Orson Welles' masterpiece 
Citizen
Kane (1941) was chosen the # 1 film of all
time. The top 10 included, in order: 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), and Singin' In The Rain (1952).
The films spanned from 1915 (D. W. Griffith's silent film The
Birth of a Nation at # 44) to 1996 (The Coen Brothers' Fargo at
# 84).
Charlie Chaplin was the most celebrated
actor and director on the list, with three films: The
Gold Rush (1925) (at # 74), City
Lights (1931) (at # 76), and Modern
Times (1936) (at # 81).
Directors of the Films:
In total, 13 directors accounted for 43% of the
top 100 films of all time.
Steven Spielberg directed five of
the 100 greatest American movies: Schindler's
List (1993) (# 9), E.T.
The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) (# 25), Jaws
(1975) (# 48), Raiders
of the Lost Ark (1981) (# 60), and Close
Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) (# 64).
Alfred Hitchcock and Billy Wilder
each directed four films on the list.
Alfred Hitchcock: Psycho (1960) (# 18), North By Northwest (1959) (# 40), Rear Window (1954) (# 42), and Vertigo (1958) (# 61)
Billy Wilder: Sunset Boulevard (1950) (# 12), Some Like It Hot (1959) (# 14), Double Indemnity (1944) (# 38), and The Apartment (1960) (# 93)
Ten other directors
each directed three:
Frank Capra: It's A Wonderful Life (1946) (# 11), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) (# 29), and It Happened One Night (1934) (# 35)
Francis
Ford Coppola: The Godfather (1972) (# 3), Apocalypse Now (1979) (# 28), and The Godfather, Part II (1974) (# 32)
Stanley Kubrick: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (# 22), Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
(1964) (# 26), and A Clockwork Orange (1971) (# 46)
John Huston: The African Queen (1951) (# 17), The Maltese Falcon (1941) (# 23), and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) (# 30)
William Wyler: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) (# 37), Ben-Hur (1959) (# 72), and Wuthering Heights (1939) (# 73)
John Ford: The Grapes of Wrath (1940) (# 21), Stagecoach (1939) (# 63), and The Searchers (1956) (# 96)
Charlie Chaplin: The
Gold Rush (1925) (# 74), City
Lights (1931) (# 76), and Modern
Times (1936) (# 81)
Martin Scorsese: Raging Bull (1980) (# 24), Taxi Driver (1976) (# 47), and GoodFellas (1990) (# 94)
David Lean: Lawrence of Arabia (1962) (# 5), The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) (# 13), and Doctor Zhivago (1965) (# 39)
George Stevens: Shane (1953) (# 69), Giant (1956) (# 82), and A Place in the Sun (1951) (# 92)
Victor Fleming
was the only director with two top ten films ( Gone With The Wind (1939) (# 4) and The Wizard of Oz (1939) (# 6), although
he shared directing duties with three other uncredited
talents for Gone
With the Wind (1939).
Michael Curtiz was recognized
with only two films: Casablanca (1942) (# 2) and Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) (# 100), as was Elia Kazan: On The Waterfront (1954) (# 8) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) (# 45).
Woody Allen had only one film in the list: Annie Hall (1977) (# 31) as did Howard Hawks: Bringing Up Baby (1938) (# 97).
Marlon Brando was the only actor
to star in two of the top 10 films: The
Godfather (1972) (# 3) and On
The Waterfront (1954) (# 8).
James Stewart and Robert DeNiro
were the most represented actors in a starring role,
each with five films in the top 100.
Stewart: It's A Wonderful Life (1946) (# 11), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) (# 29), Rear Window (1954) (# 42), The Philadelphia Story (1940) (# 51), and Vertigo (1958) (# 61).
Robert DeNiro: Raging Bull (1980) (# 24), The Godfather, Part II (1974) (# 32), Taxi Driver (1976) (# 47), The Deer Hunter (1978) (# 79), and GoodFellas (1990) (# 94).
Many actors appeared
in four films in the list of 100 greatest American films.
James Dean was represented by two of his three films. Rebel Without a Cause (1955) (# 59), and Giant (1956) (# 82).
Fred
Astaire didn't appear anywhere in the films listed.
