AFI's Top 100 American Movies of All Time

[oscar jubis]

The American Film Institute has released its revised list of the Top 100 American Films of All Time. This is the 2007 edition based on a new poll of experts chosen by the Institute. The first list (1997) was quite the discussion-starter. Differences between the two lists and perhaps my very own list of the best 100 American films coming up (depending on level of interest).

1. “Citizen Kane,” 1941.

2. “The Godfather,” 1972.

3. “Casablanca,” 1942.

4. “Raging Bull,” 1980.

5. “Singin’ in the Rain,” 1952.

6. “Gone With the Wind,” 1939.

7. “Lawrence of Arabia,” 1962.

8. “Schindler’s List,” 1993.

9. “Vertigo,” 1958.

10. “The Wizard of Oz,” 1939.

11. “City Lights,” 1931.

12. “The Searchers,” 1956.

13. “Star Wars,” 1977.

14. “Psycho,” 1960.

15. “2001: A Space Odyssey,” 1968.

16. “Sunset Blvd.”, 1950.

17. “The Graduate,” 1967.

18. “The General,” 1927.

19. “On the Waterfront,” 1954.

20. “It’s a Wonderful Life,” 1946.

21. “Chinatown,” 1974.

22. “Some Like It Hot,” 1959.

23. “The Grapes of Wrath,” 1940.

24. “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” 1982.

25. “To Kill a Mockingbird,” 1962.

26. “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” 1939.

27. “High Noon,” 1952.

28. “All About Eve,” 1950.

29. “Double Indemnity,” 1944.

30. “Apocalypse Now,” 1979.

31. “The Maltese Falcon,” 1941.

32. “The Godfather Part II,” 1974.

33. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” 1975.

34. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” 1937.

35. “Annie Hall,” 1977.

36. “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” 1957.

37. “The Best Years of Our Lives,” 1946.

38. “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” 1948.

39. “Dr. Strangelove,” 1964.

40. “The Sound of Music,” 1965.

41. “King Kong,” 1933.

42. “Bonnie and Clyde,” 1967.

43. “Midnight Cowboy,” 1969.

44. “The Philadelphia Story,” 1940.

45. “Shane,” 1953.

46. “It Happened One Night,” 1934.

47. “A Streetcar Named Desire,” 1951.

48. “Rear Window,” 1954.

49. “Intolerance,” 1916.

50. “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” 2001.

51. “West Side Story,” 1961.

52. “Taxi Driver,” 1976.

53. “The Deer Hunter,” 1978.

54. “M-A-S-H,” 1970.

55. “North by Northwest,” 1959.

56. “Jaws,” 1975.

57. “Rocky,” 1976.

58. “The Gold Rush,” 1925.

59. “Nashville,” 1975.

60. “Duck Soup,” 1933.

61. “Sullivan’s Travels,” 1941.

62. “American Graffiti,” 1973.

63. “Cabaret,” 1972.

64. “Network,” 1976.

65. “The African Queen,” 1951.

66. “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” 1981.

67. “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, 1966.

68. “Unforgiven,” 1992.

69. “Tootsie,” 1982.

70. “A Clockwork Orange,” 1971.

71. “Saving Private Ryan,” 1998.

72. “The Shawshank Redemption,” 1994.

73. “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” 1969.

74. “The Silence of the Lambs,” 1991.

75. “In the Heat of the Night,” 1967.

76. “Forrest Gump,” 1994.

77. “All the President’s Men,” 1976.

78. “Modern Times,” 1936.

79. “The Wild Bunch,” 1969.

80. “The Apartment, 1960.

81. “Spartacus,” 1960.

82. “Sunrise,” 1927.

83. “Titanic,” 1997.

84. “Easy Rider,” 1969.

85. “A Night at the Opera,” 1935.

86. “Platoon,” 1986.

87. “12 Angry Men,” 1957.

88. “Bringing Up Baby,” 1938.

89. “The Sixth Sense,” 1999.

90. “Swing Time,” 1936.

91. “Sophie’s Choice,” 1982.

92. “Goodfellas,” 1990.

93. “The French Connection,” 1971.

94. “Pulp Fiction,” 1994.

95. “The Last Picture Show,” 1971.

96. “Do the Right Thing,” 1989.

97. “Blade Runner,” 1982.

98. “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” 1942.

99. “Toy Story,” 1995.

100. “Ben-Hur,” 1959.

