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The first of the AFI 100 Years... series of cinematic milestones, AFI's 100 Years... 100 American Movies is a list of the 100 best American movies , as determined by the American Film Institute from a poll of more than 1,500 artists and leaders in the film industry who chose from a list of 400 nominated movies. The 100-best list American films was unveiled in 1998. AFI released an updated list in 2007.
Criteria [ edit ]
Films were judged according to the following criteria:
Feature length : Narrative format, at least 60 minutes long.
American film : English language , with significant creative and/or financial production elements from the United States . (Certain films, notably The Bridge on the River Kwai , 2001: A Space Odyssey and Lawrence of Arabia , were British-made but funded and distributed by American studios. The Lord of the Rings was New Zealand-made with American funding.)
Critical recognition : Formal commendation in print.
Major award winner : Recognition from competitive events including awards from organizations in the film community and major film festivals.
Popularity over time : Including figures for box office adjusted for inflation, television broadcasts and syndication, and home video sales and rentals.
Historical significance : A film's mark on the history of the moving image through technical innovation, visionary narrative devices or other groundbreaking achievements.
Cultural impact : A film's mark on American society in matters of style and substance.
[1]
Film
Release year
Director
Production companies
1998 Rank
2007 Rank
Citizen Kane
1941
Orson Welles
RKO Radio Pictures
1
1
Casablanca
1942
Michael Curtiz
Warner Bros. Pictures
2
3
The Godfather
1972
Francis Ford Coppola
Paramount Pictures , Alfran Productions
3
2
Gone with the Wind
1939
Victor Fleming
Selznick International Pictures
4
6
Lawrence of Arabia
1962
David Lean
Horizon Pictures
5
7
The Wizard of Oz
1939
Victor Fleming
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
6
10
The Graduate
1967
Mike Nichols
Lawrence Turman
7
17
On the Waterfront
1954
Elia Kazan
Horizon-American Pictures
8
19
Schindler's List
1993
Steven Spielberg
Amblin Entertainment
9
8
Singin' in the Rain
1952
Gene Kelly , Stanley Donen
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
10
5
It's a Wonderful Life
1946
Frank Capra
Liberty Pictures
11
20
Sunset Boulevard
1950
Billy Wilder
Paramount Pictures
12
16
The Bridge on the River Kwai
1957
David Lean
Horizon-American Pictures
13
36
Some Like It Hot
1959
Billy Wilder
Ashton Productions, The Mirisch Company
14
22
Star Wars
1977
George Lucas
Lucasfilm
15
13
All About Eve
1950
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
20th Century-Fox
16
28
The African Queen
1951
John Huston
Horizon Enterprises, Romulus Films
17
65
Psycho
1960
Alfred Hitchcock
Shamley Productions
18
14
Chinatown
1974
Roman Polanski
Long Road Productions
19
21
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1975
Miloš Forman
Fantasy Films
20
33
The Grapes of Wrath
1940
John Ford
20th Century-Fox
21
23
2001: A Space Odyssey
1968
Stanley Kubrick
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
22
15
The Maltese Falcon
1941
John Huston
Warner Bros. Pictures
23
31
Raging Bull
1980
Martin Scorsese
Chartoff-Winkler Productions
24
4
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1982
Steven Spielberg
Universal Pictures , Amblin Entertainment
25
24
Dr. Strangelove
1964
Stanley Kubrick
Hawk Films , Polaris Productions
26
39
Bonnie and Clyde
1967
Arthur Penn
Tatira-Hiller Productions
27
42
Apocalypse Now
1979
Francis Ford Coppola
Omni Zoetrope
28
30
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939
Frank Capra
Columbia Pictures
29
26
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
1948
John Huston
Warner Bros. Pictures
30
38
Annie Hall
1977
Woody Allen
United Artists
31
35
The Godfather Part II
1974
Francis Ford Coppola
The Coppola Company
32
32
High Noon
1952
Fred Zinnemann
Stanley Kramer Productions
33
27
To Kill a Mockingbird
1962
Robert Mulligan
Pakula-Mulligan Productions, Brentwood Productions
34
25
It Happened One Night
1934
Frank Capra
Columbia Pictures
35
46
Midnight Cowboy
1969
John Schlesinger
Jerome Hellman Productions
36
43
The Best Years of Our Lives
1946
William Wyler
Samuel Goldwyn Productions
37
37
Double Indemnity
1944
Billy Wilder
Paramount Pictures
38
29
Doctor Zhivago
1965
David Lean
Carlo Ponti Productions
39
North by Northwest
1959
Alfred Hitchcock
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
40
55
West Side Story
1961
Robert Wise , Jerome Robbins
Beta Productions, The Mirisch Company , Seven Arts Productions , B & P Enterprises
41
51
Rear Window
1954
Alfred Hitchcock
Paramount Pictures , Patron
42
48
King Kong
1933
Merian C. Cooper
RKO Radio Pictures
43
41
The Birth of a Nation
1915
D. W. Griffith
David W. Griffith Corp.
