MY FAVORITE 100 ENGLISH-LANGUAGE FILMS
John H. Smihula December 16, 2003 5th edition
1. Once Upon a Time in the West (1969; Sergio Leone; 165 m.)---Western
2. Koyaanisqatsi (1983; Godfrey Reggio; 87 m.)---Pictorial Elegy
3. Medium Cool (1969; Haskell Wexler; 110 m.)---Sociopolitical Drama
4. The Grapes of Wrath (1940; John Ford; 129 m.)---Social Drama
5. Rear Window (1954; Alfred Hitchcock; 112 m.)---Mystery/Thriller
6. Modern Times (1936; Charles Chaplin; 89 m.)---(mostly silent) Social Drama/Satire/Dystopia
7. On the Waterfront (1954; Elia Kazan; 108 m.)---Social Drama
8. Planet of the Apes (1968; Franklin J. Schaffner; 112 m.)---Science-Fiction/Dystopia
9. Double Indemnity (1944; Billy Wilder; 106 m.)---Film Noir
10. The Wild Bunch (1969; Sam Peckinpah; 144 m.--"Director's Cut")---Western
11. The Godfather, Parts I & II (1972 & 1974; Francis Ford Coppola; 175 & 200 m.)---Crime Saga
12. Night of the Living Dead (1968; George Romero; 96 m.)---Horror
13. Network (1976; Sidney Lumet; 121 m.)---Media Satire
14. City Lights (1931; Charles Chaplin; 86 m.)---Comedy/Romance/Social Drama
15. 12 Angry Men (1957; Sidney Lumet; 95 m.)---Judicial Drama
16. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966; Sergio Leone; 161 m.--or 180m. Restored Cut)---Western
17. Bladerunner (1982; Ridley Scott; 117 m.--"Director's Cut")---Science-Fiction/Dystopia
18. Bonnie and Clyde (1967; Arthur Penn; 111 m.)---Crime Drama
19. Dr. Strangelove (1964; Stanley Kubrick; 93 m.)---Black Comedy
20. Viva Zapata! (1952; Elia Kazan; 113 m.)---Biography/Historical Drama
21. It's a Wonderful Life (1946; Frank Capra; 129 m.)---Social Drama
22. Spartacus (1960; Stanley Kubrick; 196 m.--Restored Version)---Historical Drama/Allegory
23. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951; Robert Wise; 92 m.)---Science-Fiction
24. Midnight Cowboy (1969; John Schlesinger; 113 m.)---Social Drama
25. Vertigo (1958; Alfred Hitchcock; 128 m.)---Mystery/Thriller
26. Sunrise (1927; F.W. Murnau; 110 m.)---Proto-Noir/Social Drama
27. The Graduate (1967; Mike Nichols; 105 m.)---Comedy/Social Drama
28. Born on the 4th of July (1989; Oliver Stone; 145 m.)---War
29. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975; Milos Forman; 133 m.)---Social Drama
30. Raging Bull (1980; Martin Scorcese; 128 m.)---Biography
31. Casablanca (1942; Michael Curtiz; 102 m.)---Social Drama/Romance
32. The Last Picture Show (1971; Peter Bogdanovich; 118 m.)---Social Drama
33. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961; Stanley Kramer; 178 m.)---Judicial Drama
34. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971; Robert Altman; 121 m.)---Western
35. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946; Tay Garnett; 113 m.)---Film Noir
36. Easy Rider (1969; Dennis Hopper; 94 m.)---Social Drama/Adventure
37. The Big Sleep (1946; Howard Hawks; 114 m.)---Film Noir
38. The Life of Emile Zola (1937; William Dieterle; 116 m.)---Biography/Historical Drama
39. The Great Dictator (1940; Charles Chaplin; 128 m.)---Political Satire
40. M*A*S*H (1970; Robert Altman; 116 m.)---Black Comedy
41. Lonely are the Brave (1962; David Miller; 107 m.)---Contemporary Western
42. Taxi Driver (1976; Martin Scorcese; 113 m.)---Social Drama
43. The Crowd (1928; King Vidor; 104 m.)---Social Drama
44. Do the Right Thing (1989; Spike Lee; 120 m.)---Social Drama
45. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939; Frank Capra; 129 m.)---Political Drama
46. The Swimmer (1968; Frank Perry; 94 m.)---Mystery/Psychological Drama
47. Vanya on 42nd Street (1994; Louis Malle; 120 m.)---Social/Philosophical Drama
48. Inherit the Wind (1960; Stanley Kramer; 127 m.)---Judicial Drama
