100 Greatest American Movies - 10th Anniversary Edition - AFI
100 GREATEST AMERICAN MOVIES
100 Years...100 Movies
10th Anniversary Edition
The Winners
The American
Film Institute in Los Angeles, California, in 2007 honored
and updated its "definitive selection of the 100 greatest
American movies of all time" from its 1998
list, as determined by more than 1,500 leaders from the American
film community. See the entire winners list below for 2007.
The 400 Nominated
Films (for the 10th Anniversary Edition) were feature-length
fictional movies produced between 1912 and 1996 with newly-eligible
films from 1996 to 2006.
Judgment
Criteria for Selection of 100 Greatest American Movies (10th
Anniversary Edition):
- Feature-length: Narrative format typically over 60 minutes in length.
- American film: English language, with significant creative and/or financial production elements from the United States.
- Critical Recognition: Formal commendation in print, television, and digital media.
- Major Award Winner: Recognition from competitive events including awards from peer groups, critics, guilds and major film festivals.
- Popularity Over Time: This includes success at the box office, television and cable airings, and DVD/VHS sales and rentals.
- Historical Significance: A film's mark on the history of the moving image through visionary narrative devices, technical innovation or other groundbreaking achievements.
- Cultural Impact: A film's mark on American society in matters of style and substance.
1.
Citizen Kane (1941)
Welles broke all the rules and invented some new ones with his searing story
of a newspaper publisher with an uncanny resemblance to William Randolph
Hearst.
51.
West Side Story (1961)
The Romeo and Juliet tale gets resurfaced on the streets of New York
with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, based
on their breakthrough Broadway hit. The Sharks and the Jets mix it up
for some of the most memorable dance sequences in film history.
2.
The Godfather (1972)
Brando is Don Vito Corleone, the sympathetic head of a New York crime
family, whose business it is to make offers people can't refuse. His
son Michael's true nature is revealed at the end, when a christening
is intercut with a bloodbath that cements his new position within the
family.
52.
Taxi Driver (1976)
De Niro is Travis Bickle, a New York City cab driver whose rage builds
in a lonely, dark world, until his attempt to befriend and free Foster's
12-year-old prostitute from her pimp culminates in a violent shootout. "You
talkin' to me?"
3.
Casablanca (1942)
Bogart is jaded idealist Rick Blaine, an American nightclub owner in
French Morocco who sacrifices the love of a lifetime to join the world's
fight against the Nazis. "Here's looking at you, kid."
53.
The
Deer Hunter (1978)
The effects of the Vietnam war on a tightly knit community challenge
the bonds of friendship and love. A game of Russian Roulette, first played
in a POW camp, temporarily reunites De Niro with his estranged friend Walken
in a back alley of Saigon.
4.
Raging
Bull (1980)
De Niro is Jake LaMotta, the middleweight boxing champ whose opponents
in the ring are no match for the demons he fights in his personal life. The
film is often noted for Thelma Schoonmaker's achievement in editing.
54.
M*A*S*H (1970)
Altman's episodic antiwar film about a mobile medical unit during the Korean
War gave American audiences a reason to laugh at the height of Vietnam.
The overlapping dialogue and irreverent story thumbed its nose at all
things political and pushed the boundaries of filmmaking.
5.
Singin'
in the Rain (1952)
This musical set in Hollywood during the conversion from silent to sound
films has Kelly singing, dancing and splashing in puddles. Reynolds and O'Connor
lend support in some of the most delightful song and dance numbers ever filmed.
55.
North By Northwest (1959)
Grant is the Hitchcockian everyman caught up in something he doesn't
understand as he travels from New York to Mount Rushmore in this mire
of spies, counterspies and romance.
6.
Gone
with the Wind (1939)
Selznick poured his heart and soul into the filming of Margaret Mitchell's
bestseller about the Old South, the Civil War and Reconstruction. The burning
of Atlanta was a high-water mark for screen excitement, as well as Rhett
Butler's delivery of Hollywood's first four-letter word, "Frankly my
dear, I don't give a damn!"
56.
Jaws (1975)
A great white shark terrorizes the resort town of Amity. Spielberg shot
some scenes at water level, making the audience feel as though they were
treading water. John Williams' pulsating score still haunts swimmers
around the world.
7.
