TOP Classic: Ten Best B&W Movies (and Then Some)

Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious. None other than the great war reporter Robert Capa was the uncredited still photographer for this film, although of course there's no way of knowing if he took this particular picture. But he might have.

[2018 note: Watching B&W movies and paying attention to the visuals is an excellent way to improve your feel for B&W tonality—those old cinematographers were masters of lighting and of their filmstocks. You might also want to read this fascinating exchange about Roger Deakins' cinematography for the Coen brothers' The Man Who Wasn't There from the DVD commentary. And may I just add that I would love to see a coffee-table book of beautiful B&W stills from old movies, including a few of the masterful promo shots and actor portraits done as stills. There are a few more comments and a good example in this post. That would be a beautiful book...but maybe only in my head.  —MJ]

A question I posed on TOP in December of 2006 about readers' favorite black-and-white movies quickly racked up a near-record number of comments.

I tallied the results (no trivial task, either—see what I do for you?) which are presented below. Note that readers made what they wished of the question; I'm sure some people nominated great films, some people nominated favorites, and others paid more attention to the actual cinematography and the use of monotone. It's all good.

I've arranged the results in order of the number of mentions a film got, and then, within each category, alphabetically. In some cases I added the year of release to avoid confusion with remakes or other films of the same title, and for consistency I've generally listed the titles in their original languages with the common English-language title, if it's known by one, in parentheses. For simplicity's sake I haven't italicized all the titles in the main list. You should be able to find all of the titles on the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com).

Of special mention are Sunrise, a silent film that got two votes, and In Cold Blood, which is B&W but also in Cinemascope. A few "finds" among little-known films may be Eric von Stroheim's Greed (although it's not available on DVD yet [2018 note: it is now, under the original title]), Alphaville, and The Battle of Algiers. For obvious reasons I disallowed movies shot partly—or all!—in color; however, the runaway runner-up not on the list is no doubt Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samouraï, which got a whopping three votes despite the fact that it was shot in very subdued Eastmancolor. And, finally, the Special Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Louis Malle's Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows) which is not only in B&W, but has music by Miles Davis, a plot that turns on a B&W photograph, and the movie includes a scene in a darkroom! Can't beat that.

My only personal comment is that I see a subscription to Netflix in my future—I've seen nine of the top ten (gotta go rent The Third Man) and I consider myself fairly cinematically "literate," at least with older classics, but haven't seen anywhere close to half these films.

Thanks to everyone who participated. And if you see any mistakes in the list, please let me know.

[2018 notes: An old film that deserves special mention for particularly lush B&W tonality, although it's a truly weird movie, is Jean Cocteau's 1946 Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la bête) with cinematography by Henri Alekan.

One film I particularly liked that I discovered from this list is Vittorio De Sica's The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di biciclette).

A sentimental favorite that, improbably, combines slapstick comedy with nostalgic wistfulness for bygone summertimes is Jacques Tati's lovely M. Hulot's Holiday (Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot)—I feel like I spent many childhood summers at that place, and I don't even know where it is.

Peter Bogdanovitch's Paper Moon also didn't make our list (although his The Last Picture Show did), but I love László Kovács' B&W cinematography for that one.

And if you've never seen Akiro Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai), for heaven's sake run, don't walk. A bucket-list movie without question. I'm not a "repeat watcher" of movies, but I've seen Seven Samurai three times.

And looking forward to the fourth. —MJ]

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TOP Readers List of Great Black-and-White Films

Citizen Kane (14)

The Third Man (13)

Casablanca (7)

Dr. Strangelove (7)

Breathless (6)

Raging Bull (6)

Shichinin no samurai (The Seven Samurai) (6)

Schindler’s List (5)

Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire) (4)

Manhattan (4)

Nosferatu (4)

Touch of Evil (4)

La Dolce Vita (3)

Eraserhead (3)

Good Night and Good Luck (3)

M (3)

The Maltese Falcon (3)

Paths of Glory (3)

Psycho (3)

Rashomon (3)

Le Salaire de la Peur (Wages of Fear) (3)

