Top 76 Ranked

Top 1969 Movies Ranked

Classic Cinema and the Birth of New Hollywood

Explore the best films of a revolutionary year in cinema. From gritty westerns to iconic counterculture gems, discover the must-watch movies from this era.

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About Movies in 1969

By the time 1969 rolled around, the old guard in Hollywood was not just sleeping at the wheel; they were driving off a cliff. The decade began with the comfortable certainty of big budget musicals and sweeping historical epics, but it ended in a fever dream of rebel heroes, psychedelic visuals, and a total dismantling of the traditional hero archetype. If you want to find the exact moment when the grit of New Hollywood truly took hold, 1969 is your ground zero.

The cultural backdrop was impossible for filmmakers to ignore. The optimism of the early sixties had curdled under the weight of the Vietnam War and the tension of the civil rights movement. Audiences were no longer interested in the sanitized, studio bound morality plays of their parents. They wanted something that felt as raw and unpredictable as the nightly news.

No film captured this shift quite like Easy Rider. When Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda rode their choppers across the American landscape to the sound of Steppenwolf, they werent just making a movie; they were planting a flag for the counterculture. It was a low budget film that made a massive fortune, proving to the suits in charge that the youth market was not only viable but essential for survival. It destroyed the legend of the American West and replaced it with a lonely, paranoid reality where the pioneers were just long haired dreamers looking for a place to belong.

At the same time, John Schlesingers Midnight Cowboy was doing something equally unthinkable. It became the only X rated film to ever win Best Picture. By focusing on the desperate relationship between a naive Texas hustler and a sickly con man in a decaying New York City, the film brought a level of frankness regarding sex and urban squalor that had been hidden behind the Production Code for decades. It proved that a movie could be sordid and heartbreakingly human at the same time.

While these films looked forward, Sam Peckinpah gave a violent eulogy for the past with The Wild Bunch. It reimagined the Western as a bloody, nihilistic ballet. By making the violence visceral and the protagonists morally gray, Peckinpah signaled that the era of John Wayne was officially over. Even Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which was a massive box office hit and felt more traditional on the surface, used a modern, witty sensibility and a tragic ending to show that the outlaws were fundamentally out of time.

International cinema was also hitting a peak, with Costa-Gavras delivering the high tension political thriller Z, while Fellini and Pasolini continued to push the boundaries of what a narrative could even look like.

Film fans remember 1969 because it was a year of profound transitions. It was the year the outsiders took over the asylum. The movies of 1969 did not just entertain; they reflected a world that was being torn apart and put back together in a new, strange shape. It was the moment Hollywood finally grew up and realized that the most interesting stories are often the most uncomfortable ones.

The Complete Rankings

Based on the top picks in drafts on SnakeDrafts

See Top Ten
76
1969 in The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969)
The Royal Hunt of the Sun
1969

The Spanish explorer Pizarro captures the Inca god-chief Atahualpa and promises to free him upon the delivery of a hoard of gold. But Pizarro finds himself torn between his desire for conquest and his sense of honor after friendship and respect develops between captive and captor.

Adventure
Drama
2h 1m
Irving Lerner
Robert Shaw, Christopher Plummer, Nigel Davenport, Leonard Whiting
75
1969 in The Picasso Summer (1969)
The Picasso Summer
1969

A San Francisco couple travels to France in search of Pablo Picasso.

Drama
1h 35m
Serge Bourguignon
Albert Finney, Yvette Mimieux, Luis Miguel Dominguín, Peter Madden
74
1969 in Gaily, Gaily (1969)
Gaily, Gaily
1969

After runaway Ben Young is robbed and left on his own, he is taken in by Lil, the head of a Chicago brothel. Acting as a surrogate mother for Ben, who thinks she runs a boardinghouse, Lil gets him a job with Francis Sullivan at the local newspaper. As Ben is exposed to the workings of the big city, he realizes the extent of government corruption and sets out on the daunting task of reforming Chicago politics, finding several allies along the way.

Comedy
Beau Bridges, Melina Mercouri, Brian Keith, George Kennedy

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73
1969 in Run, Angel, Run! (1969)
Run, Angel, Run!
1969

Angel (William Smith), an outlaw biker, sells out his gang by exposing their wild conquests to Like magazine for $10,000. With his photo on the cover, Angel skips town and tries to start over with help from sheep rancher Dan Felton (Dan Kemp). An ex-motorcycle enthusiast, Dan becomes a mentor to Angel, giving him hope for a peaceful future. But Angel must put hope aside when members of his former gang viciously attack Dan's teenage daughter.

