It wasn't easy to find films that met all the requirements. Hollywood tends to take a jaundiced or actively antagonistic view of business. In fact, business is one of Hollywood's favorite villains. Look at the bad guys in "Syriana" (oil companies), "The Constant Gardener" and "Mission: Impossible II" (drug companies), and "The Manchurian Candidate" (a Halliburton-like colossus). Edward Jay Epstein wrote last year in Slate that Hollywood uses "lily-white, impeccably dressed American corporate executives" as villains in an effort to avoid offending other groups, especially Muslims. But a negative view of business predates 9/11. Consider "Modern Times," "Erin Brockovich," and "Wall Street," plus such James Bond movies as "A View to a Kill" and "Goldfinger." We kept fine old films like "Citizen Kane" and "The Magnificent Ambersons" off the list because their attitude toward capitalism and economic growth is cynical, even hateful.

Even stranger is the fact that so few movies make business a primary subject (as opposed to, say, the Mafia, boxing, or Hollywood itself ). Of all the winners of the Oscar for Best Picture since 1927, only one—"The Apartment" (1960)—is even vaguely about business. And talk about cynical! In the film, Jack Lemmon tries to advance his career at an insurance company by lending executives the key to his apartment for their extramarital affairs. We persevered, however, and came up with ten wonderful movies, fashioned by superb directors, all available on DVD.

 Barcelona
(Whit Stillman, director, 1994)
Two young Americans—a Navy officer and a sales executive for an Illinois company that makes motors—grapple with the sexual revolution and anti-Americanism in Spain. Ted Boynton (Taylor Nichols) just loves his job: "Like everyone, I'd seen Arthur Miller's play ['Death of a Salesman'], and, as a youth, had the usual deprecating attitude to business and sales. That changed when Professor Thompson's business course convinced us that even the mundane world of business had its romance."

Jerry Maguire
(Cameron Crowe, 1996)
Tom Cruise plays a sports agent who goes out on his own after being fired from his job at a big, corner-cutting firm. Cruise conveys an immense enthusiasm for his profession while risking everything to maintain the principle that he owes his all to his client.

Lost in Translation
(Sofia Coppola, 2003)
Here is a haunting evocation of a mandatory business chore, even in the Internet age—life on the road. Bill Murray, as a stranger in a strange land, goes to Tokyo to shoot a whiskey commercial and meets Scarlett Johansson. Runner-up in the road-warrior category: the Steve Martin-John Candy comedy, "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (John Hughes, 1987).

Once Upon a Time in the West
(Sergio Leone, 1968)
In this operatic Western, Henry Fonda is one of the all-time worst bad guys—working, of course, for an evil railroad. But we'll tolerate a business villain, in this case for the redeeming value of gorgeous Claudia Cardinale as a real estate developer. The last shot, as the camera pulls back to reveal a new town being built with American excitement and hard work, is inspiring.

The Shop Around the Corner
(Ernst Lubitsch, 1940)
In this classic romantic comedy set in Budapest, Jimmy Stewart and the great Margaret Sullavan fall in love by mail, not realizing that they are co-workers in a gift shop. Re-made in 1998 by Nora Ephron as "You've Got Mail."

Trading Places
(John Landis, 1983)
Dan Aykroyd plays a broker who switches roles with a con man (Eddie Murphy) in a terrific comedy about—if you can believe it—commodity futures trading: "The good part is that no matter whether our clients make money, or lose money, Duke & Duke get the commissions."

One, Two, Three
(Billy Wilder, 1961)
James Cagney plays the Coca-Cola Company's man in Berlin, and we get a delightful view of an American businessman coping in alien territory and trying, in this case, to prevent the daughter of his Atlanta boss from marrying a communist.

Mildred Pierce
(Michael Curtiz, 1945)
In this deeply engaging murder mystery by the director of "Casablanca," Joan Crawford plays an unusual role for the '40s: a successful woman entrepreneur. She's a divorcée who starts a small restaurant and builds it into a prosperous chain—but can never win the love of her daughter Veda, played by the deliciously nasty Ann Blyth.

Working Girl
(Mike Nichols, 1988)
In this Wall Street comedy, Melanie Griffith plays a secretary whose big idea is stolen by her evil boss, Sigourney Weaver. With Harrison Ford as the sexy investment banker. The opening scene features Staten Island ferry unloading workers in lower Manhattan with Carly Simon's "Let the River Run" (the song itself an Academy Award winner) in the background.

Glengarry Glen Ross
(James Foley, 1992)
Based on David Mamet's gritty play, this film is such a powerful depiction of the pressures to sell (in this case, overpriced real estate) that it qualifies for our list even though the view of business is hardly benign. Great performances by Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris, Alec Baldwin.

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