Top 77 Ranked

The Greatest 1962 Films

Golden Age Masterpieces and Cinematic Legends

Explore the best films from a landmark year in cinema history. From epic dramas to iconic thrillers, discover the greatest movies that defined an era.

Draft Best 1962 Movies with friends and our judges will crown a winner!

About Movies in 1962

If you want to pinpoint the exact moment when the Golden Age of Hollywood finally handed over the keys to the kingdom of modern cinema, look no further than 1962. It was a year of massive transitions, where the sweeping, oversized epics of the old studio system began to coexist with a grittier, more psychological brand of storytelling. Film fans remember it as a year of giants, but also as a year of radical firsts that would define pop culture for the next several decades.

At the very top of the mountain stood David Lean and his desert masterpiece, Lawrence of Arabia. It remains the ultimate argument for the existence of the big screen. In 1962, Lean showed the world that a four hour historical biography could be both a visual marvel and a complex character study about the madness of identity. At the same time, Gregory Peck gave us an immortal moral compass in To Kill a Mockingbird, proving that Hollywood could still tackle the heavy, aching conscience of American race relations with dignity.

Yet, while these prestige pictures were collecting accolades, a seismic shift was happening in the realm of the popular imagination. October of 1962 saw the release of Dr. No, introducing a world in the middle of the Cold War to Sean Connery as James Bond. We often forget how revolutionary that moment was. It established a blueprint for the modern action franchise, blending high fashion, global stakes, and a dangerous new kind of cinematic masculinity. Around the same corner, John Ford was busy deconstructing the very myth of the American West with The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. It was a melancholy, sunset film that asked audiences to consider whether they preferred the truth or the legend, signaling that even the most traditional genres were growing up.

The year was also defined by a darker, more cynical edge. This was the year of The Manchurian Candidate, a terrifyingly sharp political thriller that mirrored the rising paranoia of the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was the year Bette Davis and Joan Crawford chewed the scenery in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, inventing the hagsploitation subgenre while reflecting the industry's own obsession with fading stardom.

Beyond the borders of the United States, 1962 was an embarrassment of riches for the international arthouse scene. Federico Fellini was working on 8 and a half, while Francois Truffaut released Jules and Jim, a film that redefined the visual language of romance and edit suites everywhere. These films pushed the boundaries of how a story could be told, favoring mood and fragmented memory over linear plots.

Why do we look back at 1962 with such reverence? It is because the year acted as a perfect bridge. You could walk into a theater and see the last gasps of the studio era's grandiosity and the first sparks of the rebellious, auteur driven filmmaking that would dominate the late sixties. It was a time when movies felt incredibly large but also began to feel intensely personal. From the sands of Jordan to the tuxedo of 007, 1962 was the year the world of movies finally became the one we recognize today.

The Complete Rankings

Based on the top picks in drafts on SnakeDrafts

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77
1962 in Night of the Eagle (1962)
Night of the Eagle
1962

A woman who may be a witch defends her husband from forces attempting to harm him.

Horror
1h 30m
Sidney Hayers
Peter Wyngarde, Janet Blair, Margaret Johnston, Anthony Nicholls
76
1962 in The Road to Hong Kong (1962)
The Road to Hong Kong
1962

When Chester accidentally memorises and destroys the only copy of a secret Russian formula for a new and improved rocket fuel, he and Harry are thrust into international intrigue, trying to stay alive while keeping the formula out of enemy hands.

Comedy
Adventure
1h 31m
Norman Panama
Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Joan Collins, Robert Morley
75
1962 in The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1962)
The Three Stooges Meet Hercules
1962

The Three Stooges manage to crash through the time barrier with their slap-happy antics in this classic feature-length comedy. Larry, Moe, and Curly-Joe are friends of a young scientist, Schuyler Davis, who has created a time machine. Together with Schuyler's girlfriend, Diane, they are all transported back to ancient Ithaca which is ruled by the tyrannical King Odius. The lecherous king promptly takes a liking to Diane and banishes Schuyler and The Stooges to the galleys. When they manage to escape, they begin promoting Schuyler as "Hercules" at local gladiatorial combats - until the real Hercules shows up. But, with their unique "charm," The Stooges convince Hercules to help them rescue Diane. Written by Robert Lynch

Comedy
Adventure
1h 29m
Herb Wallerstein
Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe DeRita, Vicki Trickett

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74
1962 in It Happened in Athens (1962)
It Happened in Athens
1962

In 1896 it is announced that the Olympic Games will be revived in Athens. A young shepherd, Spiridon Loues, decides to enter the 26-mile marathon. Once in Athens, he meets Christina Gratsos, a young woman from his hometown who is now the personal maid of Eleni Costa, Greece's most glamorous actress. Though he has arrived after the qualification date, Spiridon's athletic prowess so impresses Coach Graham of the American team that he is permitted to enter the contest. Eleni informs the press that she will marry the victor, confident it will be her lover, Lieutenant Vinardos.