Lawrence
of Arabia (1962)
During World War I, young English officer T. E. Lawrence comes
to believe he can give Arabia back to the Arabs. The movie made O'Toole a
star and introduced Sharif to an international audience.
57.
Rocky (1976)
No one believes a loser like Rocky Balboa can go the distance. When world
heavyweight champ Apollo Creed wants to fight an "unknown," Rocky
gets his shot in the ring and at love. "Yo, Adrian!"
8.
Schindler's
List (1993)
The film is based on the true, complex, and often puzzling story of Oskar
Schindler, the Sudeten German industrialist who saved hundreds of Jews from
the gas chambers during the Holocaust. "This list is an absolute good.
The list is life."
58.
The
Gold Rush (1925)
In one of his most famous films, lone Alaskan prospector Chaplin attempts
to stave off hunger by dining on his shoe, much to the consternation of cabin
mate Swain, who imagines that Charlie is a giant chicken.
9.
Vertigo (1958)
Stewart's fear of heights, Novak's woman of mystery, Bernard Herrmann's
haunting score, and the city of San Francisco provide Hitchcock with
a great love story and sexual obsession on a grand psychological level.
59.
Nashville (1975)
A grab bag of over twenty characters from politics and country-western
music collide as the United States celebrates the Bicentennial in the
capital of country music. Altman casts his director's eye on the overlapping
stories, from a populist candidate to a music songbird on the verge of
collapse, which ultimately end in a dramatic climax.
10.
The
Wizard of Oz (1939)
Garland's Dorothy Gale is transported from her black-and-white Kansas
home to the colorful land of Oz via tornado. From here she journeys down
the Yellow Brick Road and is helped by a Scarecrow, a Tin Man, and a Cowardly
Lion on their way to see the Wizard. The Harold Arlen/E.Y. Harburg score
is highlighted by
Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
60.
Duck Soup (1933)
The Brothers Marx defend Freedonia, with their own brand of anarchy and
satire in this antiwar comedy that's a combination of Gilbert and Sullivan
and vaudeville. Groucho and Harpo had perfected their "mirror gag" on
stage and brought it to Depression-era audiences sorely in need of a
laugh.
11.
City
Lights (1931)
This silent masterpiece was released three years after the start of talkies.
In this Chaplin classic, the Little Tramp falls hopelessly in love with a
blind flower seller, risking everything to gain money for her much-needed
operation.
61.
Sullivan's Travels (1941)
Hugely successful film director John L. Sullivan wants to make a picture
that means something, "A true canvas of human suffering." What
he learns on his journey, as he becomes the architect of his own story
is: "There's a lot to be said for making people laugh. Did you
know that that's all some people have? It isn't much, but it's better
than nothing in this cockeyed caravan."
12.
The
Searchers (1956)
Ford's landmark saga is a quest to find a child abducted by Comanches
right after the Civil War. Wayne, an Indian-hating ex-soldier, wages an internal
battle while devoting years to searching for his niece, abducted during an
Indian raid.
62.
American Graffiti (1973)
One night in the life of some high school grads becomes a turning point
on the road to adulthood. Lucas' breakthrough film featured an ensemble
cast of future stars and a non-stop soundtrack of 1950s and '60s hits.
13.
Star
Wars (1977)
A landmark science fiction fantasy about a young man, Luke Skywalker,
who finds his calling as a Jedi warrior and with the help of "droids" and
an outlaw named Han Solo embarks on a mission to rescue a princess and save
the galaxy from the Dark Side. "May the force be with you."
63.
Cabaret (1972)
"Willkommen" to 1930s Berlin and the Kit Kat Club, where mischievous
emcee Grey holds court and American entertainer Sally Bowles, played
by Minnelli, lives life in divine decadence as the Nazis rise in power.
14.
Psycho (1960)
Leigh is on the lam with stolen money and makes the mistake of checking
into the Bates Motel, run by Perkins...and his mother. Hitchcock's horror
film is best remembered for the shower scene and Bernard Herrmann's chilling
score.
64.
Network (1976)
Low ratings make for angry shareholders and veteran news anchorman Howard
Beale takes the fall. But his rant, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not
going to take it anymore," suddenly changes the picture and the
lives of everyone at fourth-place UBS.
15.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Kubrick's science fiction epic puts mankind in context between ape and
space voyager. The film created a stir for its special effects, the computer
HAL, and the debate about the meaning of the film's final sequence.
