100 Greatest American Films - 10 Years Later

This past week the American Film Institute had a special on CBS that listed the 100 top American films of all time.  This was a new ranking done ten years after their initial poll of critics in 1997.  As you will notice below, there have been some significant changes in the rankings, with some newer films making the cut, as well as some different critics participating in the voting.  The list is below, and after each section of ten, I make a few comments.

Film (Year) followed by 1997 Rank

1. Citizen Kane (1941)….. same
2. The Godfather (1972)….. 3
3. Casablanca (1942)….. 2
4. Raging Bull (1980)….. 24
5. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)….. 10
6. Gone With the Wind (1939)….. 4
7. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)….. 5
8. Schindler’s List (1993)….. 9
9. Vertigo (1958)….. 61
10. The Wizard of Oz (1939)…..6

Citizen Kane, of course, is still number one.  It is the archetypal American film.  What’s interesting here is that Raging Bull moved into the top ten (Did Scorsese’s Oscar win this year come into play at all, or had the voting all taken place before then?).  Vertigo leaped up over 50 spaces from 1997, and while I love the film, I much prefer Rear Window or even Rope. 

11. City Lights (1931)…..76
12. The Searchers (1956)…..96
13. Star Wars (1977)…..15
14. Psycho (1960)…..18
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)…..22
16. Sunset Boulevard (1950)…..12
17. The Graduate (1967)…..7
18. The General (1927)…..new
19. On the Waterfront (1954)…..8
20. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)…..11

Three older films make huge leaps in the ratings: Charles Chaplin’s City Lights, John Ford directed The Searchers (which stars John Wayne), and  Buster Keaton’s  The General.  While it is good to see these older films getting their well-deserved recognition, also note that only two films since 1980 made the top 20:  Schindler’s List and Raging Bull.

21. Chinatown (1974) 19
22. Some Like It Hot (1959) 14
23. The Grapes of Wrath (1940) 21
24. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) 25
25. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) 34
26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) 29
27. High Noon (1952) 33
28. All About Eve (1950) 16
29. Double Indemnity (1944) 38
30. Apocalypse Now (1979) 28

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is one of my film favorites.  Though my public face is often one of a cynic, at heart I am an idealist, and Mr. Smith is idealistic to the core. Note this is the second Frank Capra film listed.  Chinatown is probably Jack Nicholson’s best film. 

31. The Maltese Falcon (1941) 23
32. The Godfather, Part II (1974) same
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) 20
34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) 49
35. Annie Hall (1977) 31
36. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) 13
37. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) same
38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) 30
39. Dr. Strangelove (1964) 26
40. The Sound of Music (1965) 55

The best Woodie Allen film is listed here (Annie Hall), but I am surprised that The Godfather, Part II is so much further down than its predecessor since so many people consider it the better film. 

41. King Kong (1933) 43
42. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) 27
43. Midnight Cowboy (1969) 36
44. The Philadelphia Story (1940) 51
45. Shane (1953) 69
46. It Happened One Night (1934) 35
47. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) 45
48. Rear Window (1954) 42
49. Intolerance (1916) new
50. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) new

Alright, the movie is iconic, but does King Kong really deserve to be in the top 100 list?  I mean come on.  Bonnie and Clyde is the best Warren Beatty film, period.  And when a movies stars Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart, you just have to love it (The Philadelphia Story).  I miss Stewart and Hepburn.  One other note:  How does one decide which of the Lord of the Rings movies to put in the top 100.  Personally, I liked The Return of the King more.  BTW, with LOTR ringing in at 50, that makes only 3 films made since 1980 in the top 50.  That seems a little low to me.

51. West Side Story (1961) 41
52. Taxi Driver (1976) 47
53. The Deer Hunter (1978) 79
54. M*A*S*H (1970) 56
55. North by Northwest (1959) 40
56. Jaws (1975) 48
57. Rocky (1976) 78
58. The Gold Rush (1925) 74
59. Nashville (1975) new
60. Duck Soup (1933) 85

Another Hitchcock film here (North by Northwest), as well as two films by Robert Altman (M*A*S*H and Nashville, Yeah!).  Note as well that the presence of Robert DeNiro graces two films as well:  Taxi Driver and The Deer Hunter.

61. Sullivan’s Travels (1941) new
62. American Graffiti (1973) 77
63. Cabaret (1972) new
64. Network (1976) 66
65. The African Queen (1951) 17
66. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 60
67. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) new
68. Unforgiven (1992) 98
69. Tootsie (1982) 62
70. A Clockwork Orange (1971) 46

Finally a few more recent films.  My favorite (and it is still rated way too low) is Unforgiven.  A Note to whoever voted:  A Clockwork Orange, though a fine film, is not an American film.  It is British.  Duh!!!

71. Saving Private Ryan (1998) new
72. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) 50
74. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) 65
75. In the Heat of the Night (1967) new
76. Forrest Gump (1994) 71
77. All the President’s Men (1976) new
78. Modern Times (1936) 81
79. The Wild Bunch (1969) 80
80. The Apartment (1960) 93

Some great films from the Nineties here, and I would be hard pressed to name which of these would be my favorite . . . I think I’ll go with The Shawshank Redemption.  I love Morgan Freeman, though I also love Jodie Foster, maybe even more : )

81. Spartacus (1960) new
82. Sunrise (1927) new
83. Titanic (1997) new
84. Easy Rider (1969) 88
85. A Night at the Opera (1935) new
86. Platoon (1986) 83
87. 12 Angry Men (1957) new
88. Bringing Up Baby (1938) 97
89. The Sixth Sense (1999) new
90. Swing Time (1936) new

Oh, for God’s sake.  You knew it would be there, but you hoped it wouldn’t be. Or at least I hoped it wouldn’t be:  Titantic.  Here’s hoping that this film sinks out of the top 100 by 2017.  12 Angry Men is one of my favorite films, and it has so many of the stars of yesterday in it.

91. Sophie’s Choice (1982) new
92. Goodfellas (1990) 94
93. The French Connection (1971) 70
94. Pulp Fiction (1994) 95
95. The Last Picture Show (1971) new
96. Do the Right Thing (1989) new
97. Blade Runner (1982) new
98. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) 100
99. Toy Story (1995) new
100. Ben-Hur (1959) 72

Pulp Fiction (again), along with and Blade Runner, makes the cut.  Good.  Again, Toy Story 2 was better than the first, so why didn’t it get the honors instead? 

Patrick, over at Cinematical, has these observations about the list:

Of the newly eligible films, only Titanic, Saving Private Ryan, The Sixth Sense, and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring were added. Steven Spielberg was the director with the most films on the list, with five. Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, and Billy Wilder each had four. James Stewart and Robert DeNiro were the most represented actors, with five films apiece. You can check out the list for yourself here.

Titles that were removed from the 1998 list are: Doctor Zhivago, Birth of a Nation, From Here to Eternity, Amadeus, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Third Man, Fantasia, Rebel Without a Cause, Stagecoach, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Manchurian Candidate, An American in Paris, Wuthering Heights, Dances With Wolves, Giant, Mutiny on the Bounty, Frankenstein (1931), Patton, The Jazz Singer, My Fair Lady, A Place in the Sun, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner and Fargo. Make of those additions and subtractions what you will, but show me one person who’d rather watch Intolerance than Fargo, and I’ll show you someone who is no friend of mine.

Like Patrick, I can’t believe that Fargo didn’t make the cut (or for that matter O Brother Where Art Thou?”).  I also mourn the loss of My Fair Lady, Dances with Wolves, and Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. 

Any comments about the list from you, my gentle readers?