Rare-earth-based manganites ABO(3) may present interesting properties when the lanthanide (A-site) and/or the manganese (B-site) are partially substituted by divalent elements. Heavy lanthanides are particularly appealing because of the expected interplay between the intrinsic magnetic properties of the rare-earth element (Ln) and those of the ferromagnetic manganese sublattice. As such, a spin reorientation has been observed during magnetization-versus-temperature cycles due to a negative exchange interaction between Mn and Ln. We present herein high-quality epitaxial thin films (similar to 200 nm thick) of Gd0.67Ca0.33MnO3 deposited onto (1 0 0) SrTiO3 substrates by pulsed-laser deposition. Enhanced properties were observed in comparison with bulk samples. The magnetic transition temperature Tc of the as-grown films is much higher than the corresponding bulk values. Most interesting, magnetization measurements performed under small applied fields, exhibit magnetization reversals below T-c, no matter whether the film is field-cooled (FQ or zero-field-cooled (ZFQ. The reversal mechanism is discussed in terms of a negative exchangef-d interaction and magnetic anisotropy, this latter enhanced by strain effects induced by the lattice mismatch between the film and the substrate. (D 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.