The Best Summer Movies of All Times
Themed around the summer; vacation, beaches, nature, swimming, roadtrips and heat.
In chronological order.
Comedy, drama, anime, thrillers, romance, horror and camp. Flicks for adults, teenagers as well as kids.
In chronological order.
Comedy, drama, anime, thrillers, romance, horror and camp. Flicks for adults, teenagers as well as kids.
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- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnny OndraCarl BrissonMalcolm KeenA fisherman and a rising young lawyer, who grew up as brothers, fall in love with the same girl.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsSylvia BatailleJane MarkenGeorges D'ArnouxThe family of a Parisian shop-owner spends a day in the country. The daughter falls in love with a man at the inn, where they spend the day.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsJohn LodgeMargaret LockwoodHugh WilliamsA 1930s British summer Bank Holiday starts at midday on Saturday with a rush for the trains to the sea-side. Doreen Richards under the name Miss Fulham is off with friend Milly to a beauty contest. Geoffrey and nurse Catherine Lawrence have decided to spend an illicit week-end in the Grand Hotel, although Catherine's mind keeps turning back to the hospital case she was working on. Arthur, May and the children are set on a more straight-forward excursion of sea, sand, and pub. Meanwhile, the manager and performers of the "Follies" on the pier pray for rain.
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantJean ArthurRita HayworthAt a remote South American trading port, the manager of an air-freight company is forced to risk his pilots' lives in order to win an important contract as a traveling American showgirl stops in town.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsClaudette ColbertJoel McCreaMary AstorA New York inventor needs cash to develop his big idea, so his adoring wife decides to raise it by divorcing him and marrying an eccentric Florida millionaire with a capricious high-society sister.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsEric PortmanSheila SimDennis PriceThree modern-day pilgrims investigate a bizarre crime in a small town while on their way to Canterbury.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraKeiko AwajiDuring a sweltering summer, a rookie homicide detective tries to track down his stolen Colt pistol.
- DirectorHenry CorneliusStarsStanley HollowayBetty WarrenBarbara MurrayResidents of a part of London declare independence after they discover an old treaty, which leads to the need for a "Passport to Pimlico".
- DirectorRobert Z. LeonardStarsJudy GarlandVan JohnsonS.Z. SakallIn turn-of-the century America, Andrew and Veronica are co-workers in a music shop who dislike one another during business hours but unwittingly carry on an anonymous romance through the mail.
- DirectorLuciano EmmerStarsAnna BaldiniVera CarmiEmilio CigoliA variety of different people, both adults, children, families, young lovers and youth gangs, spend a Sunday at the beach of Ostia outside Rome.
- DirectorCharles WaltersStarsJudy GarlandGene KellyEddie BrackenA small-town farmer, down on her luck, finds her homestead invaded by a theatrical troupe invited to stay by her ne'er-do-well sister.
- DirectorAlbert LewinStarsJames MasonAva GardnerNigel PatrickA seductive woman falls in love with a mysterious ship's captain.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMaj-Britt NilssonBirger MalmstenAlf KjellinA lonely woman recalls her first love thirteen years prior during a brief summer vacation.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsVivien LeighMarlon BrandoKim HunterDisturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her.
- DirectorJacques TatiStarsJacques TatiNathalie PascaudMicheline RollaMonsieur Hulot comes to a beachside hotel for a vacation and accidentally, but good-naturedly, causes havoc.
- DirectorRay AshleyMorris EngelRuth OrkinStarsRichard BrewsterWinifred CushingJay WilliamsA young boy fears that he shot his older brother, who is only faking. He then runs away to Coney Island, a crowded beach area, and gets money by returning soda bottles for their deposits.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsGregory PeckAudrey HepburnEddie AlbertA bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsHarriet AnderssonLars EkborgDagmar EbbesenA pair of teenagers meet one summer day, start a reckless affair and abandon their families to be with one another.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartGrace KellyWendell CoreyA wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his Greenwich Village courtyard apartment window and, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend, becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsMarilyn MonroeTom EwellEvelyn KeyesWhen his family goes away for the summer, a hitherto faithful husband with an overactive imagination is tempted by a beautiful neighbor.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantGrace KellyJessie Royce LandisA retired jewel thief sets out to prove his innocence after being suspected of returning to his former occupation.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsKatharine HepburnRossano BrazziIsa MirandaAn American spinster's dream of romance finally becomes a bittersweet reality when she meets a handsome--but married--Italian man while vacationing in Venice.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsGordon MacRaeShirley JonesCameron MitchellFifteen years after his death, a carousel barker is granted permission to return to Earth for one day to make amends to his widow and their daughter.
