These are the 100 Best American Films Ever, According to Critics
One of cinema’s great pleasures is that it provides fans endless opportunities to argue and debate. While the conversation is always ongoing, film-lovers received some excellent fodder for their disagreements on Tuesday when the BBC unveiled its list of the 100 greatest American films.
The list, which was compiled by polling film critics around the world, only requires that a movie was made with money that came from America; films made by non-American directors were not only allowed, but embraced, taking up nearly a full third of the list. That Orson Welles’ masterwork Citizen Kane took the top slot should come as no real surprise, but there were plenty of other eyebrow-raising results, which we’ve broken down below.
The top directors: Five directors had four or more movies make the list, and two of them weren’t American. Billy Wilder was born in Austria, while Alfred Hitchcock was a major filmmaker in England before coming to the US. Stanley Kubrick, meanwhile, was born in the US but did most of his filmmaking in the UK.
Among the most name-checked directors:
Billy Wilder: The Apartment (#24), Some Like It Hot (#30), Double Indemnity (#35), Sunset Boulevard (#54), Ace in the Hole (#100).
Steven Spielberg: Jaws (#38), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (#75), Schindler’s List (#78), Raiders of the Lost Ark (#72), E.T. (#91).
Alfred Hitchcock: Vertigo (#3), Psycho (#8), North by Northwest (#13), Marnie (#47), Notorious (#68).
Stanley Kubrick: 2001: A Space Odyssey (#4), Barry Lyndon (#27), Dr. Strangelove (#42), Eyes Wide Shut (#61), The Shining (62).
Howard Hawks: Rio Bravo (#41), His Girl Friday (#50), Red River (#66), Bringing Up Baby (#83).
Martin Scorsese: Taxi Driver (#19) , Goodfellas (#20), Raging Bull (#29), Mean Streets (#93).
Francis Ford Coppola: The Godfather (#2), The Godfather Part II (#10), The Conversation (#33), Apocalypse Now (#90).
Among the other takeaways from the list:
No movies directed by women: The fact that such a huge swath of critics could not find a single film directed by a woman to put on a list of 100 movies is perhaps less a reflection on those critics than a damning indictment of a century’s worth of sexism in the film industry. And it doesn’t seem like it’s getting much better.
And only three black directors: Spike Lee had two films on the list, Do the Right Thing (#25) and 25th Hour (#94). At least Charles Burnett’s 1978 drama Killer of Sheep, which languished in obscurity until a 2007 re-release, landed at #26. Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, which won Best Picture in 2014, clocked in at #99.
No movies by Joel and Ethan Coen: The highest-placing film by the indie stalwarts was The Big Lebowski, which was #129 on the list. Surprisingly, there was no love shown for Oscar winners Fargo or No Country for Old Men.
Controversy not averted: Both Gone With the Wind (#97) and The Birth of a Nation (#39) made the list, despite now being acknowledged as cringe-inducingly racist (especially the latter). Presumably they were included for their historical significance rather than their messages.
Sci-fi struggles: Though it dominates today’s big screens, blockbuster films did not fare all that well with critics. Pure science-fiction films are rare, with only 2001: A Space Odyssey (#4), Star Wars (#36), Back to the Future (#56), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (#75), The Empire Strikes Back (#76), and E.T. (#91) making the cut. Two other Spielberg blockbusters made it: Jaws (#38) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (#81). The Dark Knight (#96) was the only superhero film to nab a spot, while 1968′s Night of the Living Dead (#85) repped for horror.
