I wasn't thinking clearly when I started into this. I saw the list and thought... Hey! There's some stuff that should be on there and isn't! Why, somebody ought to DO something! I think what I was really thinking about was that I wanted to say somethings about film; I used to write quite a bit about movies and haven't for some time. I think perhaps I was missing it a bit, but jeeze.... I really didn't need to go though all this to do it I suppose. But, I also suppose there's no reason to stop now so let me finish up. I believe I've managed to find places for most of my alternates, and, although one effect has been to increase the representation of more contemporary films, I think the end result is pretty sound.
Here’s the home stretch, the end of the line. Here’s the last of this exercise in revisionist history. From the original list:
76. CITY LIGHTS (1931)
77. AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)
78. ROCKY (1976)
79. THE DEER HUNTER (1978)
80. THE WILD BUNCH (1969)
Chaplin is already represented earlier on, so are The Marx Brothers, but neither Laurel & Hardy nor W.C. Fields is anywhere to be found. Laurel & Hardy’s strengths were more in their early shorts rather than their features. Much was the same for Fields, but with one exception, THE BANK DICK (1940), a genuinely hilarious film comedy that belongs, and now is, here.
76. CITY LIGHTS (1931)
77. AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)
78. ROCKY (1976)
79. THE DEER HUNTER (1978)
80. THE WILD BUNCH (1969)
Chaplin is already represented earlier on, so are The Marx Brothers, but neither Laurel & Hardy nor W.C. Fields is anywhere to be found. Laurel & Hardy’s strengths were more in their early shorts rather than their features. Much was the same for Fields, but with one exception, THE BANK DICK (1940), a genuinely hilarious film comedy that belongs, and now is, here.
AMERICAN GRAFFITI is the only film about the 1960s that isn’t an unwatchable costume freak show – mostly because it has the sense to set itself early enough to avoid that.
ROCKY is a kind of quintessential American film and only seems somehow less than what it is now because its memory has become contaminated by it’s mediocre to nightmarishly bad sequels.
THE DEER HUNTER is as close to flawless as movies can really get. And, although I really hate THE WILD BUNCH, as I explained, this list is not about me.
81. MODERN TIMES (1936)
82. GIANT (1956)
83. PLATOON (1986)
84. FARGO (1996)
85. DUCK SOUP (1933)
Woody Allen’s favorite of his own films is 1990’s ALICE. It has a tone unlike any other of his films, or any other film for that matter. It also has Mia Farrow’s best performance (from a long list of good ones). GIANT is a big, sprawling movie. So is Martin Scorsese’s THE AVIATOR (2004) which may well be recognized as his best film 2o years from now.
81. MODERN TIMES (1936)
82. GIANT (1956)
83. PLATOON (1986)
84. FARGO (1996)
85. DUCK SOUP (1933)
Woody Allen’s favorite of his own films is 1990’s ALICE. It has a tone unlike any other of his films, or any other film for that matter. It also has Mia Farrow’s best performance (from a long list of good ones). GIANT is a big, sprawling movie. So is Martin Scorsese’s THE AVIATOR (2004) which may well be recognized as his best film 2o years from now.
PLATOON is a decent film, but also overrated and I’ve stuck Stone in earlier with his real masterpiece, NATURAL BORN KILLERS. One other director not present on the AFI’s list but genuinely deserving of a place at the table is John Sayles and any number of his films would fit well here. I've selected THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET because it has a perfect performance by Joe Morton and is an independent science fiction film about race in the US that has a budget of no more than $27.50 for all of its effects shots.
I think FARGO is pretty far down on a list of the best Cohen Brothers films. It is a series of bleak landscapes and lifeless characters shot in long takes with long lenses that helps it pass for something more than it is. RAISING ARIZONA (1987) however, is a masterpiece of contemporary American cinema and there’s no other film on my list of alternates more deserving of a place on this list. So, the revised list looks like this:
76. THE BANK DICK (1940)
77. AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)
78. ROCKY (1976)
79. THE DEER HUNTER (1978)
80. THE WILD BUNCH (1969)
81. ALICE (1990)
82. THE AVIATOR (2004)
83. THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET (1984)
84. RAISING ARIZONA (1987)
85. DUCK SOUP (1933)
I went to a luncheon some years back and the Mayor of Indianapolis introduced a number of people who were present. As he said the name the person would come forward, shake the mayor’s hand, and then stand behind him. Muhammad Ali was there, and he really did look like an African King in a perfect blue suit. You could read the paper in a dark room just from the light of his charisma. The actress Cicely Tyson was there too.