- DirectorRoger VadimStarsBrigitte BardotCurd JürgensJean-Louis TrintignantIn sunny St. Tropez, a young woman loves one brother but marries the other.
- DirectorKô NakahiraStarsYûjirô IshiharaMasahiko TsugawaMie KitaharaSpending their summer on an exotic beach, two brothers fall for the same beautiful girl, whose charm and looks may hide more than they they bargained for.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsHenry FondaLee J. CobbMartin BalsamThe jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.
- DirectorGerald LandauStarsRel GrainerRichard PalmerGillian HarrisonAn Enid Blyton adventure about four young cousins on an island off the Dorset coast in England where a shipwreck attracts the attention of greedy men who might put our heroes in danger.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsPaul NewmanJoanne WoodwardAnthony FranciosaAccused barn burner and conman Ben Quick arrives in a small Mississippi town and quickly ingratiates himself with its richest family, the Varners.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsJean SebergDavid NivenDeborah KerrSpoiled Cecile, 17, spends her summer at the French Riviera with her rich, widower, playboy dad and Elsa. Anne, her late mom's friend, visits and brings changes to all.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsAlec GuinnessMaureen O'HaraBurl IvesJim Wormold, who is a vacuum cleaner salesman, participates as an Agent in the British Secret Service. But he soon realizes that his plans by lying are going to get him into trouble.
- DirectorPaul WendkosStarsSandra DeeJames DarrenCliff RobertsonA young girl discovers surfing and love (in that order) during one transitive summer.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsPaul MeurisseCharles BlavetteAndré BrunotEtienne Alexis, a candidate for president of the new Europe, is a scientist promoting artificial insemination for social betterment and therapy to eliminate passion. His wealthy household (his family owns chemical corporations that will profit from his ideas) is stiff, intellectual, and sterile. To celebrate his engagement to a German cousin, he hosts an aseptic picnic, where mother nature asserts herself. A shepherd's flute conjures a windstorm that throws Alexis together with the luscious Nénette, a farm lass who wants to have a baby but is unimpressed with men.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsMelina MercouriJules DassinGiorgos FoundasAn American scholar in Greece sets about improving the prostitute with whom he is infatuated.
- DirectorKen AnnakinStarsJohn MillsDorothy McGuireJames MacArthurA Swiss family must survive being shipwrecked on a deserted island.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsCatherine DemongeotPhilippe NoiretHubert DeschampsWith her mother away for the weekend, a brash and precocious ten-year-old country girl sets out to explore Paris during a Métro strike under her uncle's not-so-watchful eye. But can a little girl cause so much chaos in the city centre?
- DirectorRené ClémentStarsAlain DelonMaurice RonetMarie LaforêtTom Ripley is a talented mimic, moocher, forger and all-around criminal improviser; but there's more to Tom Ripley than even he can guess.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsGanjirô NakamuraSetsuko HaraYôko TsukasaThe family of an older man who runs a small sake brewery become concerned with his finances and his health after they discover him visiting an old mistress from his youth.
- DirectorDavid SwiftStarsHayley MillsMaureen O'HaraBrian KeithTeenage twin sisters swap places and scheme to reunite their divorced parents.
- DirectorDino RisiStarsVittorio GassmanCatherine SpaakJean-Louis TrintignantAn impulsive braggart takes a shy law student with him for a two-day road trip from Rome to Tuscany.