Action
Thriller
1h 35m
Jack Starrett
William Smith, Valerie Starrett, Dan Kemp, Gene Shane
72
1969 in Alice's Restaurant (1969)
Alice's Restaurant
1969

After getting kicked out of college, Arlo decides to visit his friend Alice for Thanksgiving dinner. After dinner is over, Arlo volunteers to take the trash to the dump but finds it closed for the holiday, so he dumps the trash in the bottom of a ravine. This act of littering gets him arrested and sends him on a bizarre journey.

Drama
Comedy
1h 51m
Arthur Penn
Arlo Guthrie, Patricia Quinn, James Broderick, Tina Chen
71
1969 in A Nice Girl Like Me (1969)
A Nice Girl Like Me
1969

Candy is a fetching unwed young lady with a penchant for pregnancy. Her adventures begin when she leaves her sheltered boarding school background for Paris. The result is the birth of Valentine nine months later.

Comedy
1h 30m
Desmond Davis
Barbara Ferris, Harry Andrews, Gladys Cooper, William Hinnant
70
1969 in Last Summer (1969)
Last Summer
1969

During summer vacation on Fire Island, three young people become very close. When an uncool girl tries to infiltrate the trio's newly found relationship, they construct an elaborate plot that has violent results.

Drama
1h 35m
Frank Perry
Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas, Catherine Burns, Bruce Davison
69
1969 in The File of the Golden Goose (1969)
The File of the Golden Goose
1969

U.S. Secret Service agent Peter Novak goes undercover with Scotland Yard officer Thompson to halt a murderous gang of counterfeiters known as the Golden Goose. Although Peter is unsure about John's loyalties, the two infiltrate the gang and win the trust of thug Nick "The Owl" Harrison before enduring a series of double-crosses.

Drama
Thriller
1h 49m
Sam Wanamaker
Yul Brynner, Charles Gray, Edward Woodward, John Barrie
68
1969 in Angel, Angel, Down We Go (1969)
Angel, Angel, Down We Go
1969

The overweight debutante daughter of the world's wealthiest couple falls in with a gang of tripped out, skydiving pseudo-reactionary pop stars, who take their beliefs of the American ideal to profoundly impossible heights.

Crime
Drama
1h 33m
Robert Thom
Jennifer Jones, Jordan Christopher, Holly Near, Lou Rawls
67
1969 in A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969)
A Boy Named Charlie Brown
1969

Poor Charlie Brown. He can't fly a kite, and he always loses in baseball. Having his faults projected onto a screen by Lucy doesn't help him much either. Against the sage advice and taunting of the girls in his class, he volunteers for the class spelling bee.

Family
Animation
1h 26m
Bill Melendez
Peter Robbins, Pamelyn Ferdin, Glenn Gilger, Andy Pforsich
66
1969 in The Illustrated Man (1969)
The Illustrated Man
1969

A man who has a body almost completely covered in tattoos is searching for the woman who cursed him with the "skin illustrations". Each tattoo reveals a bizarre story, which is experienced by staring at the scene depicted. When the illustrated man meets a fellow tramp on the road a strange voyage begins.

Science Fiction
Drama
1h 43m
Jack Smight
Rod Steiger, Claire Bloom, Robert Drivas, Don Dubbins
65
1969 in Captain Nemo and the Underwater City (1969)
Captain Nemo and the Underwater City
1969

Survivors of a sinking ship are rescued by Captain Nemo and his submarine crew. They are taken to an underwater city where they may spend the rest of their lives.

Adventure
Family
1h 45m
James Hill
Robert Ryan, Chuck Connors, Nanette Newman, Luciana Paluzzi
64
1969 in Daddy's Gone A-Hunting (1969)
Daddy's Gone A-Hunting
1969

A mentally disturbed man stalks a woman who had once aborted the child he had fathered.

Thriller
Drama
1h 48m
Mark Robson
Carol White, Paul Burke, Mala Powers, Scott Hylands
63
1969 in The Extraordinary Seaman (1969)
The Extraordinary Seaman
1969

Marooned sailors discover a World War II ship haunted by its late captain.

Adventure
War
David Niven, Faye Dunaway, Alan Alda, Mickey Rooney
62
1969 in Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? (1969)
Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?
1969

Heironymus Merkin is an internationally successful singer approaching middle age who retells his life story in a series of production numbers on a seashore in front of his two toddlers and aged mother. Merkin's promiscuous relationships with women are explored, particularly Polyester Poontang and the adolescent Mercy Humppe. Merkin is constantly surrounded by a Satan-like procurer, Goodtime Eddie Filth, and an angelic 'Presence' who interrupts Merkin's biography with cryptic Borscht Belt-level jokes to denote births and deaths in Merkin's life. Newley periodically steps out of character to complain about his 'Merkin' role with an unseen director, two screenwriters, the film's producers and a trio of blasé movie critics who are turned off by the story's eroticism and lack of plot.

