A guide to 52 prime examples of must-see cinema, The Essentials Vol. 2. -- based on the Turner Classic Movies series -- is packed with behind-the-scenes stories, insightful commentary, moments to watch for, and hundreds of photos spotlighting films that define the meaning of the word "classic."

Featured films:
Sunrise (1927)
Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
Freaks (1932)
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
Twentieth Century (1934)
Top Hat (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Dodsworth (1936)
Awful Truth, The (1937)
Adventures of Robin Hood, The (1938)
Stagecoach (1939)
Women, The (1939)
Great Dictator, The (1940)
Philadelphia Story, The (1940)
Maltese Falcon, The (1941)
Ball of Fire (1941)
Sullivan's Travels (1942)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Cat People (1942)
Laura (1944)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Brief Encounter (1945)
Notorious (1946)
Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The (1947)
Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948)
Asphalt Jungle, The (1950)
Rashomon (1950)
Place in the Sun, A (1951)
American in Paris, An (1951)
The Quiet Man (1952)
High Noon (1952)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Night of the Hunter, The (1955)
Pather Panchali (1955)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
Face in the Crowd, A (1957)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957)
Vertigo (1958)
Pillow Talk (1959)
Apartment, The (1960)
Psycho (1960)
Ride the High Country (1962)
Battle of Algiers, The (1966)
Producers, The (1967)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Sting, The (1973)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Harlan County, USA (1976)
Network (1977)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Field of Dreams (1989)