The 40 most popular 1960s crime movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


High and Low
1963 · 2h 22m · JP
A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.


Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
1969 · 1h 51m · US
As the west rapidly becomes civilized, a pair of outlaws in 1890s Wyoming find themselves pursued by a posse and decide to flee to South America in hopes of evading the law.


Bonnie and Clyde
1967 · 1h 51m · US
In the 1930s, bored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow, and together they start a violent crime spree throughout the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.


The Pink Panther
1963 · 1h 55m · US
The trademark of The Phantom, a renowned jewel thief, is a glove left at the scene of the crime. Inspector Clouseau, an expert on The Phantom's exploits, feels sure that he knows where The Phantom will strike next and leaves Paris for the Tyrolean Alps, where the famous Lugashi jewel 'The Pink Panther' is going to be. However, he does not know who The Phantom really is, or for that matter who anyone else really is...


West Side Story
1961 · 2h 33m · US
In Manhattan’s Upper West Side, rival gangs of Polish-Americans and newly arrived Puerto Ricans clash for control of the neighborhood, even as two young members from opposite sides fall dangerously in love.


Bullitt
1968 · 1h 53m · US
Senator Walter Chalmers is aiming to take down mob boss Pete Ross with the help of testimony from the criminal's hothead brother Johnny, who is in protective custody in San Francisco under the watch of police lieutenant Frank Bullitt. When a pair of mob hitmen enter the scene, Bullitt follows their trail through a maze of complications and double-crosses. This thriller includes one of the most famous car chases ever filmed.


Cool Hand Luke
1967 · 2h 7m · US
When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admiring the new guy's unbreakable will. Luke's bravado, even in the face of repeated stints in the prison's dreaded solitary confinement cell, "the box," make him a rebel hero to his fellow convicts and a thorn in the side of the prison officers.


Breathless
1960 · 1h 30m · FR
A small-time thief steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Wanted by the authorities, he attempts to persuade a girl to run away to Italy with him.


It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
1963 · 3h 12m · US
A group of strangers come across a man dying after a car crash who proceeds to tell them about the $350,000 he buried in California. What follows is the madcap adventures of those strangers as each attempts to claim the prize for himself.


Ocean's Eleven
1960 · 2h 7m · US
Danny Ocean and his gang attempt to rob the five biggest casinos in Las Vegas in one night.


In the Heat of the Night
1967 · 1h 49m · US
African-American Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs is arrested on suspicion of murder by Bill Gillespie, the racist police chief of tiny Sparta, Mississippi. After Tibbs proves not only his own innocence but that of another man, he joins forces with Gillespie to track down the real killer. Their investigation takes them through every social level of the town, with Tibbs making enemies as well as unlikely friends as he hunts for the truth.


The Italian Job
1969 · 1h 40m · UK
Charlie's got a 'job' to do. Having just left prison he finds one of his friends has attempted a high-risk job in Torino, Italy, right under the nose of the mafia. Charlie's friend doesn't get very far, so Charlie takes over the 'job'. Using three Mini Coopers, a couple of Jaguars, and a bus, he hopes to bring Torino to a standstill, steal a fortune in gold and escape in the chaos.


Batman
1966 · 1h 45m · US
The Dynamic Duo faces four super-villains who plan to hold the world for ransom with the help of a secret invention that instantly dehydrates people.


Le Samouraï
1967 · 1h 45m · FR
After carrying out a flawlessly planned hit, Jef Costello, a contract killer with samurai instincts, finds himself caught between a persistent police investigator and a ruthless employer, and not even his armor of fedora and trench coat can protect him.


Ironside
1967 · 1h 38m · US
Citizens of San Francisco are stunned by the news that Robert Ironside, the city's hard-nosed, tough-talking chief of detectives, has been shot and left for dead while vacationing at his friend the Police Commissioner's rural retreat. Ironside survives the murder attempt, but the bullet has damaged nerves in his spine, leaving him a paraplegic. Unable to gain reinstatement as chief of detectives, Ironside gets permission to continue investigating criminal cases as a citizen volunteer. With the assistance of two former protegees, Det. Sgt. Ed Brown and Officer Eve Whitfield, and a newly-hired aide/driver, Mark Sanger, Ironside sets out to solve his first case as a civilian by finding the people responsible for the attempt on his life.


Le Trou
1960 · 2h 12m · FR
Four prison inmates have been hatching a plan to literally dig out of jail when another prisoner, Claude Gaspard, is moved into their cell. They take a risk and share their plan with the newcomer. Over the course of three days, the prisoners and friends break through the concrete floor using a bed post and begin to make their way through the sewer system – yet their escape is anything but assured.


A Shot in the Dark
1964 · 1h 42m · UK
Inspector Jacques Clouseau, smitten with the accused maid Maria Gambrelli, unwittingly turns a straightforward murder investigation into a comedic series of mishaps, testing the patience of his irritable boss Charles Dreyfus as casualties mount.


Madigan
1968 · 1h 41m · US
NYPD detectives Bonaro and Madigan lose their guns to fugitive Barney Benesch. As compensation, they are given a weekend to bring Benesch to justice. While they follow various leads, Police Commissioner Russell goes about his duties, including attending functions, meeting with aggrieved relatives, and counseling the spouses of fallen officers.


Correa Cotto: ¡así me llaman!
1968 · 1h 8m · PR
The film follows the crime sprees of Antonio Correa Cotto, as he seeks revenge against the people that assaulted his girlfriend.


Judex
1963 · 1h 44m · FR
Georges Franju's Judex is an arch, playful tribute to the serials of the influential silent filmmaker Louis Feuillade. Franju shuffles through the plot of Feuillade's lengthy serial of the same name, about an adventurer named Judex whose revenge against the corrupt banker Favraux unleashes a complicated series of schemes.


