72 17. The Electric Horseman (1979) STARZ 69 18. The Bad News Bears (1976) STARZ 60 19. Death Wish (1974) AMC / SHOW / STARZ / FLIX / TMC 58 20. National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) AMC / IFC / BBCA 57 21. Escape From Alcatraz (1979) STARZ 57 22. Dracula (1979) MAX / HBO / STARZ 57 23. Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970) STARZ 56 24. Patton (1970) MOVIES / MAX 54 25. Chinatown (1974) SHOW / TMC / MOVIES 54 High Plains Drifter (1973) 52, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) 51, The Gauntlet (1977) 46, Made for Each Other (1971) 451960s 1. The Hustler (1961) MAX 89 2. Psycho (1960) TCM / MAX / OVA / STARZ 81 3. West Side Story (1961) TCM / MAX / THIS 80 4. Once Upon a Time in the West (1969) STARZ 78 5. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (1962) STARZ 77 6. Casino Royale (1967) MAX 77 7. True Grit (1969) STARZ / AMC 73 8. Goldfinger (1964) PARA / STARZ / BBCA 66 9. Hombre (1967) STARZ / FXM 66 10. From Russia With Love (1963) BBCA / STARZ 60 11. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) MOVIES 60 12. The Last Sunset (1961) STARZ 58 13. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1967) STARZ 55 14. The Great Escape (1963) THIS / TCM 53 15. Dr. No (1962) STARZ 52 16. A Fistful of Dollars (1964) STARZ 51 17. The Magnificent Seven (1960) THIS / STARZ 50 18. In Like Flint (1967) FXM / MAX 50 19. North to Alaska (1960) STARZ 48 20. Thunderball (1965) STARZ 48 21. El Dorado (1967) STARZ 48 22. Goodbye Charlie (1964) FXM 46 23. You Only Live Twice (1967) STARZ 46 24. House of the Damned (1963) FXM 44 25. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) STARZ 44 The Comancheros (1961) 43, Return of the Magnificent Seven (1966) 42, Bandolero! (1968) 41 1950s 1. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) TCM / FXM 57 2. The Bravados (1958) STARZ 52 3. Rio Grande (1950) TCM / MOVIES / STARZ 51 4. Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) TCM / FXM 48 5. The Horse Soldiers (1959) STARZ 46 6. Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) TCM / FXM 45 7. Let’s Make It Legal (1951) TCM / FXM 43 8. River of No Return (1954) STARZ / TCM 39 9. Rear Window (1954) STARZ 38 10. The Gunfighter (1950) STARZ 36 11. Soldier of Fortune (1955) FXM 36 12. Forty Guns (1957) STARZ 36 13. Night Passage (1957) STARZ 34 15. Broken Arrow (1950) TCM / STARZ 33 16. The Duel at Silver Creek (1952) STARZ 33 17. Dangerous Crossing (1953) TCM / MOVIES 33 18. Winchester ’73 (1950) STARZ 32 19. Rawhide (1951) MOVIES 30 20. Night People (1954) FXM 30 21. Black Widow (1954) MOVIES 29 22. The Kentuckian (1955) THIS 29 23. 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956) FXM 29 24. Love Me Tender (1956) MOVIES / STARZ 29 25. Garden of Evil (1954) STARZ 28 The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) 27; Man in the Shadow (1957) 27; The Lonely Man (1957) 27; Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957) 27 1940s 1. The Red Stallion (1947) STARZ 51 2. My Darling Clementine (1946) STARZ 39 3. The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) TCM / STARZ 35 4. Sands of Iwo Jima (1950) MOVIES / TCM 36 5.The Blue Bird (1940) FXM / MOVIES 35 6. Red River (1948) THIS / STARZ 31 7. Yellow Sky (1948) STARZ 31 8. House of Strangers (1949) MOVIES / TCM 31 9. The Fighting Kentuckian (1949) STARZ 31 10. Mildred Pierce (1945) MOVIES / TMC 30 11. The Dark Command (1940) STARZ 29 12. The Westerner (1940) STARZ 28 13. The Dark Corner (1946) MOVIES 28 14. The Shepherd of the Hills (1941) STARZ 27 15. The Man Who Wouldn’t Die (1942) FXM 27 16. The Letter (1940) TCM / MOVIES 26 17. The Return of Frank James (1940) STARZ 26 18. I Wake Up Screaming (1941) FXM / MOVIES 25 19. Down Missouri Way (1946) STARZ 25 20. On the Sunny Side (1942) FXM 23 21. The Woman in Green (1945) MOVIES / TCM 23 22. Hangover Square (1945) FXM 23 23. The Foxes of Harrow (1947) FXM 23 24. The Razor’s Edge (1946) FXM 22 25. Thieves’ Highway (1949) TCM / MOVIES 22 Penny Serenade (1941) 21; Sleepers West (1941) 21; My Friend Flicka (1943) 20; Dakota (1946) 20; Lady in the Lake (1946) 20; Dressed to Kill (1946) 20; Captain from Castile (1947) 201927-1939 1. Frankenstein (1931) STARZ 30 2. Union Pacific (1939) STARZ 30 3. Bride of Frankenstein (1935) STARZ / TCM 27 4. Cavalcade (1933) FXM 25 5. Les Miserables (1935) MOVIES / FXM 24 6. The Baroness and the Butler (1938) TCM / FXM 22 7. Wells Fargo (1937) STARZ 20 8. Dracula (1931) TCM / STARZ 19 9. Blue Steel (1934) STARZ 19 10. Poor Little Rich Girl (1936) FXM 19 11. Destry Rides Again (1939) STARZ 19 12. Curly Top (1935) MOVIES / FXM 18 13. The Thin Man (1934) TMC / MOVIES 17 14. The Star Packer (1934) TCM / STARZ 17 15. Rhythm of the Range (1936) STARZ 17 16. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) TCM / MOVIES 16 17. West of the Divide (1934) STARZ 16 18. Captains Courageous (1937) TCM / MOVIES 16 19. After the Thin Man (1936) TCM / MOVIES 15 20. They Made Me a Criminal (1939) MOVIES 15 21. .The Virginian (1929) STARZ 14 22. The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939) FXM 14 23. Reefer Madness (1936) FLIX / MAX 14 24. Little Caesar (1930) TCM / MOVIES 13 25. The Plainsman (1936) TCM / STARZ 13 The Texas Rangers (1936) 13; The Three Musketeers (1939) 13; Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence (1939) 13
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