The 100 Best American Films — From Movie Critics Around the World

Posted on July 24, 2015 at 3:46 pm

The American Film Institute has its top 100 list and the Library of Congress has its National Film Registry.  But how do movie critics around the world see our films?  The BBC prepared a list of the 100 greatest American films, based on the selections of international movie critics.  Of course there is a lot of overlap.  You know “Citizen Kane” and “The Godfather” and “Singin’ in the Rain” and “The Searchers” are going to be there.  The top 10 are pretty easy to guess (though I still think “Vertigo” does not deserve to be ranked so high).

10. The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
9. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
8. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
7. Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1952)
6. Sunrise (FW Murnau, 1927)
5. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
4. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
3. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
2. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
1. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)

But there are some nice surprises in the rest of the list, like “Ace in the Hole,” “Heaven’s Gate,” “Marnie,” and “Imitation of Life.”  Crank up that Netflix queue and add some of the ones you haven’t seen yet.

 

 

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