49. The Gunfighter (1950; Henry King; 84 m.)---Western
50. Monsieur Verdoux (1947; Charles Chaplin; 123 m.)---Black Comedy
51. For a Few Dollars More (1965; Sergio Leone; 127 m.)---Western
52. The Exorcist (1973; William Friedkin; 121 m.--or Restored Cut)---Horror
53. The Naked Spur (1953; Anthony Mann; 93 m.)---Western
54. Rebel Without a Cause (1955; Nicholas Ray; 111 m.)---Social Drama
55. Singin' in the Rain (1952; Gene Kelly; 102 m.)---Musical
56. The Circus (1928; Charles Chaplin; 72 m.)---Comedy
57. Dances With Wolves (1990; Kevin Costner; 181 m.)---Western
58. Paths of Glory (1957; Stanley Kubrick; 87 m.)---War
59. Blue Velvet (1986; David Lynch; 120 m.)---Mystery
60. Salvador (1986; Oliver Stone; 123 m.)---Political Drama
61. A Fistful of Dollars (1964; Sergio Leone; 101 m.)---Western
62. Missing (1982; Costa-Gavras; 122 m.)---Political Drama
63. Apocalypse Now (1979; Francis Ford Coppola; 150 m.)---War
64. Hombre (1967; Martin Ritt; 111 m.)---Western
65. Paths of Glory (1957; Stanley Kubrick; 87 m.)---War
66. Broken Arrow (1950; Delmer Daves; 93 m.)---Western
67. The Deer Hunter (1978; Michael Cimino; 183 m.)---War
68. Psycho (1960; Alfred Hitchcock; 109 m.)---Mystery/Thriller
69. Mulholland Drive (2001; David Lynch; 147 m.)---Mystery
70. Shane (1953; George Stevens; 117 m.)---Western
71. Stagecoach (1939; John Ford; 100 m.)---Western
72. Shadow of a Doubt (1943; Alfred Hitchcock; 108 m.)---Mystery/Thriller
73. D.O.A. (1950; Rudolph Maté; 83 m.)---Film Noir
74. Red River (1948; Howard Hawks; 133 m.)---Western
75. Tell Them Willie Boy is Here (1969; Abraham Polonsky; 98 m.)---Western
76. Sunset Boulevard (1950; Billy Wilder; 110m.)---Black Comedy
77. The Gold Rush (1925; Charles Chaplin; 82 m.--Original Version)---Comedy
78. Platoon (1986; Oliver Stone; 120 m.)---War
79. Ride the High Country (1962; Sam Peckinpah; 93 m.)---Western
80. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936; Frank Capra; 115 m.)---Social Drama
81. Reds (1981; Warren Beatty; 200 m.)---Political Drama
82. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956; Don Siegel; 76 m. version)---Science Fiction/Horror
83. Rosemary's Baby (1968; Roman Polanski; 134 m.)---Horror
84. One-Eyed Jacks (1961; Marlon Brando; 141 m.)---Western
85. Kiss Me Deadly (1955; Robert Aldrich; 105 m.)---Film Noir/Science Fiction
86. The Front (1976; Martin Ritt; 94 m.)---Black Comedy
87. Winchester '73 (1950; Anthony Mann; 92 m.)---Western
88. The Kid (1921; Charles Chaplin; 60 m.)---Comedy/Social Drama
89. Bulworth (1998; Warren Beatty; 107 m.)---Political Satire
90. Frankenstein & The Bride of Frankenstein (1931&1935; James Whale; 70&75 m.)---Horror
91. The Birds (1963; Alfred Hitchcock; 120 m.)---Mystery/Thriller
92. Track of the Cat (1954; William Wellman; 102 m.)---Western
93. Murder, My Sweet (1944; Edward Dmytryk; 95 m.)---Film Noir
94. Man of the West (1958; Anthony Mann; 100 m.)---Western
95. Rope (1948; Alfred Hitchcock; 80 m.)---Mystery/Thriller
96. Lost Highway (1997; David Lynch; 135 m.)---Mystery
97. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930; Lewis Milestone; 133 m.)---War
98. The Legend of Hell House (1973; John Hough; 95 m.)---Horror
99. Bad Day at Black Rock (1954; John Sturges; 81 m.)---Contemporary Western
100. The Iron Giant (1999; Brad Bird; 86 m.)---Animation
FILMS BY DECADE (102 total):
1920s: 5 1930s: 9 1940s: 12 1950s: 22
1960s: 25 1970s: 13 1980s: 10 1990s: 5 2000s: 1
FILMS BY DIRECTOR:
Charlie Chaplin: 7 Alfred Hitchcock: 6 Sergio Leone: 4
Frank Capra: 3
Stanley Kubrick: 3 Anthony Mann: 3 Oliver Stone: 3
David Lynch: 3
FAVORITE DOCUMENTARIES
Nanook of the North (1922; Robert J. Flaherty; 65 m.)