[cinemabon]

If these are ranked according to importance, and I have every reason to believe they were, I find it difficult to believe that King Kong (1933) is a better film than Hitchcock's Vertigo, Taxi Driver, North by Northwest, etc. The corny early 30's thriller would not make my top 100 list; nor would I put Star Wars above 2001, or Wizard of Oz over Sunset Blvd. The moment these lists come out, some hooligan film critic is bound to object. Am I referring to myself? In the immortal words of a famous rabbit... "Could be!"

[tabuno]

My biggest shock was the original No. 39 Dr. Zhivago being left out of the entire revised 100 movie list!

[oscar jubis]

cinemabon:
Yes, the list is indeed in ranking order. And it is, by design, a "consensus" list based on perceived quality. It's also practically impossible for any one person to agree with more than 20 to 50 of the films listed. I doubt my list has more than 25 films in common with the AFI list. It is of course a rather safe, institutional list whereas I gravitate towards groundbreaking, offbeat, transgressive films.

It is in the specificity of one's disagreements that one defines one's personality and preferences: Tabuno is shocked they kicked out Dr. Zhivago (my Dad's favorite, by the way). I found it mawkish and imagined Russian viewers deriding its picture-postcard vision of their revolution. This is precisely why I posted the list. It encourages folks to express their opinions. Vive la diference!

I find it difficult to believe that King Kong (1933) is a better film than Hitchcock's Vertigo, Taxi Driver, North by Northwest, etc. (cinemabon)

Actually, on the new list, Vertigo is now listed higher than King Kong. In general, I like the 2007 list much better than the 1997 list for several reasons (including Vertigo and The Searchers moving way up).

Here are some comparisons as reported in the AFI website:

*John Ford's epic Western THE SEARCHERS moved up the list the most of any film--rising 84 spots to a new position at #12. CITY LIGHTS, VERTIGO and UNFORGIVEN also rose prominently, moving from #76 to #11 (CITY LIGHTS); #61 TO #9 (VERTIGO) and #98 to #68 (UNFORGIVEN).

*Four silent films are featured on the list--and three are new additions: THE GENERAL ((#17), INTOLERANCE (#49) and SUNRISE (#82). MODERN TIMES rounds out the list.

*23 films dropped off the list: DR. ZHIVAGO (former #39), THE BIRTH OF A NATION (former #44), FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (former #52), AMADEUS (former #53), ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (former #54), THE THIRD MAN (former #57), FANTASIA (former #58), REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (former #59), STAGECOACH (former #63), CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (former #64), THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (former #67), AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (former #68), WUTHERING HEIGHTS (former #73), DANCES WITH WOLVES (former #75), GIANT (former #82), FARGO (former #84), MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (former #86), FRANKENSTEIN (former #87), PATTON (former #89), THE JAZZ SINGER (former #90), MY FAIR LADY (former #91), A PLACE IN THE SUN (former #92) and GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (former #99).

[tabuno]

Oscar Jubis comments:

Tabuno is shocked they kicked out Dr. Zhivago (my Dad's favorite, by the way). I found it mawkish and imagined Russian viewers deriding its picture-postcard vision of their revolution.

Apparently Oscar finds Dr. Zhivago a sweet, weak, sickening taste, insipid or nauseating or sentimental in a weak, insipid way so as to be sickening.

Some similar movies if taken in a certain way can also be viewed this way: The Wizard of Oz , Star Wars , Singing in the Rain , It's a Wonderful Life , E.T. The Extra-terrestrial , Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , and
The Sound of Music.

The Cold War rages in 1965 when Dr. Zhivago is released to the American public, only a few years after the Cuban Missle Crisis. When this historical period piece was filmed, the focus of the movie was not apparently the revolution but on a love triangle with the war as a gigantic backdrop. Epic in scale, shown in 70 mm if I recall, the soundtrack, the cinematography, the universal themes of love found, lost, and found, and in this case lost again (making for one of the more haunting endings of any movie) all suppose that this commentator is a romantic idealist who fell in love with love, the poetry, the ice and snow...the longing pang of affection amid the travesty of war, death, and suffering (sound familiar in the context of today's world?). It is not the historical accuracy, or Russian political correctness I'm interested in but in the brief moments of happiness among the constant deprivation that bring meaning to living and such is this movie in bringing such universal themes to actual experience by which this movie is judged.