Comedy
Drama
1h 40m
Andrew Marton
Trax Colton, Jayne Mansfield, Nico Minardos, Bob Mathias
73
1962 in The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)
The Brain That Wouldn't Die
1962

Dr. Bill Cortner and his fiancée, Jan Compton, are driving to his lab when they get into a horrible car accident. Compton is decapitated. But Cortner is not fazed by this seemingly insurmountable hurdle. His expertise is in transplants, and he is excited to perform the first head transplant. Keeping Compton's head alive in his lab, Cortner plans the groundbreaking yet unorthodox surgery. First, however, he needs a body.

Horror
Science Fiction
1h 22m
Joseph Green
Jason Evers, Virginia Leith, Leslie Daniels, Adele Lamont
72
1962 in The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962)
The Pigeon That Took Rome
1962

An American Infantry officer assigned to a cloak-and-dagger role in Rome uses homing pigeons for outside contact, with humorous results.

Comedy
War
1h 43m
Melville Shavelson
Charlton Heston, Elsa Martinelli, Harry Guardino, Salvatore Baccaloni
71
1962 in All Night Long (1962)
All Night Long
1962

Over the course of one eventful evening, the anniversary celebration of the musical and romantic partners Aurelius Rex and Delia Lane, a jealous, ambitious drummer, Johnny Cousin, attempts to tear the interracial couple apart.

Drama
Music
1h 31m
Basil Dearden
Patrick McGoohan, Keith Michell, Betsy Blair, Paul Harris
70
1962 in Sergeants 3 (1962)
Sergeants 3
1962

Mike, Chip, and Larry are three lusty, brawling U. S. Cavalry sergeants stationed in Indian Territory in 1870.

Western
Comedy
1h 52m
John Sturges
Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford
69
1962 in The Secret Mark of D'Artagnan (1962)
The Secret Mark of D'Artagnan
1962

D' Artagnan and Porthos received the order of Richelieu, which protrudes as a powerful figure of the French church, a plot against the King of France Louis XIII. uncover. Disguised as a monk enters D' Artagnan the Church, in which the conspirators act. D' Artagnan, however, exposee and can only escape with the help of Porthos . Meanwhile the Duke of Montresant tried to force his ward to overwrite all their possessions to him, so that he can support the Flemish troops. The Duchess refused and is sent with her maid to Brescon. D' Artagnan and Porthos decide to follow the women…

Adventure
History
1h 31m
Siro Marcellini
George Nader, Magali Noël, Massimo Serato, Mario Petri
68
1962 in Mondo Cane (1962)
Mondo Cane
1962

A documentary consisting of a series of travelogue vignettes providing glimpses into cultural practices throughout the world intended to shock or surprise, including an insect banquet and a memorable look at a practicing South Pacific cargo cult.

Documentary
1h 45m
Paolo Cavara
Rossano Brazzi, Stefano Sibaldi
67
1962 in The Lion (1962)
The Lion
1962

Young Tina lives with her mother and stepfather on a wildlife reserve in Kenya. While her stepfather believes this is a wonderful environment for her to grow up in, her mother becomes increasingly concerned by her behaviour. These concerns are reinforced when it is revealed that her daughter's best friend in the whole world is a fully grown lion. Worried that her daughter may be turning into a savage, she sends for her former husband, Tina's biological father, in the hope that he can take her back to civilization (in this case rural Connecticut). But it seems as though Tina's mother wants something more than a civilized upbringing for her daughter.

Drama
Adventure
1h 36m
Jack Cardiff
William Holden, Trevor Howard, Capucine, Pamela Franklin
66
1962 in Jigsaw (1962)
Jigsaw
1962

A woman is found murdered in a seaside house along the coast from Brighton in the county of East Sussex, England. Local D.I. Fred Fellows and D.S. Jim Wilks lead an investigation methodically following up leads and clues mostly in Brighton and Hove but also further afield. _-= Based on the novel "Sleep Long My Love" by Hillary Waugh and Inspired by the Brighton Trunk Murders of the late 1930's =-_

Mystery
Crime
1h 47m
Val Guest
Jack Warner, Yolande Donlan, Michael Goodliffe, John Le Mesurier
65
1962 in Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962)
Girls! Girls! Girls!
1962

When he finds out his boss is retiring to Arizona, a sailor, Ross Carpenter, has to find a way to buy the Westwind, a boat that he and his father built. He is also caught between two women: insensitive club singer Robin and sweet Laurel.

Comedy
Music
1h 39m
Norman Taurog
Elvis Presley, Stella Stevens, Jeremy Slate, Laurel Goodwin
64
1962 in The Notorious Landlady (1962)
The Notorious Landlady
1962

An American junior diplomat in London rents a house from, and falls in love with, a woman suspected of murder.

Comedy
Mystery
2h 3m
Richard Quine
Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon, Fred Astaire, Lionel Jeffries
63
1962 in A View from the Bridge (1962)
A View from the Bridge
1962

Eddie Carbone, a Brooklyn longshoreman is unhappily married to Beatrice and unconsciously in love with Catherine, the niece that they have raised from childhood. Into his house come two brothers, illegal immigrants, Marco and Rodolpho. Catherine falls in love with Rudolpho; and Eddie, tormented but unable to admit even to himself his quasi-incestuous love, reports the illegal immigrants to the authorities.