65.
The African Queen (1951)
Hepburn's a spinster who's spent her life saving souls for God and Bogart's
a Godless soul in need of saving. Stuck onboard
The African Queen at
the outbreak of World War I, they ride the rapids, outsmart the Germans
and find true love on location in the middle of Africa.
16.
Sunset
Blvd. (1950)
Struggling writer Holden hides out from car repossessors in the ancient
mansion of aging silent star Swanson ("I am big. It's the pictures that
got small."). He sees a lucrative break for himself when she wants to
make a return to the screen, but he is unaware of the price he will have
to pay.
66.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Lucas and Spielberg's cliff hanging, action-adventure, propels archaeologist
Indiana Jones across five continents in a race against the Nazis to find
the Ark of the Covenant.
17.
The
Graduate (1967)
Benjamin Braddock is confused and alienated, stuck in a fishbowl like
so many of his peers. It only gets worse when he sinks into an affair with
Mrs. Robinson and falls in love with her daughter, Elaine. If only he had
followed the advice of his father's friend, and gone into "Plastics." Simon
and Garfunkel's songs spoke to a whole new generation of filmgoers.
67.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Edward Albee's grueling play about marriage and deception features Taylor
and Burton as battling spouses Martha and George who spend one Saturday
night pouring out bitterness and recriminations when they invite a younger
couple over for a drink.
18.
The General (1927)
Keaton's must retrieve his train from Union soldiers during the Civil
War. What he doesn't know is that his girlfriend Annabelle is aboard.
It's a race against time, but Keaton saves the day, ending in one of
the silent era's most iconic images, Keaton seated on the moving wheels
of
The General.
68.
Unforgiven (1992)
Eastwood directs and stars as a formerly notorious gunslinger forced
to return to his murderous ways after his wife dies and his family needs
money. The film was noted for challenging the morality of Western stereotypes
created by American film.
19.
On
the Waterfront (1954)
Brando, a longshoreman who "coulda been a contender," rebels
against his brother and corruption on the New York City docks in this powerful
story that mirrors the political climate of the early 1950s.
69.
Tootsie (1982)
Hoffman stars in this comedy about a temperamental out-of-work
actor who puts on a dress and lands the role of a lifetime in a TV soap
opera. Love interest Lange and her lonely father make situations even more
complicated in this gender-bending love story.
20.
It's
a Wonderful Life (1946)
This holiday classic features a complex performance by Stewart as a suicidal
man redeemed by friendship and the recognition that each man's life touches
many others. Remember—every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.
70.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Alex and his "droogs" terrorize the back alleys of London
in this dark satire based on Anthony Burgess' stunning novel. After his
capture and incarceration, an experimental aversion therapy seems to
have "cured" Alex for good, but not in the expected manner,
as it includes Beethoven's "gorgeousness and gorgeosity made flesh!"
21.
Chinatown (1974)
An evocative score is the backdrop for 1930s Los Angeles. Nicholson is
a private eye investigating the murder of Dunaway's husband. But that's
just the tip of Towne's unforgettable screenplay, where water rights,
land deals and corruption clash with the unbearable secrets between a
father and daughter on a lonely street in Chinatown. "Forget it,
Jake. It's Chinatown."
71.
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
All of Private James Ryan's brothers have been killed in the line of duty.
A unit of war-weary soldiers is forced to risk their lives to find the
young man and bring him home. The film was a realistic and uncompromising
account of the war often romanticized by Hollywood.
22.
Some
Like It Hot (1959)
A couple of guys on the run from the mob dress in drag and
join an all-girl band. But when they meet Monroe's Sugar 'Kane' Kowalczyk,
("Look how she moves! It's like Jell-O on springs!"), they're a
couple of goners. "Well, nobody's perfect."
72.
The
Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Banker Robbins is wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to life in
a harsh Maine prison, which drips with corruption. His intelligence helps
him gain the respect of his fellow inmates, including Freeman's entrepreneurial "Red," while
secretly devising a plan to escape.
23.
The
Grapes of Wrath (1940)
This moving Depression-era social drama based on John Steinbeck's novel
follows the hopeful migration of workers from the Oklahoma dust bowl through
their subsequent disillusionment upon reaching California. Fonda's haunting
last words to his mother, "Wherever there's a fight, so hungry people
can eat, I'll be there," embody his family's enduring spirit.
