The 70s musical Grease is the most watched film of all time, according to new research.
A study of 2,000 British adults put the story of good girl Sandy and bad boy Danny’s high school romance at number one, thanks to its catchy songs and memorable performances.
Set in 1958 and starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, the 1978 smash hit thrilled audiences upon its release becoming that year’s highest-grossing movie.
Nearly forty years later it is still watched in homes up and down the country today, while millions have also watched the live stage shows.
Second place in the survey carried out by survey site www.OnePoll.com is time travelling caper,
Back to the Future, closely followed by eighties romance Dirty Dancing and Christmas favourites Home Alone and Love Actually.
Remarkably – despite being one of the highest grossing films of all-time, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope – is all the way down in 24th place – behind the likes of Mary Poppins and The Wizard of Oz.
A spokesman for www.OnePoll.com, said: “The results suggest Brits have a particular fondness for feel-good movies.
“Interestingly, the most popular films are relatively old – perhaps because evoke a sense of nostalgia, reminding respondents of their childhoods.
“This might explain why movie studios invest so much money in remakes and sequels as seen with the new Star Wars movie and the forthcoming Ghostbusters reboot.”
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark came fifth, followed by 1990s favourite Titanic, which catapulted stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio into the limelight.
Jurassic Park, Mary Poppins and Toy Story completed the top ten.
Other popular films to feature in the top 50 include The Shawshank Redemption (11), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (17), Jaws (21) and The Lion King (25).
Finding Nemo (27), Avatar (35) and Mean Girls (48) also made the list.
The most popular film among men is Back to the Future, followed by Steven Spielberg’s classic swashbuckling tale, Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Nerve jangling adventure, Jurassic Park – more cinematic magic from Spielberg – is third in the list, while the original Star Wars movie faired a little better coming seventh.
Grease is solidly first place for women while Dirty Dancing is second. Third place belongs to Richard Curtis’ Christmas romance, Love Actually.
Action and adventure was found to be the most popular genre, followed by comedy and sci-fi. Romance only came sixth.
And despite recent box office misfires Johnny Depp is Britain’s most favourite actor followed by Tom Hanks and movie legend, Clint Eastwood.
Dames Helen Mirren and Judy Dench are the most popular actresses amongst those polled, with multi Oscar winner Meryl Streep in third place.
It also emerged the average Brit watches around five films every month, going to the cinema a further six times a year.
Nine in 10 people prefer to watch flicks on their TVs when at home, although more than a third watch films on mobiles, tablets and laptops.
Perhaps surprisingly, terrestrial TV is the main way respondents get their movie fix with six in 10 respondents opting to watch movies this way.
DVD is preferred by nearly half of those polled, while four in 10 prefer to go to the cinema.
Brits like to watch films with their partner the most although a quarter perhaps find the prospect of watching a film someone else a bit annoying, preferring to watch movies on their own.
Top 50 most watched movies
1. Grease
2. Back to the Future
3. Dirty Dancing
4. Home Alone
5. Love Actually
6. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
7. Titanic
8. Jurassic Park
9. Mary Poppins
10. Toy Story
11. The Shawshank Redemption
12. Bridget Jones’ Diary
13. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
14. The Wizard of Oz
15. Forrest Gump
16. Die Hard
17. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
18. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
19. The Goonies
20. Ghostbusters
21. Jaws
22. The Terminator
23. Top Gun
24. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
25. The Lion King
26. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
27. Finding Nemo
28. Elf
29. The Silence of the Lambs
30. Alien
31. Monsters, Inc.
32. The Matrix
33. It’s a Wonderful Life
34. Avatar
35. Gladiator
36. Life of Brian
37. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
38. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
39. Edward Scissorhands
40. Groundhog Day
41. The Godfather
42. Pulp Fiction
43. Rocky
44. The Dark Knight
45. Singin’ in the Rain
46. Casablanca
47. Mean Girls
48. Psycho
49. Romeo and Juliet
50. Gone with the Wind