Drama
Raf Vallone, Maureen Stapleton, Carol Lawrence, Jean Sorel
62
1962 in Only Two Can Play (1962)
Only Two Can Play
1962

John Lewis is bored of his job and his wife. Then Liz, wife of a local councillor, sets her sights on him. But this is risky stuff in a Welsh valleys town - if he and Liz ever manage to consummate their affair, that is.

Comedy
1h 46m
Sidney Gilliat
Peter Sellers, Mai Zetterling, Virginia Maskell, Raymond Huntley
61
1962 in Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962)
Long Day's Journey Into Night
1962

An Irish miser, his morphine addicted wife, their debauched older son, and a gravely ill younger son. A quiet Connecticut vacation home on one foggy day in August 1912 becomes the backdrop for domestic decline.

Drama
Katharine Hepburn, Ralph Richardson, Dean Stockwell, Jason Robards
60
1962 in Escape from Zahrain (1962)
Escape from Zahrain
1962

Yul Brynner plays political leader Sharif who is sprung from a police van on his way to a firing squad by young loyalists led by Sal Mineo. Yul and the other prisoners kidnap an ambulance and head into the Arabian desert with the police in hot pursuit. All the performances are magnificent: Sal Mineo showing his acting talents, Jack Warden in a wiseguy performance as an employee of Zahrain oil who was involved in embezzlement, Anthony Caruso as a slimy psychotic and the underrated Madlyn Rhue as a nurse who becomes emotionally involved in the proceedings.

Action
Adventure
1h 33m
Ronald Neame
Yul Brynner, Madlyn Rhue, Sal Mineo, Jack Warden
59
1962 in The Counterfeit Traitor (1962)
The Counterfeit Traitor
1962

Blacklisted in modern day WW2, a Swedish oil trader opts to assist British Allies, by means of infiltrating and surveying Nazi Germany.

War
Thriller
2h 20m
George Seaton
William Holden, Lilli Palmer, Hugh Griffith, Carl Raddatz
58
1962 in In Search of the Castaways (1962)
In Search of the Castaways
1962

Two teenagers, Mary (Hayley Mills) and Robert (Keith Hamshere) are lead by Professor Paganel (Maurice Chevalier) on a search expedition for the children's shipwrecked sea captain father. This Disney film was based upon Jules Verne's 1868 adventure novel Captain Grant's Children.

Adventure
Family
1h 38m
Robert Stevenson
Maurice Chevalier, Hayley Mills, George Sanders, Wilfrid Hyde-White
57
1962 in The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962)
The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
1962

The Grimm brothers Wilhelm and Jacob, known for their literary works in the nineteenth century, have their lives dramatized. Wilhelm fights to write something entertaining amongst the sea of dry, non-fiction books they write and he sets about collecting oral-tradition fairy tales to put into print. Their life story is countered with reenactments of three of their stories including "The Dancing Princess," "The Cobbler and the Elves" and "The Singing Bone."

Fantasy
Family
2h 20m
Henry Levin
Laurence Harvey, Karlheinz Böhm, Claire Bloom, Walter Slezak
56
1962 in The L-Shaped Room (1962)
The L-Shaped Room
1962

Jane is young, French, pregnant and unmarried. Bucking convention, she is uninterested in settling with her baby's father or getting an abortion. After renting a room in a dingy London boarding house, Jane befriends the odd group of inhabitants and starts an affair with one boarder, Toby. As Jane's pregnancy threatens her new relationship, and the reality of single motherhood approaches, she is forced to decide what to do about both her baby and her budding romance.

Drama
Romance
2h 6m
Bryan Forbes
Leslie Caron, Tom Bell, Brock Peters, Bernard Lee
55
1962 in A Kind of Loving (1962)
A Kind of Loving
1962

As Vic Brown vacillates between infatuation and disinterest for his co-worker Ingrid Rothwell, she finds out that she is pregnant and Vic has to reconcile how he thought his life would go with what life actually has in store for him.

Drama
Romance
1h 52m
John Schlesinger
Alan Bates, June Ritchie, Thora Hird, Bert Palmer
54
1962 in Period of Adjustment (1962)
Period of Adjustment
1962

A newlywed couple on their honeymoon visit friends who are having marital problems of their own.

Comedy
Drama
1h 52m
George Roy Hill
Anthony Franciosa, Jane Fonda, Jim Hutton, Lois Nettleton
53
1962 in Hell Is for Heroes (1962)
Hell Is for Heroes
1962

World War II drama where the action centers around a single maneuver by a squad of GIs in retaliation against the force of the German Siegfried line. Reese joins a group of weary GIs unexpectedly ordered back into the line when on their way to a rest area. While most of the men withdraw from their positions facing a German pillbox at the far side of a mine-field, half a dozen men are left to protect a wide front. By various ruses, they manage to convince the Germans that a large force is still holding the position. Then Reese leads two of the men in an unauthorized and unsuccessful attack on the pillbox, in which the other two are killed; and when the main platoon returns, he is threatened with court-martial. Rather that face the disgrace, and in an attempt to show he was right, he makes a one-man attack on the pillbox.