44
A Streetcar Named Desire
1951
Elia Kazan
Warner Bros. Pictures , Charles K. Feldman Productions
45
47
A Clockwork Orange
1971
Stanley Kubrick
Polaris Productions, Hawk Films
46
70
Taxi Driver
1976
Martin Scorsese
B & P Enterprises, Italo-Judeo
47
52
Jaws
1975
Steven Spielberg
Universal Pictures , Zanuck/Brown Company
48
56
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
1937
David Hand , et al.
Walt Disney Productions
49
34
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
1969
George Roy Hill
Campanile Productions
50
73
The Philadelphia Story
1940
George Cukor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
51
44
From Here to Eternity
1953
Fred Zinnemann
Columbia Pictures
52
Amadeus
1984
Miloš Forman
The Saul Zaentz Company
53
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930
Lewis Milestone
Universal Pictures
54
The Sound of Music
1965
Robert Wise
Argyle Enterprises, 20th Century-Fox
55
40
M*A*S*H
1970
Robert Altman
Aspen Productions
56
54
The Third Man
1949
Carol Reed
London Film Productions
57
Fantasia
1940
Walt Disney
Walt Disney Productions
58
Rebel Without a Cause
1955
Nicholas Ray
Warner Bros. Pictures
59
Raiders of the Lost Ark
1981
Steven Spielberg
Lucasfilm
60
66
Vertigo
1958
Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions, Paramount Pictures
61
9
Tootsie
1982
Sydney Pollack
Mirage Enterprises , Punch Productions, Columbia Pictures , Delphi Productions
62
69
Stagecoach
1939
John Ford
Walter Wanger Productions
63
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1977
Steven Spielberg
Columbia Pictures , EMI
64
The Silence of the Lambs
1991
Jonathan Demme
Strong Heart Productions
65
74
Network
1976
Sidney Lumet
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , United Artists
66
64
The Manchurian Candidate
1962
John Frankenheimer
M. C. Productions
67
An American in Paris
1951
Vincente Minnelli
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
68
Shane
1953
George Stevens
Paramount Pictures
69
45
The French Connection
1971
William Friedkin
D'Antoni Productions
70
93
Forrest Gump
1994
Robert Zemeckis
The Tisch Company
71
76
Ben-Hur
1959
William Wyler
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
72
100
Wuthering Heights
1939
William Wyler
Samuel Goldwyn Productions
73
The Gold Rush
1925
Charlie Chaplin
Charles Chaplin Productions
74
58
Dances with Wolves
1990
Kevin Costner
TIG Productions, Majestic Films International
75
City Lights
1931
Charlie Chaplin
Charles Chaplin Productions
76
11
American Graffiti
1973
George Lucas
Coppola Co., Lucasfilm
77
62
Rocky
1976
John G. Avildsen
Chartoff-Winkler Productions
78
57
The Deer Hunter
1978
Michael Cimino
EMI
79
53
The Wild Bunch
1969
Sam Peckinpah
Phil Feldman Productions, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
80
79
Modern Times
1936
Charlie Chaplin
Charles Chaplin Film Corp.
81
78
Giant
1956
George Stevens
Warner Bros. Pictures
82
Platoon
1986
Oliver Stone
Hemdale Film Corporation
83
86
Fargo
1996
Joel Coen
Working Title Films
84
Duck Soup
1933
Leo McCarey
Paramount Productions
85
60
Mutiny on the Bounty
1935
Frank Lloyd
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
86
Frankenstein
1931
James Whale
Universal Pictures
87
Easy Rider
1969
Dennis Hopper
The Pando Company, Raybert Productions
88
84
Patton
1970
Franklin J. Schaffner
20th Century-Fox
89
The Jazz Singer
1927
Alan Crosland
Warner Bros. Pictures , The Vitaphone Corp.