Comedy
Music
1h 47m
Anthony Newley
Anthony Newley, Joan Collins, Bruce Forsyth, Milton Berle
61
1969 in Change of Habit (1969)
Change of Habit
1969

Dr. John Carpenter takes the job of running a health center in a low-income district. He enlists three women to help out who — unbeknownst to him — are actually nuns in street clothes. The church wants to improve the neighborhood but fears that nuns in full habit would not be well received. Unaware of her unavailability, John falls for Sister Michelle, serenading her with his guitar — which, luckily for him, effectively wears away at her religious resolve.

Crime
Drama
1h 33m
William A. Graham
Elvis Presley, Mary Tyler Moore, Barbara McNair, Jane Elliot
60
1969 in Some Kind of a Nut (1969)
Some Kind of a Nut
1969

A New York City bank teller becomes a media celebrity when he refuses to comply with his employer's demands that he shave his beard.

Comedy
1h 29m
Garson Kanin
Dick Van Dyke, Angie Dickinson, Rosemary Forsyth, Zohra Lampert
59
1969 in What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969)
What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?
1969

An aging widow hides a deadly secret which she will do anything to keep buried.

Crime
Drama
1h 41m
Lee H. Katzin
Geraldine Page, Ruth Gordon, Rosemary Forsyth, Robert Fuller
58
1969 in The Assassination Bureau (1969)
The Assassination Bureau
1969

In 1908 London, a women's rights campaigner discovers the Assassination Bureau Limited, an organization that kills for justice. When its motives are called into question, she commissions the assassination of its chairman. Knowing that his colleagues have recently become more motivated by greed than morality, he turns the situation into a challenge for his board members: kill him or be killed.

Action
Adventure
1h 52m
Basil Dearden
Oliver Reed, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Curd Jürgens
57
1969 in A Walk with Love and Death (1969)
A Walk with Love and Death
1969

During France’s Hundred Years’ War, a Parisian student seeks refuge by the sea and falls in love with an aristocrat. As they find shelter in a monastery, their romance is overshadowed by the ongoing conflict between peasants and noblemen.

Adventure
Drama
Anjelica Huston, Assi Dayan, Anthony Higgins, John Hallam
56
1969 in Crooks and Coronets (1969)
Crooks and Coronets
1969

Two crooks are hired to rob an eccentric old lady's estate, but once they get to know her, they can't bring themselves to do it.

Comedy
1h 46m
Jim O'Connolly
Telly Savalas, Edith Evans, Warren Oates, Cesar Romero
55
1969 in Oh! What a Lovely War (1969)
Oh! What a Lovely War
1969

The working-class Smiths change their initially sunny views on World War I after the five boys of the family witness the harsh reality of trench warfare.

Comedy
Music
2h 24m
Richard Attenborough
Laurence Olivier, Vanessa Redgrave, Maggie Smith, John Mills
54
1969 in The April Fools (1969)
The April Fools
1969

Newly-promoted if none too happily married Howard Brubaker leaves a rowdy company party early with the stunning Catherine, whom it turns out is herself unhappily married — to the boss. They spend an innocent night in New York becoming more and more attracted to each other, so that when Catherine announces she intends to leave her husband and return to Paris, Howard asks to go along too.

Drama
Comedy
1h 35m
Stuart Rosenberg
Jack Lemmon, Catherine Deneuve, Peter Lawford, Jack Weston
53
1969 in The Sterile Cuckoo (1969)
The Sterile Cuckoo
1969

Uptight college freshman Jerry Payne finds a carefree friend in zany Pookie. After an awkward meeting on the bus, Pookie quickly works her way into Jerry's life. She makes an unannounced visit to Jerry's campus, and before long annoyance turns to affection, and friendship turns to romance. But with Pookie's increasingly neurotic behavior, how long can this love affair last?

Comedy
Drama
1h 47m
Alan J. Pakula
Liza Minnelli, Wendell Burton, Tim McIntire, Anita Alberts
52
1969 in The Chairman (1969)
The Chairman
1969

An American scientist is sent to Red China to steal the formula for a newly developed agricultural enzyme. What he is not told by his bosses is that a micro-sized bomb has been planted in his brain so that should the mission ever look likely to fail, he can be eliminated at the push of a button!

Action
Thriller
1h 33m
J. Lee Thompson
Gregory Peck, Anne Heywood, Arthur Hill, Alan Dobie
51
1969 in Viva Max! (1969)
Viva Max!
1969

In order to prove his greatness to his unimpressed girlfriend, Mexican general Max takes a group of men across the border and recaptures the Alamo - international hijinks ensue!