War
1h 30m
Don Siegel
Steve McQueen, Bobby Darin, Fess Parker, Harry Guardino
52
1962 in I Thank a Fool (1962)
I Thank a Fool
1962

After mercifully killing her terminally ill lover, Dr. Christine Allison loses her medical license and spends two years in prison. Once she has completed her sentence, the lawyer who prosecuted Christine, Stephen Dane, hires her to care for his emotionally unstable wife, Liane. Christine takes the job, but when Liane's allegedly dead father reappears, Christine sets out to reveal the family's dark secrets.

Drama
1h 40m
Robert Stevens
Susan Hayward, Peter Finch, Diane Cilento, Cyril Cusack
51
1962 in Gigot (1962)
Gigot
1962

A poignant comedy about a mute who befriends Nicole, the little daughter of a prostitute. Gleason shows his considerable talents as an actor without uttering a sound as he plays the bumbling, kind-hearted janitor, Gigot. Gleason wrote the original story and music for this film.

Drama
Comedy
1h 44m
Gene Kelly
Jackie Gleason, Katherine Kath, Gabrielle Dorziat, Jean Lefebvre
50
1962 in Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
Mutiny on the Bounty
1962

The Bounty leaves Portsmouth in 1787. Its destination: to sail to Tahiti and load bread-fruit. Captain Bligh will do anything to get there as fast as possible, using any means to keep up a strict discipline. When they arrive at Tahiti, it is like a paradise for the crew, something completely different than the living hell aboard the ship. On the way back to England, officer Fletcher Christian becomes the leader of a mutiny.

Adventure
Drama
3h 5m
Lewis Milestone
Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard, Richard Harris, Hugh Griffith
49
1962 in Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)
Requiem for a Heavyweight
1962

After suffering a brutal defeat and being told he can no longer fight, 37-year-old, scar-ridden prizefighter Louis 'Mountain' Rivera struggles to find a new direction in life

Drama
1h 25m
Ralph Nelson
Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney, Julie Harris
48
1962 in The Spiral Road (1962)
The Spiral Road
1962

A selfish and prideful young Dutch doctor, through a series of circumstances, comes to learn that he does indeed "need" a higher spiritual being and other people.

Adventure
Drama
2h 20m
Robert Mulligan
Rock Hudson, Burl Ives, Gena Rowlands, Geoffrey Keen
47
1962 in Term of Trial (1962)
Term of Trial
1962

A schoolteacher plagued by alcoholism and his refusal to serve in World War II, Graham Weir inspires contempt in almost everyone around him, including his bitter wife, Anna. When the lovely young Shirley Taylor, one of Weir's students, falls for her unfortunate instructor, he is tempted and flattered but turns down her advances. Taylor's subsequent actions make Weir's life even more complicated.

Drama
2h 10m
Peter Glenville
Laurence Olivier, Simone Signoret, Sarah Miles, Terence Stamp
46
1962 in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
1962

Questions arise when Senator Stoddard attends the funeral of a local man named Tom Doniphon in a small Western town. Flashing back, we learn Doniphon saved Stoddard, then a lawyer, when he was roughed up by a crew of outlaws terrorizing the town, led by Liberty Valance. As the territory's safety hung in the balance, Doniphon and Stoddard, two of the only people standing up to him, proved to be very important, but different, foes to Valance.

Western
45
1962 in Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962)
Five Weeks in a Balloon
1962

Professor Fergusson plans to make aviation history by making his way across Africa by balloon. He plans to claim uncharted territories in West Africa as proof of his inventions worth.

Action
Adventure
1h 41m
Irwin Allen
Red Buttons, Barbara Eden, Cedric Hardwicke, Peter Lorre
44
1962 in Two for the Seesaw (1962)
Two for the Seesaw
1962

After leaving his wife, lawyer Jerry Ryan moves from Omaha, Nebraska to New York City to start a new life. While studying for the New York Bar Examination and working to finalize his divorce, Ryan meets dancer Gittel Mosca, and the two begin a cautious courtship. However, Ryan feels that he must come to terms with his failed marriage and overcome his lingering attachment to his ex-wife before he can redefine himself and embrace his budding romance.

Drama
Romance
1h 59m
Robert Wise
Robert Mitchum, Shirley MacLaine, Edmon Ryan, Elisabeth Fraser
43
1962 in Merrill's Marauders (1962)
Merrill's Marauders
1962

Brigadier General Frank D. Merrill leads the 3,000 American volunteers of his 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), aka "Merrill's Marauders", behind Japanese lines across Burma to Myitkyina, pushing beyond their limits and fighting pitched battles at every strong-point.

War
Drama
1h 38m
Samuel Fuller
Jeff Chandler, Ty Hardin, Peter Brown, Andrew Duggan
42
1962 in The Interns (1962)
The Interns
1962

During their first year of internship at New North Hospital, a group of aspiring doctors undergo both personal and professional upheavals.

Romance
Drama
2h 0m
David Swift
Michael Callan, Cliff Robertson, James MacArthur, Suzy Parker
41
1962 in The Chapman Report (1962)
The Chapman Report
1962

A research psychologist gets involved in the personal lives of four women.