[oscar jubis]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by tabuno
Some similar movies if taken in a certain way can also be viewed this way: The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars , Singing in the Rain, It's a Wonderful Life, E.T. The Extra-terrestrial, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and The Sound of Music
I like all of these movies but the only one I could put among my Top 100 is Singin' in the Rain. The most relevant one for the purposes of a discussion about Zhivago is The Sound of Music because of the romance-in -wartime theme and the fact that both competed for the same Oscar. But Sound of Music is...well, a musical, so it's sentimentality is inherent to its genre. In other words, its sentimentality is more palatable (to me).

the focus of the movie was not apparently the revolution but on a love triangle with the war as a gigantic backdrop.
It's possible to make a romance-in-wartime with teeth and a sense of historical accuracy. Check out King Vidor's The Big Parade or, if you don't like silents, Warren Beatty's Reds.

this commentator is a romantic idealist who fell in love with love, the poetry, the ice and snow...the longing pang of affection amid the travesty of war, death, and suffering (sound familiar in the context of today's world?). It is not the historical accuracy, or Russian political correctness I'm interested in but in the brief moments of happiness among the constant deprivation that bring meaning to living and such is this movie in bringing such universal themes to actual experience by which this movie is judged.
Bravo! A most eloquent defense of your movie. I cannot deny Doctor Zhivago is a handsome production with some gorgeous scenery. And it's hard not to fall in love with Julie Christie.

[cinemabon]

Singing in the Rain is a rather strange yet exploitive film. Afterall, MGM released every song in it not once, but many times before Rain. Even the story had been done. One can't deny Gene Kelly's top performance, nor Donald O'conner's scene stealing "Make 'em laugh." If we were nominating musicals, it would make my top twenty list, but not my tops. Oliver is a much better musical for so many reasons than either sanguine Sound of Music or Singing in the Rain. "Consider yourself..." is the finest example of a musical scene every created for the cinema. If you doubt my words, go back and look at its incredible complexity unmatched by any other film in that genre.

I saw Zhivago in 70mm, one of Freddie Young's best jobs for David Lean (he won Oscars for all three films he shot for Lean!). Even now it is a feast for the eyes, Young could make any star shine. Shot in the incredibly difficult Camera 65, a negative so large, most shots had to be held under 20 seconds, as it would use an entire magazine. They don't shoot films like that any more.

I'm afraid I will have to agree with Tabuno on this one, Oscar. This is a love story with just a smidgen of history thrown in as backdrop. What young man didn't have the impulse to run up to the screen and kiss those thick pouty lips of Julie Christie? When Steiger runs his finger across them, one can just imagine how he used and abused her innocence. When Zhivago dies, it isn't from a heart attack, but heart broken from loss of his love. Even a battle-harden soldier can understand that message.

One thing I am grateful for, Oscar, is the list of what got knocked off... shocking when you consider films like The Third Man, one of our favorites discussed previously on this site. Finally the question of Amadeus, a brilliant screenplay by Peter Shaffer and expert direction my Milos Forman, being taken off shows how quickly contemporary films find and lose their audiences. While the Wizard of Oz is a sentimental favorite for the masses, Amadeus cuts to the heart of so many issues related to professional jealousy, religion, the purpose of music... I could go on, but my heart is broken.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by cinemabon
Singing in the Rain is a rather strange yet exploitive film. Afterall, MGM released every song in it not once, but many times before Rain. Even the story had been done. One can't deny Gene Kelly's top performance, nor Donald O'conner's scene stealing "Make 'em laugh." If we were nominating musicals, it would make my top twenty list, but not my tops.

Back in 2004 you listed Singin' in the Rain as your #4 musical. Obviously you don't think as highly about it anymore. I've watched it in a theater twice. My face hurt afterwards from grinning delightedly for almost two hours straight. The different numbers add up to a history of the Hollywood musical up to that point in time. It's the definitive presentation of this story and these numbers. The fact that the songs had been released before has no relevance to me.

Oliver is a much better musical for so many reasons

You're speaking to the converted regarding Oliver as this list of favorite musicals (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=5270#post5270) posted in 2004 proves. To that list I forgot to add the two Michel Legrand/Jacques Remy collaborations: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort.

One thing I am grateful for, Oscar, is the list of what got knocked off... shocking when you consider films like The Third Man, one of our favorites discussed previously on this site.

Yes, my friend, one of our favorites indeed. But I was surprised it was on the 1997 list to begin with. I always thought of The Third Man as a British picture not an American one (despite the presence of Welles and Cotten). IMDb lists the film as British also and the AFI list is limited to American films. That's why I would keep it out of my Top 100 American films.
So...the only film from the list of "goners" I'm sad to see excised is The Manchurian Candidate.