Comedy
1h 33m
Jerry Paris
Peter Ustinov, Jonathan Winters, John Astin, Harry Morgan
50
1969 in If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969)
If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium
1969

A group of travelers from the United States race through seven European countries in 18 days.

Romance
Comedy
1h 45m
Mel Stuart
Ian McShane, Suzanne Pleshette, Vittorio De Sica, Murray Hamilton
49
1969 in Stiletto (1969)
Stiletto
1969

A rich, jet-setting playboy has a secret life: he's also a professional Mafia hitman. When he decides it's time to retire from that life, he finds that his former employers don't like the idea that someone who knows so much about them won't be under their control anymore, and decide to send their own hitmen to eliminate him.

Crime
Thriller
1h 38m
Bernard L. Kowalski
Alex Cord, Britt Ekland, Patrick O'Neal, Joseph Wiseman
48
1969 in A Talent for Loving (1969)
A Talent for Loving
1969

This Western spoof stars Richard Widmark as an American gambler who wins the deed to a Mexican ranch from a cunning outlaw. At the ranch, the gambler discovers that his new lands have entangled him in an ancient Aztec curse. The ranch's patriarch tries to persuade the newcomer to marry his daughter and explains that the family's women are doomed to be especially fierce and prolific in their romantic encounters.

Comedy
Western
1h 50m
Richard Quine
Richard Widmark, Chaim Topol, Geneviève Page, Cesar Romero
47
1969 in The Bridge at Remagen (1969)
The Bridge at Remagen
1969

In March of 1945, as the War in Europe is coming to a close, fighting erupts between German and American troops at the last remaining bridgehead across the Rhine.

War
Action
1h 57m
John Guillermin
George Segal, Robert Vaughn, Ben Gazzara, Bradford Dillman
46
1969 in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
Anne of the Thousand Days
1969

Henry VIII of England discards his wife, Katharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favor of the young and beautiful Anne Boleyn.

Drama
History
2h 25m
Charles Jarrott
Richard Burton, Geneviève Bujold, Irene Papas, Anthony Quayle
45
1969 in Goodbye, Columbus (1969)
Goodbye, Columbus
1969

A Jewish man and a Jewish woman meet, and while attracted to each other, find that their worlds are very different. She is the archetypal Jewish American Princess — very emotionally involved with her parents' world and the world they have created for her, while he is much less dependent on his family. They begin an affair which brings more differences to the surface.

Comedy
Drama
1h 42m
Larry Peerce
Richard Benjamin, Ali MacGraw, Jack Klugman, Nan Martin
44
1969 in The Milky Way (1969)
The Milky Way
1969

Two men, part tramp, part pilgrim, are on their way from France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. On their way, they meet a vast assortment of characters—some truculent, some violent, and some bizarre; they experience many adventures—some mysterious, some erotic, some even supernatural.

Comedy
Drama
1h 42m
Luis Buñuel
Paul Frankeur, Laurent Terzieff, Alain Cuny, Édith Scob
43
1969 in More (1969)
More
1969

A German student, Stefan, now finished with his studies, hitchhikes to Paris. There he meets a free-spirited American girl, Estelle, who he follows to Ibiza. The two begin a sad and dark path into heroin addiction.

Romance
Drama
1h 57m
Barbet Schroeder
Mimsy Farmer, Klaus Grünberg, Heinz Engelmann, Michel Chanderli
42
1969 in A Gentle Woman (1969)
A Gentle Woman
1969

When his young wife commits suicide with no explanation, an introspective pawnbroker looks back on their life together.

Romance
Drama
1h 25m
Robert Bresson
Dominique Sanda, Guy Frangin, Jeanne Lobre, Claude Ollier
41
1969 in Marooned (1969)
Marooned
1969

After spending several months in an orbiting lab, three astronauts prepare to return to Earth only to find their de-orbit thrusters won't activate. After initially thinking they might have to abandon them in orbit, NASA decides to launch a daring rescue. Their plans are complicated by a hurricane headed towards the launch site—and a shrinking air supply in the astronauts' capsule.

Adventure
Drama
2h 14m
John Sturges
Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna, David Janssen, James Franciscus
40
1969 in The Sicilian Clan (1969)
The Sicilian Clan
1969

An ambitious mobster plans an elaborate diamond heist while seducing the daughter-in-law of a ruthless mob patriarch as a determined police commissioner closes in on all of them.

Crime
Drama
2h 1m
Henri Verneuil
Jean Gabin, Alain Delon, Lino Ventura, Irina Demick
39
1969 in Castle Keep (1969)
Castle Keep
1969

During the Battle of the Bulge, an anachronistic count shelters a ragtag squad of Americans in his isolated castle hoping they will defend it against the advancing Germans.