- DirectorMorton DaCostaStarsRobert PrestonShirley JonesBuddy HackettTraveling con artist Harold Hill targets the naïve residents of a small town in 1910s Iowa by posing as a boys' band leader to raise money before he can skip town.
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsJeanne MoreauOskar WernerHenri SerreDecades of a love triangle concerning two friends and an impulsive woman.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJames MasonShelley WintersSue LyonA middle-aged college professor becomes infatuated with a 14-year-old girl.
- DirectorHenry KosterStarsJames StewartMaureen O'HaraFabianMr. Hobbs wants to spend a quiet holiday at the beach, but his wife has invited all their family to stay with them.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsPeter O'TooleAlec GuinnessAnthony QuinnThe story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsSpencer TracyMilton BerleEthel MermanA group of motorists witnesses a car crash in the California desert, and after the driver's dying words indicate the location of a hidden stash of loot, they turn against each in a race across the state to get to it.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsBrigitte BardotJack PalanceMichel PiccoliA French writer's marriage deteriorates while working on Fritz Lang's version of "The Odyssey", as his wife accuses him of using her to court favor with the film's brash American producer.
- DirectorWilliam AsherStarsRobert CummingsDorothy MaloneFrankie AvalonA bearded anthropologist studies the habits of swingin' American teens while they enjoy the summer surfing, loving, and partying at the beach.
- DirectorJames NeilsonStarsHayley MillsDorothy McGuireBurl IvesA Bostonian widow moves with her kids to the country.
- DirectorJacques-Yves CousteauStarsPierre BidaultLouis BidegantChristian BonniciFascinating underwater documentary filmed with hand-held cameras by frogmen and mostly filmed in deep-water seas from within a special designed batiscaff, by the Cousteau family of sea explorers.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsRichard BurtonAva GardnerDeborah KerrAn ostracized Episcopal clergyman leads a busload of middle-aged Baptist women on a tour of the Mexican coast and comes to terms with the failure haunting his life.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsSoumitra ChatterjeeMadhavi MukherjeeShailen MukherjeeThe lonely wife of a newspaper editor falls in love with her visiting cousin-in-law, who shares her love for literature.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsJulie AndrewsChristopher PlummerEleanor ParkerA young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.
- DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsTony CurtisNatalie WoodJack LemmonIn the early 20th century, two rivals, the heroic Leslie and the despicable Professor Fate, engage in an epic automobile race from New York to Paris.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsJean-Paul BelmondoAnna KarinaGraziella GalvaniPierrot escapes his boring society and travels from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl chased by hit-men from Algeria. They lead an unorthodox life, always on the run.
- DirectorBruce BrownStarsRobert AugustMichael HynsonLord James BlearsThe crown jewel to ten years of Bruce Brown surfing documentaries. Brown follows two young surfers around the world in search of the perfect wave, and ends up finding quite a few in addition to some colorful local characters.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsDonald PleasenceFrançoise DorléacLionel StanderIn search of help, two wounded gangsters on the run find refuge in the secluded castle of a feeble man and his wife; however, under the point of a gun, nothing is what it seems.
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsClint EastwoodEli WallachLee Van CleefA bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.
- DirectorWolfgang ReithermanStarsPhil HarrisSebastian CabotLouis PrimaBagheera the Panther and Baloo the Bear have a difficult time trying to convince a boy to leave the jungle for human civilization.
- DirectorStuart RosenbergStarsPaul NewmanGeorge KennedyStrother MartinA laid-back Southern man is sentenced to two years in a rural prison, but refuses to conform.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsDustin HoffmanAnne BancroftKatharine RossA disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsSidney PoitierRod SteigerWarren OatesA black Philadelphia police detective is mistakenly suspected of a local murder while passing through a racially hostile Mississippi town, and after being cleared is reluctantly asked by the police chief to investigate the case.
- DirectorStanley DonenStarsAudrey HepburnAlbert FinneyEleanor BronA couple in the south of France non-sequentially spin down the highways of infidelity in their troubled ten-year marriage.
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsRentarô MikuniChôichirô KawarasakiHideko OkiyamaAn engineer from Tokyo arrives on a drought-ridden tropical island to drill a well to power a nearby sugar mill. He meets the inbred Futori family, hated by the locals for breaking religious customs.
