Every year, thousands of films are released and most are soon forgotten. A few keep being watched, discussed and copied for decades. What do these classics have in common, and was there really a golden age that modern cinema cannot match?
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The golden age of Hollywood
Film historians often use “golden age” for the period from the arrival of sound in the late 1920s to the end of the 1950s. Five big studios controlled production, distribution and many theaters, and they kept stars, writers and directors under long contracts. This studio system produced a huge number of films, including Casablanca, Gone with the Wind and Citizen Kane. It weakened after the 1948 Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Paramount Pictures, which forced studios to sell their theater chains, and with the rise of television.
Was it really better?
The classics we remember are a small, filtered selection; much of what the studios released was routine. Later decades produced their own landmarks: the “New Hollywood” of the 1970s, independent cinema in the 1990s, and the global rise of filmmakers from South Korea, Mexico, Iran and elsewhere. Every era has its classics; time simply hasn’t sorted recent ones yet.
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What classics share
Influence: they change how later films are made, from editing techniques to genre conventions.
Craft: strong writing, direction, performances and visual style.
Emotional power: they still move audiences who know nothing of their context.
Cultural impact: lines, scenes and characters enter everyday culture.
Rewatchability: they reveal more on each viewing.
How critics and institutions decide
The National Film Registry of the Library of Congress adds 25 “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” American films each year; a film must be at least ten years old.
Sight and Sound magazine has polled critics every ten years since 1952. Citizen Kane topped it for five decades, Vertigo in 2012, and Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman in 2022.
The American Film Institute’s “100 Years… 100 Movies” lists ranked Citizen Kane first in 1998 and 2007.
How to judge a good movie
Ask whether the film achieves what it sets out to do, whether its parts (story, performances, images, sound) work together, and whether it stays with you. A good comedy, horror film or musical is judged by different standards from a historical drama; no genre is better than another. Many classics are adaptations; see the art of adaptation. One genre born in the golden age is explored in film noir explained.