Comedy
Drama
Burt Lancaster, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Peter Falk, Bruce Dern
38
1969 in Hannibal Brooks (1969)
Hannibal Brooks
1969

A POW in World War II is put to work in a Munich zoo, looking after an Asian elephant. The zoo is bombed by the Americans and the director of the zoo decides it is not safe for his Asian elephant Lucy to remain there. So he sends Brooks to safety with Lucy. They escape and go on the run in order to get to Switzerland.

Comedy
War
1h 42m
Michael Winner
Oliver Reed, Michael J. Pollard, Wolfgang Preiss, Karin Baal
37
1969 in Medium Cool (1969)
Medium Cool
1969

John Cassellis is the toughest TV news reporter around. After extensively reporting about violence and racial tensions in poor communities, he discovers that his network is helping the FBI by granting them access to his footage to find suspects.

Drama
1h 51m
Haskell Wexler
Robert Forster, Verna Bloom, Peter Bonerz, Marianna Hill
36
1969 in The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969)
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
1969

Some college students manage to persuade the town's big businessman, A. J. Arno, to donate a computer to their college. When the problem- student, Dexter Riley, tries to fix the computer, he gets an electric shock and his brain turns to a computer; now he remembers everything he reads. Unfortunately, he also remembers information which was in the computer's memory, like Arno's illegal businesses..

Comedy
Family
1h 31m
Robert Butler
Kurt Russell, Cesar Romero, Joe Flynn, William Schallert
35
1969 in Sweet Charity (1969)
Sweet Charity
1969

Taxi dancer Charity continues to have faith in the human race despite apparently endless disappointments at its hands, and hope that she will finally meet the nice young man to romance her away from her sleazy life. Maybe, just maybe, handsome Oscar will be the one to do it.

Comedy
Music
2h 33m
Bob Fosse
Shirley MacLaine, John McMartin, Chita Rivera, Paula Kelly
34
1969 in The Bed Sitting Room (1969)
The Bed Sitting Room
1969

In the hazy aftermath of World War III, the fallout from a 'nuclear misunderstanding' is producing strange mutations amongst the survivors, and the noble Lord Fortnum finds himself transforming into a bed sitting room.

Comedy
Science Fiction
Ralph Richardson, Rita Tushingham, Michael Hordern, Arthur Lowe
33
1969 in Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969)
Support Your Local Sheriff!
1969

In the old west, a man becomes a Sheriff just for the pay, figuring he can decamp if things get tough.

Comedy
Western
1h 32m
Burt Kennedy
James Garner, Joan Hackett, Walter Brennan, Harry Morgan
32
1969 in Charro! (1969)
Charro!
1969

Vince Hackett's gang steals a prized victory canon from Mexico and blames the deed on ex-member Jess Wade, who wants to go straight.

Action
Drama
1h 38m
Charles Marquis Warren
Elvis Presley, Ina Balin, Victor French, Barbara Werle
31
1969 in My Night at Maud's (1969)
My Night at Maud's
1969

The Catholic Jean-Louis runs into an old friend, the Marxist Vidal, in Clermont-Ferrand around Christmas. Vidal introduces Jean-Louis to the modestly libertine, recently divorced Maud and the three engage in conversation on religion, atheism, love, morality and Blaise Pascal's life and writings on philosophy, faith and mathematics. Jean-Louis ends up spending a night at Maud's. Jean-Louis' Catholic views on marriage, fidelity and obligation make his situation a dilemma, as he has already, at the very beginning of the film, proclaimed his love for a young woman whom, however, he has never yet spoken to.

Romance
Comedy
1h 50m
Éric Rohmer
Jean-Louis Trintignant, Françoise Fabian, Marie-Christine Barrault, Antoine Vitez
30
1969 in The Southern Star (1969)
The Southern Star
1969

Comedy adventure based on a Jules Verne novel about the ups and downs of jewel thieves in the wilds of Africa circa 1900. George Segal is the appealing hero-heel and Ursula Andress is visually stunning as the lady in the proceedings. Orson Welles has a small role.

Adventure
1h 44m
Sidney Hayers
George Segal, Ursula Andress, Orson Welles, Ian Hendry
29
1969 in The Happy Ending (1969)
The Happy Ending
1969

When Fred asked for Mary's hand in marriage, she thought she had the happy ending she only read about in fairy tales. Now it's 16 years later; Fred has had an affair, and Mary drowns her sorrows in pills and booze, a dangerous combination that nearly resulted in her death the year before. As Mary rushes off to the Bahamas for a relaxing escape from her crumbling marriage, she reflects on the past and wonders just where it all went wrong.

