by
Laurence Washington
The American Film Institute has released a list of its top 100 films. There were more than a few treasures uncovered like Dr. Strangelove, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca and North By Northwest. And some dogs which shouldn't have made the list were uncovered too, Fantasia, The Wild Bunch and The Silence of The Lambs. These films were chosen by members of the film industry, critics and prominent fans from a list of 400 movies nominated. Keeping in mind that black dollars make up 3/4 of movie tickets sales in the United States, it's curious that no black directed films made the final cut. Spike Lee's landmark film Do The Right Thing was nominated, but didn't make the top 100. Lee's historical Malcom X wasn't even considered.
Racist films like the Jazz Singer and Birth of A Nation made the top 100, and guess what? I wouldn't have taken them off the list. Despite their filmmaker's two-dimensional thinking, both films are momuments to Hollywood's black stereotypes before they "supposely" knew better. Birth of a Nation also proved that film could evoke and stir human emotions by causing riots in the streets over 80 years ago. We need that film around as a educational tool about the evils of the Klu Klux Klan and Hollywood's blind racism which is still there today, it's just more subtle. And why not? When Hollywood have actors like Ice Cube making the Player's Club which keeps negative stereotypes about blacks going.
If I had a sword and the authority to use it, I would knight the people who nominated Schindler's List, To Kill A Mockingbird and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, after I take a swipe at those who forgot about Gordon Park's The Learning Tree, Imitation of Life, Malcom X, Do The Right Thing, Shaft and Cry Freedom.
Well, here they are. These are the 100 American feature films selected by the American Film Institute. Pictures made from 1912 to 1996 were eligible:
1. CITIZEN KANE 1941
2. CASABLANCA 1942
3. THE GODFATHER 1972
4. GONE WITH THE WIND 1939
5. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA 1962
6. THE WIZARD OF OZ 1939
7. THE GRADUATE 1967
8. ON THE WATERFRONT 1954
9. SCHINDLER'S LIST 1993
10. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN 1952
11. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE 1946
12. SUNSET BOULEVARD 1950
13. THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI 1957
14. SOME LIKE IT HOT 1959
15. STAR WARS 1977
16. ALL ABOUT EVE 1950
17. THE AFRICAN QUEEN 1951
18. PSYCHO 1960
19. CHINATOWN 1974
20. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST 1975
21. THE GRAPES OF WRATH 1940
22. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY 1968
23. THE MALTESE FALCON 1941
24. RAGING BULL 1980
25. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL 1982
26. DR. STRANGELOVE 1964
27. BONNIE AND CLYDE 1967
28. APOCALYPSE NOW 1979
29. MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON 1939
30. THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE 1948
31. ANNIE HALL 1977
32. THE GODFATHER PART II 1974
33. HIGH NOON 1952
34. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD 1962
35. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT 1934
36. MIDNIGHT COWBOY 1969
37. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES 1946
38. DOUBLE INDEMNITY 1944
39. DOCTOR ZHIVAGO 1965
40. NORTH BY NORTHWEST 1959
41. WEST SIDE STORY 1961
42. REAR WINDOW 1954
43. KING KONG 1933
44. THE BIRTH OF A NATION 1915
45. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE 1951
46. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE 1971
47. TAXI DRIVER 1976
48. JAWS 1975
49. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS 1937
50. BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID 1969
51. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY 1940
52. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY 1953
53. AMADEUS 1984
54. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT 1930
55. THE SOUND OF MUSIC 1965
56. M+A+S+H 1970
57. THE THIRD MAN 1949
58. FANTASIA 1940
59. REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE 1955
60. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK 1981
61. VERTIGO 1958
62. TOOTSIE 1982
63. STAGECOACH 1939
64. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND 1977
65. THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS 1991
66. NETWORK 1976
67. THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE 1962
68. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS 1951
69. SHANE 1953
70. THE FRENCH CONNECTION 1971
71. FORREST GUMP 1994
72. BEN-HUR 1959
73. WUTHERING HEIGHTS 1939
74. THE GOLD RUSH 1925
75. DANCES WITH WOLVES 1990
76. CITY LIGHTS 1931
77. AMERICAN GRAFFITI 1973
78. ROCKY 1976
79. THE DEER HUNTER 1978
80. THE WILD BUNCH 1969
81. MODERN TIMES 1936
82. GIANT 1956
83. PLATOON 1986
84. FARGO 1996
85. DUCK SOUP 1933
86. MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY 1935
87. FRANKENSTEIN 1931
88. EASY RIDER 1969
89. PATTON 1970
90. THE JAZZ SINGER 1927
91. MY FAIR LADY 1964
92. A PLACE IN THE SUN 1951
93. THE APARTMENT 1960
94. GOODFELLAS 1990
95. PULP FICTION 1994
96. THE SEARCHERS 1956
97. BRINGING UP BABY 1938
98. UNFORGIVEN 1992
99. GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER 1967
100. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY 1942 |
