A couple Christmases ago, I got a copy of Leonard Maltin’s (last) Movie Guide. After flipping through it a bit and browsing, I became a bit annoyed because he didn’t seem very consistent in his evaluations. So I thought I’d go through and look at all of the films that he gave four stars (his highest rating) to see if there was any sort of pattern. (There wasn’t.) His list clearly has some problems. Nothing from Pixar? Only one Ozu film? No Twilight Samurai? None of Branagh’s Shakespeare? Too many concert movies. A disproportionate number of Italian films.
Anyway, it was interesting enough that I’m going to put the list up below the break. It’s (obviously) in alphabetical order. The movies that have years after them are titles with multiple entries in the Movie Guide. The films I’ve seen are in bold, the ones I have on my list to see are in italics.
After working through the list again, I found the pattern. Left-wing films. They dominate this list; lots of propaganda.
A
1. Adam’s Rib
2. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
3. The African Queen
4. Alexander Nevsky
5. All About Eve
6. All Quiet on the Western Front
7. All the King’s Men (1949)
8. All the President’s Men
9. America America
10. Anastasia (1956)
11. Anatomy of a Murder
12. Andrei Rublev
13. And Then There Were None (1945)
14. Anna Karenina (1935)
15. Annie Hall
16. A Nous la Liberté
17. The Apartment
18. Atlantic City
B
19. Babette’s Feast
20. Bambi
21. Bananas
22. The Band Wagon
23. The Bank Dick
24. The Barbarian Invasions
25. Battleship Potemkin
26. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
27. Becket
28. Belle du Jour
29. Berlin Alexanderplatz (931 minutes!)
30. Best Boy
31. The Best of Youth
32. The Best Years of Our Lives
33. Bicycle Thieves
34. The Big Sleep
35. The Birth of a Nation
36. Bite the Bullet
37. Black Narcissus
38. Body and Soul (1947)
39. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
40. Bride of Frankenstein
41. The Bridge on the River Kwai
42. Brief Encounter
43. Bringing Up Baby
44. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
45. Butley
C
46. The Caine Mutiny
47. Captains Courageous
48. Casablanca (Maltin’s “best movie ever”)
49. Cavalcade
50. Children of Paradise
51. Chinatown
52. The China Syndrome
53. A Christmas Story
54. The Cider House Rules
55. Circle of Deceit
56. Citizen Kane
57. City Lights
58. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
59. The Conversation
60. The Court Jester
61. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
D
62. Dances with Wolves
63. Danton
64. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
65. Dead of Night (1945)
66. The Deer Hunter
67. The Defiant Ones
68. Deliverance
69. The Descendants
70. Destry Rides Again
71. Dinner at Eight
72. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
73. Dodsworth
74. Double Indemnity
75. Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
76. Duck Soup
77. Dumbo
E
78. The Earrings of Madame de…
79. East of Eden
80. Edge of the City
81. 8 1/2
82. El Norte
83. The Empire Strikes Back
84. Every Man for Himself and God Against All
F
85. Fanny and Alexander
86. The Fast Runner
87. Father of the Bride (1950)
88. Fist in His Pocket
89. Fitzcarraldo
90. Five Easy Pieces
91. Follow the Fleet
92. Foreign Correspondent
93. 42nd Street
94. 4 Clowns
95. The Four Feathers (1939)
96. The Four Hundred Blows
97. 4 Little Girls
98. Fox and His Friends
99. The French Connection
100. Friendly Persuasion
101. From Here to Eternity
102. The Front
103. Frost/Nixon
G
104. The Garden of Finzi-Continis
105. Giant
106. Gigi
107. Gimme Shelter
108. Glory
109. The Godfather
110. The Godfather II
111. Going My Way
112. The Golden Age of Comedy
113. Gone With the Wind
114. The Good Earth
115. The Gospel According to St. Matthew
116. The Graduate
117. The Grand Budapest Hotel
118. The Grand Hotel
119. The Grand Illusion
120. The Grapes of Wrath
121. Gravity
122. The Great Escape
123. Great Expectations (1946)
124. Green for Danger
125. Gunga Din
H
126. Hail the Conquering Hero
127. Hamlet (1948)
128. A Hard Day’s Night
129. Harvest
130. The Heiress
131. Henry V (1945)
132. Here Comes Mr. Jordan
133. High Noon
134. His Girl Friday
135. Howards End
136. Hud
137. The Hustler
I
138. I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
139. if…
140. Ikiru
141. I Know Where I’m Going!
142. In Cold Blood
143. In Darkness
144. Innocent (1976)
145. In the Heat of the Night
146. In the Shadow of the Moon
147. In Which We Serve
148. It Happened One Night
149. It’s a Gift
150. It’s a Wonderful Life
151. Ivan the Terrible: Part One
152. I Vitelloni
J
153. Jaws
154. Judgment at Nuremberg
155. Jules and Jim
156. Julia (1977)
K
157. Kagemusha
158. The Killers (1946)
159. King Kong (1933)
160. The King’s Speech
161. The Knife in the Water
162. Koyaamisqatsi
163. Kramer vs. Kramer
L
164. Lacombe Lucien
165. Lady for a Day
166. The Lady Vanishes
167. Laputa: Castle in the Sky
168. The Last Picture Show
169. La Strada
170. The Last Waltz
171. La Terra Trema
172. La Traviata (1982)
173. Laura
174. Lawrence of Arabia
175. Lenny
176. The Leopard
177. A Letter to Three Wives
178. The Life of Emile Zola
179. Life of Pi
180. Life With Father
181. Lili
182. The Lion in Winter (1968)
183. Little Big Man
184. Little Children
185. Little Women (1933)
186. Little Women (1994)
187. The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
188. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
189. The Longest Day
190. Lost Horizon (1937)
191. The Lost Patrol
192. The Lost Weekend
193. Louisiana Story
194. Love Me Tonight
195. Lust for Life
M
196. The Magnificent Ambersons
197. Major Barbara
198. The Maltese Falcon
199. A Man for All Seasons
200. Man of Marble
201. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
202. Marat/Sade
203. Mary Poppins
204. M.A.S.H.
205. A Matter of Life and Death
206. Mean Streets
207. Medium Cool
208. Meet Me in St. Louis
209. The Memory of Justice
210. Midnight Cowboy
211. The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
212. Mister Roberts
213. Modern Times
214. Mon Oncle
215. Moonlighting
216. Moonstruck
217. The Motorcycle Diaries
218. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
219. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
220. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
221. My Architect
222. My Darling Clementine
223. My Man Godfrey (1936)
N
224. Nashville
225. National Velvet
226. Network
227. A Night in Opera
228. The Nights of Cabiria
229. A Night to Remember
230. No End in Sight
231. North by Northwest
232. Nowhere in Africa
O
233. Odd Man Out
234. The Official Story
235. Of Mice and Men
236. Oliver Twist (1948)
237. O Lucky Man!
238. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
239. One, Two, Three
240. On the Beach
241. On the Town
242. On the Waterfront
243. Open City
244. Ordet
245. Ordinary People
246. Othello (1965)
247. The Ox-Bow Incident
P
248. Paper Moon
249. Paths of Glory
250. Patton
251. The Pawnbroker
252. Pepe Le Moko
253. Petulia
254. Philadelphia Story
255. Pinocchio (1940)
256. Pixote
257. Play Time
258. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
259. The President’s Analyst
260. Pride and Prejudice (1940)
261. The Pride of the Yankees
262. Princess Yang Kwei Fei
263. Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
264. Private Life of Henry VIII
265. Psycho (1960)
266. Pygmalion
Q
267. Queen Christina
268. The Quiet Man
R
269. Raging Bull
270. Raiders of the Lost Ark
271. Raise the Red Lantern
272. Rashomon
273. Rear Window
274. Rebecca
275. Rebel Without a Cause
276. Red River
277. The Red Shoes
278. Repulsion
279. Ride the High Country
280. Rififi
281. The River
282. Room at the Top
283. Rosemary’s Baby
284. Ruggles of Red Gap
285. The Rules of the Game
S
286. Sansho the Baliff
287. Sawdust and Tinsel
288. Say Amen, Somebody
289. Scenes From a Marriage
290. Schindler’s List
291. Sea Hawk
292. Seance on a Wet Afternoon
293. The Search
294. The Searchers
295. Separate Tables
296. A Separation
297. Seven Beauties
298. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
299. Seven Samurai
300. Seventh Seal
301. Shame (1968)
302. Shane
303. She Done Him Wrong
304. Sherman’s March
305. Ship of Fools
306. Shoah
307. Shoeshine
308. Shoot the Piano Player
309. The Shop on Main Street
310. A Shot in the Dark
311. Simon of the Desert
312. Singin’ in the Rain
313. Skyfall
314. Sleuth (1972)
315. Slumdog Millionaire
316. Small Change
317. Smiles of a Summer Night
318. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
319. The Social Network
320. Some Like it Hot
321. Songcatcher
322. The Sorrow and the Pity
323. Sounder
324. Stagecoach (1939)
325. Stage Door
326. Stalag 17
327. A Star is Born (1954)
328. Stolen Kisses
329. Stop Making Sense
330. Strangers on a Train
331. Stray Dog
332. A Streetcar Named Desire
333. Sullivan’s Travels
334. The Sundowners (1960)
335. Sunset Blvd.
336. Swept Away (1974)
337. Swing Time
T
338. A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
339. The Talk of the Town
340. Talk to Her
341. The Ten Commandments
342. Ten From Your Show of Shows
343. Terms of Endearment
344. That’s Entertainment
345. These Three
346. They Were Expendable
347. They Won’t Forget
348. Thief of Baghdad
349. The Thin Blue Line
350. The Thin Man
351. Third Man
352. The 39 Steps
353. Three Sisters
354. Throne of Blood
355. Tight Little Island
356. The Tin Drum
357. To Kill a Mockingbird
358. Tokyo Olympiad
359. Tokyo Story
360. Tom Jones (1963)
361. Tootsie
362. Top Hat
363. Topkapi
364. Touch of Evil
365. The Train
366. Treasure of the Sierra Madre
367. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
368. The Tree of Wooden Clogs
369. Triumph of the Will
370. Trouble in Paradise
371. Tunes of Glory
372. 12 Angry Men
373. Twelve O’Clock High
374. Twentieth Century
375. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
376. 2001: A Space Odyssey
377. Two Women
U
378. Umberto D.
379. The Unbearable Lightness of Being
380. Unfaithfully Yours
381. An Unmarried Woman
382. The Untouchables
V
383. The Verdict
384. Vertigo
385. Vincent, Francois, Paul and the Others
W
386. War and Peace (1968)
387. The Weavers
388. West Side Story
389. The Wild Bunch
390. Wild Strawberries
391. Witness for the Prosecution
392. The Wizard of Oz
393. Woodstock
394. Woody Guthrie: Hard Travelin’!
395. The World According to Garp
396. Wuthering Heights (1939)
X
Y
397. Yankee Doodle Dandy
398. Yellow Submarine
399. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
400. Yojimbo
Z
401. Zero for Conduct
Neh 