Drama
1h 52m
Richard Brooks
Jean Simmons, John Forsythe, Shirley Jones, Lloyd Bridges
28
1969 in Putney Swope (1969)
Putney Swope
1969

Swope—the only black man on the executive board of an advertising firm—is accidentally put in charge after the death of the chairman.

Comedy
1h 25m
Robert Downey Sr.
Arnold Johnson, Stan Gottlieb, Allen Garfield, Archie Russell
27
1969 in Cactus Flower (1969)
Cactus Flower
1969

A dentist pretends to be married to avoid commitment, but when he falls for his girlfriend and proposes, he must recruit his lovelorn nurse to pose as his wife.

Comedy
Romance
1h 43m
Gene Saks
26
1969 in Paint Your Wagon (1969)
Paint Your Wagon
1969

A Michigan farmer and a prospector form a partnership in the California gold country. Their adventures include buying and sharing a wife, hijacking a stage, kidnapping six prostitutes, and turning their mining camp into a boom town. Along the way there is plenty of drinking, gambling, and singing. They even find time to do some creative gold mining.

Comedy
Western
2h 44m
Joshua Logan
Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, Jean Seberg, Ray Walston
25
1969 in The Rain People (1969)
The Rain People
1969

When a housewife finds out she is pregnant, she runs out of town looking for freedom to reevaluate her life decisions.

Drama
James Caan, Shirley Knight, Robert Duvall, Marya Zimmet
24
1969 in The Gypsy Moths (1969)
The Gypsy Moths
1969

Three skydivers and their travelling thrill show barnstorm through a small midwestern town one Fourth of July weekend.

Romance
Drama
Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Gene Hackman, Scott Wilson
23
1969 in Popi (1969)
Popi
1969

Abraham is a Puerto Rican single parent with two boys. He is becoming very worried about them living in their run down neighborhood when one day he notices that Cubans who escape are lionized and given exceptional benefits. He thinks up a plot to have his sons washed ashore as cuban immigrants who will be adopted by rich anglos.

Comedy
Drama
1h 53m
Arthur Hiller
Alan Arkin, Rita Moreno, Reuben Figueroa, Miguel Alejandro
22
1969 in The Reivers (1969)
The Reivers
1969

In turn-of-the-century Mississippi, an 11-year-old boy comes of age as two mischievous adult friends talk him into sneaking the family car out for a trip to Memphis and a series of adventures.

Comedy
Drama
1h 46m
Mark Rydell
Steve McQueen, Sharon Farrell, Ruth White, Michael Constantine
21
1969 in Topaz (1969)
Topaz
1969

Copenhagen, Denmark, 1962. When a high-ranking Soviet official decides to change sides, a French intelligence agent is caught up in a cold, silent and bloody spy war in which his own family will play a decisive role.

Drama
Thriller
Frederick Stafford, Dany Robin, John Vernon, Karin Dor
20
1969 in Take the Money and Run (1969)
Take the Money and Run
1969

Virgil Starkwell is intent on becoming a notorious bank robber. Unfortunately for Virgil and his not-so-budding career, he is completely incompetent.

Comedy
Crime
Woody Allen, Janet Margolin, Marcel Hillaire, Jacquelyn Hyde
19
1969 in The Cow (1969)
The Cow
1969

An old villager deeply in love with his cow goes to the capital for a while. While he's there, the cow dies and now the villagers are afraid of his possible reaction to it when he returns.

Drama
1h 45m
Dariush Mehrjui
Ezzatollah Entezami, Mahin Shahabi, Ali Nasirian, Jamshid Mashayekhi
18
1969 in Winning (1969)
Winning
1969

Frank Capua is a rising star on the race circuit who dreams of winning the big one - the Indianapolis 500. But to get there he runs the risk of losing his wife Elora to his rival, Luther Erding, and strains the relationship with his stepson.

Action
Drama
2h 3m
James Goldstone
Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Robert Wagner, Richard Thomas
17
1969 in The Learning Tree (1969)
The Learning Tree
1969

The story, set in Kansas during the 1920's, covers less than a year in the life of a black teenager, and documents the veritable deluge of events which force him into sudden manhood. The family relationships and enmities, the fears, frustrations and ambitions of the black teenager in small-town America are explored with a strong statement about human values.

Drama
1h 47m
Gordon Parks
Kyle Johnson, Alex Clarke, Estelle Evans, Dana Elcar
16
1969 in Hello, Dolly! (1969)
Hello, Dolly!
1969

Dolly Levi is a strong-willed matchmaker who travels to Yonkers, New York in order to see the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder. In doing so, she convinces his niece, his niece's intended, and Horace's two clerks to travel to New York City.

