Includes bibliographic references and index.

Sunrise (1927) -- Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) -- Freaks (1932) -- Gold diggers of 1933 (1933) -- Twentieth century (1934) -- Top hat (1935) -- Mutiny of the bounty (1935) -- Dodsworth (1936) -- The awful truth (1937) -- The adventures of Robin Hood (1938) -- Stagecoach (1939) -- The women (1939) -- The great dictator (1940) -- The Philadelphia story (1940) -- The Matlese falcon (1941) -- Ball of fire (1941) -- Sullivan's travels (1942) -- Yankee doodle dandy (1942) -- Cat people (1942) -- Laura (1944) -- Mildred Pierce (1945) -- Brief encounter (1945) -- Notorious (1946) -- The ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) -- The treasure of the Sierra Madre ( 1948) -- The asphalt jungle (1950) -- Rashomon (1950) -- A place in the sun (1951) -- An American in Paris (1951) -- The quiet man (1952) -- High noon (1952) -- Kiss me deadly (1955) -- The night of the hunter (1955) -- Pather Panchali (1955) -- Rebel without a cause (1955) -- A face in the crowd (1957) -- Sweet smell of success (1957) -- The bridge on the River Kwai (1957) -- Vertigo (1958) -- Pillow talk (1959) -- The apartment (1960) -- Psycho (1960) -- Ride the high country (1962) -- The Battle of Algiers (11966) -- The producers (1967) -- 2001: a space odyssey (1968) -- The sting (1973) -- One flew over the cuckoo's nes (1975) -- Harlan County U.S.A. (1976) -- Network (1977) -- Hannah and her sisters (1986) -- Field of dreams (1989).

A guide to fifty-two examples of must-see cinema, The Essentials Vol. 2 -- based on the Turner Classic Movies series -- is packed with behind-the-scenes stories, illuminating commentary, moments to watch for, and hundreds of photos spotlighting films that define what it means to be a classic.