90
My Fair Lady
1964
George Cukor
Warner Bros. Pictures
91
A Place in the Sun
1951
George Stevens
Paramount Pictures
92
The Apartment
1960
Billy Wilder
The Mirisch Company
93
80
Goodfellas
1990
Martin Scorsese
Warner Bros. Pictures , Irwin Winkler Productions
94
92
Pulp Fiction
1994
Quentin Tarantino
A Band Apart , Jersey Films
95
94
The Searchers
1956
John Ford
C. V. Whitney Pictures
96
12
Bringing Up Baby
1938
Howard Hawks
RKO Radio Pictures
97
88
Unforgiven
1992
Clint Eastwood
The Malpaso Company
98
68
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
1967
Stanley Kramer
Columbia Pictures
99
Yankee Doodle Dandy
1942
Michael Curtiz
Warner Bros. Pictures
100
98
The General
1926
Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton Productions, Joseph M. Schenck Productions
18
Intolerance
1916
D. W. Griffith
Reliance-Majestic Studios
49
The Fellowship of the Ring
2001
Peter Jackson
New Line Cinema , WingNut Films
50
Nashville
1975
Robert Altman
ABC Motion Pictures
59
Sullivan's Travels
1941
Preston Sturges
Paramount Pictures
61
Cabaret
1972
Bob Fosse
ABC Pictures , Allied Artists
63
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1966
Mike Nichols
Warner Bros.
67
Saving Private Ryan
1998
Steven Spielberg
Amblin Entertainment , DreamWorks Pictures
71
The Shawshank Redemption
1994
Frank Darabont
Castle Rock Entertainment
72
In the Heat of the Night
1967
Norman Jewison
The Mirisch Corporation
75
All the President's Men
1976
Alan J. Pakula
Wildwood Enterprises
77
Spartacus
1960
Stanley Kubrick
Bryna Productions
81
Sunrise
1927
F.W. Murnau
Fox Film Corporation
82
Titanic
1997
James Cameron
Lightstorm Entertainment , Paramount Pictures
83
A Night at the Opera
1935
Sam Wood
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
85
12 Angry Men
1957
Sidney Lumet
Orion-Nova Productions
87
The Sixth Sense
1999
M. Night Shyamalan
Hollywood Pictures
89
Swing Time
1936
George Stevens
RKO Radio Pictures
90
Sophie's Choice
1982
Alan J. Pakula
ITC Entertainment
91
The Last Picture Show
1971
Peter Bogdanovich
BBS Productions
95
Do the Right Thing
1989
Spike Lee
40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks
96
Blade Runner
1982
Ridley Scott
The Ladd Company , Shaw Brothers
97
Toy Story
1995
John Lasseter
Walt Disney Pictures , Pixar Animation Studios
99
2007 changes [ edit ]
Twenty-three films were replaced in the 2007 tenth anniversary list. Doctor Zhivago , previously ranked #39, was the highest-ranked film to be dropped from the updated list, while The General at #18 was the highest-ranked new entry.
Broadcast history [ edit ]
Presentation broadcast on CBS [ edit ]
A 145-minute presentation of the 100 films aired on CBS on June 16, 1998.
Presentation broadcast on TNT [ edit ]
A 460-minute version aired as a 10-part series on TNT , narrated by James Woods and hosted by American talents as follows:
Presentation broadcast on TNT UK [ edit ]
Another version of the same 460-minute program was produced by Monique De Villiers and John Heyman from A World Production company to British television and market featuring different interviews and each segment being hosted by British talents in the following order:
Criticisms [ edit ]
As with awards, the list of those who vote and the final vote tally are not released to the public, nor the criteria for how the 400 nominated films have been selected.
On June 26, 1998, the Chicago Reader published an article by film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum which offers a detailed response to the movies in the AFI list, as well as criticism of the AFI's appropriation of British films, such as Lawrence of Arabia (albeit with aforementioned American funding) and The Third Man . Rosenbaum also produced an alternative list of 100 American movies that he felt had been overlooked by the AFI.[2] Rosenbaum chose to present this alternative list alphabetically since to rank them according to merit would be "tantamount to ranking oranges over apples or declaring cherries superior to grapes."
The AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) list includes five titles from Rosenbaum's list (including Do the Right Thing ),[3] and the accompanying promotional poster lists the titles in alphabetical order.
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
External links [ edit ]