Robert Duvall appeared in six films, including
his minor role in To
Kill a Mockingbird (1962).
And character actor
Ward Bond appeared in the most films, seven: It
Happened One Night (1934) (# 35), Bringing
Up Baby (1938) (# 97), Gone
With the Wind (1939) (# 4), The
Grapes of Wrath (1940) (# 21), The
Maltese Falcon (1941) (# 23), It's
a Wonderful Life (1946) (# 11) and The
Searchers (1956) (# 96).
Katharine Hepburn was the most represented
leading actress, with four films: The
African Queen (1951) (# 17), The
Philadelphia Story (1940) (# 51), Bringing
Up Baby (1938) (# 97), and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
(1967) (# 99).
Natalie Wood, Diane Keaton
and Faye Dunaway had three films each:
Natalie Wood: West Side Story (1961) (# 41), Rebel Without a Cause (1955) (# 59), and The Searchers (1956) (# 96).
Diane Keaton: The Godfather (1972) (# 3), Annie Hall (1977) (# 31), and The Godfather, Part II (1974) (# 32).
Faye Dunaway: Chinatown (1974) (# 19), Bonnie And Clyde (1967) (# 27), and Network (1976) (# 66).
The great stars of the silver screen, Barbara Stanwyck
and Bette Davis, had only one film each respectively, Double Indemnity (1944) (# 38) and All About Eve (1950) (# 16).
There were no films
showcasing Ginger Rogers or Greta Garbo.
A majority of the 100 great films
could be classifed as dramas.
The following genre types were also included (although each classification was sometimes debatable):
12 comedies ( Some Like It Hot (1959) (# 14), Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
(1964) (# 26), Annie Hall (1977) (# 31), It Happened One Night (1934) (# 35), The Philadelphia Story (1940) (# 51), M*A*S*H (1970) (# 56), Tootsie (1982) (# 62), The Gold Rush (1925) (# 74), City Lights (1931) (# 76), Modern Times (1936) (# 81), Duck Soup (1933) (# 85) and Bringing Up Baby (1938) (# 97))
9 war films ( Casablanca (1942) (# 2), Gone With The Wind (1939) (# 4), The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) (# 13), Apocalypse Now (1979) (# 28), The Birth Of A Nation (1915) (# 44), All Quiet On The Western Front (1930) (# 54), The Deer Hunter (1978) (# 79), Platoon (1986) (# 83), and Patton (1970) (# 89))
8 musicals ( The Wizard of Oz (1939) (# 6), Singin' In The Rain (1952) (# 10), West Side Story (1961) (# 41), Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937) (# 49), The Sound of Music (1965) (# 55), An American In Paris (1951) (# 68), My Fair Lady (1964) (# 91), and Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) (# 100))
8 westerns ( High Noon (1952) (# 33), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid (1969) (# 50), Stagecoach (1939) (# 63), Shane (1953) (# 69), Dances With Wolves (1990) (# 75), The Wild Bunch (1969) (# 80), The Searchers (1956) (# 96), and Unforgiven (1992) (# 98))
4 science fiction films ( Star Wars (1977) (# 15), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (# 22), E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) (# 25), and Close Encounters of the
Third Kind (1977) (# 64))
4 horror
films ( Psycho (1960) (# 18), Jaws (1975) (# 48), The Silence of the Lambs
(1991) (# 65), and Frankenstein (1931) (# 87))
2 animated films ( Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937) (# 49) and Fantasia (1940) (# 58))
4 silent films ( The Birth Of A Nation (1915) (# 44), The
Gold Rush (1925) (# 74), City
Lights (1931) (# 76), and Modern
Times (1936) (# 81))
The top ten included movies from
every decade, from the 1930s to the 1990s, with the exception
of the 1980s.
The first film on the 100 list from the 1980s
was Martin Scorsese's Raging
Bull (1980) (at # 24).
