"Vertigo" tops "Kane" in critics' poll of greatest films

James Stewart rescues Kim Novak from San Francisco Bay in Alfred Hitchcock's romantic mystery "Vertigo" (1958).

/ Paramount Pictures

(CBS News) NEW YORK - For decades Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" has ruled as the greatest film ever made, according to various critics' polls, the granddaddy of them all being the poll conducted by the British Film Institute's Sight & Sound magazine.

Every 10 years critics are asked to list their top 10, and since 1962 when "Kane" topped the poll, no other film has been able to dislodge it.

Enter Alfred Hitchcock.

The 2012 poll results, announced Tuesday, now name Hitchcock's 1958 thriller "Vertigo" as the greatest film ever made, with "Citizen Kane" slipping to number 2.

Starring James Stewart, Kim Novak and Barbara Bel Geddes, "Vertigo" tells the story of a San Francisco detective who is hired by an old acquaintance to tail the man's wife. Scottie (Stewart) falls in love with his assignment, only to fail to save her from a suicide attempt because of his fear of heights.

But, as in most Hitchock tales, that's only the beginning of the twisting mystery.

Rule changes account for some other shifts in the lineup. Beginning this year, critics could not lump two or more films together, as had been done to land Francis Coppola's "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II" in the fourth position of the most recent poll, in 2002. With opinions obviously split about which of the two Academy Award-winning films is the better one, neither now makes the list.

The 2012 Sight & Sound Critics Poll

1. "Vertigo" (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
2. "Citizen Kane" (Orson Welles, 1941)
3. "Tokyo Story" (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953)
4. "The Rules of the Game" (Jean Renoir, 1939)
5. "Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans" (F.W. Murnau, 1927)
6. "2001: A Space Odyssey" (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
7. "The Searchers" (John Ford, 1956)
8. "Man With a Movie Camera" (Dziga Vertov, 1929)
9. "The Passion of Joan of Arc" (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928)
10. "8 1/2" (Federico Fellini, 1963)

14 Photos

The Master of Suspense

The Greatest Films of All Time 2012 (Sight & Sound)

John Ford's "The Searchers," which fell off the list in 2002, is now back. What is also striking is the rise in prominence of F.W. Murnau's 1927 "Sunrise," in a year when a throwback to silent cinema, "The Artist," won Hollywood's biggest prize.

What else has fallen from favor since 2002? Stanley Donan and Gene Kelly's "Singin' in the Rain," and Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin."

In its queries to critics, programmers, academics, distributors, writers and other cinephiles, the magazine received 846 top-ten lists, which included a total of 2,045 different films.

Sight & Sound has also polled directors for their choices, and the resulting list is more contemporary. Directors seemed to have no problem deciding which "Godfather" film to place in the pantheon (the original), and in fact Coppola landed a second slot, with "Apocalypse Now."

Martin Scorsese is also on the list, with "Taxi Driver."

2012 Sight & Sound Directors Poll

1. "Tokyo Story" (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953)
2. "Citizen Kane" (Orson Welles, 1941) (tie)
2. "2001: A Space Odyssey" (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) (tie)
4. "8 1 / 2" (Federico Fellini, 1963)
5. "Taxi Driver" (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
6. "Apocalypse Now" (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
7. "The Godfather" (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972) (tie)
7. "Vertigo" (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958) (tie)
9. "Mirror" (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1974)
10. "The Bicycle Thief" (Vittorio De Sica, 1948)

[Harry1899]

It speaks volumes about Hollywood that the most recent film on the Critics Top-10 list was made in 1968, and the most recent film on the Directors Top-10 list was made in 1979.

[falseemail58]

What a load of garbage - while I confess to hardly seeing any of these - Nobody can tell me that there has not been 1 single movie that is BETTER than any of these, or more IMPORTANT to the history cinema for eg cinematography, social importance,storyline, etc since 1968 - in other words the last 44 years (not incl 2013) NOTHING from the 70's 80' 90's 00's +

But films from the following decades are ???
1920's x 3
1930's x 1
1940's x 1
1950's x 3
1960's x 2

Goodness, remind me never go to a movie critics house for a movie night - YAWN !!!

