Ten 1962 Films That Have Become Enduring Classics

Collider published a list of ten films from 1962 now considered classics.

The piece frames 1962 as a cinematic crossroads: the classical studio system was still technically intact but its certainties were beginning to crack, censorship was loosening, international cinema exerted stronger influence, and filmmakers were increasingly willing to confront darker, more complex themes.

The list includes Cape Fear; Kurosawa’s Sanjuro; Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita; Luis Buñuel’s The Exterminating Angel; Andrei Tarkovsky’s Ivan’s Childhood; What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?; The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance; François Truffaut’s Jules and Jim; To Kill a Mockingbird; and Lawrence of Arabia. The article notes Lawrence of Arabia’s release date as December 11, 1962, its runtime as 228 minutes, and credits David Lean as director.

More than sixty years later, the article says, these classics still have the power to entertain, unsettle, or offer striking food for thought.

Key Topics

Culture, Cape Fear, Stanley Kubrick, David Lean, French New Wave