Comedy
Romance
2h 28m
Gene Kelly
Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford, Marianne McAndrew
15
1969 in Women in Love (1969)
Women in Love
1969

Growing up in the sheltered confines of a 1920s English coal-mining community, free-spirited sisters Gudrun and Ursula explore erotic love with a wealthy playboy and a philosophical educator, with cataclysmic results for all four.

Drama
Romance
2h 11m
Ken Russell
Alan Bates, Oliver Reed, Glenda Jackson, Jennie Linden
14
1969 in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
1969

With the help of Marc-Ange Draco, head of the Unione Corse crime syndicate, and Draco's troubled daughter Tracy, James Bond tracks his archnemesis, Ernst Stravro Blofeld, to a mountaintop retreat in the Swiss Alps, where he is training an army of beautiful, lethal women.

Adventure
Action
2h 22m
Peter R. Hunt
George Lazenby, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Gabriele Ferzetti
13
1969 in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
1969

A headstrong young teacher in a private school in 1930s Edinburgh ignores the curriculum and influences her impressionable 12-year-old charges with her over-romanticized worldview.

Drama
1h 56m
Ronald Neame
Maggie Smith, Robert Stephens, Pamela Franklin, Celia Johnson
12
1969 in Satyricon (1969)
Satyricon
1969

After his young lover, Gitone, leaves him for another man, Encolpio decides to kill himself, but a sudden earthquake destroys his home before he has a chance to do so. Now wandering around Rome in the time of Nero, Encolpio encounters one bizarre and surreal scene after another.

Drama
Fantasy
Martin Potter, Hiram Keller, Max Born, Salvo Randone
11
1969 in The Damned (1969)
The Damned
1969

In the early days of Nazi Germany, a powerful noble family must adjust to life under the new dictatorship regime.

Drama
History
2h 38m
Luchino Visconti
Dirk Bogarde, Ingrid Thulin, Helmut Griem, Helmut Berger
10
1969 in The Italian Job (1969)
The Italian Job
1969

Charlie's got a 'job' to do. Having just left prison he finds one of his friends has attempted a high-risk job in Torino, Italy, right under the nose of the mafia. Charlie's friend doesn't get very far, so Charlie takes over the 'job'. Using three Mini Coopers, a couple of Jaguars, and a bus, he hopes to bring Torino to a standstill, steal a fortune in gold and escape in the chaos.

Crime
Comedy
1h 39m
Peter Collinson
Michael Caine, Noël Coward, Benny Hill, Margaret Blye
Why it ranks

This quintessentially British caper trades grit for impeccable style and a high-octane sense of play. Its mathematical precision and unforgettable cliffhanger ending represent the absolute pinnacle of the 1960s heist film.

9
1969 in True Grit (1969)
True Grit
1969

The murder of her father sends a teenage tomboy on a mission of 'justice', which involves avenging her father's death. She recruits a tough old marshal, 'Rooster' Cogburn because he has 'true grit', and a reputation of getting the job done.

Western
2h 8m
Henry Hathaway
John Wayne, Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, Jeremy Slate
Why it ranks

While its peers deconstructed the frontier, this film revitalized it by leaning into the grand, rugged persona of John Wayne. It balances a traditional sense of adventure with a sharp, lyrical script that breathes new life into the aging Western genre.

8
1969 in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
1969

After returning to Los Angeles from a group therapy session, documentary filmmaker Bob Sanders and his wife, Carol, find themselves becoming vigilante couples counselors, offering unsolicited advice to their best friends, Ted and Alice Henderson. Not wanting to be rude, the Hendersons play along, but some latent sexual tension among the four soon comes bubbling to the surface, and long-buried desires don't stay buried for long.

Comedy
Drama
1h 45m
Paul Mazursky
Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, Elliott Gould, Dyan Cannon
Why it ranks

Paul Mazursky’s whip-smart satire perfectly captures the awkward intersection of middle-class morality and the burgeoning sexual revolution. It skewers the neuroses of the era with a sophisticated blend of humor and genuine intimacy.

7
1969 in Army of Shadows (1969)
Army of Shadows
1969

Betrayed by an informant, Philippe Gerbier finds himself trapped in a torturous Nazi prison camp. Though Gerbier escapes to rejoin the Resistance in occupied Marseilles, France, and exacts his revenge on the informant, he must continue a quiet, seemingly endless battle against the Nazis in an atmosphere of tension, paranoia and distrust.

War
Drama
2h 25m
Jean-Pierre Melville
Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret
Why it ranks

Jean-Pierre Melville strips the glamour from the French Resistance to reveal a cold, methodical underworld of shadow and sacrifice. It is a masterpiece of stoic tension where silence carries more weight than any explosion.

