Opening-credit sequences in movies aren’t as trendy in the 2020s as they were in, say, the ’50s and ’60s—and there are many reasons for that extending well beyond a director’s vision for mood and pacing. But, when approached as a crucial part of the film rather than an afterthought, they can still offer a crucial hook to reel in an audience. “I like credits. They promise something,” Martin Scorsese mused in the Blank on Blank series. “Like posters, they promise something, you know, because for me credit sequences are sometimes more important than the movie. I don’t know. Because they present the picture a certain way. I tend to get impatient with the title sequences that are unimaginative that are just showing up with shots of people driving, going in their house.”
The essential title-credit sequences leave a mark in some way—establishing an atmosphere, creating a sense of excitement or wonder or dread. Many publications have put together lists of the all-time best, and several films appear over and over again—everything from the techno-dense, sensory-overload chaos of Gaspar Noe’s surrealist 2009 film Enter the Void to the elegant animation and jazzy score of Stephen Spielberg’s 2002 crime-comedy Catch Me If You Can. (Both of those titles appeared on the British Film Institute’s round-up focusing on the 21st century, but they’ve also earned co-signs all over the Internet.) In order to find a general consensus without decade parameters, we consulted a handful of lists (from Screencrush, Collider, Slash Film, Screen Rant, and CineFix), and three films tied for the most appearances (four).
The opening-credit revolution
Interestingly, these movies were all made prior to 1980—one apiece from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. But that actually makes sense when you look back in history. As filmmaker Patrick (H) Willems notes in his exhaustive video essay “A Celebration of Opening Title Sequences (And Why They Need to Come Back),” movie openings really became an art form in the 1950s, starting with the work of graphic designer Saul Bass. “I saw the title as a way of conditioning the audience,” that prolific artist told Film Quarterly in 1996, as noted by Willems, “so that when the film actually began, viewers would already have an emotional resonance with it.”
So with that in mind, let’s take a closer look at these three classic sequences.
Which films have the most acclaimed opening credits?
Vertigo (1958)
One of the ultimate psychological-horror films—and arguably Alfred Hitchcock’s finest work—Vertigo stars James Stewart as a former detective who retired after developing a debilitating fear of heights. The title sequence, designed by Bass, creates a perfectly creepy sense of foreboding, as vivid colors swirl onto eyeballs and against black backgrounds, simulating the titular spinning sensation. (For the record, CineFix included Bass’ entire catalog as one entry, so Vertigo counts!)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)
Sergio Leone opened this spaghetti Western, perhaps the most beloved in movie history, with a striking title sequence by designer Iginio Lardani. It thrillingly balances the gritty and the gently psychedelic, making creative use of silhouetted horsemen and layered composite imagery, all soundtracked by Ennio Morricone’s dust-blown score. Lardani even used coffee grounds to simulate the image of blowing sand, as his son Alberto told Art of the Title. “He poured some coffee powder and filmed it using this high-contrast film and the camera reversed,” he said. “Basically, he placed the coffee and filmed it with the camera upside down. It looked as if the wind was taking it away.”
Halloween (1978)
With credits sequences, sometimes less is more. For the opening of John Carpenter’s signature horror classic Halloween, MGM’s team used the most minimal of elements: orange text against a black background, Carpenter’s own stark piano-and-synth theme, and the slow zoom in on a flickering (and surprisingly unsettling) pumpkin. What else could you ask for? “The sequence plays like a blackhearted processional we’d like to writhe away from,” wrote Alexander Ulloa for Art of the Title, “but the pull of this simpleton’s grin has us ensnared.”