Sin City (3)

Stagecoach (3)

Stranger than Paradise (3)

Throne of Blood (3)

Alphaville (2)

Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (2)

The Battle of Algiers (2)

La Belle et la bête (Beauty and the Beast) (2)

Creature from the Black Lagoon (2)

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2)

Double Indemnity (2)

Down By Law (2)

Ed Wood (2)

Elephant Man (2)

High and Low (2)

High Noon (2)

Hud (2)

Ikiru (2)

Jules et Jim (2)

Ladri di biciclette (The Bicycle Thief, Bicycle Thieves) (2)

Metropolis (2)

Night of the Hunter (2)

Nóz w wodzie (Knife in the Water) (2)

One, Two, Three (2)

To Kill a Mockingbird (2)

Pather Panchali (2)

pi (2)

Rebecca (2)

Some Like It Hot (2)

Sunrise (2)

Them (2)

12 Angry Men (2)

Yojimbo (2)

Young Frankenstein (2)

Angel-A

El Ángel exterminador (The Exterminating Angel)

Angels with Dirty Faces

Aparajito

Az Én XX. századom (My Twentieth Century)

Battleship Potemkin

The Big Sleep

The Blob

Bob le Flambeur

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

C'est arrivé près de chez vous (Man Bites Dog)

Charulata

Dead Man

D.O.A. (1950)

Double Indemnity

8 1/2

Les Enfants du paradis

Fort Apache (cited for innovative IR photography)

Frankenstein (1931)

The Grapes of Wrath

The Great Dictator

Greed

La Haine

A Hard Day’s Night

Hidden Fortress

Hiroshima Mon Amour

The Hustler

Ibun Sarutobi Sasuke (Samurai Spy)

In Cold Blood (cited for being in Cinemascope)

Jalsaghar

Key Largo

The Killing

King Kong (1933)

Kiss Me Deadly

Kurutta kajitsu (Crazed Fruit)

The Lady from Shanghai

The Ladykillers (1955)

The Last Picture Show

Laura

Lolita

The Long Voyage Home

Lord of the Flies (1963)

Lost Horizon

The Magnificant Ambersons

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

The Man Who Wasn’t There

The Manchurian Candidate

Meshes in the Afternoon (short)

Mighty Joe Young (1949)

Misummer Night's Dream (1935)

Modern Times

My Darling Clementine

Night of the Living Dead Night

Mail (1936)

Notorious

Of Mice and Men

On the Waterfront

Orpheus

Ostre sledované vlaky (Closely Watched Trains)

Persona

Les Quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows)

Rocco e i suoi fratelli (Rocco and His Brothers)

Såsom i en spegel (Through a Glass Darkly)

The Scarlet Empress

Scrooge (1951)

Seppuku

Soy Cuba / Ya Kuba

La Strada

The Stranger

Stray Dog

A Streetcar named Desire

Sunset Boulevard

Sweet Smell of Success

Tokyo Monogatari (Tokyo Story)

Tsubaki Sanjûrô (Sanjuro)

The Wrong Man

Have fun!

Mike
(Thanks to all the readers in 2007 who contributed to this)

Original contents copyright 2018 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

bruce alan greene: "All good films in the list. As an aside, watching digital reproductions of B&W films often give a very different impression than that was produced in the the cinema when the movies were new. I have been lucky enough (and old enough) to see some studio prints of some of the classic films on the list. A studio print is generally fewer generations down from the original negative than the copies that appeared in cinemas. Sometimes it is struck from the original camera negative. And if you really want to see the tonality of these films, seeing these prints projected is certainly the way to see them. I have yet to see any digital reproduction of a B&W film that comes close to reproducing the dynamic range and tonalities of the original prints projected in a theater. And, the digital reproductions have also been re-interpreted as well.

"Sad to say that one of my favorite B&W films, To Kill a Mockingbird, is available today only as a restoration from damaged release prints as I believe the negative was destroyed in a fire at the studio. And this restoration doesn't look anything like the beautiful imagery that audiences originally viewed and that I saw in the 1980s. So, if you ever get a chance to see an original print of any of the films on the list, in a theater, do it!!!"