6
1969 in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
1969

In the midst of the Great Depression, manipulative emcee Rocky enlists contestants for a dance marathon offering a $1,500 cash prize. Among them are a failed actress, a middle-aged sailor, a delusional blonde and a pregnant girl.

Drama
Jane Fonda, Michael Sarrazin, Susannah York, Gig Young
Why it ranks

Applying a microcosmic lens to the Great Depression, this grueling drama uses a dance marathon as a brutal metaphor for the human condition. Jane Fonda’s fierce performance anchors a film that is as emotionally exhausting as it is sociologically profound.

5
1969 in Z (1969)
Z
1969

A prominent politician is murdered during a demonstration. The government and army are trying to suppress the truth, but a tenacious magistrate is determined to not to let them get away with it.

Thriller
Crime
2h 2m
Costa-Gavras
Yves Montand, Irene Papas, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jacques Perrin
Why it ranks

Costa-Gavras delivers a high-velocity political thriller that pulse-pounds with the urgency of a newsreel. This breathless indictment of state corruption serves as a masterclass in tension, mirroring the global unrest of its era.

4
1969 in The Wild Bunch (1969)
The Wild Bunch
1969

An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.

Western
William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Jaime Sánchez
Why it ranks

Sam Peckinpah unleashed a ballet of blood that effectively buried the traditional Western through sheer, kinetic violence. It is a mournful, uncompromising study of obsolete men navigating a world that has outpaced their violent codes.

3
1969 in Easy Rider (1969)
Easy Rider
1969

Wyatt and Billy, two Harley-riding hippies, complete a drug deal in Southern California and decide to travel cross-country in search of spiritual truth.

Adventure
Drama
Why it ranks

More a cultural earthquake than a mere movie, this low-budget odyssey captured the volatile spirit of a fractured America. Its jagged editing and psychedelic soundtrack signaled the definitive arrival of the New Hollywood counterculture.

2
1969 in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
1969

As the west rapidly becomes civilized, a pair of outlaws in 1890s Wyoming find themselves pursued by a posse and decide to flee to South America in hopes of evading the law.

Adventure
Western
1h 51m
George Roy Hill
Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin
Why it ranks

This revisionist western succeeds by transmuting outlaw mythology into a shimmering exercise in star power and existential wit. Its breezy, modern sensibility and sepia-toned aesthetics redefined the buddy dynamic for a new generation of cinema.

1
1969 in Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Midnight Cowboy
1969

Joe Buck is a wide-eyed hustler from Texas hoping to score big with wealthy New York City women; he finds a companion in Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo, an ailing swindler with a bum leg and a quixotic fantasy of escaping to Florida.

Drama
1h 53m
John Schlesinger
Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver
Why it ranks

John Schlesinger’s gritty masterpiece shattered the remains of the Production Code, proving that a film centered on the desperate periphery of society could achieve mainstream legitimacy. It remains the definitive portrait of urban alienation, anchored by two performances of staggering, heartbreaking authenticity.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about this list and SnakeDrafts

Midnight Cowboy claims the top spot due to its groundbreaking portrayal of urban isolation and complex characters, helmed by John Schlesinger's sensitive direction. Its daring themes and stellar performances made it a landmark film that captured the new wave of gritty, character-driven storytelling in 1969.

Westerns have a significant presence with titles like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Wild Bunch, and True Grit, reflecting the genre's evolution in 1969. These films introduced morally complex anti-heroes and graphic violence, signaling a shift from traditional Western tropes to more revisionist storytelling.

Easy Rider stands out as the quintessential counterculture film of 1969, showcasing the freedom and rebellion of the era's youth. Its road trip narrative, coupled with a rock soundtrack and themes of nonconformity, resonated with the changing social landscape at the time.

Yes, the list includes important international films like Z by Costa-Gavras and Army of Shadows by Jean-Pierre Melville. These politically charged thrillers brought global perspectives and infused the 1969 film scene with critical social commentary beyond Hollywood.

The Italian Job offers a distinctive blend of crime, comedy, and thriller elements, making it a standout for its stylish heist narrative and British charm. Its inclusion highlights the diversity of 1969 cinema, balancing serious dramas with entertaining capers.

A strong undercurrent of anti-establishment and complex character exploration links many 1969 films, reflecting societal upheaval of the time. This is evident in titles like Midnight Cowboy, Easy Rider, and Z, where protagonists often challenge traditional norms and authority.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is notable as the only James Bond film from 1969 and marks a tonal shift with its more serious and emotional storyline. It introduced George Lazenby as Bond, bringing a fresh, though brief, interpretation of the iconic character during a transformative year in cinema.
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