AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies

Last updated
AFI 100 Years... series
1998 100 Movies
1999 100 Stars
2000 100 Laughs
2001 100 Thrills
2002 100 Passions
2003 100 Heroes & Villains
2004 100 Songs
2005 100 Movie Quotes
2005 25 Scores
2006 100 Cheers
2006 25 Musicals
2007 100 Movies (Updated)
2008 AFI's 10 Top 10

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.

Contents

Criteria

Films were judged according to the following criteria:

  1. Feature length : Narrative format, at least 60 minutes long.
  2. 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.)
  3. Critical recognition: Formal commendation in print.
  4. Major award winner: Recognition from competitive events including awards from organizations in the film community and major film festivals.
  5. Popularity over time: Including figures for box office adjusted for inflation, television broadcasts and syndication, and home video sales and rentals.
  6. Historical significance: A film's mark on the history of the moving image through technical innovation, visionary narrative devices or other groundbreaking achievements.
  7. Cultural impact: A film's mark on American society in matters of style and substance.

[1]

List

FilmRelease yearDirectorProduction companies1998 Rank2007 Rank
Citizen Kane 1941 Orson Welles RKO Radio Pictures 11
Casablanca 1942 Michael Curtiz Warner Bros. Pictures 23
The Godfather 1972 Francis Ford Coppola Paramount Pictures, Alfran Productions32
Gone with the Wind 1939 Victor Fleming Selznick International Pictures 46
Lawrence of Arabia 1962 David Lean Horizon Pictures 57
The Wizard of Oz 1939 Victor Fleming Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 610
The Graduate 1967 Mike Nichols Lawrence Turman 717
On the Waterfront 1954 Elia Kazan Horizon-American Pictures819
Schindler's List 1993 Steven Spielberg Amblin Entertainment 98
Singin' in the Rain 1952 Gene Kelly , Stanley Donen Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 105
It's a Wonderful Life 1946 Frank Capra Liberty Pictures 1120
Sunset Boulevard 1950 Billy Wilder Paramount Pictures 1216
The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957 David Lean Horizon-American Pictures1336
Some Like It Hot 1959 Billy Wilder Ashton Productions, The Mirisch Company 1422
Star Wars 1977 George Lucas Lucasfilm 1513
All About Eve 1950 Joseph L. Mankiewicz 20th Century-Fox 1628
The African Queen 1951 John Huston Horizon Enterprises, Romulus Films 1765
Psycho 1960 Alfred Hitchcock Shamley Productions1814
Chinatown 1974 Roman Polanski Long Road Productions1921
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975 Miloš Forman Fantasy Films2033
The Grapes of Wrath 1940 John Ford 20th Century-Fox 2123
2001: A Space Odyssey 1968 Stanley Kubrick Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 2215
The Maltese Falcon 1941 John Huston Warner Bros. Pictures 2331
Raging Bull 1980 Martin Scorsese Chartoff-Winkler Productions244
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1982 Steven Spielberg Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment 2524
Dr. Strangelove 1964 Stanley Kubrick Hawk Films, Polaris Productions2639
Bonnie and Clyde 1967 Arthur Penn Tatira-Hiller Productions2742
Apocalypse Now 1979 Francis Ford Coppola Omni Zoetrope 2830
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 1939 Frank Capra Columbia Pictures 2926
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 1948 John Huston Warner Bros. Pictures 3038
Annie Hall 1977 Woody Allen United Artists 3135
The Godfather Part II 1974 Francis Ford Coppola The Coppola Company3232
High Noon 1952 Fred Zinnemann Stanley Kramer Productions3327
To Kill a Mockingbird 1962 Robert Mulligan Pakula-Mulligan Productions, Brentwood Productions 3425
It Happened One Night 1934 Frank Capra Columbia Pictures 3546
Midnight Cowboy 1969 John Schlesinger Jerome Hellman Productions3643
The Best Years of Our Lives 1946 William Wyler Samuel Goldwyn Productions 3737
Double Indemnity 1944 Billy Wilder Paramount Pictures 3829
Doctor Zhivago 1965 David Lean Carlo Ponti Productions39-
North by Northwest 1959 Alfred Hitchcock Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 4055