Drama
Romance
2h 5m
George Cukor
Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Shelley Winters, Jane Fonda, Claire Bloom
40
1962 in Tiara Tahiti (1962)
Tiara Tahiti
1962

James Mason and John Mills star in this comedy-drama about a tough colonel and a refined captain who clashed during the war, and continue their personal battle in peace-time Tahiti.

Comedy
Drama
1h 40m
Ted Kotcheff
James Mason, John Mills, Herbert Lom, Rosenda Monteros
39
1962 in The 300 Spartans (1962)
The 300 Spartans
1962

The 300 Spartans is an account of the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae, in which the Greek Spartan King Leonidis, played by Richard Egan, led a remarkably small number of Greek Sparta to victory over an invading Persian army led by evil King Xerxes that was thought to number over 25,000. This spectacular conflict gave the Grecians enough time to organize a force to ultimately repel the Persians, and thus change the course of Western civilization.

Adventure
History
1h 54m
Rudolph Maté
Richard Egan, Ralph Richardson, Diane Baker, Barry Coe
38
1962 in Phaedra (1962)
Phaedra
1962

A modern retelling of the Greek myth of Phaedra. The young and fiery second wife of an extremely wealthy shipping magnate meets her estranged stepson Alexis and sparks immediately fly. Their love seems doomed from the beginning when she convinces him to come to Paris to meet his father.

Drama
Romance
1h 56m
Jules Dassin
Melina Mercouri, Anthony Perkins, Raf Vallone, Elizabeth Ercy
37
1962 in Sodom and Gomorrah (1962)
Sodom and Gomorrah
1962

Lot leads his people to a fertile valley adjacent to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, hotbeds of vice and corruption ruled by the merciless Queen Bera. When Lot orders a dam to be busted in order to prevent the destruction of the cities by the attacking Helamites, the queen, in gratitude, allows Lot's people to settle in Sodom. Soon, however, the veneer of civilization begins crumbling as Lot and the Hebrews become corrupted by the Sodomites.

Adventure
Drama
2h 28m
Robert Aldrich
Stewart Granger, Pier Angeli, Stanley Baker, Rossana Podestà
36
1962 in Il Sorpasso (1962)
Il Sorpasso
1962

Roberto, a shy law student in Rome, meets Bruno, a forty-year-old exuberant, capricious man, who takes him for a drive through the Roman and Tuscany countries in the summer. When their journey starts to blend into their daily lives though, the pair’s newfound friendship is tested.

Drama
Comedy
1h 45m
Dino Risi
Vittorio Gassman, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Catherine Spaak, Claudio Gora
35
1962 in That Touch of Mink (1962)
That Touch of Mink
1962

Cathy Timberlake is en route to a job interview when a car transporting businessman Philip Shayne covers her in mud. He sends his assistant, Roger, to apologize, but upon meeting Cathy, Roger knows that she would be a suitable match for his boss. Despite their mutual attraction, Cathy and Philip want different things. Philip wants a fling, while Cathy wants a marriage. As they travel to exotic locales, their differing motivations are put to the test.

Comedy
Romance
1h 39m
Delbert Mann
Cary Grant, Doris Day, Gig Young, Audrey Meadows
34
1962 in David and Lisa (1962)
David and Lisa
1962

Teenager David Clemens develops a hysterical fear that he will die if he comes into physical contact with another person. Perturbed, David's overbearing mother places him in a home for mentally disturbed young people, but David remains withdrawn from the other patients and his psychiatrist. Over time, however, David grows interested in 15-year-old Lisa, who suffers from multiple personalities – one who can only speak in rhyme, and the other, a mute.

Drama
Romance
1h 35m
Frank Perry
Keir Dullea, Janet Margolin, Howard Da Silva, Neva Patterson
33
1962 in Gypsy (1962)
Gypsy
1962

Gypsy's mother Rose dreams of a life in show business for her daughters, but Louise becomes a huge burlesque star. Stage musical loosely based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee.

Comedy
Drama
2h 23m
Mervyn LeRoy
Rosalind Russell, Natalie Wood, Karl Malden, Paul Wallace
32
1962 in Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
Birdman of Alcatraz
1962

After killing a prison guard, convict Robert Stroud faces life imprisonment in solitary confinement. Driven nearly mad by loneliness and despair, Stroud's life gains new meaning when he happens upon a helpless baby sparrow in the exercise yard and nurses it back to health. Despite having only a third grade education, Stroud goes on to become a renowned ornithologist and achieves a greater sense of freedom and purpose behind bars than most people find in the outside world.

Drama
Crime
Burt Lancaster, Karl Malden, Thelma Ritter, Neville Brand
31
1962 in The War Lover (1962)
The War Lover
1962

Buzz Rickson is a dare-devil World War II bomber pilot with a death wish. Failing at everything not involving flying, Rickson lives for the most dangerous missions. His crew lives with this aspect of his personality only because they know he always brings them back alive.