Each decade's summary: (nominees and winners) - see more in the section on
AFI's 400
Nominated Films
- Silent era (1912-1929): 22 nominated films, only 3 films in the top 100
- 1930s (1930-1939): 56 nominated films, with
15 films in the top 100
- 1940s (1940-1949): 61 nominated films, with 12 films in the top 100
- 1950s (1950-1959): 61 nominated films, with 20 films in the top 100
- 1960s (1960-1969): 58 nominated films, with 18 films in the top 100
- 1970s (1970-1979): 54 nominated films, with 18
films in the top 100
- 1980s (1980-1989): 58 nominated films, with 6 films in the top 100
- 1990s (1990-1996): 30 nominated films, with 8 films in the top 100
The 1950s was the most represented
decade on the list, with 20 films.
And 70 of the films
on the list were from 1950 and after.
14 films were made
after 1980. More than half of the films (56) were made
between 1950 and 1979, thereby ignoring cinema's early
years and some of the modern era.
The year 1939, which remains the
most celebrated year in the history of film, had five films
in the top 100:
Gone
With the Wind (1939) (# 4), The
Wizard of Oz (1939) (# 6), Mr.
Smith Goes to Washington (1939) (# 29), Stagecoach
(1939) (# 63), and Wuthering
Heights (1939) (# 73).
Both 1951 and 1969 have
four films each. 1951: The African Queen (1951) (# 17), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) (# 45), An American In Paris (1951) (# 68), and A Place in the Sun (1951) (# 92). 1969: Midnight Cowboy (1969) (# 36), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid (1969) (# 50), The Wild Bunch (1969) (# 80), and Easy Rider (1969) (# 88).
The
Godfather, Part II (1974) (# 32) was the only
sequel represented on the list, although it could be argued
that The Silence of the Lambs (1991) (# 65) was a sequel to Manhunter (1986).
Thirty-three of the films (one-third)
were Academy Awards' Best Picture
Winners, including (in top 100 winning order per decade):
(1930s): # 4 Gone
With The Wind (1939), # 35 It
Happened One Night (1934), # 54 All
Quiet On The Western Front (1930), # 86 Mutiny
on the Bounty (1935)
(1940s): # 2 Casablanca
(1942), # 37 The
Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
(1950s): # 8 On
The Waterfront (1954), # 13 The
Bridge On The River Kwai (1957), # 16 All
About Eve (1950), # 52 From
Here to Eternity (1953), # 68 An
American In Paris (1951), # 72 Ben-Hur
(1959)
(1960s): # 5 Lawrence
of Arabia (1962), # 36 Midnight
Cowboy (1969), # 41 West
Side Story (1961), # 55 The
Sound of Music (1965), # 91 My
Fair Lady (1964), # 93 The
Apartment (1960)
(1970s): # 3 The
Godfather (1972), # 20 One
Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975), # 31 Annie
Hall (1977), # 32 The
Godfather, Part II (1974), # 70 The
French Connection (1971), # 78 Rocky
(1976), # 79 The
Deer Hunter (1978), # 89 Patton
(1970)
(1980s): # 53 Amadeus (1984), # 83 Platoon (1986)
(1990s): # 9 Schindler's
List (1993), # 65 The
Silence of the Lambs (1991), # 71 Forrest Gump
(1994), # 75 Dances With Wolves
(1990), # 98 Unforgiven
(1992)
Seventy-five of the films (three-fourths)
were Academy Awards' Best Picture Nominees. (Forty-two
of the seventy-five nominated films lost the Best Picture
race.)
Three films in the top 100 list were made before the Academy Awards were instituted: # 44 The
Birth Of A Nation (1915), # 74 The
Gold Rush (1925), and # 90 The
Jazz Singer (1927). Twenty-two of the other top 100 films were not nominated for the Best Picture Oscar (6 in the 1930s, 2 in the 1940s, 8 in the 1950s, 5 in the 1960s). In the decade of the 1970s, the only top 100 film that was not a nominee or a winner of the Best Picture award was # 64 Close
Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). All of the top 100 films in the 80s and 90s decades were either nominees or winners of the Best Picture award.
Six of the top 10 films on the AFI
list won a Best Picture Oscar: Casablanca
(1942) (# 2), The
Godfather (1972) (# 3), Gone
With The Wind (1939) (# 4), Lawrence
of Arabia (1962) (# 5), On
The Waterfront (1954) (# 8), and Schindler's
List (1993) (# 9).
The highest ranking film that won no Oscars
was # 10, Singin'
In The Rain (1952).
The 