Point of Order (1964; Emile De Antonio; 97 m.)
Hearts and Minds (1974; Peter Davis; 120?)
Harlan County, U.S.A. (1977; Barbara Kopple; 103 m.)
Roger & Me (1989; Michael Moore; 91 m.)
The Times of Harvey Milk (1989; Robert Epstein, Richard Schmiechen; 87 m.)
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991; Fax Bahr, George
Hickenlooper; 96 m.)
The Panama Deception (1992; Barbara Trent; 92 m.)
Crumb (1994; Terry Zwigoff; 119 m.)
Hoop Dreams (1994; Steve James, Frederick Marx, Peter Gilbert; 170 m.)
Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky & the Media (1994; Mark Achbar, Peter
Wintonick; 166 m.)
When We Were Kings (1996; Leon Gast; 92 m.)
Regret to Inform (1998; Barbara Sonnenborn; 72 m.)
Fidel (2001; Estella Bravo; ?)
Bowling for Columbine (2002; Michael Moore; 119 m.)
Capturing the Friedmans (2002; Andrew Jarecki; 107 m.)
The Weather Underground (2003; Sam Green, Bill Siegel; 92 m.)
Winged Migration (2003; ??)
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (2003; ??)
The Corporation (2003; Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott; 165 m.)
Condor: Axis of Evil (2003; Rodrigo Vazquez; 90 m.)
Lost Boys of Sudan (2003; Jon Shenk, Megan Mylan; 87 m.)
NOTES
1. There are a number of indisputably great films--such as "The Wizard of
Oz"(1939), "Citizen Kane"(1941), "The Best Years of Our Lives"(1946), "All About
Eve"(1950), and "The Bridge on the River Kwai"(1957)--which are not on my
list. I appreciate them, I marvel at them, I acknowledge that they are
masterpieces, but my intellectual esteem for them is not matched by emotional
intensity. Simply put, they don't turn me on enough to make my list.
2. There are also a number of films found on the American Film Institute's
1998 list of the "Greatest 100 Movies" that are not on my list because I find
them to be overrated. In this category I put, for example, "Gone With the
Wind"(#4--it's not just overrated; its horribly racist too), "Lawrence of
Arabia"(#5), "Schindler's List"(#9), "Star Wars" (#15), "The African Queen"(#17),
"2001: A Space Odyssey" (#22), and "From Here to Eternity"(#52).
The AFI list is interesting and provocative--and even necessary as a stimulus
for conversation and debate--but it is also absurd. Are we supposed to
believe that Steven Spielberg (with five films making the list) is a greater
filmmaker than Alfred Hitchcock (with four films) or Charlie Chaplin (with three)?
Or that films like "Amadeus"(#53), "Forrest Gump"(#71) and "Rocky"(#78)
deserve to be on the list?
3. Though I call this a list of my favorite "English-language" films, it
continues to be little more than a list of American films. I've changed the term
for this latest edition, but you will see very few British films and no
Australian films, and this is because I have regrettably little experience watching
these films. So many films to see, so little time!