Drama
War
1h 45m
Philip Leacock
Steve McQueen, Robert Wagner, Shirley Anne Field, Gary Cockrell
30
1962 in The Pirates of Blood River (1962)
The Pirates of Blood River
1962

A group of ruthless pirates attack a 17th Century Huguenot settlement on the Isle of Devon in search of treasure and will stop at nothing to obtain it.

Adventure
Action
1h 27m
John Gilling
Kerwin Mathews, Christopher Lee, Andrew Keir, Glenn Corbett
29
1962 in Le Doulos (1962)
Le Doulos
1962

Enigmatic gangster Silien may or may not be responsible for informing on Faugel, who was just released from prison and is already involved in what should be a simple heist. By the end of this brutal, twisting, and multilayered policier, who will be left to trust?

Drama
Thriller
1h 48m
Jean-Pierre Melville
Jean-Paul Belmondo, Serge Reggiani, Jean Desailly, René Lefèvre
28
1962 in Hatari! (1962)
Hatari!
1962

A female wildlife photographer arrives on an East African reservation where a group of men trap wild animals for zoos and circuses.

Adventure
Comedy
John Wayne, Hardy Krüger, Elsa Martinelli, Red Buttons
27
1962 in Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
Sweet Bird of Youth
1962

Gigolo and drifter Chance Wayne returns to his hometown as the companion of a faded movie star, Alexandra Del Lago, whom he hopes to use to help him break into the movies. Chance runs into trouble when he finds his ex-girlfriend, the daughter of the local politician Tom "Boss" Finley, who more or less forced him to leave his daughter and the town many years ago.

Drama
Romance
2h 0m
Richard Brooks
Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight, Ed Begley
26
1962 in Mamma Roma (1962)
Mamma Roma
1962

After years spent working as a prostitute in her Italian village, middle-aged Mamma Roma has saved enough money to buy herself a fruit stand so that she can have a respectable middle-class life and reestablish contact with the 16-year-old son she abandoned when he was an infant. But her former pimp threatens to expose her sordid past, and her troubled son seems destined to fall into a life of crime and violence.

Drama
1h 50m
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Anna Magnani, Ettore Garofolo, Franco Citti, Silvana Corsini
25
1962 in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
1962

A rebellious youth, sentenced to a boy’s reformatory for robbing a bakery, rises through the ranks of the institution by impressing its Governor through his prowess as a long distance runner. He is encouraged to compete in an upcoming race, but faces ridicule from his peers.

Drama
1h 44m
Tony Richardson
Michael Redgrave, Tom Courtenay, Avis Bunnage, Alec McCowen
24
1962 in The Trial (1962)
The Trial
1962

Arrested for an unnamed crime, Josef K. is trapped in a surreal bureaucratic maze where justice is unknowable and guilt is assumed.

Crime
Drama
Anthony Perkins, Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider, Orson Welles
23
1962 in An Autumn Afternoon (1962)
An Autumn Afternoon
1962

Shuhei Hirayama is a widower with a 24-year-old daughter. Gradually, he comes to realize that she should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, so he arranges a marriage for her.

Drama
1h 53m
Yasujirō Ozu
Chishū Ryū, Shima Iwashita, Keiji Sada, Mariko Okada
22
1962 in Carnival of Souls (1962)
Carnival of Souls
1962

Mary Henry ends up the sole survivor of a fatal car accident through mysterious circumstances. Trying to put the incident behind her, she moves to Utah and takes a job as a church organist. But her fresh start is interrupted by visions of a fiendish man. As the visions begin to occur more frequently, Mary finds herself drawn to the deserted carnival on the outskirts of town. The strangely alluring carnival may hold the secret to her tragic past.

Horror
Mystery
1h 18m
Herk Harvey
Candace Hilligoss, Herk Harvey, Sidney Berger, Frances Feist
21
1962 in Advise & Consent (1962)
Advise & Consent
1962

Proposed by the President of the United States to fill the post of Secretary of State, Robert Leffingwell appears before a Senate committee, chaired by the idealistic Senator Brig Anderson, which must decide whether he is the right person for the job.

Drama
2h 19m
Otto Preminger
Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, Don Murray, Walter Pidgeon
20
1962 in Billy Budd (1962)
Billy Budd
1962

Billy is an innocent, naive seaman in the British Navy in 1797. When the ship's sadistic master-at-arms is murdered, Billy is accused and tried.

Drama
Action
1h 59m
Peter Ustinov
Terence Stamp, Robert Ryan, Peter Ustinov, Melvyn Douglas
19
1962 in Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)
Cléo from 5 to 7
1962

Agnès Varda eloquently captures Paris in the sixties with this real-time portrait of a singer set adrift in the city as she awaits test results of a biopsy. A chronicle of the minutes of one woman’s life, Cléo from 5 to 7 is a spirited mix of vivid vérité and melodrama, featuring a score by Michel Legrand and cameos by Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina.

Drama
1h 30m
Agnès Varda
Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Dominique Davray, Dorothée Blanck
18
1962 in Ride the High Country (1962)
Ride the High Country
1962

An ex-lawman is hired to transport gold from a mining community through dangerous territory. But what he doesn't realize is that his partner and old friend is plotting to double-cross him.

