AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies
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In 1998, the American Film Institute polled more than 1,500 artists and leaders from the film industry to select the 100 greatest American films of all time.
This list was released in 1998 and was the first in the 100 Years Series of cinematic milestones. It was released in video in 2 versions – a 145 minute version, which aired on CBS, and a 460 version available only on video.
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Criteria
Films were judged by the following criteria.
- 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. Thus, although Lawrence of Arabia was directed by a Briton and first premiered in London, it is considered to qualify as an American film because it was produced by an American.
- 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.
Debate
The AFI's list is an attempt to form a canon for American films. The status of this canon, as with all canons such as the Western canon, is subject to dispute. On the one hand, there are certain films which are clearly superior and influential. On the other hand, the scope of American film is so broad that any precise listing is bound to be somewhat subjective. The AFI itself has declared that its most important purpose in establishing the list is to foster new interest, discussion, and experience of great American films.
In general, the list is somewhat conservative. Films from the classic Hollywood period and films from major studios are most represented. Some critics have charged that independent films and films from lesser genres (such as film noir, a distinctly American genre) have also been ignored. Some have also charged that the immense marketing and hype surrounding the list somehow caused it to be tilted in favor of major studio releases available on video. The AFI has denied this charge.
As with other major awards, such as the Academy Awards, the list of those who voted and the final vote tally have not been released to the public.
The list
- Citizen Kane (1941)
- Casablanca (1942)
- The Godfather (1972)
- Gone With The Wind (1939)
- Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
- The Wizard of Oz (1939)
- The Graduate (1967)
- On the Waterfront (1954)
- Schindler's List (1993)
- Singin' in the Rain (1952)
- It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
- Sunset Boulevard (1950)
- The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
- Some Like it Hot (1959)
- Star Wars (1977)
- All About Eve (1950)
- The African Queen (1951)
- Psycho (1960)
- Chinatown (1974)
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
- The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
- The Maltese Falcon (1941)
- Raging Bull (1980)
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
- Dr. Strangelove (1964)
- Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
- Apocalypse Now (1979)
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
- Annie Hall (1977)
- The Godfather Part II (1974)
- High Noon (1952)
- To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
- It Happened One Night (1934)
- Midnight Cowboy (1969)
- The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
- Double Indemnity (1944)
- Doctor Zhivago (1965)
- North by Northwest (1959)
- West Side Story (1961)
- Rear Window (1954)
- King Kong (1933)
- The Birth of a Nation (1915)
- A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
- A Clockwork Orange (1971)
- Taxi Driver (1976)
- Jaws (1975)
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
- The Philadelphia Story (1940)
- From Here to Eternity (1953)
- Amadeus (1984)
- All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
- The Sound of Music (1965)
- M*A*S*H (1970)
- The Third Man (1949)
- Fantasia (1940)
- Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
- Vertigo (1958)
- Tootsie (1982)
- Stagecoach (1939)
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
- The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
- Network (1976)
- The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
- An American in Paris (1951)
- Shane (1953)
- The French Connection (1971)
- Forrest Gump (1994)
- Ben-Hur (1959)
- Wuthering Heights (1939)
- The Gold Rush (1925)
- Dances With Wolves (1990)
- City Lights (1931)
- American Graffiti (1973)
- Rocky (1976)
- The Deer Hunter (1978)
- The Wild Bunch (1969)
- Modern Times (1936)
- Giant (1956)
- Platoon (1986)
- Fargo (1996)
- Duck Soup (1933)
- Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
- Frankenstein (1931)
- Easy Rider (1969)
- Patton (1970)
- The Jazz Singer (1927)
- My Fair Lady (1964)
- A Place in the Sun (1951)
- The Apartment (1960)
- Goodfellas (1990)
- Pulp Fiction (1994)
- The Searchers (1956)
- Bringing Up Baby (1938)
- Unforgiven (1992)
- Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
- Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
External links
- American Film Institute (http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/movies.aspx)
- Filmsite.org article (http://www.filmsite.org/afi100films.html)
- Montreal Mirror editorial (http://www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/1998/082098/film1.html)