Note: All references to ranks refer to the 2012 edition of the Phi-Phenomenon. This page will no longer be updated starting with the 2013/2014 edition.
In June, 1998, the American Film Institute (AFI) presented its top 100 American feature films from the beginning of American film to 1996. One of its purposes was to get people to talk about classic films. It definitely did that. However, it also generated much discussion over the merits of the films on the list and of the list itself. Many people seem to dismiss the list. I prefer to take the contrarian point of view and defend it.
Exclusion of Certain Performers. Several of Hollywood greatest performers starred in none of the films on the final list. The stars that critics cite most often are Fred Astaire, Greta Garbo, Buster Keaton, and Ginger Rogers. These critics miss the fact that this is a list of greatest films, not greatest filmmakers. All four of these performers made AFI's list of greatest stars.
For Garbo, there is a very good reason why none of her films made the AFI's list of greatest films; none were good enough. Ninotchka (1939), her best film, falls in the second 100 American films, not the top. It was clearly worthy of nomination but not of inclusion on the final list. The highest ranked film with Astaire and/or Rodgers is Top Hat (1935), which ranks at #138 among American films (albeit when films made after 1996 are included). It probably scored high, but not high enough to break the top 100. Keaton's The General (1927) clearly belonged on the list for its own merits, not as a token Keaton film. I address its exclusion under Legitimate Criticisms.
Placement of Particular Films. Many AFI critics nit-pick the list. They point out personal favorites that were excluded or rated too low and other that they believe were rated too high or should not be rated at all. It is fairly common to find one critic who was upset that a particular film was not ranked higher when another critic believed that the film should not be included at all. Most of these reflect the personal taste of the writer. However, the AFI's list was not created to reflect a single person's taste; it was created to present a consensus of the voters.
Only One Film Noir. Some critics complained that only one film noir made the list—Double Indemnity (1944). These criticisms rarely include a definition of film noir that would explain which films qualify and which do not. According to the IMDb, three films noir made the list: Sunset Boulevard (1950), The Maltese Falcon (1941), and Double Indemnity (1944). Furthermore, some people consider films like The Third Man (1949), Chinatown (1974), Fargo (1996), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), and even Casablanca (1942) to be film noir. A definition that includes only Double Indemnity (1944) and none of the others is probably describes so few films that only one spot would be justified.
Voters Unqualified. According to the original press release, "leaders across the film community, including artists from in front of and behind the camera, critics, historians, movie executives, exhibitors" as well as Bill and Hillary Clinton and Al and Tipper Gore received ballots. This sample received criticism both from people with highbrow tastes, who thought that only critics should vote, and from people with popular tastes, who believe that only the general public is qualified to decide what are the best films. Criticisms at this level simply reflect the different tastes in films that exist. The AFI's list is a mainstream list. People with popular or high brow tastes will object.
Voter Carelessness. Some suggest that the voters did not take the ballot seriously. However, the large response rate will alleviate that problem even if it did exist. I will not bore readers by presenting a full explanation why. A short explanation would be that, with a large number of voters, the purely careless voters will cancel each other out, leaving only the careful voters.
I do not want to suggest that none of the criticisms are valid. The AFI's list is not perfect.
Inclusion of British Films. The AFI explicitly stated that it was creating a list of American films. However, the final list included Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Dr. Strangelove (1964), and The Third Man (1949), which the IMDb considers to be purely British films. The merits of these films are largely unquestionable; they belong on a list of great British films or of great films in general. However, they do not belong on a list of American films.
Omission of Worthy Films. There are several films not on the AFI's list that are clearly seen as being among the 100 best American films. Blade Runner (1982), Alien (1979), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), The General (1927), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Touch of Evil (1958), The Night of the Hunter (1955), Toy Story (1995), and Blue Velvet (1986) all fall in the top 60 American films. Furthermore, several of the top 100 films—including The Usual Suspects (1995), Aliens (1986), Reservoir Dogs (1992), and The Terminator (1984)—were not even on the list of 400 nominees. This does not count several films made after 1997 that joined the list of the top-100 American films.
Some of these omissions can partially be attributed to the fact that the AFI's list is a mainstream list. Blade Runner and The Empire Strikes Back are popular films, The Night of the Hunter is a highbrow film, and Blue Velvet is a blend of the two. The General and Touch of Evil are both more highbrow than mainstream. Still, there is no good reason why some of the others were not on the final list or even nominated.
Inclusion of Unworthy films. There are some films that are clearly not worthy of being on the list. For every film that should have been on a list of top 100 American films but was excluded, there had to be a film that was not a top 100 film but was included. Giant (1956) deserved to be nominated because it falls in the top 400 American films. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? (1967) and The Jazz Singer (1927) are outside the top 400, albeit in part because of films too new to have been nominated. None of these films fall in the top 300 American films, much less the top 100 American films.
That #$%@& Special Contained Spoilers. Yes, and the series that followed was even worse. There is no excuse.
A person looking for the perfect top 100-film list is doomed to disappointment. All lists have their problems. They all exclude worthy films and include unworthy films. The question is whether the AFI's list can be considered to be a good top 100-list or not. After reviewing the evidence, and the answer is clear. It is a solid top-100 list, especially as a mainstream list.
In 2007, the American Film Institute presented its 10th anniversary list. This gave the organization the opportunity to rectify any legitimate or illegitimate complaints about the original list.
Exclusion of Certain Performers. This time around, films with Buster Keaton, Fred Astaire, and Ginger Rogers are on the final list. Greta Garbo was absent once again, but, as observed above, none of her films are generally regarded as being good enough to be in the top 100 American films. Of course, there can always be new snubs. The Phi-Phenomenon includes a ranking of the top actors based on the quality of films in which they appeared and their prominence in those films. Of the top-50 actors, only three were excluded from the new AFI list, and the limitation to American films explains Toshirô Mifune’s absence. This leaves Burt Lancaster and Mel Gibson as the biggest actor snubs when From Here to Eternity (1953) and Braveheart failed to make the list, although From Here to Eternity falls outside the top-100 American films. It must be said that Charlton Heston's Ben-Hur (1959) barely cracked the list at #100 and that Sigourney Weaver’s only appearance on the list was a bit part in Annie Hall (1977).
Only One Film Noir. There are still only three films noir on the list. The Night of the Hunter (1955) and Touch of Evil (1958) should have been on the list and one can definitely make a case for Notorious (1946). However, there is still no evidence of discrimination against noir films.
Inclusion of British Films. The removal of The Third Man (1949) means that there are now only two purely British films on the list.
Omission of Worthy Films. This new list added The General (1927) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994), thus eliminating two notable omissions. Furthermore, The Usual Suspects was at least on the ballot this time. Fargo (1996) is the most notable film on the previous list that was snubbed for the new list.
Inclusion of Unworthy films. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? (1967) and The Jazz Singer (1927) were all dropped from the new list. However, All the President’s Men (1976), The Last Picture Show (1971), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Swing Time (1936), and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) are not among the top-200 American films, and Sophie’s Choice (1982) is not even in the top-500, which suggests that it should not even have been nominated.
That #$%@& Special Once Again Contained Spoilers. Not only did it give away the ending of Citizen Kane (1941), but it also gave too large a hint of the big mystery in The Sixth Sense (1999). Many of the clips showed the final scenes of the films in question. One of the main purposes of specials like this is to give people ideas of what films they should see. This means that many in the viewing audience have not seen all of these films and should not know the endings until they do so.
This page was last modified on June 27, 2011