73.
Butch
Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ( 1969 )
The chemistry of Newman and Redford redefined
the buddy movie. Goldman's script follows Butch and Sundance as they rob
banks from the Old West all the way to Bolivia, making heroes out of anti-heroes.
The movie's key song
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" is a fun counterpart
to the actual plight of our friends.
24.
E.T.
The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Elliot is a young boy from a broken home who discovers an extra-terrestrial
creature that has been stranded on earth—light years from home. Together
they form a universal friendship, and Elliot helps E.T. "phone home."
74.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
"I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti," hisses
Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant serial killer engaged by Foster's
FBI agent in an effort to capture another killer on the loose.
25.
To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
Foote adapted Harper Lee's award-winning novel into one of Peck's most
memorable movies. Seen through the eyes of his young daughter, Atticus
Finch defends an innocent black man accused of rape in a racially divided
Alabama town during the Depression.
75.
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Poitier is Virgil Tibbs, the Philadelphia detective drawn into a Mississippi
murder case no one knows how to handle. Quincy Jones' evocative jazz
score punctuates the heat and bigotry, but it is Poitier's "They
call me Mister Tibbs!" and the slap heard 'round the world that
made audiences cheer.
26.
Mr.
Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Appointed to the US Senate because the power brokers believe they've
got a hayseed on their hands, Jefferson Smith surprises everyone with his
honesty and gravitas. Framed by the political machine that cleverly twists
the truth, Smith almost waves a white flag, but Clarissa Saunders gives him
a fast lesson in civics. Filibuster!!!
76.
Forrest Gump (1994)
Forrest will tell his story to anyone who will listen. Mentally challenged,
he seems to be at the right place at the right time meeting everyone
from JFK to Elvis to John Lennon and doesn't understand his good fortune.
Breakthroughs in technology allowed Zemekis to digitally alter history
to fit the world of Forrest Gump.
27.
High
Noon (1952)
On his wedding day, Cooper is forced to face an old enemy alone as the
people of his town turn their backs on him. His Quaker bride Kelly ultimately
comes to his aid as the clock ticks toward noon and the inevitable shootout.
77.
All the President's Men (1976)
Both a taut political thriller and detective story, Redford and Hoffman are
Woodward and Bernstein, the two novice
Washington Post reporters
who uncovered the Watergate break-in and cover-up.
28.
All
About Eve (1950)
Vanity almost gets the best of aging actress Davis when a ruthless young
hopeful worms her way into all aspects of her life. Mankiewicz's biting script
of ambition and betrayal in the New York theatre gave Davis her best role
in years and some of her most memorable lines: "Fasten your seatbelts.
It's going to be a bumpy night!"
78.
Modern Times (1936)
Chaplin speaks! And ends the silent era with this film about a little
man working on an assembly line, who is literally caught in the hub of
an industrialized society, and after several trips to the hospital and
jail, ultimately finds happiness with a kindred soul.
29.
Double Indemnity (1944)
Wilder's searing adaptation of James M. Cain's novel of duplicity and
murder gave "nice guy" MacMurray a shot at film noir. He is
the insurance agent seduced by Stanwyck into murdering her husband so
that she can file an accident claim.
79.
The Wild Bunch (1969)
Aging outlaws and relentless bounty hunters converge at the US-Mexico
border in 1913. Slow-motion action violence became Peckinpah's calling
card after the success of this Western masterpiece.
30.
Apocalypse
Now (1979)
Coppola and Milius based their script loosely on Joseph Conrad's
Heart
of Darkness. Search and destroy; terminate with extreme prejudice—this
is Sheen's mission. But it is the insanity of the Vietnam war ("I love
the smell of napalm in the morning...") that really blows his mind.
By the time he reaches renegade Green Beret Brando, his crew is dead, and
he has nearly become the man he was sent to kill.
80.
The Apartment (1960)
Wilder's wry take on corporate America skewers the climb through the
bedroom to the boardroom. Lemmon is a career-climbing executive who offers
his boss' the use of his apartment for an extra-marital fling. His foolproof
plan falls apart when he falls in love with his boss's girlfriend. "That's
the way it crumbles, cookie-wise!"
31.
