The Best Movies Of All Time
Citizen Kane, Orson Welles' masterful 1941 story of power and empty glory, was on Tuesday named the best American feature film of all time, followed by Casablanca, The Godfather, Gone With the Wind and Lawrence of Arabia.
The Wizard of Oz, The Graduate, On the Waterfront, Schindler's List, and Singin' in the Rain were named the sixth through 10th greatest movies by the American Film Institute's panel of movie industry leaders.
Unveiled in a CBS special, these films headed the film institute's tally of the top 100 movies of the past century, selections culled from the responses from a group of 1,500 people asked to participate. They picked from a ballot of 400 movies selected by the film institute.
It wasn't known how many votes each film received, or exactly who did the voting. The criteria were wide-ranging and vague in what organizers said was an admittedly subjective enterprise.
"It's certain that this list will generate a broad range of opinion and discussion," said Jean Picker Firstenberg, director of the film preservation and research group. "AFI welcomes this dialogue and hopes to achieve and increased regard, respect and appreciation for this great American art form."
The top 10 films covered a range of genres and eras, and among the surprises was the impressive placement of Steven Spielberg's Holocaust film Schindler's List. Released in 1993, Schindler's List hasn't stood the test of time of the other leading films.
The next most recent film on the 100-movie list was Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull from 1980, at No. 24. The time period spans the years 1896, when the first commercial films were shown in New York, to the 100th anniversary in 1996, but the ballot of 400 films begins with Richard III from 1912, the earliest known surviving silent feature.
In all, Spielberg directed five of the top 100 movies, more than any other director on the list, with Schindler's List, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (No. 25), Jaws" (No. 48), Raiders of the Lost Ark (No. 60) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (No. 64).
Alfred Hitchcock and Billy Wilder had four each. The Hitchcock classics included Psycho (No. 18), North by Northwest (No. 40), Rear Window (No. 42) and Vertigo (No. 61), while Wilder directed Sunset Boulevard (No. 12), Some Like It Hot (No. 14), Double Indemnity (No. 38) and The Apartment (No. 93).
Ten other directors had three each. Just 13 directors were responsible for 43 of the top 100 movies.
Most of the movies in the top 100 were dramas. In addition, there were 11 comedies, eight msicals, nine war movies, eight westerns, four science fiction films and four horror movies. Two were animated features, both from Disney, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (No. 49) and Fantasia (No. 58).
Marlon Brando starred in two of the top 10 movies, The Godfather (1972) and On the Waterfront (1954). James Stewart and Robert DeNiro had the most starring roles in the top 100 with five apiece.
Character actor Ward Bond had the most appearances overall with seven films from the 1930s to 1940s, including Gone With the Wind (No. 4), It's a Wonderful Life (No. 11), The Grapes of Wrath (No. 21), The Maltese Falcon (No. 23), It Happened One Night (No. 35), The Searchers (No. 96), and Bringing Up Baby (No. 97).
Katherine Hepburn led the actresses with four films, while Natalie Wood, Diane Keaton and Faye Dunaway had three each.
The 1950s was the most represented decade in the top 100, with 20 films, but the best year was 1939, with five films.
Long considered the greatest year in the history of film, 1939 had Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz in the top 10, along with Mr. Smith goes to Washington (No. 29), Stagecoach (No. 63) and Wuthering Heights (No. 73).
Other good years were 1951 and 1969 with four films each, including 1951's The African Queen (No. 17), A Streetcar Named Desire (No. 45), An American in Paris (No. 68) and A Place in the Sun (No. 92); and 1969's Midnight Cowboy (No. 36), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (No. 50), The Wild Bunch (No. 80), and Easy Rider (No. 88).
The oldest movie in the top 100 was No. 44 The Birth of a Nation from 1915, and the newest was No. 84 Fargo from 1996, the cutoff year for voting.
Written by Michael Fleeman
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