GREAT CINEMAMASTER LIST
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The Essential 713, made interactive

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great film.

Search 713 spoiler-free recommendations from 1916 to 2026. Filter by the night you want—not the list you’re supposed to finish.

Direct film viewShowing master rank #686 on its own—not above the ranking.
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Artwork
DirectorAll directors

Most represented · 6+ films

More recurring directors · 3–5 films54
All directors · surname A–Z438
ActorAll actors

Most represented actors

Big Three membership
Major award winners

1 selected film

Master Rank balances Greatness, Engagement, and Ease. Sort by Greatness for the artistic-canon view.

Director:
Cast:
View The Crowd film page
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List

Spoiler-free premise

An ambitious office worker arrives in New York believing success is inevitable, then begins building a life with a young woman.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

John Sims arrives in New York convinced he is destined for greatness and joins an immense office workforce. He meets and marries Mary, and their apartment, children, employment, leisure, and tragedy test the promise of individual success inside the crowd.

Why it belongs

Through office scale, city crowds, intimate rooms, and a marriage tested by anonymity and disappointment, The Crowd makes one ordinary life visually monumental.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

The skyscraper office reveal, numbered desks, Coney Island, cramped apartments, advertising slogans, stairways, and expressive crowd framing continually place John and Mary between individuality and mass life.

Major award wins

No verified wins in this six-institution crosswalk.

Awards are reference metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
Good for
Film Club
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.

Institutional reference ranks

Sight & Sound225IMDb Top 250—AFI 100—
Reference metadata only · not part of the 40/40/20 score

Great Cinema Master List scores

Greatness8.6
Engagement6.5
Ease4.7

English · Not Rated
Silent Feature
Mood: Reflective & Challenging