The
Maltese Falcon (1941)
Bogart's Sam Spade is the detective whose partner is murdered. The cops
are after him and he's after the woman who hired his partner, which leads
them to Greenstreet and Lorre, who are all after a priceless statuette. Bogart
suggested the take on Shakespeare: “The, uh, stuff that dreams are
made of."
81.
Spartacus (1960)
Kubrick's historic epic stars Douglas in the title role of the slave who
leads a rebellion for freedom against the rulers of the Roman Empire. "I
am Spartacus!"
32.
The Godfather Part II (1974)
This sequel to
The Godfather (1972) shows us the world of the
Corleones before and after the events shown in the first film, with new
godfather Michael struggling to bring his family into the modern age.
In the film's extended flashback sequences, De Niro is the young Vito
as he gains power in the New York City mafia.
82.
Sunrise (1927)
Murnau's shattering film of redemption and forgiveness is told in a simple
story of a married farmer, lured to the big city by a "wicked woman. " A
cavalcade of urban images and horrific storms almost destroy the farmer
when he thinks his wife is lost at sea in this expressionistic masterpiece.
33.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Nicholson is a troublemaker committed to a mental institution who sparks
new life in the downtrodden inmates, giving them purpose and self-worth.
His war on the system is fought at every step by Fletcher's Nurse Ratched.
83.
Titanic (1997)
Cameron's fictionalized account of the "ship of dreams" was both
a grand love story and a monumental visual effects undertaking. "I'm
king of the world!"
34.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Disney's first full-length animated feature still resonates with audiences
young and old as the beautiful young princess is saved from the wicked
queen by the dwarfs who whistle while they work.
84.
Easy Rider (1969)
Fonda and Hopper, better known as Captain America and Wyatt, hit the
road on their choppers to find an America bitterly divided by the Vietnam
war. On the way they pick up Nicholson, who gets turned on and tuned
in. The original independent film was an anthem for the 1960s'cultural
dialogue on freedom, individualism and patriotism.
35.
Annie
Hall (1977)
Alvy Singer has more hang-ups than most neurotic New Yorkers. When he
meets his polar opposite, the dingy Annie Hall ("La-di-da, la-di-da"),
the die-hard city dweller winds up in a foreign country called Los Angeles!
This comedy also launched a women's fashion trend on Annie Hall's "look."
85.
A Night at the Opera (1935)
The Marx Brothers take on opera and give a drubbing to anyone who gets
in their way. Some of the team's most famous comic moments are from this
film: rearranging the bedroom furniture, Chico and Groucho tearing up
the contract, and the overstuffed stateroom scene, where 15 people crowd
inside!
36.
The
Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Guinness is the rigid British officer who refuses to bow to torture in a
Japanese prison camp during World War II. Holden is an American who escapes
from the camp, then must return to sabotage the bridge being constructed
to perfection by POWs, now inspired by Guinness' command! "Madness!
Madness!"
86.
Platoon (1986)
Based on Stone's own experiences as a grunt in Vietnam, Sheen is a young
man from a privileged background who suddenly finds himself stuck between
two officers with opposing ideas of right and wrong in a war filled with
uncertainties. The conflict within a conflict results in the massacre
of a village.
37.
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Released immediately after the World War II, Wyler's story of three men returning
from war was the right film at the right time—mirroring the experiences
of so many soldiers adjusting to a new life. Russell, a young vet who
lost his hands, plays a man trying to figure out if he can pick up the
pieces of his old life.
87.
12 Angry Men (1957)
In a jury room, Fonda methodically faces class and racial prejudices,
and convinces eleven other jurors to change their verdict from guilty
to not guilty, thus enabling an innocent young man to go free.
38.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Huston's classic tale of greed is both an adventure and Western. Three
mismatched prospectors rummage the hills of Tampico, Mexico, for that
elusive pot of gold. Once they strike it rich, suspicion takes over and
destroys their lives. The writer/director gave his father one of his
best parts on film.
88.
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Hepburn's heiress is mad for Grant's uptight paleontologist. The plot
and characters define screwball comedy, not the least of which involves
a pet leopard who can be soothed by listening to
"I Can't Give
You Anything But Love, Baby."
39.
Dr.