Los atracadores
1962 · 1h 49m · ES
The film is divided into three parts: 'Restlessness', 'Violence' and 'Death', to explain the motivations, evolution and defeat of three young misfits from Barcelona who end up being robbers. The way of crime is an easy way for them: a boy and a worker without a job or benefit are induced by 'el Señorito', the son of a rich lawyer. Together they form a band. Hard and violent, the film is made with a clear intention of social criticism and research of realism, culminating in a final scene that raised quite controversial.


The Thomas Crown Affair
1968 · 1h 42m · US
A debonair, adventuresome bank executive believes that he has pulled off the perfect multi-million dollar heist--until he must match wits with an insurance investigator who will do anything to get her man.


Harper
1966 · 2h 1m · US
Harper is a cynical private eye in the best tradition of Bogart. He even has Bogie's Baby hiring him to find her missing husband, getting involved along the way with an assortment of unsavory characters and an illegal-alien smuggling ring.


Las Fieras
1969 · 1h 45m · MX
Historia de un grupo de estafadores internacionales y sus artimañas.


Pretty Poison
1968 · 1h 29m · US
A troubled arsonist spins a tale of espionage to a captivating girl, who becomes enthralled and entangled in his dangerous fantasies, leading to unexpected murder and chaos that change their lives forever.


Divorce Italian Style
1961 · 1h 44m · IT
Ferdinando Cefalù is desperate to marry his cousin, Angela, but he is married to Rosalia and divorce is illegal in Italy. To get around the law, he tries to trick his wife into having an affair so he can catch her and murder her, as he knows he would be given a light sentence for killing an adulterous woman. He persuades a painter to lure his wife into an affair, but Rosalia proves to be more faithful than he expected.


How to Steal a Million
1966 · 2h 3m · US
A woman must steal a statue from a Paris museum to help conceal her father's art forgeries.


Prison Gambler
1964 · 1h 35m · JP
A film about the confrontation between two yakuza groups in the brutal Miike prison, which contained 1,500 inmates. The second film in the series Gambler / Bakuto directed by Shigehiro Ozawa.


Murders in Chicago
1969 · 1h 16m · ES
Although the title (which translates as "Murders in Chicago") promises a gangster story, this is more of a murder mystery that kicks off with the seemingly accidental death of a construction worker, followed shortly after by that of a noted publisher (an uneasy-looking Eduardo Fajardo). What follows is a very confusing story in which the police, a police coroner (José Campos) and a vagrant (Fernando Sánchez Polack) who witnessed Fajardo's death embark on separate inquests on what actually happened. Meanwhile, June (María Luisa Rubio), who works as a secretary for the publishing company, is under pressure by a blackmailer (Antonio Jiménez Escribano) who has pictures of her in the sack with the deceased publisher.
Organización criminal
Organización criminal
1968 · MX
A summit meeting of rival gangs, one predominantly Italian and the other a mix of Polish, Irish, and Italian mobsters, fails to resolve their differences, and gang war breaks out.


Pierrot le Fou
1965 · 1h 50m · FR
Pierrot 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.


Point Blank
1967 · 1h 32m · US
After being double-crossed and left for dead, a mysterious man named Walker single-mindedly tries to retrieve the rather inconsequential sum of money that was stolen from him.


Rocco and His Brothers
1960 · 2h 58m · IT
When a impoverished widow’s family moves to the big city, two of her five sons become romantic rivals with deadly results.


Robin and the 7 Hoods
1964 · 2h 3m · US
Set in Prohibition era Chicago, bootlegger Robbo and his cronies refuse to pay the greedy Guy Gisborne a cut of their profits after Guy shoots mob boss Big Jim and takes over. When Big Jim's daughter, Marian, gives Robbo a large sum, believing he has avenged her father's death, the gangster donates to an orphanage, cementing his reputation as a softhearted hood.
Operación Tiburón
Operación Tiburón
1965 · 1h 35m · PR
A popular singer is suspected of being involved with a notorious drug dealer, el Tiburón (the Shark). Meanwhile, a friend of the singer is recruited by Interpol to find the criminal's real identity.


The War Wagon
1967 · 1h 41m · US
An ex-con seeks revenge on the man who put him in prison by planning a robbery of the latter's stagecoach, which is transporting gold. He enlists the help of a partner, who could be working for his nemesis.


Cape Fear
1962 · 1h 46m · US
Sam Bowden witnesses a rape committed by Max Cady and testifies against him. When released after 8 years in prison, Cady begins stalking Bowden and his family but is always clever enough not to violate the law.


Konec cesty
1960
Josef Lachman, once a security officer, serves twelve years for aiding an SS fugitive’s escape. Upon release, he works as a driver on a dam project, hunting buried English pounds Meyer told him about. With miner Rokos’s help, he retrieves the cash and hides it with his daughter Eva, but she spends some at Tuzex, Rokos blackmails him, and they discover the notes are WWII forgeries.


Deadfall
1968 · 2h · UK
Cat burglar Henry Clarke and his accomplices the Moreaus attempt to steal diamonds from the chateau of millionaire Salinas.


Coogan's Bluff
1968 · 1h 34m · US
Coogan, an Arizona deputy sheriff goes to New York to pick up a prisoner. While escorting the prisoner to the airport, he escapes and Coogan heads into the city to recapture him.
The 1960s broke the old rules everywhere at once — the French New Wave, the collapse of the Hollywood Production Code, and new waves across Europe and Japan reshaping what a film could show and say.
Crime films trace the machinery around lawbreaking — heists, syndicates, investigations, and the people worn down by all three. From film noir through the American gangster epic to modern procedurals, it's a genre that doubles as social commentary.