[Bruce is a Hollywood cinematographer. —Ed.]

Bob Rosinsky: "Having seen 95% of the films on the list, it's hard to rate the best of the best black and white cinematography (my personal favorite is The Third Man). A few more: Ashes and Diamonds, Director Andrzej Wajda; Diabolique, Director Henri-Georges Clouzot; Wages of Fear, Director Henri-Georges Clouzot; The Triumph of the Will, Director Leni Riefenstahl (scary content, innovative cinematography); Double Indemnity, Director Billy Wilder; Nebraska, Director Alexander Payne; Repulsion, Director Roman Polanski; Jules and Jim, Director Francois Truffaut; Stalker (B&W and color), Director Andrei Tarkovsky."

Rob: "One of my all time favorite films, never mind just B&W, is The White Ribbon (2009). It is a German masterpiece by Michael Haneke. The cinematography is splendid. Also Ida (2013), a Polish film by Pawlikowski. This is one of those films that you can watch for the visual beauty alone. Finally, anyone who is serious about independent, classic and foreign films has got to check out Filmstruck, which is a streaming service put out by TCM that you can get bundled with the Criterion Collection. It is my favorite streaming service. My wife and I watched a restored version of Chaplin's Modern Times that looked like it was made in 2016, not 1936."

Mike replies: Several readers have mentioned Ida privately to me. It hadn't been made when this list was first published.

Max Cottrell: ""Ida" was made in 2014 by Polish director Paweł Pawlikowski. Netflix: 'Raised in a Catholic orphanage during the Nazi occupation of Poland, Anna is poised to join the order when she learns she has a surviving aunt. But visiting the woman before taking her vows uncovers some inconvenient truths about her heritage.' The cinematographer must surely also be a B&W photographer. Stunningly well shot. I have watched it at least six times, shared it with non-photog friends, and purchased a copy. Not that easy to watch, but very rewarding, especially if you are engaged in spiritual practice."

[Here is the Amazon link for Ida. —Ed.]

Aaron C Greenman: "Hands down the most beautifully filmed black-and-white film I’ve ever seen is Ida—every frame is a beautiful still photograph. I recommend to everyone to watch it today—a wonderful film."

Andrew Lamb: "What? Did none us vote for Rules of the Game directed by Jean Renoir, which features Hank Carter as a butler (he was also assistant director)? ['Hank Carter' = Henri Cartier-Bresson —Ed.] From a photographic point of view, the film is noteworthy for its use of extreme depth of field, aided by special wide-angle lenses made by Kinoptik (think they're still going). This technique pre-dates Citizen Kane by a couple of years. Renoir also made a short film, based on a Maupassant short story, One Partie de Compagne, which has some of the most lyrical B&W imagery I've seen in a film."

Paul De Zan: "The current Blu-ray release (2011) of Citizen Kane is an absolute revelation, the finest transfer of a classic film I've seen. It gives the movie a stunning immediacy I've never felt seeing it in a theater, which I have many times. Highest possible recommendation. Use the TOP Amazon link now!"

Mike replies: Is this the one you mean?

Paul De Zan replies: " I have this set (which includes the very good documentary 'The Battle Over Citizen Kane'), but the disc is the same in both the release you reference and the newer '75th Anniversary' packaging; if it were not, Amazon reviewers would scream bloody murder."

Rex Harrison and Gene Tierney in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir from 1947,
an allegory of impossible pairings

Peggy C.: "I did not know of your blog until only a few years ago or your list would have included the 1947 film, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The cinematography was by the great Charles Lang. I re-watch it several times a year now that I have the DVD. The lighting and tonality are just amazing. This film is the single most important reason for my love of B&W photos and films."

Mike replies: I started watching it on Amazon Prime last night, Peggy, thanks to your recommendation—just the sort of antique movie I like to look at for the cinematography. I have dim memories of the TV series. Lang's B&W tonalities are classic.

