Preminger's 1971 SUCH GOOD FRIENDS has just been released on DVD and I must say, watching it was a revelation. Considered by most, even those who champion Preminger, to be a misfire, seeing it now, years after its release and all the bad press it got, I found it a startling and personal film, brilliantly acted and terribly moving.
It was obviously shot on a low budget, and indeed some of the film seems at first uneven. But if one is able to look past all that, you find a radical, tough as nails look at the fragile reality of one's life, punched over and over again when the illusions that one filters what's false and disappointing are stripped away.
Preminger's jackhammer style, the way he reveals his main character's life has often been critically assessed as failed comedy. I don't see it like that. I see an angry, bitter look at all that is false in this world Preminger puts on the screen. His film making style does not allow us to feel for the main character the way we ordinarily would in a movie that merely sides with Dyan Cannon. Instead, we view her constantly in the center of so many silly, mundane, self centered characters, swirling around, while the main focus remains entirely on the life or death event that anchors the entire story. We are placed in Julie's shoes and we understand and ultimately empathize with her as the shifts of emotion emerge when the truth slowly and clearly comes to the surface.
Watching the film, there are moments when characters talk to Julie that felt as if Preminger was speaking directly to his audience, to me, if you will; his celebrated directorial discretion intact, but uncannily clear and personal. When the liver specialist, played by a non actor, frankly levels with Julie about the kind of care her husband has received in the hospital, it's clearly a character's stance placed within the narrative, speaking to us from the heart of the film's director. Yes, Elaine May perhaps wrote the lines, and they were perhaps meant to be funny, but Preminger's choice of actor removes the safety net that comedy would allow and makes us hear what's being said just as Julie must hear it. There is no safety net, there is nothing funny about it.
I think SUCH GOOD FRIENDS is an undeniable masterpiece.

Bonjour Tristesse
Laura
Saint Joan
Anatomy Of A Murder
The Man With A Golden Arm
Exodus
I'd hate to take a bite outta you. You're a cookie full of arsenic.

For me, Laura and Anatomy of a Murder are his best.
"Life after death is as improbable as sex after marriage"- Madeline Kahn(CLUE, 1985)

Saint Joan is absolutely awful. Surely one of Preminger's worst.

I've seen 8 Premingers. Love all of them.
I probably like Laura the least. A fine noir by any standards but somewhat stagey
Bunny Lake is Missing
Angel Face
Advise and Consent
Anatomy of a Murder
The Man with the Golden Arm
Where the Sidewalk Ends
The Cardinal
Laura
Method Actors give you a photograph, Real actors an Oil Painting
Charles Laughton

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What are your favorite?
The Cardinal
Angel Face
Bunny Lake is Missing
Saint Joan
Where the Sidewalk Ends
"a va by me, madamea va by me!"

The Red Shoes

My own favorites: 'Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon', 'Where the Sidewalk Ends', 'The Thirteenth Letter', and 'Advise & Consent'. In each, Preminger's direction magnified great script, cast, photography, with a human flavor unique to Preminger.
Of course there's another great film: 'Laura'; but while the others are so underated, 'Laura' sounded a chord in the great public's psyche. Our perception can make it seem not comparable to the others.
Meanwhile, I'm more reticent praising 'Man with a Golden Arm', 'Bonjour Tristesse', 'The Cardinal', 'Porgy and Bess'; have yet to see 'St Joan', 'Court-martial of B M', 'In Harm's Way'; need to see again 'Anatomy'.

Laura is terrific. One of my favorite films not just by Otto Preminger, but by any director. I really liked Where the Sidewalk Ends as well, because it was another chance to see Gene Tierney in a Preminger filmI liked Whirlpool, but not to the extent of the other two.
Anatomy of a Murder is great because of James Stewart.
I think after those, my next favorite is Bunny Lake is Missing. At times it feels very different than most of his movies, but it's still fantastic.
He said it's all in your head, and I said, so's everything
But he didnt get it.

1. Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
2. In Harm's Way (1965)
3. Laura (1944)
4. Advise & Consent (1962)
5. Angel Face (1952)
6. River of No Return (1954)
7. Exodus (1960)
8. Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)
9. The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
10. Fallen Angel (1945)

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frankly i thought anatomy of a murder was overratedi mean its an all right enough of a filmbut jimmy stewert performance asideits really nothing you havn't already seen before. of course i guess this was one of the first really big courtroom movies in that sense it was important.

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"Laura" and "Anatomy Of A Murder" are tied for his best film.
All his comedies are weak though,and "Skidoo" is a train wreck of major proportions.No wonder his estate will not allow the film to be released on home video.
I'll Teach You To Laugh At Something's That's Funny
Homer Simpson

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Whirlpool
Fallen Angel
Laura
Where The Sidewalk Ends
Anatomy of a Murder
His noir films are fantastic although I've thrown Anatomy of a Murder into my five purely because it's a hell of a film. I never really think of it as a 'Preminger' as much as I do the others though.

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Also the underrated bonjour tristesse, which is quite atypical but has a lot going for it, particuarly David Niven although everyone remembers SEberg. And dont forget Daisy Kenyon.

Definitely, Laura (1944).
I would also inlcude In Harm's Way in your previous list, though.