Here Is A List Of A Few Great Old American Movies

Is there anything more all-American than Saturday night at the movies? Popcorn, a drink, and someone's hand to hold — it doesn't get much better than that!
To celebrate our nation's birthday, here is a list of a few great American movies of the past 50 years that represent our country in a variety of ways. There was no way to keep this list to 12 and have included the entire history of film, so here's the best since 1962.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Based on Harper Lee's brilliant novel, this movie should be required watching for every child in our country. Though adaptations of books to film are often disappointing, this one delivers, in large part because of the Oscar winning portrayal of Atticus Finch by Gregory Peck.

2. The Graduate (1967)

The American dream seen through the eyes of an indifferent college grad. An entire generation cringed at the line "I have one word for you… plastics." Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) personified the ennui of young adults then… and now. Anne Bancroft, as Mrs. Robinson, was the epitome of the bored 1960's housewife. As sad as the story is, it's oddly inspiring too.

3. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

The charming and impossibly handsome Butch (Paul Newman) and Sundance (Robert Redford) are the most lovable criminals ever seen on screen. As bank robbers in the late 19th century, Butch and Sundance were emblematic of the lawless wild west. We root for them even though we know they’re the bad guys. There's nothing more All-American than a western, and no pairing of two American actors more appealing than Newman and Redford.

4. Dirty Harry (1971)

Harry, lawman turned renegade, is the personification of all the anger and frustration felt by victims of violent crime. Taking the law into his own hands, Harry is controversial, despicable and sympathetic all at the same time. Clint Eastwood's Harry Callahan has become the icon of payback. Dirty Harry was the film that introduced this particular genre — followed by Die Hard, Terminator, and the like.

5. American Graffiti (1973)

Has there ever been a movie that felt more all-American than this? A hot car, a hot girl, the last night of summer — and Ron Howard, too! George Lucas's first big hit, it continues to resonate 40 years after its release because the theme of growing up and leaving home never gets old.

6. Annie Hall (1977)

Perhaps a little too skewed toward the East Coast version of all-American, Annie Hall still has to be on this list for so exquisitely capturing a particular moment in our country's history, and for it's love stories — both between Annie (Diane Keaton) and Alvy (Woody Allen) and between Woody Allen and New York City.

7. Coming Home (1978)

There have been a lot of movies about the Vietnam war, ranging from the intense and violent to the brave and heroic (Born on the 4th of July). Coming Home is an intimate story about the overwhelming repercussions of the war on 3 very different people — a soldier, his wife, and her paraplegic lover. Jane Fonda and Jon Voight are mad sexy.