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsHenry FondaCharles BronsonClaudia CardinaleA mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.
- DirectorGene SaksStarsJack LemmonWalter MatthauJohn FiedlerA New Yorker newly separated from his wife moves in with his best friend, a divorced sportswriter, but their ideas of housekeeping and lifestyles are as different as night and day.
- DirectorJacques DerayStarsAlain DelonRomy SchneiderMaurice RonetLovers Marianne and Jean-Paul spend their vacation in a villa on the French Riviera near St-Tropez. Marianne invites her former lover, Harry, and his teenage daughter, Penelope, to stay. Tension rises between them, especially when Jean-Paul seduces Penelope.
- DirectorDennis HopperStarsPeter FondaDennis HopperJack NicholsonTwo bikers head from L.A. to New Orleans through the open country and desert lands, and along the way they meet a man who bridges a counter-culture gap of which they had been unaware.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsSharmila TagoreKaberi BoseSimi GarewalA group of Calcutta city slickers, including the well-off Asim (Soumitra Chatterjee), the meek Sanjoy (Subhendu Chatterjee) and the brutish Hari (Samit Bhanja), head out for a weekend in the wilderness.
- DirectorAlejandro JodorowskyStarsAlejandro JodorowskyBrontis JodorowskyJosé LegarretaA mysterious black-clad gunfighter wanders a mystical Western landscape encountering multiple bizarre characters.
- DirectorHal AshbyStarsBeau BridgesLee GrantDiana SandsAt the age of 29, Elgar Enders (Beau Bridges) "runs away" from home. This running away consists of buying a building in a black ghetto in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. Initially, his intention is to evict the black tenants and convert it into a posh flat. But Elgar is not one to be bound by yesterday's urges, and soon he has other thoughts on his mind. He's grown fond of the black tenants and particularly of Fanny (Diana Sands), the wife of a black radical; he's maybe fallen in love with Lanie (Marki Bey), a mixed race girl; he's lost interest in redecorating his home. Joyce (Lee Grant), his mother has not relinquished this interest and in one of the film's most hilarious sequences gives her MasterCharge card to Marge (Pearl Bailey), a black tenant and appoints her decorator.
- DirectorBarney Platts-MillsStarsSusan PenhaligonBruce RobinsonMichael FeastLove story between a young depressive girl and a talented young writer and the first steps into their adult life.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsJennifer O'NeillGary GrimesJerry HouserDuring his summer vacation on Nantucket Island in 1942, a youth eagerly awaiting his first sexual encounter finds himself developing an innocent love for a young woman awaiting news on her soldier husband's fate in WWII.
- DirectorMike HodgesStarsMichael CaineMickey RooneyLionel StanderA seedy writer of sleazy pulp novels is recruited by a quirky, reclusive ex-actor to help him write his biography at his house in Malta.
- DirectorJerry SchatzbergStarsGene HackmanAl PacinoDorothy TristanAn ex-con drifter with a penchant for brawling is amused by a homeless ex-sailor, so they partner up as they head east together.
- DirectorRobin HardyStarsEdward WoodwardChristopher LeeDiane CilentoA puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.
- DirectorGeorge LucasStarsRichard DreyfussRon HowardPaul Le MatA group of teenagers in California's central valley spend one final night after their 1962 high school graduation cruising the strip with their buddies before they pursue their varying goals.
- DirectorNicolas RoegStarsJulie ChristieDonald SutherlandHilary MasonA married couple grieving the recent death of their young daughter are in Venice when they encounter two elderly sisters, one of whom is psychic and brings a warning from beyond.