Richard Newman: "I am amazed that neither of Ingmar Bergman's great B&W films, Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal were even mentiobed, or, even more, Sergei Eisenstein and Ivan the Great. Three movies with great cinematography by two great directors."

[There are many more good recommendations in the Comments section. —Ed.]

Richard S.: "Glad to see Grapes of Wrath on the list. I starting watching that on TV during a boring Sunday afternoon's channel hopping and ended up completely transfixed.

"Some years ago I knew someone who worked for the British Film Institute, and that year they did a Film Noir calendar; I framed and hung around half of the B&W stills they'd used in the calendar, they were so good."

Grizzlymarmot: "Somehow the list is missing an impressive number of great comedies. Perhaps in their recollections your readers stereotype B&W as menacing or dramatic. The patterns in 42nd Street are mesmerizing. Chiaroscuro makes It's a Wonderful Life wonderful. Mirror scene in Duck Soup; falling buildings by Buster Keaton; stunts by Harold Lloyd—comedy demands the most precise work. B&W is also the most glamorous—Some Like it Hot is in the list but where is Greta Garbo or Jean Harlow—B&W is perfect for creating glamor."

Comments

[jh]

Too bad you don't live in LA. We have American Cinematique http://www.americancinematheque.com/ and the art Deco Society of LA http://adsla.org/info/ plus other preservationist groups regularly show these old B/W movies, usually with a lecture relating to the movie makers, styles of the era or movie industry history.

[Andreas Schödl]

There's a book with photos by German photographer Waltraut Pathenheimer. She documents the film productions of German Democratic Republic's DEFA film company. This site shows some of the photos: https://prominentimostblog.com/2017/02/21/waltraut-pathenheimer-sie-war-die-erste-filmfotografin-der-defa/ and you should be able to find it on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Pathenheimer-Filmfotografin-zweisprachige-Ausgabe-englisch/dp/3861539284

[Ed Wolpov]

What! And nobody mentioned Woody Allen's 1991 classic, "Shadows and Fog"?

[Geoff Wittig]

Roger Hicks and Christopher Nisperos published a book (Hollywood Portraits) back in 2000 that analyzed and 'reverse-engineered' the lighting of dozens of classic black and white publicity stills. It included lighting diagrams and explained how you could reproduce the same effects yourself.
I probably tried two of the setups before my unwilling models (my adolescent children) got tired of my fumbling efforts and bailed.

[Bruce]

Wooo.... I remember reading this column! Have we been together that long????

[Cliff]

I’m a little late to the party but ...
Harvey, starring one of my favorite actors James Stewart, Josephine Hull as an absolutely wonderful Veta, and of course Harvey who is admittedly a little camera shy.
Full of wonderful quotes such as-
“Well, I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it.”

[David Kieltyka]

L'Année dernière à Marienbad (Last Year At Marienbad) contains the most mesmerizing intro sequence of any film I've seen. Dunno if I'd rate the film as a whole in the Top 10 of any list, but that intro alone brings it close.

[Patrick Perez]

To clarify re: titles originale, you list Breathless with it's American title, it was released as À Bout de Souffle.

IIRC, Roger Deakins shot The Man Who Wasn't There on color film stock but converted to monochrome in post. The intention was always monochrome release. I was so filled with joy when he won the Oscar for his work on Blade Runner 2049.

I believe I probably was one of the people recommending In Cold Blood on the original post. The scene at the end while Robert Blake is describing how he and his partner weren't so extremely bad individually, but their combination got out of their control, as the shadows of rain on a window pour down his face is on the shortlist of my favorite shots in film.

I got to see the multi-Oscar winning Mad Max Fury Road Shiny and Chrome edition (DP is the great John Seale) in arguably America's best theater, the Cinerama in Seattle. George Miller wanted to film and release it in black and white but the studio wouldn't let him. He released it on Blu Ray and theatrically, and no, it wasn't a simple de-saturation but a true re-grading/balancing. It's an amazing film. Even in color ;-)

The list you compiled gives me lots of ideas to add to my Netflix list.

