Greatest Films

 The Best Films of All Time - A Primer of Cinematic History
www.filmsite.org & www.greatestfilms.org


THE DECADE's ALL-TIME
BOX OFFICE LEADERS

The Decade's All-Time Box Office Hits of the most popular films (for each of the decades from the Pre-Sound Era to the decade of the 1990s) have been compiled below by various sources.

See also Greatest Box-Office Bombs, Disasters, and Flops.


TOP TEN FILMS OF THE 1920s
(estimated)

  1. The Big Parade (1925)
  2. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)
  3. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)
  4. The Ten Commandments (1923)
  5. What Price Glory? (1926)
  6. The Covered Wagon (1923)
  7. Way Down East (1921)
  8. The Singing Fool (1928)
  9. Wings (1927)
  10. The Gold Rush (1925)

    Also in the Pre-Sound Era:

    The Birth of a Nation (1915)



TOP TEN FILMS OF THE 1930s

  1. Gone With The Wind (1939)
  2. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
  3. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  4. Frankenstein (1931)
    (some sources displace this film with The Woman in Red (1935) as # 4)
  5. King Kong (1933)
  6. San Francisco (1936)
  7. Hell's Angels (1930) (tie)
  8. Lost Horizon (1937) (tie)
  9. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) (tie)
  10. Maytime (1937)



TOP TEN FILMS OF THE 1940s

  1. Bambi (1942)
  2. Pinocchio (1940)
  3. Fantasia (1940)
  4. Song of the South (1946)
  5. Mom and Dad (1947)
  6. Samson and Delilah (1949)
  7. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
  8. The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
  9. Duel in the Sun (1946)
  10. This is the Army (1943)
Alternate List
  1. Bambi (1942)
  2. Pinocchio (1940)
  3. Fantasia (1940)
  4. Cinderella (1949)
  5. Song of the South (1946)
  6. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
  7. The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
  8. Duel in the Sun (1946)
  9. Mom and Dad (1947)
  10. Samson and Delilah (1949)



TOP TEN FILMS OF THE 1950s

  1. Lady and the Tramp (1955)
  2. Peter Pan (1953)
  3. Cinderella (1950)
  4. The Ten Commandments (1956)
  5. Ben-Hur (1959)
  6. Sleeping Beauty (1959)
  7. Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
  8. This is Cinerama (1952)
  9. South Pacific (1958)
  10. The Robe (1953)
Alternate List
  1. Lady and the Tramp (1955)
  2. Peter Pan (1953)
  3. Ben-Hur (1959)
  4. The Ten Commandments (1956)
  5. Sleeping Beauty (1959)
  6. Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
  7. The Robe (1953) (tie)
  8. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) (tie)
  9. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
  10. Peyton Place (1957)



TOP TEN FILMS OF THE 1960s

  1. 101 Dalmatians (1961)
  2. The Jungle Book (1967)
  3. The Sound of Music (1965)
  4. Thunderball (1965)
  5. Goldfinger (1964)
  6. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
  7. You Only Live Twice (1967)
  8. The Graduate (1967)
  9. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  10. Mary Poppins (1964)
    (some sources switch the order of # 9 and # 10)



TOP TEN FILMS OF THE 1970s

  1. Star Wars (1977)
  2. Jaws (1975)
  3. Grease (1978)
  4. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977/80)
  5. The Exorcist (1973)
  6. Superman (1978)
  7. Saturday Night Fever (1977)
  8. Jaws 2 (1978)
  9. Moonraker (1979)
  10. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Alternate List
  1. Star Wars (1977)
  2. Jaws (1975)
  3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977/80)
  4. The Exorcist (1973)
  5. Moonraker (1979)
  6. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
  7. The Sting (1973)
  8. Grease (1978)
  9. The Godfather (1972)
  10. Saturday Night Fever (1977)



TOP TEN FILMS OF THE 1980s

  1. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
  2. Return of the Jedi (1983)
  3. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
  4. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
  5. Rain Man (1988)
  6. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
  7. Batman (1989)
  8. Back to the Future (1985)
  9. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
  10. Top Gun (1986)

Alternate List
  1. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
  2. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
  3. Batman (1989)
  4. Rain Man (1988)
  5. Return of the Jedi (1983)
  6. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
  7. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
  8. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
  9. Back to the Future (1985)
  10. Top Gun (1986)



TOP TEN FILMS OF THE 1990s

  1. Titanic (1997)
  2. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
  3. Jurassic Park (1993)
  4. Independence Day (1996)
  5. The Lion King (1994)
  6. Forrest Gump (1994)
  7. The Sixth Sense (1999)
  8. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
  9. Men in Black (1997)
  10. Armageddon (1998)

Alternate List

  1. Titanic (1997)
  2. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
  3. Jurassic Park (1993)
  4. Independence Day (1996)
  5. The Lion King (1994)
  6. Forrest Gump (1994)
  7. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
  8. Men in Black (1997)
  9. The Sixth Sense (1999)
  10. Armageddon (1998)

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