And the Directors List isn't much better - at least the 70's made their list

The whole thing looks a bit elitist to me - as if the paying movie public would not have a clue - these lists seem to CLEVER rather than practical & fair - with WAY to much weight given to older era's & nothing from the last 44 years proves it

[Verascity]

Vertigo is stilted, dated, and pretentious. If critics are tired of Citizen Kane (a ground-breaker in many respects) there are a lot of fine films to pick from.

[thehomelessguy]

I much more agree with the Director's poll - Tokyo Story as best film, but Fellini is a hack, and 2001 is as craptastic as any student film you're likely to see. As the saying goes, "just because people don't understand you, doesn't mean you're a genius." And The Searchers? I'm sorry but John Wayne could only play one character, and he played it in every role. So many other great movies deserve the honor of being in the top ten.

[dpmol]

I'm not for top ten lists of anything, but speaking of hacks, have you ever seen La Strada? What makes a great film anyway? Cause "I" like it? Well,
my top ten include Wild Strawberries, Greaser's Palace, The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie, & Forever Mozart...so there! LOL. More current films tend to be great technically...don't go much for the concepts.

[kbbpll]

Apocalypse Now makes the directors list? In 1979 it was topical and relevant, but not great. 30+ years later it just seems trite. War is bad. Yeah, we get it.

[fantod-2009]

Vertigo the best film? Of all time? Of ALL time? Really? Hey, it's a very, very good movie, but not close to the best of all time. Like most Hitchcock, it's more style than substance. In the end, it's great fun to watch with the twists and groundbreaking technique and all...but it leaves you cold. Stewart gives his all in giving his character heart and soul....but the script doesn't give him anything to go on. Who is this guy? Why does he become this neurotic, obsessed person? Hitchcock doesn't tell us. That stuff was never important to him. Except maybe with Shadow of a Doubt — the one movie he made that had any emotional weight (he missed a great opportunity to take Psycho beyond a popcorn thriller—just a little back story would have done the trick). In fact, Shadow of a Doubt is better than Vertigo, on that level. Going to the BFI site, it seems they've got a big Hitchcock fawning celebration going on. Makes me wonder if that's got something to do with it.

While Taxi Driver is an extremely important movie in the progression of modern cinema with the gritty, hard-edged style that influenced so many directors— and I"m a huge fan — it's actually fairly weak as far as character development. It's an amazingly intense depiction of life on the streets. But, really the characters don't undergo any significant change. Sure, DeNiro "transforms" with the mohawk and regalia...but you don't really know why, we don't really know him. There's no history, no background and therefore nothing's at stake. He ends up being some guy who went off his head. Yes, there's the ironic ending with DeNiro becoming the "hero"...but that's just a fluke, an accident. He didn't rise to the occasion, or redeem himself in any way. He's the same "crazy dude" he was before and will likely continue to be. So what?

Kane really is the big kahuna. It has many flaws, sure. But what other movie on the planet turned the art of cinema on it's ear with such excitement and audacity. It's got revolutionary camera work and editing, yes. But, in the end, that's not what sticks with you. It's how Welles' used that technique to propel the story...and it's the story, in all it's over-the-top cheekiness, that gets you. It's a classic tragedy. We see boy Kane as a youth and feel for him and how he's taken away. Then, we see him in his vibrant, rebellious youth...and we like him: he's magnetic, funny, handsome, charismatic, full of principle and purpose; he's a lovable bad boy; we want to be around him. Then, we watch his slow decline: the fading of his ideals, his growing narcissism and self-destructiveness, which, of course, is due to all the supressed pain of his childhood. We watch him change. And it's all done in such a fun, kid-in-a-candy-store way.

Vertigo better than Kane? You must be dizzy in the head!

[RichZubaty]

Critics? What critics? Citizen Kane is about money and power and history and remorse. It's the only movie that has ever come close to having the impact and importance of a good book. Vertigo? Not bad for a drama. Nothing even comes close to Citizen Kane. Not even the Matrix.

[randomites]

Citizen Kane: Best film ever.
Vertigo: Not bad.