Western
Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, Mariette Hartley, Ron Starr
17
1962 in Harakiri (1962)
Harakiri
1962

Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.

Action
Drama
2h 15m
Masaki Kobayashi
Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita, Tetsuro Tamba
16
1962 in Knife in the Water (1962)
Knife in the Water
1962

On their way to an afternoon on the lake, husband and wife Andrzej and Krystyna nearly run over a young hitchhiker. Inviting the young man onto the boat with them, Andrzej begins to subtly torment him; the hitchhiker responds by making overtures toward Krystyna. When the hitchhiker is accidentally knocked overboard, the husband's panic results in unexpected consequences.

Drama
Thriller
Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka, Zygmunt Malanowicz, Roman Polanski
15
1962 in The Exterminating Angel (1962)
The Exterminating Angel
1962

After a lavish dinner party, the guests find themselves unable to depart... and, over the next few days, all of their elaborate societal pretenses and façades deteriorate as they are reduced to living like animals.

Comedy
Drama
1h 33m
Luis Buñuel
Silvia Pinal, Jacqueline Andere, Claudio Brook, Enrique Rambal
14
1962 in Ivan's Childhood (1962)
Ivan's Childhood
1962

In WW2, twelve year old Soviet orphan Ivan Bondarev works for the Soviet army as a scout behind the German lines and strikes a friendship with three sympathetic Soviet officers.

Drama
War
1h 35m
Andrei Tarkovsky
Nikolay Burlyaev, Valentin Zubkov, Yevgeni Zharikov, Stepan Krylov
13
1962 in The Music Man (1962)
The Music Man
1962

Traveling con artist Harold Hill targets the naïve residents of a small town in 1910s Iowa by posing as a boys' bandleader to raise money before he can skip town.

Comedy
Family
2h 31m
Morton DaCosta
Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Ron Howard
12
1962 in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
1962

A former vaudeville child star viciously torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion.

Drama
Horror
2h 15m
Robert Aldrich
Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono, Wesley Addy
11
1962 in Cape Fear (1962)
Cape Fear
1962

Sam Bowden witnesses a rape committed by Max Cady and testifies against him. When released after 8 years in prison, Cady begins stalking Bowden and his family but is always clever enough not to violate the law.

Thriller
Drama
1h 45m
J. Lee Thompson
Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen, Martin Balsam
10
1962 in The Longest Day (1962)
The Longest Day
1962

The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadians, and the Free French. Marshall Erwin Rommel, touring the defenses being established as part of the Reich's Atlantic Wall, notes to his officers that when the Allied invasion comes they must be stopped on the beach. "For the Allies as well as the Germans, it will be the longest day"

Why it ranks

By adopting a multifaceted, international perspective, this production achieves an unprecedented sense of documentary-style realism in the war genre. It avoids the pitfalls of singular heroism to honor the vast, chaotic coordination of history’s most pivotal day.

9
1962 in Vivre Sa Vie (1962)
Vivre Sa Vie
1962

Twelve episodic tales in the life of a Parisian woman and her slow descent into prostitution.

Drama
1h 24m
Jean-Luc Godard
Anna Karina, Sady Rebbot, André S. Labarthe, Guylaine Schlumberger
Why it ranks

Jean-Luc Godard’s twelve-act breakdown of a woman’s soul serves as a clinical yet profoundly empathetic deconstruction of the cinematic gaze. Anna Karina’s luminous face becomes a canvas for a radical experimentation with sound, silence, and sociology.

8
1962 in Lolita (1962)
Lolita
1962

Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged British novelist who is both appalled by and attracted to the vulgarity of American culture. When he comes to stay at the boarding house run by Charlotte Haze, he soon becomes obsessed with Lolita, the woman's teenaged daughter.

Drama
Comedy
James Mason, Shelley Winters, Sue Lyon, Gary Cockrell
Why it ranks

Stanley Kubrick navigates the treacherous terrain of Nabokov’s prose by pivoting toward a darkly comic, claustrophobic obsession. It stands as a daring exercise in censorship defiance, anchored by James Mason’s chillingly pathetic desperation.

7
1962 in Sanjuro (1962)
Sanjuro
1962

Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed "Sanjuro." In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.

Drama
Action
Toshirō Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi, Yūzō Kayama
Why it ranks

Akira Kurosawa weaponizes Toshiro Mifune’s gruff magnetism to deconstruct the samurai mythos with a sharp, sardonic wit. The film balances sophisticated genre subversion with a sudden, explosive violence that leaves a permanent mark on the medium.

6
1962 in The Miracle Worker (1962)
The Miracle Worker
1962

The true story of the frightening, lonely world of silence and darkness of 7-year-old Helen Keller who, since infancy, has never seen the sky, heard her mother's voice or expressed her innermost feelings. Then Annie Sullivan, a 20-year-old teacher from Boston, arrives. Having just recently regained her own sight, the no-nonsense Annie reaches out to Helen through the power of touch, the only tool they have in common, and leads her bold pupil on a miraculous journey from fear and isolation to happiness and light.

