100 Greatest Jewish Films

From as early as 1918, when Lazar Meir moved to California and changed his name to Louis B. Mayer, the Jewish contribution to cinema has been broad and deep, with Jewish directors, writers, producers, and actors helping to invent the nascent art form and create some of its most memorable milestones. Our definitive if subjective list of the 100 Greatest Jewish Films of all time celebrates many of these titans, but it is also far from predictable.

So, what is a Jewish film?

There’s no scientific algorithm by which to arrive at this answer, and we did not pretend to invent one. Instead, we—the Tablet Magazine staff, along with our pal and contributing editor Jody Rosen—brought to the table our individual notions of Jewishness (and film-ishness). Some choices were based on the identity of their creators, others for their themes, quite a few for their sheer influence on pop culture, and others because of some elusive sensibility that is impossible to define and yet feels instantly familiar. Our answers cut across genre lines: Some stories of robots or ghosts or spies had as much of a Jewish heart as movies focused on more solemn, obvious subject matters. Also, while many of our selections come from Hollywood, others don’t. From neo-realist Italy to postmodern Israel, we did our best to look at filmmaking across nations and across time.

100. Schindler’s List

99. Wet Hot American Summer

98. I’m Not There

97. Hem Hayu Asara (They Were Ten)

96. The Wedding Singer

95. White Christmas

94. Sleeper

93. Top Hat

92. Kramer vs. Kramer

91. Dirty Dancing

90. Hungry Hearts

89. My Favorite Year

88. Cocoon

87. Once Upon a Time in America

86. The Bellboy

85. Gentleman’s Agreement

84. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis

83. Anvil! The Story of Anvil

82. Inglorious Basterds

81. X-Men

80. The Squid and the Whale

79. The Pianist

78. The Wizard of Oz

77. The Way We Were

76. Private Parts

75. Every Jeff Goldblum Movie Ever

74. The Court Jester

73. The Big Chill

72. Operation Thunderbolt

71. An American Tail

70. The Great Dictator

69. The Long Goodbye

68. Tootsie

67. Barton Fink

66. Sophie’s Choice

65. Au Revoir Les Enfents

64. My Dinner With Andre

63. Animal House

62. Flirting With Disaster

61. Bananas

60. Cabaret

59. Raiders of the Lost Ark

58. Crossing Delancy

57. Double Indemnity

56. Waltz With Bashir

55. This is Spinal Tap

54. Green Fields (Grine Felder)

53. Heathers

52. Rififi

51. Network

50. Exodus

49. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

48. Givat Halfon Eina Ona (Halfon Hill Doesn’t Answer)

47. The Sound of Music

46. Munich

45. The Natural

44. Ben Hur

43. Superbad

42. The Battle of Algiers

41. Funny Girl

40. Manhattan

39. Wall Street

38. Fiddler on the Roof

37. The Lady Vanishes

36. Ninotchka

35. Young Frankenstein

34. Metropolis

33. When Harry Met Sally

32. The Sorrow and the Pity

31. The Social Network

30. 12 Angry Men

29. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

28. A.I. Artificial Intelligence

27. Army of Shadows

26. Battleship Potemkin

25. Ordinary People

24. Clueless

23. Zelig

22. Night and Fog

21. Yentl

20. A Serious Man

19. Citizen Kane

18. Abie’s Irish Rose

17. Shoah

16. Meet the Parents

15. The Big Lebowski

14. The Producers

13. Ghostbusters

12. Casablanca

11. Miracle on 34th Street

10. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

9. The Apartment

8. The Graduate

7. Blazing Saddles

6. To Be or Not to Be

5. The Jazz Singer

4. Annie Hall

3. A Night at the Opera

2. Sunset Boulevard

1. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial