Tom Moran's List of the Best 100 American Films

This is my own personal list of the 100 Best American Films. Incidentally, this list was posted on two separate newsgroups months before the AFI announced their final list. If you'd like to confirm this, you can look up the relevant post on:
Deja News Just type in Feuillade@aol.com and click.

The list has been revised since then.

My list got its original impetus from the AFI's published list of 400 films. But I noticed that several films that I thought were deserving of inclusion were missing from that list, so I added them to mine. The list is chronological, and those films not derived from the AFI's list of 400 are noted with an asterisk. Films not on the AFI's final list of 100 are noted by an @. The AFI's list and mine are significantly different -- there are many films on my list that are not on the AFI's list.

Frankly my dear, my list is better.

The 100 Best American Films

1) THE BIRTH OF A NATION 1915
2) INTOLERANCE 1916 @
3) BROKEN BLOSSOMS 1919* @
4) THE KID 1921 @
5) SAFETY LAST 1923 @
6) SHERLOCK JR. 1924* @
7) THE BIG PARADE 1925 @
8) THE GOLD RUSH 1925
9) GREED 1925 @
10) THE STRONG MAN 1926* @
11) THE GENERAL 1927 @
12) SUNRISE 1927 @
13) WINGS 1927 @
14) THE CROWD 1928 @
15) THE WIND 1928 @
16) CITY LIGHTS 1931
17) SCARFACE 1932 @
18) DUCK SOUP 1933
19) 42nd STREET 1933 @
20) GOLDDIGGERS OF 1933 1933* @
21) BOMBSHELL 1933* @
22) MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY 1935
23) THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN 1935*@
24) A NIGHT AT THE OPERA 1935 @
25) TOP HAT 1935 @
26) MODERN TIMES 1936
27) EASY LIVING 1936* @
28) MY MAN GODFREY 1936 @
29) HISTORY IS MADE AT NIGHT 1937* @
30) SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS 1937
31) THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD 1938 @
32) GONE WITH THE WIND 1939
33) MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON 1939
34) NINOTCHKA 1939 @
35) STAGECOACH 1939
36) THE WIZARD OF OZ 1939
37) YOUNG MR. LINCOLN 1939 @
38) FANTASIA 1940
39) THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER* @ 1940
40) HIS GIRL FRIDAY 1940 @
41) PINOCCHIO 1940 @
42) CITIZEN KANE 1941
43) THE MALTESE FALCON 1941
44) THE LADY EVE 1941 @
45) SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS 1941 @
46) CASABLANCA 1942
47) THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS 1942 @
48) SHADOW OF A DOUBT 1943 @
49) DOUBLE INDEMNITY 1944
50) MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS 1944 @
51) THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK 1944 @
52) DETOUR 1945* @
53) IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE 1946
54) NOTORIOUS 1946 @
55) THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE 1948
56) FORT APACHE 1949* @
57) ALL ABOUT EVE 1950
58) GUN CRAZY 1950 @
59) SUNSET BLVD. 1950
60) SINGIN' IN THE RAIN 1952
61) ON THE WATERFRONT 1954
62) REAR WINDOW 1954
63) THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER 1955 @
64) REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE 1955
65) THE SEARCHERS 1956
66) A FACE IN THE CROWD 1957* @
67) SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS 1957* @
68) TOUCH OF EVIL 1958 @
69) VERTIGO 1958
70) SOME LIKE IT HOT 1959
71) THE APARTMENT 1960
72) PSYCHO 1960
73) THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE 1962
74) THE GRADUATE 1967
75) THE PRODUCERS 1967 @
76) THE LAST PICTURE SHOW 1971 @
77) CABARET 1972 @
78) THE GODFATHER 1972
79) THE EXORCIST 1973 @
80) MEAN STREETS 1973 @
81) CHINATOWN 1974
82) THE CONVERSATION 1974 @
83) THE GODFATHER PART II 1974
84) JAWS 1975
85) NASHVILLE 1975 @
86) TAXI DRIVER 1976
87) ANNIE HALL 1977
88) DAYS OF HEAVEN 1978 @
89) ALL THAT JAZZ 1979 @
90) MANHATTAN 1979 @
91) RAGING BULL 1980
92) DINER 1982* @
93) E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL 1982
94) RUMBLE FISH 1984* @
95) STRANGER THAN PARADISE 1984 @
96) BLOOD SIMPLE 1984* @
97) HANNAH AND HER SISTERS 1986 @
98) AVALON 1990* @
99) GOODFELLAS 1990
100) JFK 1993* @

If you'd like to see the AFI's version:
AFI's 100 Best Films

If you'd care to read my critique of their list:
My Critique of the AFI's List

And if you'd like to see which films on the AFI's list I believe have no business being there, click:
AFI's Dumb Choices

To read about the controversies concerning the AFI's selections, read:
The Diversity Controversy

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