The box office renders one verdict. History renders another. The fact that millions of people turn out to see a movie, or voters shower it with Academy Awards, is no guarantee that a movie will be remembered as an all-time classic.
That’s the subject of this piece. It’s about films that were hits and awards winners; well-liked by vast swaths of the American public and international audiences. Every single one was among the biggest hits of the year when they came out. Many of them got sequels. A few spawned massive chart-topping soundtracks. And yet every single one has faded into semi-obscurity.
Why? That’s a great question, and one that’s not always easy to answer. Sometimes a movie taps into the zeitgeist in a way that doesn’t resonate with viewers decades later. Sometimes audiences’ tastes change with time, and what once seemed provocative now looks crass or insensitive. Plus, let’s face it: There are a lot of movies out there. Thousands upon thousands of good ones; hundreds upon hundreds of great ones. They can’t all be The Godfather or Casablanca. Many of them — even some really worthwhile films — are going to wind up falling through the cracks.
So don’t take the inclusion of any film below as a negative. These 20 titles were once big, popular hits, but they haven’t become canonical classics. That just means the time is right to rediscover them. In fact, they’re all available at home, either on DVD and Blu-ray or on streaming. You might want to try one the next time you’re looking for something to watch. Then you can render your own verdict.
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