4. I realize that I take some liberties in calling Sergio Leone's
"spaghetti" Westerns English-language films. Although "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
is an Italian-Spanish production shot in Spain, its three stars are American,
so I think I can safely claim the film as American too. "Once Upon a Time in
the West" is an Italian-American production partly shot in Arizona, and three
of its four stars are American, so it is even easier to claim this as an
American film.
5. You will notice that most of the documentaries on my list were made
during the last few years. There are two reasons for this: 1) My knowledge of
documentaries is limited. I simply haven't seen most of the major or
groundbreaking documentaries made between 1922 and 1990; and 2) The efflorescence of
documentary film is now. Hollywood has had its "Golden Ages" (the last, in my
opinion,being 1967-1976), but the Golden Age of documentary film is the present
time. As the world moves deeper into fascist tyranny, more and more people
feel the need to pick up a video camera and document some feature of this
retrograde reality.
6. All of the directors on my list are men. The reason is simple: there
are very few female directors in Hollywood, which remains, after thirty-plus
years of feminist insurgency, an obdurately patriarchal institution. (Another
proof of this is the extremely limited range of female roles, especially older
female roles. Actresses over the age of 40 typically don't find work.)
Further, there is only one director on my list who is not white: Spike Lee.
Yet another problem with Hollywood is its overwhelming whiteness. Putatively
"liberal" Hollywood is, in truth, distressingly low-brow and
conservative--and it has shifted even more to the Right since September 11th.
7. A note on nomenclature: I prefer the term "film" to "movie." You watch
movies, you study film.
MY CRITERIA FOR JUDGING FILMS (in no particular order)
1. The film's topicality and epochality: how it expresses, and perhaps
counterposes, its historical/cultural/social milieu.
2. Universality of theme or message (that element which transcends specific
time and place).
3. Is the film motivated or inspired by progressive (i.e., Leftist)
ideology? Such progressivism is of course common in art. Because art frees
perception, galvanizes the sensibility, and empowers the imagination to transcend and
break the intellectual conformism and inertia resulting from the repressive
force of state apparatuses, it prepares the way for positive historical change.
Therefore the true artist, claims William Blake, is a prophet.
Films such as "The Grapes of Wrath," "Modern Times," "Viva Zapata!," and
"It's a Wonderful Life," which are more or less socialistic or anarchistic, are
indisputably in this category of progressive art. This does not mean, however,
that a conservative film has no chance of making my list. "Shane," as a
celebration of Manifest Destiny, is deeply conservative--in fact, it is difficult
for me to imagine a more conservative film--but it is also intelligent and
perfectly crafted.
4. The film's manifest intelligence; this could be philosophical profundity,
psychological penetration, lyrical charm, or mythic resonance.
5. Passion, poignancy, pathos: is the film's emotional content authentic,
uncontrived, and moving?
6. As I watch, do I sense a genuine love of filmmaking, a true joy in the
creative art?
7. Idiosyncrasy: something distinctive, out of the ordinary, and memorable.
This is the element of surprise or unpredictability.
8. The quality of the script and dialogue. The literary quality of the
film. Is it a good story?
9. The performances of the actors. (The best performance I've seen is
Robert DeNiro in "Raging Bull"; next is Marlon Brando in "On the
Waterfront"--interestingly, both play boxers. Two of the finest supporting performances I've
seen are Cloris Leachman in "The Last Picture Show" and Billy Bob Thornton in "A
Simple Plan.")
10. Production values: cinematography, production design, costumes, music,
sound, special effects (I will admit to having a peculiar fondness for good
gunshot and blood-spurting effects), editing, etc. (If production values were
the chief criterion, nearly every film made this decade would be in my Top 100.)
The film's craftsmanship.
11. Directorial flair or flamboyance (I'm always aware of bad directors, for
incompetence is conspicuous; I don't notice good directors, for they just do
their job; I marvel at great or virtuoso directors because every scene bears
their signature, and thus we can talk of a Hitchcock film or a Lynch film or a
Leone film--films which really can't be directed by anyone else.)