West Side Story 1961 Robert Wise , Jerome Robbins Beta Productions, The Mirisch Company, Seven Arts Productions, B & P Enterprises4151
Rear Window 1954 Alfred Hitchcock Paramount Pictures, Patron4248
King Kong 1933 Merian C. Cooper RKO Radio Pictures 4341
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 4547
A Clockwork Orange 1971 Stanley Kubrick Polaris Productions, Hawk Films 4670
Taxi Driver 1976 Martin Scorsese B & P Enterprises, Italo-Judeo4752
Jaws 1975 Steven Spielberg Universal Pictures, Zanuck/Brown Company 4856
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937 David Hand, et al. Walt Disney Productions 4934
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969 George Roy Hill Campanile Productions5073
The Philadelphia Story 1940 George Cukor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 5144
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 5540
M*A*S*H 1970 Robert Altman Aspen Productions5654
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 6066
Vertigo 1958 Alfred Hitchcock Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions, Paramount Pictures 619
Tootsie 1982 Sydney Pollack Mirage Enterprises, Punch Productions, Columbia Pictures, Delphi Productions6269
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 Productions6574
Network 1976 Sidney Lumet Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, United Artists 6664
The Manchurian Candidate 1962 John Frankenheimer M. C. Productions67-
An American in Paris 1951 Vincente Minnelli Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 68-
Shane 1953 George Stevens Paramount Pictures 6945
The French Connection 1971 William Friedkin D'Antoni Productions7093
Forrest Gump 1994 Robert Zemeckis The Tisch Company7176
Ben-Hur 1959 William Wyler Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 72100
Wuthering Heights 1939 William Wyler Samuel Goldwyn Productions 73-
The Gold Rush 1925 Charlie Chaplin Charles Chaplin Productions7458
Dances with Wolves 1990 Kevin Costner TIG Productions, Majestic Films International75-
City Lights 1931 Charlie Chaplin Charles Chaplin Productions7611
American Graffiti 1973 George Lucas Coppola Co., Lucasfilm 7762
Rocky 1976 John G. Avildsen Chartoff-Winkler Productions7857
The Deer Hunter 1978 Michael Cimino EMI 7953
The Wild Bunch 1969 Sam Peckinpah Phil Feldman Productions, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts 8079
Modern Times 1936 Charlie Chaplin Charles Chaplin Film Corp.8178
Giant 1956 George Stevens Warner Bros. Pictures 82-
Platoon 1986 Oliver Stone Hemdale Film Corporation 8386
Fargo 1996 Joel Coen Working Title Films 84-
Duck Soup 1933 Leo McCarey Paramount Productions 8560
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 8884
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 9380
Goodfellas 1990 Martin Scorsese Warner Bros. Pictures, Irwin Winkler Productions9492
Pulp Fiction 1994 Quentin Tarantino A Band Apart, Jersey Films 9594
The Searchers 1956 John Ford C.V. Whitney Pictures9612
Bringing Up Baby 1938 Howard Hawks RKO Radio Pictures 9788
Unforgiven 1992 Clint Eastwood The Malpaso Company 9868
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 1967 Stanley Kramer Columbia Pictures 99-
Yankee Doodle Dandy 1942 Michael Curtiz Warner Bros. Pictures 10098
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

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

Presentation broadcast on CBS

A 145-minute presentation of the 100 films aired on CBS on June 16, 1998.

Presentation broadcast on TNT

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

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

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

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References

  1. "100 Greatest American Movies by AFI - Film Series". www.filmsite.org.
  2. Rosenbaum, Jonathan (June 26, 1998). "List-o-Mania: Or, How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love American Movies". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  3. "What Are the AFI Top 100 Movies of All Time?". No Film School. July 13, 2020.