Drama
1h 46m
Arthur Penn
Anne Bancroft, Patty Duke, Victor Jory, Inga Swenson
Why it ranks

The visceral, physical intensity of the performances elevates this beyond standard biographical drama into a raw exploration of human isolation. It is a grueling yet triumphant masterclass in sensory storytelling and sheer emotional grit.

5
1962 in Dr. No (1962)
Dr. No
1962

Agent 007 battles mysterious Dr. No, a scientific genius bent on destroying the U.S. space program. As the countdown to disaster begins, Bond must go to Jamaica, where he encounters beautiful Honey Ryder, to confront a megalomaniacal villain in his massive island headquarters.

Adventure
Action
1h 50m
Terence Young
Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman, Jack Lord
Why it ranks

This stylish debut establishes a new visual grammar for the modern spy thriller, favoring lean sophistication over bloated spectacle. Sean Connery’s arrival signals a tectonic shift in masculinity and cinematic escapism.

4
1962 in Jules and Jim (1962)
Jules and Jim
1962

In the carefree days before World War I, introverted Austrian author Jules strikes up a friendship with the exuberant Frenchman Jim and both men fall for the impulsive and beautiful Catherine.

Drama
Romance
1h 46m
François Truffaut
Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre, Marie Dubois
Why it ranks

François Truffaut’s ode to bohemian kineticism vibrates with a stylistic freedom that shatters rigid narrative conventions. It remains a definitive statement of the French New Wave, capturing the tragic fragility of human connection through breathless, innovative camerawork.

3
1962 in The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
The Manchurian Candidate
1962

Near the end of the Korean War, a platoon of U.S. soldiers is captured by communists and brainwashed. Following the war, the platoon is returned home, and Sergeant Raymond Shaw is lauded as a hero by the rest of his platoon. However, the platoon commander, Captain Bennett Marco, finds himself plagued by strange nightmares and soon races to uncover a terrible plot.

Thriller
Drama
Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury, Janet Leigh
Why it ranks

This is a jagged, hallucinatory nightmare that captures the Cold War’s mounting paranoia with surgical precision. John Frankenheimer blends satirical bite with suspense, creating a kinetic tension that feels dangerously ahead of its time.

2
1962 in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
To Kill a Mockingbird
1962

Scout Finch, 6, and her older brother Jem live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, spending much of their time with their friend Dill and spying on their reclusive and mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. When Atticus, their widowed father and a respected lawyer, defends a black man named Tom Robinson against fabricated rape charges, the trial and tangent events expose the children to evils of racism and stereotyping.

Drama
2h 9m
Robert Mulligan
Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, John Megna
Why it ranks

Rarely has the moral weight of adulthood been so effectively filtered through the crystalline lens of childhood innocence. This adaptation eschews melodrama for a quiet, deeply felt dignity that anchors its urgent social critique.

1
1962 in Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Lawrence of Arabia
1962

During World War I, English officer Thomas Edward 'T.E.' Lawrence sets out to unite and lead the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes to fight the Turks.

Adventure
History
Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn
Why it ranks

David Lean transcends the traditional desert epic by framing a sprawling historical conquest as an intimate, agonizing psychological portrait. The shimmering 70mm cinematography and Peter O'Toole’s ethereal presence redefine the scale of what cinema can achieve.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about this list and SnakeDrafts

The greatest films of 1962 showcase a mix of epic storytelling and psychological depth, signaling a shift from classic Hollywood spectacles to more nuanced, character-driven narratives. Films like "Lawrence of Arabia" represent grand historical epics, while "The Manchurian Candidate" introduces political and psychological thriller elements.

1962 was notable for genre innovation with films like Stanley Kubrick's "Lolita," which blended dark comedy with drama, and Jean-Luc Godard's "Vivre Sa Vie," which exemplifies modernist French New Wave cinema. This year also saw groundbreaking work in thriller and horror with "Cape Fear" and "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?".

Films from 1962 contributed to modern cinema by introducing more complex characters and mature themes, departing from the straightforward morality of earlier decades. "To Kill a Mockingbird" addressed social issues with empathy, while "Dr. No" launched the long-running James Bond franchise, influencing action and spy genres.

Yes, 1962 saw acclaimed international films like Akira Kurosawa's "Sanjuro" from Japan and Luis Buñuel’s surreal "The Exterminating Angel" from Spain, both critically praised for their unique storytelling and thematic experimentation. Andrei Tarkovsky's "Ivan's Childhood" is another key example from the Soviet Union, blending war drama with poetic imagery.

Powerful performances in 1962 films include Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke in "The Miracle Worker," bringing Helen Keller's story to life with emotional intensity, and Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?," whose fierce rivalry anchored the psychological horror. These portrayals remain influential for their depth and nuance.

Historical and war films were significant in 1962, with "Lawrence of Arabia" offering a sprawling epic about World War I and "The Longest Day" presenting a detailed dramatization of D-Day during World War II. These films combined meticulous production with compelling narratives to reflect on pivotal moments in history.

Romance in 1962 films often came with complexity and moral ambiguity, as seen in "Jules and Jim," which explores a love triangle with emotional depth and unconventional storytelling. "The Music Man," meanwhile, balances romance with musical comedy, providing a lighter counterpoint to the year's often serious themes.
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