340 The Devil and Miss Jones (1941 / Sam Wood)

Witty comedy about a department store boss who goes undercover as an employee when he hears that the staff are unionizing. Charles Coburn is outstanding as the cold hearted boss.

339 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969 / Ronald Neame)

Maggie Smith’s most famous and enduring role. Her stunning performance as the romantic, deluded school teacher in the 1930s almost overshadows the rest of the cast, though Robert Stephens and Pamela Franklin in particular are outstanding as well.

338 Mean Streets (1973 / Martin Scrosese)

Not Scorsese’s first movie but the one that put him on the map. His blistering tale of small time crooks in New York also announced Robert De Niro as the major acting talent for the next decade. Harvey Keitel is terrific as well.

337 Dial M for Murder (1954 / Alfred Hitchcock)

A minor Hitchcock in many ways but great fun, with the added novelty of being shot (unnecessarily) in 3D. Ray Milland plays an ex tennis player plotting to kill his wife (Grace Kelly). The plot twists and turns as you would expect and it features a great supporting performance by John Williams as the investigating policeman.

336 Ben Hur (1959 / William Wyler)

Familiar from repeated TV showings over the Christmas and Easter holidays, at nearly four hours long, this is truly one of the all time epics of cinema. MGM risked bankruptcy spending $15m dollars on delivering the film, it grossed five times that amount and won 11 Oscars. Many notable set pieces feature, the most famous being the chariot race which alone involved the use of 15000 extras. If you get the chance to see it on a big screen, you should take it.

335 The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939 / Sidney Lanfield)

Sherlock Holmes most famous case has been adapted for films or TV countless times, but this early effort remains my favourite big screen effort. Basil Rathbone, otherwise better known for playing villains, stars as Holmes for the first time. He would make 13 further appearances as the detective, all inferior to this, but still all good fun. Nigel Bruce’s bumbling turn as Doctor Watson is very enjoyable, though miles away from the character in Conan Doyle’s books. Suspenseful and genuinely creepy.

334 As You Like It (1992 / Christine Edzard)

Little seen – I was beginning to think that I had imagined seeing this film in the cinema until it got its DVD release – adaptation of the Shakespeare in a modern day setting. Instead of the usual opulent French court and a verdant forest, this is set in a London office block and on the banks of a grimy Thames. That works really well and the text is brought to life by a uniformly excellent cast: James Fox and Cyril Cusack (in his last film role) are both very good, but the stand out performance is by Emma Croft as Rosalind who is as good as any actress I’ve seen in a film adaptation of a Shakespeare play.

333 Salaam Bombay (1988 / Mira Nair)

Most people think of lavish Bollywood musicals when Indian films are mentioned. This harrowing story of street children struggling to survive on the streets of Mumbai is the total opposite of those frothy movies. The dirty, crowded streets are brilliantly captured by Nair and the plight of the kids shown will live long in your memory.

332 I’m Alright Jack (1960 / John Boulting)

Classic satire on management / union relations from the golden age of British comedy with Ian Carmichael, Peter Sellers and Terry-Thomas all in fine form.

331 The Fog of War (2004 / Errol Morris)

Morris is a groundbreaking documentary film maker but this film, late on in his career, is my favourite of his. The ex US Secretary of Defence, Robert McNamara, talks about his time working for Kennedy and Johnson, and particularly the 11 lessons he learnt from the Vietnam war. Riveting for anyone interested in politics and / or history.

330 Berlin Express (1948 / Jacques Tourneur)

Tourneur is better known as a horror film director, but this is a rattlingly good thriller. Passengers from the titular train get involved in a Nazi assassination plot just after the end of the war. Robert Ryan stars and is as solid as ever, with good support (despite a dodgy accent) from Merle Oberon.

329 Whiskey Galore (1949 / Alexander MacKendrick)

Residents of a Scottish island attempt to steal 50,000 cases of whiskey from a stranded boat. One of the most well known of the Ealing comedies, based on a true story and filmed entirely on location, this struck a chord with post war time audiences who were still putting up with rationing.

328 Twentieth Century (1934 / Howard Hawks)

Howard Hawks mastered a number of different genres during his career, including fast paced dialogue heavy comedies like Twentieth Century. John Barrymore plays a Broadway director trying to resurrect his failing career, but the star of the show is the great Carole Lombard as the actress that Barrymore is pinning his hopes on.

327 Kes (1969 / Ken Loach)

Remembered fondly for Brian Glover’s hilarious turn as the games teacher, Kes was Ken Loach’s debut feature film. The story of a young boy finding a purpose in life when he starts to care for a kestrel, the warmth and humanity evident is something that has cropped up again and again in Loach’s career.

326 Bonnie and Clyde (1967 / Arthur Penn)

This highly fictionalised account of a pair of real life bank robbers caused a stir on its release because of the levels of violence portrayed. It now seems tame by today’s standards but it still packs a punch dramatically and features great performances by Faye Dunaway and Gene Hackman.

325 Breach (2007 / Billy Ray)

Unjustly neglected at the times of its release, one look at the cast list gives a clue to the quality of the film. Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillipe, Laura Linney, Dennis Haysbert, Gary Cole and Bruce Davison all give solid performances, in this true life tale of an internal spying investigation within the FBI. A fascinating story, well told.

324 The Wolf Man (1941 / George Waggner)

Classic horror films have been made throughout cinema history but there hasn’t been a sustained period of excellence in that genre since Universal studios monster movie cycle lasting from 1931 to the mid 40s. Some of those will appear higher in this list, but anything involving Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, The Mummy or the Wolf Man is worth a watch. Without the special effects available today and not being able to show the gore that is routine in horror films now, these movies relied on atmosphere and the suggestion of terror. In one of the best of the bunch, The Wolf Man, the title character is played by Lon Chaney Jr, who had to endure a nine hour process each day applying and removing make up.

323 Blue Velvet (1986 / David Lynch)

Written and directed by Lynch, this is a disturbing story of a young man getting involved way over his head in a dark and violent underworld that exists beneath the surface of his home town. Notable for an over the top performance by Dennis Hopper as the evil Frank Booth, the film features typical Lynch themes and tropes.

322 Ninotchka (1939 / Ernst Lubitsch)

Famous for creating a tag line (“Garbo Laughs”) before even a script was written, Greta Garbo’s first foray into comedy was a huge success in the safe hands of Lubitsch who was adept at sophisticated comedies such as this.

321 Little Dorrit (1988 / Christine Edzard)

Christine Edzard directed just 6 full length films in a 23 year career, but 3 of them have made my top 500. This version of the Charles Dickens’ story is certainly the longest film in this list, clocking in at just under 6 hours and shown in 2 parts at the cinema. It is impeccably told, capturing the period detail perfectly and featuring outstanding performances by Derek Jacobi and Alec Guinness.