I have often heard that "Gone With The Wind" continued for decades to be the all-time most viewed film, but on this list, it has dropped to #76 and is in danger of falling of the list entirely. I was saddened to see the number of films that carry an "R" rating and was afraid that it reflected the sorry state of our viewing appetite.
Then I noticed that the gate receipts could be adjusted to our current dollars. This allows old films like "Gone With The Wind" and "Sound of Music" to compete directly with "Pirates" and "Potter".
What a surprise!! This list not only has only 1 dark film in the top 20, "The Exorcist" in #9, but also contained all my favorites including "The Sound of Music," "Doctor Zhivago," "101 Dalmatians," "Ben Hur" and "The Sting."
My personal all time favorite, "Star Wars," was firmly still entrenched in 2nd place right below the all -time classic, "Gone With The Wind." Of the current "top ten films," the only ones to remain were "Star Wars" in second, " E.T." in fourth, while "Titanic" dropped to ninth.
There can be several lame excuses brought forward to discredit my elation, such as; these films were shown before videos and DVDs so they played in theaters longer or they have been around longer so more people have had an opportunity to see them, so this isn't a fair comparison. Maybe, or maybe not. It's possible that the real money makers throughout history have been those films that had universal themes, poignant plots and were set in a venue that wasn't offensive to good people.
Here are the top twenty on each list for you to compare:
Current Domestic Gross
Domestic Gross, Adjusted For Inflation
| Rank | Title (click to view) | Studio | Adjusted Gross | Unadjusted Gross | Year^ |
| 1 | Gone with the Wind | MGM | $1,329,453,600 | $198,676,459 | 1939^ |
| 2 | Star Wars | Fox | $1,172,026,900 | $460,998,007 | 1977^ |
| 3 | The Sound of Music | Fox | $937,093,200 | $158,671,368 | 1965 |
| 4 | E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial | Uni. | $933,401,500 | $435,110,554 | 1982^ |
| 5 | The Ten Commandments | Par. | $861,980,000 | $65,500,000 | 1956 |
| 6 | Titanic | Par. | $844,515,900 | $600,788,188 | 1997 |
| 7 | Jaws | Uni. | $842,758,600 | $260,000,000 | 1975 |
| 8 | Doctor Zhivago | MGM | $816,811,300 | $111,721,910 | 1965 |
| 9 | The Exorcist | WB | $727,541,800 | $232,671,011 | 1973^ |
| 10 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | Dis. | $717,220,000 | $184,925,486 | 1937^ |
| 11 | 101 Dalmatians | Dis. | $657,455,500 | $144,880,014 | 1961^ |
| 12 | The Empire Strikes Back | Fox | $646,028,600 | $290,475,067 | 1980^ |
| 13 | Ben-Hur | MGM | $644,840,000 | $74,000,000 | 1959 |
| 14 | Return of the Jedi | Fox | $618,910,900 | $309,306,177 | 1983^ |
| 15 | The Sting | Uni. | $586,560,000 | $156,000,000 | 1973 |
| 16 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Par. | $579,973,400 | $242,374,454 | 1981^ |
| 17 | Jurassic Park | Uni. | $567,234,400 | $357,067,947 | 1993 |
| 18 | The Graduate | AVCO | $563,059,800 | $104,901,839 | 1967^ |
| 19 | Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace | Fox | $558,153,800 | $431,088,301 | 1999 |
| 20 | Fantasia | Dis. | $546,426,100 | $76,408,097 | 1941^ |