When the mayor introduced Spike Lee as “the finest black director in Hollywood” Spike came forward, shook the mayor’s hand, but then grabbed the goose neck microphone and said “Finest director, period.” The luncheon crowd loved it.
Maybe not the “best director, period” but Lee’s MALCOLM X is as good a film as most on this list and a better film than MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY.
77. AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)
78. ROCKY (1976)
79. THE DEER HUNTER (1978)
80. THE WILD BUNCH (1969)
81. ALICE (1990)
82. THE AVIATOR (2004)
83. THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET (1984)
84. RAISING ARIZONA (1987)
85. DUCK SOUP (1933)
I went to a luncheon some years back and the Mayor of Indianapolis introduced a number of people who were present. As he said the name the person would come forward, shake the mayor’s hand, and then stand behind him. Muhammad Ali was there, and he really did look like an African King in a perfect blue suit. You could read the paper in a dark room just from the light of his charisma. The actress Cicely Tyson was there too.
When the mayor introduced Spike Lee as “the finest black director in Hollywood” Spike came forward, shook the mayor’s hand, but then grabbed the goose neck microphone and said “Finest director, period.” The luncheon crowd loved it.
Maybe not the “best director, period” but Lee’s MALCOLM X is as good a film as most on this list and a better film than MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY.
EASY RIDER is far more than the biker exploitation movie it started out to be, but doesn’t really make the A list either. HEAT (1995) however is perhaps the finest American film of the past 15 years.
THE JAZZ SINGER belongs high on a list of “historically important American films” but I need a space for Mel Brooks’ BLAZING SADDLES (1974) which is the epitome of the kind of film that will never receive proper recognition on stuffed-shirt lists like this one.
For the final five films it is the last three that I wish to revise. THE UNFORGIVEN is a fine film, but it’s also impossibly dreary and difficult to sit through a second time. The Cohen Brothers’ THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998) is simply a better film all around, and I’ll stand on Clint Eastwood’s coffee table in my cowboy boots and shout that if need be.
GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER was an important film when it was released but it has not aged well. There are so many better Hepburn and Tracy films, just as there are many far better Sidney Poitier films as well. In 1963 Stanley Kramer (also with Spencer Tracy) took a break from making heavy “message” films and made the first big budget film comedy ever; IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD also turned out to be a great film comedy that, for all its expensive casts, locations and effects, ends with the greatest banana peel gag in history.
And finally, while it’s impossible to construct a list of the greatest American films that doesn’t have a slot for Jimmy Cagney, it isn’t YANKEE DOODLE DANDY that belongs here. It’s WHITE HEAT.
“Made it Ma! Top of the world!”
1. CITIZEN KANE (1941)
2. CASABLANCA (1942)
3. THE GODFATHER (1972)
4. GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
5. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)
6. THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
7. THE GRADUATE (1967)
8. ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)
9. CABARET (1972)
10. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)
11. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)
12. STALAG 17 (1953)
13. THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957)
14. SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)
15. STAR WARS (1977)
16. ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)
17. THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)
18. PSYCHO (1960)
19. CHINATOWN (1974)
20. NATURAL BORN KILLERS (1994)
21. THE BIG SLEEP (1946)
22. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
23. THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)
24. RAGING BULL (1980)
25. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982)
26. DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)
27. BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967)
28. APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)
29. MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939)
30. THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948)
31. HANNAH AND HER SISTERS (1986)
32. THE GODFATHER PART II (1974)
33. HIGH NOON (1952)
34. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)
35. THE PRODUCERS (1968)
36. MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969)
37. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946)
38. BIG TROUBLE (1986)
39. DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965)
40. NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
41. WEST SIDE STORY (1961)
42. REAR WINDOW (1954)
43. KING KONG (1933)
44. THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915)
45. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951)
46. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971)
47. TAXI DRIVER (1976)
48. JAWS (1975)
49. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937)
50. BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969)
51. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)
52. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953)
53. THIEF (1981)
54. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930)
55. THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)
56. NASHVILLE (1976)
57. HOUSE OF GAMES (1987)
58. FANTASIA (1940)
59. REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955)
60. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)
61. VERTIGO (1958)
62. TOOTSIE (1982)
63. STAGECOACH (1939)
64. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977)
65. WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF (1966)
66. NETWORK (1976)
67. THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962)
68. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951)
69. SHANE (1953)
70. THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)
71. PRIZZI’S HONOR (1985)
72. EL CID (1961)
73. CHOOSE ME (1984)
74. THE GOLD RUSH (1925)
75. CASINO (1995)
76. THE BANK DICK (1940)
77. AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)
78. ROCKY (1976)
79. THE DEER HUNTER (1978)
80. THE WILD BUNCH (1969)
81. ALICE (1990)
82. THE AVIATOR (2004)
83. THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET (1984)
84. RAISING ARIZONA (1987)
85. DUCK SOUP (1933)
86. MALCOLM X (1992)
87. FRANKENSTEIN (1931)
88. HEAT (1995)
89. PATTON (1970)
90. BLAZING SADDLES (1974)
91. MY FAIR LADY (1964)
92. A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951)
93. THE APARTMENT (1960)
94. GOODFELLAS (1990)
95. PULP FICTION (1994)
96. THE SEARCHERS (1956)
97. BRINGING UP BABY (1938)
98. THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998)
99. IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD (1963)
100. WHITE HEAT (1949)
For the final five films it is the last three that I wish to revise. THE UNFORGIVEN is a fine film, but it’s also impossibly dreary and difficult to sit through a second time. The Cohen Brothers’ THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998) is simply a better film all around, and I’ll stand on Clint Eastwood’s coffee table in my cowboy boots and shout that if need be.
GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER was an important film when it was released but it has not aged well. There are so many better Hepburn and Tracy films, just as there are many far better Sidney Poitier films as well. In 1963 Stanley Kramer (also with Spencer Tracy) took a break from making heavy “message” films and made the first big budget film comedy ever; IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD also turned out to be a great film comedy that, for all its expensive casts, locations and effects, ends with the greatest banana peel gag in history.
And finally, while it’s impossible to construct a list of the greatest American films that doesn’t have a slot for Jimmy Cagney, it isn’t YANKEE DOODLE DANDY that belongs here. It’s WHITE HEAT.
“Made it Ma! Top of the world!”
1. CITIZEN KANE (1941)
2. CASABLANCA (1942)
3. THE GODFATHER (1972)
4. GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
5. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)
6. THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
7. THE GRADUATE (1967)
8. ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)
9. CABARET (1972)
10. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)
11. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)
12. STALAG 17 (1953)
13. THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957)
14. SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)
15. STAR WARS (1977)
16. ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)
17. THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)
18. PSYCHO (1960)
19. CHINATOWN (1974)
20. NATURAL BORN KILLERS (1994)
21. THE BIG SLEEP (1946)
22. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
23. THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)
24. RAGING BULL (1980)
25. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982)
26. DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)
27. BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967)
28. APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)
29. MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939)
30. THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948)
31. HANNAH AND HER SISTERS (1986)
32. THE GODFATHER PART II (1974)
33. HIGH NOON (1952)
34. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)
35. THE PRODUCERS (1968)
36. MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969)
37. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946)
38. BIG TROUBLE (1986)
39. DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965)
40. NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
41. WEST SIDE STORY (1961)
42. REAR WINDOW (1954)
43. KING KONG (1933)
44. THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915)
45. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951)
46. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971)
47. TAXI DRIVER (1976)
48. JAWS (1975)
49. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937)
50. BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969)
51. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)
52. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953)
53. THIEF (1981)
54. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930)
55. THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)
56. NASHVILLE (1976)
57. HOUSE OF GAMES (1987)
58. FANTASIA (1940)
59. REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955)
60. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)
61. VERTIGO (1958)
62. TOOTSIE (1982)
63. STAGECOACH (1939)
64. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977)
65. WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF (1966)
66. NETWORK (1976)
67. THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962)
68. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951)
69. SHANE (1953)
70. THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)
71. PRIZZI’S HONOR (1985)
72. EL CID (1961)
73. CHOOSE ME (1984)
74. THE GOLD RUSH (1925)
75. CASINO (1995)
76. THE BANK DICK (1940)
77. AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)
78. ROCKY (1976)
79. THE DEER HUNTER (1978)
80. THE WILD BUNCH (1969)
81. ALICE (1990)
82. THE AVIATOR (2004)
83. THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET (1984)
84. RAISING ARIZONA (1987)
85. DUCK SOUP (1933)
86. MALCOLM X (1992)
87. FRANKENSTEIN (1931)
88. HEAT (1995)
89. PATTON (1970)
90. BLAZING SADDLES (1974)
91. MY FAIR LADY (1964)
92. A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951)
93. THE APARTMENT (1960)
94. GOODFELLAS (1990)
95. PULP FICTION (1994)
96. THE SEARCHERS (1956)
97. BRINGING UP BABY (1938)
98. THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998)
99. IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD (1963)
100. WHITE HEAT (1949)
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