Patrick

[Mike Plews]

Alexander Paynes Nebraska would fit in with this group

[David Bennett]

I cannot recommend the Hungarian film 'The Round Up' highly enough. It is a series of beautiful compositions and tones - as well as being a clever story.

[Ernie Van Veen]

From 2013, Nebraska, with two of my favourites, Phedon Papamichael (DOP) and Bruce Dern.

[Don Daso]

If that's 1958's Steve McQueen THE BLOB, that was shot in Eastmancolor~!

[David Applegate]

I'm sorry I did not send this earlier. Great Black and White movie. John Ford with Henry Fonda.

The Fugitive

David Applegate

[Omer]

An obvious omission is “The Misfits,” with Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift, and directed by John Huston. But it is a difficult movie to watch as Monroe is obviously holding on by a thread, and knowing Gable dies 12 days after filming completes. And Clift too seems on his sleeves.

Still, even though it is a bit dated, it is a great, sad movie.

[David Applegate]

Mike forgot the link for The Fugitive.

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/75798/The-Fugitive/

[Bertram Eiche]

„Louis Malle's Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows) “ plus music by Mles David!

[Fixed! --Mike]

[shadzee]

Oh come one.... you forgot

The Book of Eli

Although there is subtle amount of colors, but it feels like a B&W movie. I've probably watched it a half a dozen times. The photography - cinematography and lighting is amazing.

[James]

Onibaba?

[Patrick Dodds]

This from 2006? Doesn't bode well for the colour photograph competition... ;-)

[Dennis NG]

One of the movies "Vittorio De Sica's The Bicycle Thief" I oddly saw it in Pizza Express in Hong Kong Times Square. Find it very good but very odd as just something on the wall whilst I am eating pizza.

[Huw Morgan]

On a recent trip to New York, we were stranded for a day by bad weather. We looked for something to do around Laguardia and discovered the Museum of the Moving Image. In addition to a wonderful collection of Jim Henson artifacts, they have a great disply of old movie cameras and black and white still images. As you mention in your article, the studios were masters of black and white photography and the studio prints are just wonderful. This museum is well worth a visit if you have a long wait at the airport. It's just a short Uber aeay.

[Steve Biro]

Two points:

1) I would humbly submit 1947's Out of the Past and 1956's Invasion of the Body Snatchers as honorable mentions.

2) The Blob was filmed in color.

[Peter]

Great list. Thank you.

I'd like to add another of Wim Wenders' films, "Alice in the Cities" -- not because it is visually stunning like "Wings of Desire" but because it is a great movie that would be less great if it were in color. Pretty basic criterion that leaves a lot of room for unsubstantiated opinion, which is why I like it.

Wenders' films are available on Filmstruck, including a short fascinating documentary on the restoration process for his films.

[Joseph Reid]

I second the suggestion about Filmstruck. And would add Hiroshi Teshigahara's "Woman in the Dunes" and King Vidor's "The Crowd" to the list.

[dda6ga dda6ga]

Red River

[Francisco Cubas]

I think at least 10 of Bergman's films belong there, specially The Seven Seal, and all of the Tarkovski BW films, but specially Andrei Rublev, an unforgettable masterpiece.

[Rob Campbell]

A bit surprised La Dolce Vita came so relatively low on that list.

[Chris S]

See if you can find a secondhand copy of
Grand Illusions by Richard Lawton. Published in 1973 by Octopus books. It's pretty much cover to cover stills and publicity shots from the golden age of Hollywood. I've had my copy for over 40 years and it's still a delight every time I take it off the shelf.

[Kili]

Do not forget Ivan's childhood from Tarkovsky, with probably the most beautiful kissing movie scene ever.

[David Lee]

Beautiful photograph of Ingrid Bergman. She liked photographers, even dated a famous one for a while.

[David Comdico]

Good list. A few more:

Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc. Luminous. One of the first to be shot on panchromatic stock.

Everything shot by Sven Nykvist.

Bela Tarr's Werckmeister Harmonies and Turin Horse. Very Koudelka-ish in tonality.

A couple more film noir: Force of Evil, Shock Corridor

Ray's The Music Room. Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev. Von Trier's Zentropa. Varda's Cléo from 5 to 7.