12. Does the film almost demand multiple viewings? And when the film is
seen again, does it, like when a great novel is reread, reveal new distinctions,
modulations, truths?
CAPSULE JUSTIFICATIONS FOR MY TOP DOZEN
1. A perfect synthesis of the historic and mythic Wests, this spaghetti
Western has it all: vividly etched characters, magnificent cinematography,
incomparably elaborate mise-en-scene, unforgettable music, and a strong female lead,
which is unusual for a Western. It is filled with texture, nuance, intense
but unarticulated emotion, and subversion (most notably, the standard equation
of white man=goodness and dark-skinned man=evil is inverted). Leone called
his film "a ballet of the dead."
2. This is a Dies Irae, a requiem mass, an elegy for modern civilization
inspired by Hopi prophecies (which are the only words in the film) which foretell
the doom of the white man in North America. The last twenty minutes may be
the most powerful and haunting footage ever shot. This film changes the viewer.
3. If you want to understand the milieu, the hope and promise and ultimate
demise, of the 1960s, see this sad, tragic, grittily realistic film. A story
of the state of the Union in Chicago during the summer of '68, it sounds the
death knell of '60s idealism as the police riot at the Democratic National
Convention and smash the skulls of protesters ("You stinkin' Commie!" a cop yells
before swinging his club at a young man). Wexler actually planted his actors
in real events!
4. Based on John Steinbeck's 1939 populist and galvanizing novel, this is a
harsh, unflinching look at social, economic, and political realities during
the Great Depression. Though not as radical as the novel--for Steinbeck's
quasi-Marxism is replaced by Ford's Christian humanism--this is nonetheless
proletarian art at its finest, and it is still wonderfully subversive. Brilliant
performances.
5. A sheer joy to watch, in part because it fully realizes the potential of
the film medium while at the same time critiquing the voyeurism of moviegoers,
this is a mystery and a thriller as well as a romance, a comedy, a melodrama,
and a trenchant commentary on contemporary urban life. Also a sheer joy to
watch is the preternaturally beautiful Grace Kelly. A flawless film.
6. Banned as Communist propaganda by Hitler and Mussolini (which makes it a
must-see!), this is, behind the humor and stunts, a bold indictment of
industrialization, the assembly line, wage slavery, corporate hegemony, and the
police state thirty years before such radicalism became de rigueur. It compels us
to reconsider our notions of progress. Its final shot is unforgettable.
Chaplin may be to the cinema what Bach is to music: the master from whom all
learn.
7. Protested by union leaders when it was released and scorned by some
critics as a "pro-McCarthy apologia," this film is actually anti-mob,
anti-corruption, and pro-working class. The on-screen chemistry between Brando and Eva
Marie Saint is marvelous.
8. A film I enjoy more now than when I was a kid. An intelligent adventure
film which is endlessly fascinating and which has one of the most famous
conclusions in cinematic history. In its own way, this says as much about 1960s'
America as "Medium Cool" or "Easy Rider" do.
9. The quintessential film noir with three wonderfully developed
characters--including a monstrous but, of course, alluring femme fatale--snappy repartee,
and a bleak conclusion. This could be read as a Freudian drama with Phyllis
as the Id, Keyes as the Superego, and Walter as the Ego.
10. An elegiac Western set in 1913, this begins and ends with two of the
most horrific gunbattles ever choreographed. In-between, the characters of Pike
and Thornton offer a fascinating study in contrast, Mexico is portrayed
sympathetically, and there is much intriguing symbolism. This film revolutionized
the theory of editing: it has 3600 shots, twice as many as any other film had
ever had.
11. One of the monuments of filmmaking distinguished by great performances,
memorable scenes (young Michael killing two crooks in a restaurant, the
baptism, the entire Cuban sequence, the final scene between Michael and Kay, etc.),
ethnic detail, and an elegiac tone, for the age of the gangster and the family
is being supplanted by the age of the CEO and the corporation.
12. Ultra low-budget film shot in black and white outside of Pittsburgh may
be the scariest film ever made. Absolutely haunting. Its dark, tenebrous
atmosphere seems so authentic that this film can somehow be called a cinema verité
horror film. I've always found it interesting that the protagonist is
black.
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