- DirectorJacques RivetteStarsJuliet BertoDominique LabourierBulle OgierA mysteriously linked pair of young women find their daily lives preempted by a strange boudoir melodrama that plays itself out in a hallucinatory parallel reality.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRachel RobertsAnne-Louise LambertVivean GrayDuring a rural summer picnic, a few students and a teacher from an Australian girls' school vanish without a trace. Their absence frustrates and haunts the people left behind.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsAl PacinoJohn CazalePenelope AllenThree amateur bank robbers plan to hold up a bank. A nice simple robbery: Walk in, take the money, and run. Unfortunately, the supposedly uncomplicated heist suddenly becomes a bizarre nightmare as everything that could go wrong does.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsRoy ScheiderRobert ShawRichard DreyfussWhen a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.
- DirectorDaniel PetrieStarsSam ElliottAnne ArcherStephen YoungRick, still in his 30's, works full-time as a lifeguard on the beaches of Los Angeles. When he meets his divorced high school girlfriend and her five-year-old son after fifteen years, he considers switching to a more "serious" job.
- DirectorWim WendersStarsRüdiger VoglerHanns ZischlerLisa KreuzerA traveling projection-equipment mechanic works in Western Germany along the East-German border, visiting worn-out theatres. He meets with a depressed young man whose marriage has just broken up, and the two decide to travel together.
- DirectorNobuhiko ÔbayashiStarsKimiko IkegamiMiki JinboKumiko ÔbaA schoolgirl and six of her classmates travel to her aunt's country home, which turns out to be haunted.
- DirectorRandal KleiserStarsJohn TravoltaOlivia Newton-JohnStockard ChanningGood girl Sandy Olsson and greaser Danny Zuko fell in love over the summer. When they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance?
- DirectorJoe DanteStarsBradford DillmanHeather Menzies-UrichKevin McCarthyWhen flesh-eating piranhas are accidentally released into a summer resort's rivers, the guests become their next meal.
- DirectorPatrice LeconteStarsJosiane BalaskoLuis RegoMarie-Anne ChazelHolidaymakers arriving in a Club Med camp on the Ivory Coast are determined to forget their everyday problems and emotional disappointments. Games, competitions, outings, bathing and sunburn accompany a continual succession of casual affairs.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsRichard GereBrooke AdamsSam ShepardA hot-tempered farm laborer convinces the woman he loves to marry their rich but dying boss so that they can have a claim to his fortune.
- DirectorPeter YatesStarsDennis ChristopherDennis QuaidDaniel SternA working-class Indiana teen obsessed with the Italian cycling team vies for the affections of a college girl while searching for life goals with his friends.
- DirectorIvan ReitmanStarsBill MurrayHarvey AtkinKate LynchWacky hijinks of counselors and campers at a less-than-average summer camp.
- DirectorJonathan KaplanStarsMatt DillonMichael Eric KramerPamela LudwigA group of bored teenagers rebel against authority in the community of New Granada after the death of one of their own.
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsJohn BelushiDan AykroydCab CallowayJake Blues rejoins with his brother Elwood after being released from prison, but the duo has just days to reunite their old R&B band and save the Catholic home where the two were raised, outrunning the police as they tear through Chicago.
- DirectorRon MaxwellStarsTatum O'NealKristy McNicholArmand AssanteTwo fifteen year-old girls from different sides of the tracks compete to see who will be the first to lose their virginity while at a summer camp.
- DirectorHarold RamisStarsChevy ChaseRodney DangerfieldBill MurrayAn exclusive golf course has to deal with a flatulent new member and a destructive dancing gopher.
- DirectorSean S. CunninghamStarsBetsy PalmerAdrienne KingJeannine TaylorA group of teenage camp counselors attempt to re-open an abandoned summer camp with a tragic past, but they are stalked by a mysterious, relentless killer.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordKaren AllenPaul FreemanIn 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenMia FarrowJosé FerrerA wacky inventor and his wife invite two other couples for a weekend party at a romantic summer house in the 1900s countryside.
- DirectorAmy HeckerlingStarsSean PennJennifer Jason LeighJudge ReinholdA group of Southern California high school students are enjoying their most important subjects: sex, drugs and rock n' roll.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsPeter UstinovJames MasonMaggie SmithTrying to find how a millionaire wound up with a phony diamond brings Hercule Poirot to an exclusive island resort frequented by the rich and famous. When a murder is committed, everyone has an alibi.