Antonioni's L'Avventura, which should be in top 3.

[Trevor Johnson]

Roger Deakins is a genius.
'There is no more to be said'

And a virtual prize to the person who recognises which last line of which poem, by which author, I am quoting.

[Tex Andrews]

I'm only sad that I wasn't reading you back in 2006---I would have voted and added some. But it's a good list for sure. Surprised La Belle et La Bete was not on the original list, but glad you've mentioned it. I would place Orphee higher, as well as some others, and there should be more Japanese films. Shocked there's no early Lean here, especially Great Expectations. I'll have to look at the list more carefully, but quickly looking I think I have seen most of them. Here's where it would be nice on your blog to have a separate readers' picks section, or sections, for good suggestions. Some of the excellent commentary here gets lost over time, sadly (as in: I never saw this before!)

[AV]

To add to the discussion of Ida, Ryszard Lenczewski discusses his use of still photographs to create the look of the film and to scout scenes: https://www.lensculture.com/articles/ryszard-lenczewski-cinematography-from-still-to-movie

[emptyspaces]

Steven Soderbergh converted "Raiders of the Lost Ark" to B&W and added Soderbergh-y music to it a few years ago. It's very interesting to watch because you know the movie so well, and it shows how well Spielberg and his DP use lighting and staging: http://extension765.com/soderblogh/18-raiders

[Dillan K]

Timely article! I watched "Casablanca" the other day, once again, and it left me wanting more. I was hoping for a list of worthy movies for a follow up. I hoped, and here it is! Thanks!

[Ray Noble]

I agree with Red River, The 7th Seal deserves a spot on the list. Looking back there are quite a number of movies that were great for a variety of reasons. Talent and vision have been around for a long time.

[Al C.]

No Renoir? No Bresson? No Dreyer? No Mizoguchi?

[Bear.]

What! Are you going to repeat yourself every twelve years? How about something original. :)

[Richard S.]

Glad to see Grapes of Wrath on the list. I starting watching that on TV during a boring Sunday afternoon's channel hopping and ended up completely transfixed.

Some years ago I knew someone who worked for the British Film Institute, and that year they did a Film Noir calendar; I framed and hung around half of the B&W stills they'd used in the calendar, they were so good.

[Helcio J. tagliolatto]

I suppose that "Best B&W Movies" refers to exceptional black and white imagery quality first, if only it.
Regarding Bruce Alan Greene's note, despite To Kill a Mockingbird be found only in restored copies, I agree it's one of the most beautiful photographed B&W films, ever.
So is Tabu, the fateful Murnau's last film.

[Glenn]

I am surprised that no one has mentioned John Frankenheimer's "The Train" from 1964. Great B&W footage of WWII era stream trains in France.

[Igor Mikus]

Give a chance to this documenary fim by Dusan Hanak https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0171587/ potraits of old people living in Slovakia based on photographs by Martin Martincek.

[Iñaki]

Couple [well, quite some] to add to that list:
Viridiana
Nazarín [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aRIFpHcReY]
The executioner [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Executioner_(1963_film) ]
Plácido [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pl%C3%A1cido_(film) ]
Welcome, Mr. Marshall [ https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bienvenido,_Mister_Marshallhttps://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bienvenido,_Mister_Marshall">https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bienvenido,_Mister_Marshall">https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bienvenido,_Mister_Marshallhttps://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bienvenido,_Mister_Marshall ]
The shortfilm within "Talk to her", called "The Shrinking lover", by Almodovar. All of the above [Berlanga, Buñuel] are a must to understand how normal Almodovar is for spaniards.

By the way:
One of the best photographed and light choreographed scenes I remember [for its delicacy] is the hospital body cleansing scene at Talk to her. Worth watching.

[David R]

Just catching up on my reading and your list of B&W films (movies) - was flabergasted that "The Cranes are Flying" didn't even get a single vote. Outstanding WWI silent movie - deserves to be up there with the best. Also no Russian films, few German or British, but that reflects your main audience I suspect.