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30 Ben Hur 1959 - Estimated Admissions 13.2m
Charlton Heston earnestly inhabits the title role of this multiple Oscar winner. An overblown 1950s historical epic, replete with three and a half hour running time, leaden dialogue and astonishing set-pieces. A Jewish prince at the time of Christ, Ben-Hur comes into conflict with childhood friend Messala (Boyd), a Roman who is in command of the Roman legions that are holding Judah's people in subjugation. Cue a patchy odyssey that sees our hero surviving sea battles as a galley slave, being adopted by a Roman noble and returning to challenge Messala in the mother of all chariot races. Oh, and along the way he also manages to meet Jesus.
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29 The Blue Lamp 1950 - Estimated Admissions 13.3m
When PC George Dixon (Jack Warner) is killed in a raid on a cinema, the killer (a great turn from young Dirk Bogarde) is presented as part of a new breed of post-war criminals, without a code or honour, and even the respectable criminals want to help the police track him down. While the police are presented in an idealized way, London looks a fantastic playground, never more so than in the climactic showdown at White City. Dixon, of course, would be revived and live on for 20 years on TV.
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28 Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 1999 - Estimated Admissions 13.59m
George Lucas' prequel to his classic all-conquering trilogy was never going to live up to the expectations of the millions who worship the originals, but this tale of the young boy who would grow up to be Darth Vader proved to be worse than many feared. Lost on a blue screen sea, Lucas managed to make the Jedi look dull and took the magic out of the force. However, in Darth Maul, The Phantom Menace does have a villain to rival Vader, but this double lightsaber wielding whirling dervish is given too little time onscreen. Lucas may have been afraid that audiences might prefer the dark side.
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27 Goldfinger 1964 - Estimated Admissions 13.9m
James takes on nasty Auric Goldfinger, who has a dastardly plan to irradiate the US gold reserves with the help of Pussy Galore, in the best of the early Bond movies. There are some outstandingly nasty moments in the film: Bond gets a nasty laser beam trained on his trouser area, one of his girls is suffocated by being painted all over in gold paint. Refreshingly adult and deliciously violent compared to the comic book nastiness of most of its successors, Goldfinger is a thrill-a-minute, and stuffed with wit. In Oddjob, a mute servant who kills at the toss of a bowler hat, it also features one of Bond franchise's greatest henchmen.
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26 The Third Man 1949 - Estimated Admissions 14m
Orson Welles's Harry Lime steals the show (and anything else he can get his hands on) in this stunning noir set amid the ruins of post-War Vienna, and featuring perhaps the most memorable cameos in cinema. Joseph Cotton arrives in post-war Vienna to meet up with an old friend, only to find that Harry Lime is dead. Upon investigating what happened, Cotton discovers that Lime had been selling black-market penicillin and that an unknown third man helped to carry his coffin. For many, Orson Welles's magnetic cameo is his finest hour.
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:: Orson Welles masterclass
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