Strangelove (1964)
Kubrick's black comedy focuses on an American president, played by Sellers
in one of his three roles, who must contend with a Soviet nuclear attack
on the United States and his own maniacal staff, including Scott's memorable
General Turgidson. "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the
War Room."
89.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
"I see dead people." That's what young Cole Sears claims. At first,
psychologist Malcolm Crowe thinks the boy is seeing things. Little by
little he begins to understand.
40.
The Sound
of Music (1965)
Andrews is Maria, a nun who becomes governess to the Von Trapp family
in this film adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical.
Maria falls in love with the children and their handsome widowed father just
as Austria is being annexed by the Nazis. The film's songs include the title
song,
Do-Re-Mi and
Climb Every Mountain.
90.
Swing Time (1936)
Prospective groom Astaire misses his wedding and must prove that
he is marriage material. He heads to NYC, where he dances his heart out
with Rogers to the songs of Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields. Every song
advances the plot and the courtship of two hoofers looking for
A Fine
Romance.
41.
King
Kong (1933)
With a mixture of live action, animation, and special effects, this film
follows the plight of a giant ape whose love for the beautiful Wray leads
to his death, as he topples from the Empire State Building. But it wasn't
the airplanes that killed the mighty Kong— "It was beauty killed
the beast."
91.
Sophie's Choice (1982)
Streep is a Polish immigrant living in Brooklyn with her flamboyant lover,
played by Kline, and their Southern writer friend, Stingo. The more Sophie
reflects on her painful life, the more she is haunted by her years in
a concentration camp and the unthinkable decision she was forced to make.
42.
Bonnie
and Clyde (1967)
"We rob banks!" Dunaway and Beatty star in this story of real-life
1930s bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, a film that mixed romance,
adventure, glamour, comedy and violence in a way never seen before.
92.
GoodFellas (1990)
This gangster film for modern day is based on the true story of Henry
Hill, played by Liotta, who dreamed as a kid of becoming a member of
the glamorous mob who ran his New York City neighborhood. De Niro and
Pesci are members of the family he ascends to, until he breaks the code
and eventually falls from grace.
43.
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Voight is Joe Buck, a country boy who arrives in New York City to make
his fortune as a hustler. As he struggles to maintain a living, he meets
Hoffman's Ratzo Rizzo, and the two friends work together to find a better
life. "I'm walkin' here!"
93.
The French Connection (1971)
Hackman's Popeye Doyle is based on a NYC cop who busted a heroin-smuggling
operation with a French connection. His character is in sharp contrast
with that of his nemesis, the elegant and dapper Alain Charnier. They
play a game of cat and mouse all over the Big Apple, culminating in one
of the most gripping car chases on film.
44.
The
Philadelphia Story (1940)
Sophisticated and screwball all at once, Hepburn's cool, icy heiress
really belongs with Grant, her ex. It takes tabloid newsman Stewart to bring
out the fires buried deep inside her. This is a comedy of manners and class
distinction. "The prettiest sight in this fine, pretty world is the
privileged class enjoying its privileges."
94.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Tarantino's tale of violence, corruption and redemption broke new ground
with his non-linear story of two hit men who live by a strict moral code.
They intersect the lives of a boxer, a crime boss, his drug-using wife,
a couple of small-time crooks and of course—the Gimp!
45.
Shane (1953)
Told through the eyes of a young boy, Shane is a former gunslinger who
appears out of nowhere and helps a group of settlers defend themselves
against the cattlemen who want their land.
95.
The Last Picture Show (1971)
The closing of a movie theatre in a small Texas town during the 1950s
marks the changes that face a group of young people coming of age.
46.
It
Happened One Night (1934)
This battle of the sexes love story between a runaway heiress who shows
her legs to hitch a ride and an unemployed newspaperman who separates their
beds at night with a blanket known as the "walls of Jericho," was
an unqualified success and still provides inspiration for many comedies.
96.
Do the Right Thing (1989)
It's a sweltering summer day in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn,
and Sal's Famous Pizzeria becomes a lightning rod for racial tensions.
The much-discussed close to the film presents different views on the
conflict with quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X.
47.
A
Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Recreating the role that made him a star on Broadway, Brando is Stanley
Kowalski, the blue-collared brute married to the sister of a neurotic, fragile,
aging Southern belle named Blanche, who has always depended on the kindness
of strangers.
97.
