TCMFF Top 5, So FarTCMFF Top 5, So Far

 Currently, the TCM Classic Film Festival (TCMFF), April 30–May 3, 2026, has announced the following 14 films:

• Ace in the Hole (1951)

• Alice in Wonderland (1951)

• Arabesque (1966)

• Blonde Venus (1932)

• Camille (1936)

• Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939)

• The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

• Days of Heaven (1978)

• A Face in the Crowd (1957)

• Gaslight (1944)

• The Magnificent Seven (1960)

• Modern Times (1936)

• Out of the Past (1947)

• A Place in the Sun (1951)

I thought I would post a list of my top five picks at this point. Bear in mind that this is purely an academic exercise. Each year, TCMFF shows roughly 80 films. If I counted right, TCMFF showed exactly 80 films in 2025. By the time the full schedule drops about three weeks out, and I make the agonizing choices, I’d be surprised if more than one or two of these remain standing.

Another part of the reason I do this is that almost always when I post a list like this TCM announces more films with a few days partially negating what I just posted. If that happens, you’re welcome.

• 5. A Place in the Sun – This is easily my least favorite on the list including the two honorable mentions below. The only reason it makes the cut is that I plan to do some swag based on the film, and I would feel like a hypocrit if I didn’t watch it. Hint, I actually did swag for this film about six or seven years ago, and I vowed that if they showed it again, I would redo them. IYKYK.

• 4. The Day the Earth Stood Still – I’m a big science fiction fan, and this is one of the greats. I have to represent. Klaatu barada nikto.

• 3. The Magnificent Seven – I’ve never done the math on my top Westerns of all time, but I’m pretty sure The Magnificent Seven would make the top 5. Great story, based on The Seven Samurai, and an absolutely amazing cast including Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, and Eli Wallach, this is a must see, at least at this point.

2. A Face in the Crowd – This is one of those films that is probably more relavent today than when it was released. In his film debut, Andy Griffith is amazing as the likeible scoundrel turned megalomaniac when he’s thrust into the national limelight. A Face in the Crowd also has great performances by Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Anthony Franciosa and Lee Remick (also her film debut).

• 1. Gaslight – A film so good it became a verb, I think we have Dennis Miller to thank for that. At least, he was the first person I ever heard saying it. I met Dennis Miller at TCMFF one year. We were having drinks in the Roosevelt Hotel lobby when we spotted him. I probably wouldn’t have gone up to him, but I was with Ruth Mundsack, and she was all let’s go meet him. But I digress. Still, wouldn’t it be great if they got Dennis Miller to introduce it. Sorry. Charles Boyer systematically drives his wife (Ingrid Bergman) insane. Absolutely, amazing film.

Honorable Mentions

I do feel obligated to mention a couple others. It was very difficult to push these two out of the top five. This bodes well for the 2026 schedule. Well played, TCM, well played.

• Out of the Past – To be honest, it took me a while to warm up to Out of the Past. The story plays out pretty well for the first part of the movie, but I’ve seen it 15 times, and I still couldn’t tell you what happens in the last 15 minutes. The thing is, it really doesn’t matter. All that matters is that Robert Mitchum is the coolest person to ever walk the earth, and this is Mitchum at the height of his coolness. Every word out of his mouth, every glance, every gesture is pure gold.

• Ace in the Hole – One of my favorite directors is Billy Wilder. He could do it all, great noir films, great comedies, even genres where he only made one or two films, it’s likely that one of these is the best ever made in that genre. I’m looking at you, Stalag 17 and Witness for the Prosecution. Ace in the Hole is a film noir, where no one uses a gun. In fact, I don’t think anyone even commits a crime, but it is one of the darkest films I’ve ever seen. Great movie, a bit of a hard watch, which is probably why it fell out of the top five.