Blade Runner (1982)
The dark, rainy opening shot of Los Angeles in 2019 sets the stage for
Scott's futuristic thriller, where "replicants," a powerful
human-like species, have mutinied in an attempt to prolong their lifespans.
Ford is the Blade Runner cop called on to hunt them down.
48.
Rear
Window (1954)
When a broken leg forces photographer Stewart to become wheelchair-bound
in his New York City apartment, he amuses himself by spying on his neighbors
and soon becomes obsessed when he thinks he has witnessed a murder. Kelly,
as his fashion-model girlfriend, helps with amateur detective work.
98.
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Cagney sings and dances his way through the patriotic songs George M.
Cohan composed in the early years of American vaudeville and musical
theatre. Songs like
Over There, It's A Grand Old Flag and
Yankee
Doodle Dandy inspired generations when the world was at war.
49.
Intolerance (1916)
Griffith's monumental exploration of intolerance is told through four
different but parallel stories from ancient Babylon, to the time of Christ
in Judea, to Paris in 1572, to social reformers in contemporary America.
A milestone in filmmaking, each story was tinted in a different color.
99.
Toy Story (1995)
Groundbreaking computer animation creates the world of Woody, a toy cowboy
who suddenly finds himself as the second-favorite toy. Replaced by the
newer and very high tech, but doltish, Buzz Lightyear, Woody gets accused
of killing Buzz by tossing him out the window. It's a race to get him
back. "To infinity and beyond!"
50.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Jackson's masterful fantasy epic based on Tolkien's beloved novel, is
the beginning chapter of Frodo's strange and mighty odyssey to the Cracks
of Doom to destroy the ring. "There is only one Lord of the Ring,
only one who can bend it to his will. And he does not share power."
100.
Ben-Hur (1959)
This is a tale of two friends on the opposite side of politics and power,
who come face to face in the film's explosive chariot race. Heston, the
young Jewish Prince, seeks revenge for himself and his family, only to
find forgiveness and redemption when he tries to help Jesus Christ, the
man who once saved him.
AMERICA's 100 GREATEST MOVIES
10th Anniversary - 4 parts
Facts About the 10th Anniversary List of 100 Greatest American Movies in 2007:
Of the films that remained on the list, 36 improved their ranking and 38 saw their ranking decline.
Raging Bull (1980) (# 4) and Vertigo (1958) (# 9) made their top 10 debuts in the new list, replacing The Graduate (1967) (formerly # 7 in 1998) and On the Waterfront (1954) (formerly # 8 in 1998).
Five of the top 10 films in the 2007 list won Academy Awards for Best Picture and all but two ( Vertigo (1958) and Singin' in the Rain (1952)) were nominated.
The 1970s was the most represented decade with 20 entries.
Three years tied for most represented year, each with four films:
Director Steven Spielberg had the most
films on the list with five:
Directors Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and Billy Wilder each had
four films on the list.
James Stewart and Robert De Niro
were the most represented actors in a starring role,
each with five films in the top 100.
Faye Dunaway, Katharine Hepburn and Diane Keaton were the most represented leading female actors with three films each.
The most represented genre in the top 100 list was comedy films, with 17 films.
The following genre types were also included in the top 100 for 2007:
- Six musicals: (Cabaret (1972) , Singin' in the Rain (1952), The Sound of Music (1965), West Side
Story (1961), The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942))
- Two animated films ( Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and newly-nominated Toy Story (1995) ).
- Five westerns: The Searchers (1956) (# 12), High Noon (1952) (# 27), Shane (1953) (# 45), Unforgiven (1992) (# 68), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) (# 73), and The Wild Bunch (1969) (# 79).
- Five science-fiction films: Star Wars (1977) (# 13), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (# 15), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) (# 24), A Clockwork Orange (1971) (# 70), and Blade Runner (1982) (# 97).
- Six silent films: City Lights (1931) (# 11), The General (1927) (# 16), Intolerance
(1916) (# 49) - the oldest film on the list, The Gold Rush (1925) (# 58), Modern Times (1936) (# 78) and Sunrise (1927) (# 82).
Commentary
on the 2007 List of 100 Greatest American Films:
Classics that did not make the list at all included (to name just a few):
A number of the films that were
dropped from the 2007 list shouldn't have been:
There were a notable number of appropriate additions,
however: