Top 50 Movies-According to My Movie Score Formula-Part 2-Movies ranked from 50th to 1st
85Julie Andrews in 1965's The Sound of Music....ends up being ranked number 23.
Welcome to the second part of my Top 100 movies. You can check out the first part of this list here...Movies Ranked from 100th to 51st. So if you did not check out the first part, let me quickly cover the basics of this hub. The numbers that the movies have in the following list are determined by a mathematical formula. The formula/equation gives each movie points for box office results, critic and audience voting, and award recognition. I have calculated Movie Scores for roughly 5,000 movies. To get on the Top 100 list, a movie had to perform well in all three categories. Let's look at a couple of examples of movies that performed well in one category but badly in another category.
Example 1. Transformers 2: The Revenge of the Fallen. It made a ton of money(79th biggest box office hit ever) but people generally strongly disliked it(a 39% approval rating by critics and audiences). So it's box office success helped the score, but the reviews hurt the score. So it ended up with a score of 55.26 which is better than average but ranked 777 out of 5,000 movies.
Example 2. The Hurt Locker. The Hurt Locker did not crack the 20 million dollar mark at the box office. But it was loved by critics and audiences(88% approval rating) and won numerous Oscars® including Best Picture. It ended up with a score of 52.90 and a ranking of 856 out of 5,000.
If these two movies were combined....we could take Transformers 2's box office results(431.0 million) with The Hurt Locker's critical rating(88% approval rating) and Oscar® love(won Best Picture Oscar®)...then we would have a movie that would have earn a score of 92.90 and finished tied with Titanic for 29th place.
The following 50 movies were the best at performing in all three categories: box office, critical rating and award recognition. It does not happen very often but when it does, I think you end up with a great movie.
Marlon Brando in 1954's On the Waterfront....ranked number 47.
Movies Ranked From 50th to 41st.
#50 The Great Dictator (1940) Movie Score 89.22. The only movie in the Top 100 not to win a single Oscar® award. Earned 220.00 million in 2012 adjusted box office dollars, received 5 Oscar® nominations and a 91% critical rating.
#49 Going My Way (1944) Movie Score 89.23. 12th biggest box office hit of the 1940s, picked up 10 Oscar® nominations with 7 Oscar® wins which included the Best Picture Oscar®.
#48 The Apartment (1960) Movie Score 89.54. Earned 169.60 million in 2012 adjusted dollars, has a critical rating of 88%, picked up 10 Oscar® nominations and won Best Picture Oscar® and Golden Globe® Best Picture.
#47 On the Waterfront (1954) Movie Score 89.59. A 93% critical rating, picked up 12 Oscar® nominations and 8 Oscar® wins and earned 160.8 million in 2012 adjusted dollars.
#46 Gentleman's Agreement (1947) Movie Score 89.65. The second and final Gregory Peck movie on the list. 185.6 million in 2012 box office dollars, picked up 8 Oscar® nominations which included Best Picture Golden Globe® and Oscar® wins.
#45 Around the World in 80 Days (1956) Movie Score 89.67. The 46th biggest box office hit of all-time when looking at adjusted box office numbers, received 8 Oscar® nominations with 5 Oscar® wins.
#44 Dances with Wolves (1990) Movie Score 89.90. One of the few westerns to win Best Picture Oscar®. The 125th biggest box office hit of all-time when looking at adjusted box office, received 12 Oscar® nominations with 7 Oscar® wins.
#43 A Beautiful Mind (2001) Movie Score 90.57. The first movie to cross the 90 point mark. Movie earned 241.6 million in 2012 adjusted box office dollars, picked 8 Oscar® nominations and 4 Oscar® wins.
#42 The Sting (1973) Movie Score 90.62. The 16th biggest box office hit of all-time when looking at adjusted box office numbers, received 10 Oscar® nominations with 3 Oscar® wins and critical rating of 88%. Why did Newman and Redford not make a third movie together?
#41 Saving Private Ryan (1998) Movie Score 90.64. Would have been even higher if Shakespeare In Love would have not stolen it's Best Picture Oscar®. 109th biggest box office hit when looking at adjusted box office numbers, earned 11 Oscar® nominations with 5 Oscar® wins and a critical rating of 88%.
The only Star Wars movie to make the list? The original Star Wars which is ranked number 37.
Movies Ranked From 40th to 31st.
#40 E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Movie Score 90.80. The 4th biggest box office hit of all-time when looking at adjusted box office numbers, received 9 Oscar® nominations with 4 Oscar® wins. Did you know E.T. spent 45 weeks in the box office Top Ten? Nowadays a blockbuster is lucky to spend 8 weeks in the box office Top Ten.
#39 Tom Jones(1963) Movie Score 91.42. 36th biggest box hit of the 1960s, nominated for 10 Oscars® with 4 Oscar® wins. At the time it was considered a very sexual movie, would be rated PG if released in 2012.
#38 Schindler's List (1993) Movie Score 91.81. Steven Spielberg's highest rated movie in the Top 100. Earned 185.6 million in 2012 adjusted dollars, nominated for 12 Oscars® with 7 Oscar® wins and a critical rating of 93%.
#37 Toy Story 3 (2010) Movie Score 91.85. The third and highest rated animated movie on the list. The 88th biggest box office hit of all-time and a Best Picture Oscar® nomination...not too bad for Woody and Buzz.
#36 Star Wars (1977) Movie Score 91.86. The 2nd biggest box office hit of all-time when looking at adjusted box office numbers. 10 Oscar® nominations with 6 Oscar® wins and a critical rating of 92%.
#35 American Beauty (1999) Movie Score 91.99. Earned 205.6 million in 2012 adjusted dollars, has a critical rating of 88%, picked up 8 Oscar® nominations and won Best Picture Oscar® and Golden Globe® Best Picture.
#34 Midnight Cowboy (1969) Movie Score 92.25. Originally rated X, Midnight Cowboy went on to box office riches and Oscar® glory as it took home the Best Picture Oscar®.
#33 Driving Miss Daisy (1989) Movie Score 92.41. Earned 214.4 million in 2012 adjusted dollars, picked up 9 Oscar® nominations and won Best Picture Oscar® and Golden Globe® Best Picture.
#32 Terms of Endearment (1983) Movie Score 92.45. A huge blockbuster, that critics and audiences loved(82% rating) that managed 11 Oscar® nominations and 5 Oscar® wins.
#31 Forrest Gump (1994) Movie Score 92.74. The 24th biggest box office hit of all-time when looking at adjusted box office numbers. 13 Oscar® nominations with 6 Oscar® wins. Spent 37 weeks in the box office Top Ten.
George C. Scott and Karl Malden in 1970's Patton which is ranked number 21.
Movies Ranked From 30th to 21st.
#30 Rocky (1976) Movie Score 92.77. Not sure many people realize how big this movie was when it was released. Rocky is the 72nd biggest box office hit of all-time when looking at adjusted box office numbers. It earned 10 Oscar® nominations which included Stallone's one and only acting nomination.
#29 Titanic (1997) Movie Score 92.90. The 6th biggest box office hit of all-time when looking at adjusted box office numbers. 14 Oscar® nominations with 11 Oscar® wins as it won Best Picture of the year according to Oscar® and Golden Globe® voters.
#28 Oliver! (1968) Movie Score 93.00. Earned 225.6 million in 2012 adjusted dollars, picked up 11 Oscar® nominations and 5 Oscar wins that included a Best Picture Oscar®.
#27 Wings (1928) Movie Score 93.01. The oldest movie on the list, is the first ever Best Picture Oscar® winner. Earned 196.80 million in 2012 adjusted box office.
#26 Unforgiven (1992) Movie Score 93.06. One of my favorite movies is one of the few westerns to win a Best Picture Oscar®. Earned 195.2 million in 2012 adjusted box office as well as receiving 9 Oscar® nominations and 4 Oscar® wins.
#25 Rain Man (1988) Movie Score 93.66. The 128th biggest box office hit of all-time when looking at adjusted box office numbers. 8 Oscar® nominations with 4 Oscar® wins and a critical rating of 86%.
#24 Gladiator (2000) Movie Score 93.73. Earned 278.4 million in 2012 adjusted dollars, picked up 12 Oscar® nominations and 5 Oscar® wins that included a Best Picture Oscar® and Golden Globe® Best Picture award.
#23 The Sound of Music (1965) Movie Score 93.82. The 3rd biggest box office hit of all-time when looking at adjusted box office numbers. Earned 10 Oscar® nominations with 5 Oscar® wins. Easily the most famous musical ever made.
#22 Mrs. Miniver (1942) Movie Score 93.93. 21st biggest box office hit of the 1940s, received 12 Oscar® nominations and 6 Oscar® wins.
#21 Patton (1970) Movie Score 94.00. The 157th biggest box office hit of all-time when looking at adjusted box office numbers. Earned 10 Oscar® nominations with 7 Oscar® wins and a critical rating of 90%.
Al Pacino in one of the greatest sequels ever....The Godfather Part 2....ranked as the 12th best movie.
Movies Ranked From 20th to 11th.
#20 Ernest Goes To Jail (1990) Movie Score 94.05. Earned 204.0 million in 2012 adjusted dollars, picked up 8 Oscar® nominations and 6 Oscar wins that included a Best Picture Oscar® and Golden Globe® Best Picture award.....of course all of the above stats are from the real 20th ranked movie...A Man For All Seasons (1966)...just checking to see if you were paying attention.
#19 Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) Movie Score 94.10. Earned 209.6 million in 2012 adjusted dollars, picked up 8 Oscar® nominations but only 1 Oscar® win...but it was the Oscar® for Best Picture of the year.
#18 Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) Movie Score 94.17. Earned 9 Oscar® nominations and 5 Oscar® wins.....one for Meryl Streep, one for Dustin Hoffman and one for Best Picture. Plus it earned a boatload of money and has a critical rating of 84%.
#17 West Side Story (1961) Movie Score 94.58. The 2nd highest rated musical on the Top 100 list. It is the 66th biggest box office hit of all-time when looking at adjusted box office. It also earned 11 Oscar® nominations and 10 Oscar® wins.
#16 Platoon (1986) Movie Score 94.72. The second great Vietnam movie to make the Top 100 list. Platoon earned 298.4 million in adjusted box office dollars, while also earning 8 Oscar® nominations and 4 Oscar® wins.
#15 Rebecca (1940) Movie Score 94.73. Sadly the only Alfred Hitchcock movie to make the Top 100 list. Rebecca earned 188.8 million in 2012 adjusted dollars. It also earned 11 Oscar® nominations and 2 Oscar® wins. And critics and audiences loved it, as it earned a 92% critical rating.
#14 The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Movie Score 94.95. One of only three movies to win the Big 5 Oscars(Director, Picture, Actor, Actress and Screenplay). Silence of the Lambs was a box office and a critical darling. One of the most successful rated R movies of all-time.
#13 My Fair Lady (1964) Movie Score 95.28. The highest rated musical on the Top 100 list. It is the 54th biggest box office hit of all-time when looking at adjusted box office. It also earned 12 Oscar® nominations and 8 Oscar® wins. Maybe the producers made the right decision of picking Audrey Hepburn over Julie Andrews.
#12 The Godfather: Part II (1974) Movie Score 95.40. Not as successful at the box office as The Godfather but still earned earned 203.2 million in 2012 adjusted dollars. It received 11 Oscar® nominations and 6 Oscar® wins...plus a critical rating of 94% not too bad for a sequel.
#11 The Lost Weekend (1945) Movie Score 95.68. Directed by the great Billy Wilder, this movie had box office success(222.40 million), critical success(87% rating) and serious Oscar® love(7 nominations and 4 wins).
Alex Guiness in 1957's The Bridge on the River Kwai.
#10 The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Movie Score of 95.80.
This was one of my father's favorite movies, so I am glad to see it make the Top Ten. The Bridge on the River Kwai was a very successful movie at the box office. It is currently ranked as the 78th biggest box office hit of all-time, with a adjusted box office of 431.94 million in 2012 dollars. Critics loved the movie with it earning a critical rating of 88%. And finally it received 8 Oscar® nominations and 7 Oscar® wins. It won Best Picture, Best Actor(Guinness), and Best Director(David Lean) Oscars®.
Gene Hackman as Popeye Doyle in 1971's The French Connection.
#9 The French Connection (1971) Movie Score of 95.98.
The movie that made Gene Hackman a Hollywood movie star. The French Connection was a huge box office hit in 1971. It's adjusted box office would be 250.4 million in 2012 dollars. It received 8 Oscar® nominations and 5 Oscar® wins. It's critical rating is 90%. The movie is famous for its car chase scenes and Hackman's Oscar® winning performance. Hackman would return for the sequel, The French Connection 2(ranked 1,930), but that movie did not perform nearly as well as the original.
Charlton Heston in 1959's Ben-Hur.
#8 Ben-Hur (1959) Movie Score of 96.03.
Coming in 8th place is the classic movie, Ben-Hur. Ben-Hur is one of the most successful movies to ever be produced. Ben-Hur is the 13th biggest box office hit of all-time. Looking at 2012 dollars, Ben-Hur has earned 778.12 million dollars. Ben-Hur received 12 Oscar® nominations and 11 Oscar® wins. Critics and audiences give Ben-Hur a 89% rating.
To see some great information on Ben-Hur check out Steve Lensman's excellent hub....Ben-Hur Illustrated-Reference. Hey Steve, I hope sharing your link helps ease the pain of Ben-Hur not making it to the Top Five.
Clark Gable as Rhett Butler in 1939's Gone With The Wind.
#7 Gone with the Wind (1939) Movie Score of 96.50.
Our 7th place movie is Gone With The Wind. Gone With The Wind is ranked as the number one box office movie of all-time with 1.66 billion...yes 1.66 BILLION 2012 adjusted dollars. Gone With The Wind received 13 Oscar® nominations and 8 Oscar® wins. Some of those wins were ....Best Actress(Vivien Leigh), Best Supporting Actress(Hattie McDaniel), Best Director(Victor Fleming) and Best Picture. Clark Gable got nominated but did not win an Oscar® for his Rhett Butler performance. On the critical reception side of things....Gone With The Wind has a 90% rating.
Peter O'Toole in 1962's Lawerence of Arabia.
#6 Lawrence of Arabia (1962) Movie Score of 97.02.
The second David Lean directed film to make the Top Ten. Coming in 6th place is the epic adventure Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence of Arabia was another favorite movie of my father, so once again I am happy that it was ranked so high? So does it deserve to be this high in the rankings. Let's look at box office results first. Lawrence of Arabia is the 70th biggest box office hit of all-time(439.7 million) when looking at adjusted box office numbers. Now let's look at award recognition. Lawrence received 10 Oscar® nominations and won 7 Oscars® including Best Picture of the year. It also won the Golden Globe® for Best Picture as well. And finally we look at the critical reception of Lawrence.....critics and audiences give Lawrence of Arabia a 92% rating. So I think the movie has it earned it's sixth place finish.
Liv Tyler 2003's Lord of the Rings:The Return of the King.
#5 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) Movie Score 97.03
Coming in 5th place is Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The last chapter in one of the most successful movie franchises ever, The Return of the King proved to be the most successful of the trilogy. It is ranked as the 51st biggest box office(489.4 million) hit of all-time when looking at adjusted box office.
Return of the King received 11 Oscar® nominations and won 11 Oscars®...a perfect 11 for 11. On the critical side of things, Return of the King has a critic and audience rating of 91%. All three of the movies in the trilogy made the Top 100 list. Will The Hobbit 1 and Hobbit 2 be the next to join this list?
Myrna Loy and Fredric March in 1946's The Best Years of Our Lives.
#4 The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Movie Score of 97.08.
Coming in 4th place is the classic film, The Best Years of Our Lives. I am thinking that many might be wondering why this movie is ranked so high? First of all it is one of the biggest box office winners ever. It is ranked as the 73rd biggest box office hit when looking at adjusted numbers. For many years it held the number two spot on biggest hits, only behind Gone With The Wind. Which is not bad company when talking about box office results. It earned 8 Oscar®. nominations and 7 Oscar®. wins....one of which was the Best Picture Oscar®. And finally it's 92% critic and audience rating is one of the highest in my database. Put it all together and you have the 4th highest rated movie.
Louise Fletcher in 1975's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.
#3 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) Movie Score 97.31.
Arriving in 3rd place is One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is one of my favorite films of all-time. Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher are awesome in their Oscar® winning roles. And if you look carefully you can see some soon to be stars like Christopher Lloyd and Danny DeVito in small supporting roles. But that is only some of the reasons why this movie is so highly ranked. It is the 82nd biggest box office hit of all-time when looking at adjusted box office numbers. It received 9 Oscar® nominations and won 5 Oscars®. It won Best Picture for the Oscars® and the Golden Globes® and has a critic audience rating of 93%.
Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in 1942's Casablanca.
#2 Casablanca (1942) Movie Score of 97.32.
Our runner up movie is Casablanca. Probably one of the most famous movies to ever be produced. The movie is filled with classic line after classic line. Not bad for a movie that did not even have a finished script when they started filming. Casablanca has earned 252.2 million in 2012 adjusted dollars since it was first released. Casablanca earned 8 Oscar®. nominations and 3 Oscar®. wins which include Best Picture of the year. And finally looking at Casablanca's critical rating we see a 94% rating.
Al Pacino and Marlon Brando in 1972's The Godfather.
#1 The Godfather (1972) Movie Score of 98.07.
So we are finally here at the highest scoring movie. Of the 5,000 movies I have done Movie Scores for...The Godfather is the movie with the most points. So how did it earn the most points? The Godfather is the 23rd biggest box office hit of all-time, with an adjusted box office of 626.6 million. It received 11 Oscar®. nominations and won 3 Oscars®.....including Best Picture of the year. It also won the Golden Globe®. for Best Picture as well. And finally according to critics and audiences The Godfather is the highest rated movie with a 95% approval rating.
If you feel that a movie is missing from the rankings I will be more than happy to let you know where that movie falls in the rankings....just leave a note in the comments. And if you can find a movie that I have not already done and it cracks the Top 100...I thank you in advance.
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.
Golden Globes® are the registered trademark and service mark of the Hollywood Foreign Press.
Casablanca Movie Scorecard
Best Years of Our Lives Movie Scorecard
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Oh, I just have to talk about the top ten even though it is 1am. Yes! I am not going in the proper order. Too bad!
I have seen:
Bridge on the River Kwai several times
The French Connection (prefer this over the sequel big time)
Lawrence of Arabia - I saw this for the first time earlier this year. It is solely the length of the film that made me take too long to see it, not the genre
Gone With the Wind - I am shocked this isn't in the top 5.
The Best Years Of Our lives - seen this several times too, though I must be in the right mood to see it
Casablanca - can't ever tire of this film, although I remember the first time seeing it saying out loud "So this is where all those cliches come from"
As for the films I haven't seen, I tried to see Ben-Hur this Christmas just for Steve, but it aired too early in the morning this year. I did see the 1925 version though. Anyways, Ben-Hur is the one that interests me the most of the ones I am missing in the top 10. I cannot see me ever watching lord of the Rings. Ask Steve why. :)
Same thing for The Godfather.
Bruce, Not that surprised by the No 1 movie but was surprised by some of the results - didn't expect The French Connection to be as high as it was, though it is an excellent movie.
Great to see the Best Years of Our Lives so high up the list, I think it's a great film and I am still surprised that it has not been remade for our era given recent 'wars' (or whatever they're called now).
David Lean directed 2 of the top 10 and William Wyler also directed 2,which is a sign of their skill and success at awards ceremonies.
Excellent work Brucerson! Another fascinating list of films to rummage thru.
The Godfather no.1. No problem with that at all it's as near perfect a movie can be! There are film buffs who prefer the sequel, I'm not one of them. The first is the best but Part.II is very good too.
Hey my favourite film is in the moviescore top 10, so relieved! And thanks for the link. Cheers Bruce. :)
I enjoyed the statistics you've added on each film, very useful, the comments on the top 10 are great too.
Number 20 had me rubbing my eyes I thought I had accidentally opened another hub. Nice one.
I've seen 45 of the top 50 and have 36 of them on DVD and Blu-ray.
Other top faves I'm happy to see listed up there are Casablanca, Lawrence, Kwai, Gone With the Wind, Star Wars and Return of the King.
My only quibble this time is seeing Driving Miss Daisy (ugh!) ranked above Star Wars, Schindlers List, Saving Private Ryan, ET, On the Waterfront - it's an anomaly, the film doesn't even deserve to be in the top 50 and above much better films, winning the Golden Globe and Oscar does not make it a better film than those ranked below it, IMO.
Sorry to get all serious at the end there but overall it's a great list of mostly great films, well done amigo.
Voted Up and Interesting, Useful too.
I have only seen about 10% of this list. I don't know why but I guess just because everyone else thinks it's a classic, doesn't mean I'll watch. I will give credit for this being a diverse list and maybe I'll start watching more of them. Cool hub!
Hey Flora....sorry I got this hub out so late yesterday, I did not get much of a HubPage window until very late in the day....but you found it. I have seen all 50 of these movies...and 98 of the 100 I ranked. So obviously I need to watch the remaining 2 movies very soon.
68 is pretty impressive especially since a good chunk of the movies were made after you were born. I look forward to your comments later today.
Hey Flora...I think Ernest Goes To Jail was the 4th or 5th movie in the Ernest franchise. Ernest was a tv commercial character played by Jim Varney...who somehow turned Ernest into a movie star....his first two or three movies were actually pretty popular. Varney provided the voice for Slinky Dog in the first two Toy Story movies...he passed away before they made Toy Story 3....glad you got some humor from #20.
As for the Top Ten you have seen....I think most of the movies seem to get better with time...Return of the King, one of the ones you have not seen does not seem to be doing that....I think the 2nd part of that series The Two Towers is the best of the bunch....maybe one day when you have an extra 14 hours...you can knock out the trilogy of L.O.R. I will not bring up #1 and #3 as I know your reasoning for not watching them. Casablanca is a classic and I just bought a Blu-Ray copy that I am about to watch....as my wife has not seen the movie yet. Gone With The Wind failed to get to the Top 5 because of a lower critical rating compared to the other ones in the Top 10.....a 95% for The Godfather and 90% for Gone With The Wind....does not sound like much....but there is only a 1.57 difference between 1st and 7th. Thanks for talking about movies ranked 10th to 1st as I realize it was late when you found this hub.
Hey Jools99....French Connection was one of the first blockbusters that the Oscar voters decided to recognize rather than avoid. In my system that is the perfect way to score high....huge box office and Oscar winning picture.
Best Years of Our Lives is almost a forgotten film...I was looking at some old Variety magazines....and even as late as 1954.....it was the second biggest movie ever...and still stayed in the Top Ten well into the 1960s. And you are correct when you mention it is surprising that it has not been remade.
I think David Lean would make an excellent hub subject...I think James Cameron is following his work schedule...make a great movie every 7 or so years. Wyler was also outstanding...and his record 12 Oscar nominations for Best Director prove that point...thanks for checking out my Top 100 movie list.
Hey Steve...thanks for checking out part two. I agree that Godfather 1 is better than Godfather 2....but it seems that as time passes G2 seems to be catching up to G1...at least in my opinion. 45 is pretty impressive. Glad you are happy with most of the movies...except for Driving Miss Daisy. I agree it seems out of place but I do know many people like my wife that think Miss Daisy and Fried Green Tomatoes are two of the best movies ever made....as for me....once was enough for both films.
I think the Top Ten is a pretty impressive list, which includes your favorite film, but I think any list is going to have some items that people do not agree with...so do you see a movie that should have made the Top 100? Thanks as always for your support.
Thank you very much Alecia for checking out part two of this hub. 10% is still pretty impressive when you consider that there are so many classic movies on the list. I would highly recommend the Top 10 for sure....as they all truly great films.
Bruce you've done an amazing job with these moviescore hubs, they are packed with statistics.
These are the top 100 moviescoring movies by your scoring method but what it isn't is the top 100 Greatest Movies which is another thing entirely. Case in point is the one film missing from the 100, the one generally considered to be the greatest film ever made - Citizen Kane.
Kane is mentioned in the previous hub along with Shawshank Redemption another highly regarded film. I think it's not even in the top 500 from what you wrote?
So basically what we have here is a variation of the top 100 most successful films (in adjusted dollars) but only if they also won the top awards. So out goes Avatar, Harry Potters, Pirates etc.
Still fascinating and interesting and it makes for great discussion. :)
Just a quick comment before lunch regarding Steve's last comment - I agree that in a list of *Best* films of all time, a lot of films are not properly appreciated at the time they come out, sometimes like with C.K. because no one wanted the movie made. That includes both money made and awards given.
Interesting thought - If I were to go through every film I *have* seen (no, I won't too many) and list the movies based on best made, regardless of whether I watch the movie multiple times -Rear Window would not be my top movie. It wouldn't be in my top ten. That is despite Rear window being my favourite film of all time.
I would put Gone with the Wind at number 1.
I would put Citizen Kane at number 2.
But I love this list.
So many good movies on this list which suggests that at least some of the Academy voters, film critics and cinema goers get it right!
'The Apartment', 'Dances with Wolves', 'The Sting', 'Star Wars', 'Titanic' 'My Fair Lady' and 'Ben-Hur' are all in my own list of top 100 films, (though I think 'Titanic' is in imminent danger of sinking out of the list next time I revise it!) and many many other movies in your top 50 and top 100 are classics without a doubt.
I mentioned in a comment on the other half of the list, that the continued appeal of a movie over many decades could also be a kind of retrospective sign of quality, but also I wonder which do you think have been the most influential of these movies? I would suggest a blockbuster special effects action movie like 'Star Wars' has had an enormous impact on the style of so many films made subsequently, but I wonder which others have changed the film industry in a similarly significant way?
Voted up.
Hey Steve...you make some very good points. Citizen Kane is considered one of the best ever....but I imagine more people have seen Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol in the last 6 weeks than the people that have seen Citizen Kane in the last 73 years....which I think fairly hurts Citizen Kane's score.
So yes....to make the list it needs box office, awards and audience and critical love.....Citizen Kane only has audience and critical love....as it bombed at the box office and was almost shut out at the Oscars...9 nominations 1 win. Where as a movie like Ben-Hur(I know unfair using your favorite movie) can argue that it has it all.....box office glory, record amount of Oscar wins, and critic and audience love....thus it is in the Top 10 surrounding by movies with the same results.....it is a tough club to get into...but Ben is there. Thanks as always for your comments.
Hey Flora...well this Best list is purely statistically based.....my personal list would indeed include movies like North by Northwest, Citizen Kane, Rear Window, and Blade Runner. Having read many Top Movie lists...they never seem to really give you a reason a movie finished 1st or 40th...at least this formula provides the reason why a movie ranked where it did....this system is set up for the perfect movie on a financial side, critical side and award side. Which I feel the producers of The Godfather were very happy when they made the movie and got the results it got....while the producers of Citizen Kane probably look back on it's release and try to think about what they would have done differently to achieve better results. Basically lists are made for disagreements....so I feel this list has accomplished that goal....lol.
Oh, no criticism.
There is no way Citizen Kane could ever do well when it was released. Hearst was convinced the film was about him and made sure that it got as bad publicity as possible. Film people in turn did well to diss it as Hearst held over them revealing that they were homosexual. also, this was the era of Hitler and many were Jewish. They didn't want to make a newspaper magnete ticked off. who knows what he could have written
Hey Greensleeves Hubs...thanks for the compliment and the comment. I think you are correct about how much of a lasting impact a movie has could be another category...just not sure how to include that without me being too subjective...currently all I do is go and find the numbers and the equation does the work.
I think a movies like Citizen Kane and Star Wars and changed the way movies were made, and should get some credit for that...but once again that would a very subjective category as well....I could argue that Die Hard was a game changing movie as well....but even I would not argue Die Hard needs to be on this list.
I am sure Steve is glad to see his Ben-Hur getting some more notice....thanks for checking out my two part series.
By the way, there was only one studio run by non-Jews: Warner Brothers. That is why they could afford to film a bunch of social and political feature films during the rise of Hitler and Nazism before Hitler turned his attention to US. The other movie moguls constantly told them not to do this as Hitler might get mad, but Warners were Christian and the studio wasn't going to back down.
Hey Flora.....without a doubt Hearst was able to make it very difficult for the movie to have box office success...with Hearst pulling any references to RKO and its films from his newspapers. I know that the New York Film Critics awarded Citizen Kane the best picture of the year...but the Hollywood crowd seemed to rebel against Citizen Kane. But I do give RKO credit for still getting the movie out there....I never understood why it took them 50 years to finally re-release the movie.
Hey Flora...thanks for the information on Warner Brothers...it is always amazing to me that more people did not stand up to Germany and Hitler back then...so I am always glad to read about people that did....thank for the comment.
Okay, now back to comments about the films that are on the list. hahaha!
11-20:
ah yes, the sole Hitch film to make the list. This is a bit of the bane of his career, because Selznick took all the credit. As a producer he (DOS) got the Oscar, even though Hitch shot each film only one way so that it coululd not be edited the way DOS wanted it. The film as DOS had wanted it would have been quite different. Hence, Hitch's hatred of him and the addition of "O" for Thornhill's name -ROT
I have seen Rebecca more often than others here.
I have seen:
Mutiny on the Bounty
West side story
West Side story - never understood why Maria doesn't die like Juliet does. The stage version is the same. why change the ending?
Platoon - I listened to this film a lot while looking at the ceiling. I was with a group of people. It was interesting to compare father/son films
Rebecca
My fair Lady - haven't seen this since Jeremy Brett died (Freddie)
The lost Weekend - extremely bold for its day. No one ever tackled this then.
Didn't realize I listed west Side story Twice until the 5 minutes were up and missed the real 6th film on my list. I also had an interesting spelling of could. sigh.
Lets try that again. I will list them alphabetically to be sure I don't miss anything (a, the not included).
The lost Weekend
a man For All seasons - very recently seen for the first time
My Fair Lady
Mutiny on the Bounty
Platoon
west Side Story
Hello Cogerson. This is a great piece of work, this two part series. There are a few titles, that I knew had to be here after reading the 100-51 hub. And there are a few surprises, in the older films. Your work chronicles well the history of the industry which chronicles so well our collective history for those of us who enjoy movies so much. A few of my favorites made it into the top ten. These two are going to be tough to beat.
I have seen all but three of these movies on this part of the list. I must try and watch Sound of Music one of these days!
Great list of movies!
30-21:
Glad to see Titanic didn't make the top ten. No, I still haven't seen it and do not intend to see it. I tried all I could to avoid that sickly sweet Dion song and I couldn't do it. It was in every store.
The ones I've seen:
Oliver!
Wings
Unforgiven
Rain Man
The Sound of Music
Mrs. Miniver
What a surprise that I've seen the musicals :)
I loved the Godfather, watched all of them - totally agree, the original wins, hands down!
Hey Flora 11-20....interesting information on Hitch, Selznick and Rebecca. I knew they were not close but I did not realize that it was that bad between them. As for West Side Story...I am sure Natalie Wood's star power kept her alive in that one....just like how Cary Grant could not be the bad guy in Suspicion.
The two Sheen movies are the best Vietnam movies out there...and I could easily see them existed during the same time frame during the War. I am sure My Fair Lady will eventually make it back into your rotation.
I guess you never saw the classic Ernest Goes To Jail then...lol. Man of all Seasons is a good movie, but not one I would re-watch anytime soon.
Hey mckbirdbks...thanks for checking out part two of the list...I agree 100% it is going to take many years before a movie can do what the Top Ten accomplished. I appreciate all your kind words and compliments...they are greatly appreciated.
Wow justateacher....47 of the top 50 is pretty impressive...and the fact The Sound of Music is one of the missing ones is amazing....seems all my life I have been forced to watch that movie...from my grandmother to my mother to now my wife and little girls. Thanks for the compiment and the comment.
Hey Flora 30-21...well you have another chance to see Titanic as Titanic3D will be in theaters very soon...as it is now been 100 years since the ship went down. Yes it is surprising that you have seen all the musicals...lol. Of the ones you are missing I would put Patton up as the one to watch....George C. Scott is outstanding. Thanks for the comments and contributions.
Hey Indigital....thanks for stopping by...and I am glad to see another Godfather fan out there.
I would rather see the Robert wagner version of the movie Titanic.
Patton? Okay, I'll keep that movie in mind.
Okay, 40-31:
Okay. There is very famous film I still haven't seen. I had been waiting for it to return to the big screen before seeing it - and then for the anniversary reissue the director went and made a bunch of changes, not just deleted scenes returned but enhanced special effects. It was like a completely separate movie. No way was I going to see it then. Now which one of the films I am missing do I mean? It is a bit of a bit trick question in that I think I've mentioned this issue before. Another film is also famous, but the director didn't mess it up on a re-release. Which is which? I'll give you a hint - I am old enough to have seen it when it was first released.
These are the movies that I have seen:
Tom Jones
American Beauty
Midnight Cowboy-my favourite of the group
Driving Miss Daisy
Terms of Endearment
Forest Gump -sadly, I will never get these two hours back.
And now for 50-41:
I have seen 8 of these.
The two I am missing are both from my lifetime. One is a western starring an actor I don't like unless he is playing baseball. The other is a war film not starring any of my favourite classic actors.
oh, that code is too difficult..
Here are the films I have seen:
The Great Dictator - saw this for the first time this year
Going My Way -ooh, another film with lots of music in it
The Apartment - seen several times, but I find a bit pathetic when seen from Jack's viewpoint
On the Waterfront
Gentleman's agreement - great to see another Peck film included about a social issue
Around the World in 80 days - fun to spot the cameos
a Beautiful Mind
The Sting - If I had to choose between their pairings, I pick this - genre, you know
Hey Flora...you will not be disappointed in Patton....now looking at 40-31....well you mention 6 of the 10 so that only leaves 4...ET, Star Wars, Toy 3, and Schlinder's List....It has to be either ET or Star Wars....which sadly they both have been altered many times since their first release...but I will go with ET since you would have only been 2 when Star Wars came out. In 2015 Star Wars will be on the big screen again...not sure when ET is coming back to theaters....maybe a 3d version is coming back as well.
I have been waiting for the first Forrest Gump negative comment...lol.
He Flora....50 to 41....8 is pretty impressive...as for the ones you have not seen...I did not like Dances With Wolves at all....but I loved Saving Private Ryan...although I do not think the second half is as awesome as the first half....but very well done.
Mr. Peck has two of the top 100....not too bad of a showing...although I do realize Mockingbird is much more popular than Gentleman's Agreement. Of course a Bing Crosby has lots of music, he would not want it other way.
I agree that from Lemmon's view point it is a pretty sad life he was leading.....thanks for taking the time to go through this entire 100 movie list....I am hope you found it interesting.
Yes, it is ET. :) I was going to wait until your Drew Barrymore hub when you wrote one to explain how I didn't see it in the first place, but I might as well do it now as who knows when her hub is coming :)
I am a year younger than Drew is and my best friend at the time was seven months younger than I. I didn't care whether I saw the film or didn't see the film. I had no preference. But Nicole was really exited. She was so excited about seeing the movie that she even had a (for her height) a life-size stuffed toy ET that she carried around with her everywhere. Meanwhile, Mom and Dad decided to wait and see about whether they would take me to see the movie. We were both very young to see a science fiction film.
Well, Nicole did see the film. and this little girl who had been excited to see the film and had stuffed ET toys came home so frightened by the film that she had horrible nightmares. There was no way my parents were taking me to see the film then.
Hi Bruce; I'm not too surprised that "the Godfather" was the number one choice. It's revered by both fans and critics. There are a lot of great films here. I've seen all of them except "Toy Story 3".
I didn't expect "the best years of our lives" to finish so high. It's a good movie but not one that is usually mentioned on "top 10" lists.
I'm very disappointed that "Chinatown" didn't make the list because its one of the greatest films ever made.
I enjoyed your top 100 list. nice work,
Rob
Yay, The Godfather is #1 !! I was hoping so!! Amazing movie hubs Cogerson:)
ERNEST GOES TO JAIL???You've got to be kidding!
Oh well, at least I've enjoyed most of the other movies on the list. I am, however, disappointed that neither MOONSTRUCK nor YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN made the list. I know not everyone is as enthralled with Moonstruck as I, but Young Frankenstein is hailed as a comedic classic.
More of my favorites! Have to say I did not hear of some of them, but nonetheless I will see if NetFlix or BlockBuster has them and check them out. "My Fair Lady" , "Unforgiven" and "The Sound of Music" more favorites! I was surprised that 'Scarface' wasn't on here, but "GodFather" was good too! Great list. Thanks for putting so much effort into such a wonderful list! :0
Hey Flora....wow your memories of ET are way different from mine....one of my first dates...I was 15 and she was 16....and she drove...the power of older women....lol.
I would agree the first quarter of ET would probably pretty intense for my 5 year old...at least until she figured out ET was the good guy....I imagine I will buy ET when comes to BluRay(unless it is already there). Sorry I never got around to Drew...but she will get a hub one day.
Yes, and Nicole was only 4 years old. I doubt she saw the whole film and expect her parents pulled her out as soon as she started freaking out. I can't remember, but that is my guess.
Sound of Music is and will always remain a wonderful movie for all ages. , Ben Hur was a masterpiece ,Titanic was a pure knock out because i personally watched it 22 times without ever getting bored of it. Immitation of Life was spectacular and How about Madam X ? (Lana Turner acted in them ) To Sir with love etc etc. I think nothing beats back the oldies which had wonderful meanings. Today its a bunch of ..... they are making for humans to watch. So sad
Thanks for sharing
Thanks for stopping by Rob....glad you like number one....as for Chinatown it finished at number 196....it earned only 124.80 million in 2012 dollars.....which cost it some points....but its critic audience score is 92% which is up there with the big boys.....and despite 11 Oscar nominations it only got one win....but I agree 100% with you it is a great movie. I think the great Myrna Loy helped Best Years of Our Lives to be so highly ranked. Thanks for checking out part two of this series...your contributions are always greatly appreciated.
49 out 50 is pretty impressive....
Hey Sunshine625....glad you liked the number one movie...I knew from previous hubs that you would like that one. Thanks for the visit and the comments.
Hey JaneWisdom....Ernest Goes To Jail was only a joke...The Man For All Seasons is really the 20th ranked film. Let's checking my database...I see Moonstruck ended up ranked 164th out of 5,000 movies while Young Frankenstein ending up in 241st place....that puts both of the movies you suggested in the top 5% of all the movies I have ever done. Thanks for stopping by and for the comments.
Hey AEvans....thanks for the compliment and the comment. Let's see Scarface(Al Pacino version) is in my database and it finished ranked 670th while the 1932 Scarface(Paul Muni/Howard Hawks version)finished ranked 1432th. I agree with you about The Sound of Music and Unforgiven they are both classic movies.
Hey Flora...I imagine the scenes where an unknown creature is running around the backyard would probably be enough to have a 4 year wanting to leave the theater....I wonder if 30 years later ET still brings back bad memories to Nicole.
I have no idea. We lost track of each other in our teens and I never thought to ask her even then.
Hey LadyFiddler....thanks for the compliment and the visit. The three movies you mention are indeed classics that I can watch over and over....I just saw the trailer for Titanic 3D at the theater...and at first I thought I no way will I spend money on that...but at the end of the trailer, seeing Titanic on a big screen again...seemed liked a pretty good idea....plus it marks the 100th year since the ship went down.
As for your two Lana Turner movies you mentioned...I do not have them in the database...even though my mother has been requesting a Lana Turner hub for months now....after dinner I will research both of those movies and let you know where they end up being ranked.
Great job with both of the lists Bruce keep up the great work. Voted Up and Everything Else!
Hey Flora...I imagine that would be an interesting conversation if you were still in touch with each other.
Hey Carl...thanks for stopping by and for the compliment...I think the two lists are jammed packed with lots of great movies.
Boy, you got a lot of comments on this HUB. Lots of great movies and I have seen most of them. GREAT HUB ONCE AGAIN BRUCE.
Excellent collection of Movies. Really they fall in great movies.
You put a lot of work into this and it shows! Excellent and interesting Hub.
Hey BERN1960....thanks for stopping by....yep I agree this hub seems to have generated some interest. Thanks for the compliment and the comment.
Hey anupma....thanks for the visit, the comment and the compliment.
Hey WillStarr...it has been fun writing about movies for the last 12 months here on HubPages.....thanks for the compliment and for stopping by.
Bruce; You're right about "The Best Years of Our Lives". A little Myrna Loy makes everything better.
Rob
Hey Rob...that is in the equation....is Myrna Loy in the movie?...if yes add 5 points to the total....lol.
Great Hub - great movies. Rated up!
Thanks suziecat7 for the compliment and the visit...both are greatly appreciated.
Hi! Why do not you use the world box office adjusted for inflation for your rating? So it would be logical.
Hey Crematoriji....I would love to use world wide box office numbers but those numbers getter very hard to locate once you start looking at movies made before 1980....and this list is composed of many movies made in the 1940s, 1950s and so forth...but thanks for the suggestion.
There is a book - "George Lucas's Blotskbusting." Box office figures are somewhat different from Box Office Mojo. But, for example: http://blockbustingbook.blogspot.com/2010/01/can-w
http://blockbustingbook.blogspot.com/2010/01/avata
http://blockbustingbook.blogspot.com/2010/01/top-s
"Avatar" at the time of writing had not yet collected his nearly $ 3 billion.
Hey Crematoriji....thanks for the links....lots of great information on the links you attached....the next time I update my formula I am thinking about going with worldwide box office....especially with the newer movies. I appreciate your suggestion.
New to the hubs, and as a movie fan I found this interesting. I think the major flaw in your system is the weight of the box office results. A movie like The Devil Inside can get a Cinemascore score F, and still open at $31 million. Great marketing is now more important than great film making. As an aside, To Kill a Mocking Bird is a lot better film than number 97. Good to see Cuckoo's Nest where it deserves to be.
Hey Brian Mullins...welcome to hubpages...when I was thinking about these scoring system...I thought what would be a perfect movie if I was producing a movie....box office results, critical results and award recognition would be the three things I would want.
So if a movie like The Devil Inside gets box office but is hated by everybody....it will not score very high....but it will earn some points....I have 5300 movies scored in my database....and the average score is 39.63.....so a great box office will only get the movie so many points. As for To Kill A Mockingbird...I agree it is a great movie with a great performance by Gregory Peck....it however was not a huge hit at the box office....which caused its score to be lower than expected but in did reach the Top 100.
I think all of the movies that made it to the Top 100 are all quality movies and ones that I love.....thanks for stopping by....and I appreciate your opinion....which is what makes looking at lists so interesting.
Fun list, but I don't understand some things. Rather than type a long message, I'll just give you two examples: If "Best Years of our Lives" is #73 in Box Office (while "Casablanca" is not even in the Top 100 on any list I have ever seen); and "Lives" won 7 Oscars to "Casablanca"s 3 - how can just a 1% critical rating advantage for "Casablanca" allow it to finish 2 positions higher? Also: "Star Wars" (not really a favorite of mine) is so high in Box Office and critical reception, not to mention those 6 Oscars - exceeded by only about 25 films - why penalize it so much simply because it did not win Best Picture? There are other examples, but I thought I would just start there. I did a similar study 3 years ago, some similarities, some differences. Thanks.
Hey pythias....first of all thanks for reading and observing some possible issues. First of all....the difference between 2nd and 4th place is only .31 of a point. My system has ceilings for categories....on the box office total....if a movie crosses the 200 million dollar point it gets all the points so Casablanca and Best Years of Our Lives were equal in that category even though Best Years of Our Lives was more successful at the box office. The same is true for Oscar nominations and Oscar wins...the ceiling is 5 nominations and 2 wins are the ceiling....it is only a 5 point category. So they tied there as well...another tie happened when they both won Best Picture Oscars.....leaving the only difference being critic and audience rating.....which is the difference. I am including a snapshot of both Casablanca and Best Year of Our Lives scorecards so you can see how scores were calculated.
As for Star Wars....in my system...winning the Best Picture earns a movie some extra points....Star Wars got a nomination but not the win....as great as Star Wars was back then...it still failed to win the biggest prize of all....so it gets hurt a little in my ranking system.
I would be interested to see your list that you came up with 3 years ago....I really appreciate you checking out the numbers on this hub.
Sure thing. Here it is: http://www.personal.kent.edu/~pciccozz/Movies/main
(I guarantee you're at least more web-savvy than me. I hard-coded every piece of this.)
Firstly, this was not a major project for me back in 2009, so I only considered the Top 100 films in each category (Top 100 in inflation-adjusted Box-Office, Top 100 adjusted Oscar winners, etc.) Kudos to you for cataloging thousands of films.
The inflation-adjusted lists are what they are. I'm sure we're pretty much looking at the same source data out there. I do make an adjustment that I noted. There is no doubt that while recent films (past 20 years or so) do very well (even after considering inflation), and dominate the Top 100, it is extremely difficult for one to crack the upper echelon, say top 15. The inflation adjustment, while essential, doesn't quite balance things, in my opinion. But as you said, you also made an adjustment, in the form of a cap.
As far as Oscar winners, we're both making an adjustment. I am adjusting because the number of categories has changed over the years, while you adjust by applying a cap. We both agree that Best Picture winners should rank higher, than non. The Godfather's 3 Oscars in 1972 beats Cabaret's 8.
Concerning which polls to use. That was tough for me. I didn't want polls where people routinely "stuff the ballot box", but I also didn't want polls of critics who can be very out of touch with mainstream filmgoers. That's why I selected AFI. I believe it does represent a composite poll. In retrospect, it should have been just one of several polls that I used. When I get some time to update this, I will revisit that issue.
Oh, if you didn't already know, "pythias" is Jerry Lewis' character's name in his first film without Dean.
Hey pythias...I did not know that came from the first Jerry Lewis movie without Dean Martin...very interesting.
After I type this comment I am on my way over to the link you provided. As for the reasons for my ceilings in certain categories...I was finding it very hard to figure out a way to calculate movies with huge box office numbers...I figure once a movie crosses the 200 million dollar mark that has to be ceiling....as it represents a huge block buster....only 7 movies crossed that mark in 2011.
For my critical rating I used many different sources...I did not use AFI has they do not rank as many movies as I need for my movies...they do the best...but I have done over a 100 actors as well....and the AFI does not really look at movies that were not successful.
My percentage in the rating....Rotten Tomatoes.com 40%, Roger Ebert and Leonard Maltin 10%(my two favorite critics), IMDB 30%, Yahoo Movies 10%, and Fandango 10%....sometimes these sites do not have a rating for a certain movie....so I rearrange the % of the ones I do find. Thanks for sharing the link...going there now.
Hey pythias...just checked out your website...very interesting information...I tried to send the following e-mail but it came back as undeliverable ..
"Very interesting site. I see we are thinking on the same grounds, as I also think the same three factors are important for a movie. Box office, critical review and award recognition. I noticed that Citizen Kane and Shawshank Redemption seem to be the movies ranked high on your list that did not make my Top 100. Box office results killed both of those movies in my scoring system. My scoring system uses roughly(it changes some for old movies and current movies) 40% for box office, 37% for critical reviews, and 22% for award recognition. I have bookmarked your website for further investigation. Bruce Cogerson".
No, "Shawshank" and "Kane" do not rank high overall for me. They didn't have the box office nor the Academy Awards. I think you may be referring to the poll part. I listed (at the time) a poll of top 10 critics' films, and another poll of top 10 IMDB films - just to show how different they can be. At the time, "Shawshank" was tops in IMDB, and "Kane" of course is tops among critics - neither of which meant a lot to me. Then, I show the poll that I used, which was AFI's. I do believe my poll part had the weakest reasoning because it is the most difficult to quantify.
The Golden Globes began in 1944, so I assume you factored that in. One of the reasons I didn't use them was that they are chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association - U.S. and non-U.S voters alike. Since I don't use worldwide Box Office (only domestic), I kept it consistent by using primarily domestic awards criteria (the Oscars).
My actual Top 10 (overall) was here: http://www.personal.kent.edu/~pciccozz/Movies/fina
(The Poll and E-Mail stuff at the site no longer works.)
Hey pythias. Thanks for all the information....I think it is fascinating to see how people rank movies...I respect those that use information to back up their results. We might not agree on the results of systems....but I respect the reasoning behind your results and others that have done the same thing as us.
My calculation is different for different time lines....I use more box office information for current movies(1980-2012)....movies from 1944 to 1980 use Golden Globe in the calculation...while movies 1927 to 1944 are calculated without GoldenGlobes...I have not done movies pre-Oscar days...but I will be doing a Chaplin hub soon...and will have to come up with a new calculation for the silent era that Chaplin started out in.
I would love to use worldwide numbers but any movie before 1980 is almost impossible to find worldwide box office numbers....so I just stick with domestic....although I admit it is one of the weaknesses in my calculation that I do not look at worldwide box office...thanks for returning.
Hey pythias....just checked out your Top Ten list....hard to argue against Gone With The Wind getting the top spot....one of my hubpage buddies loves Ben-Hur so he is happy that it made the Top 10.....checking out our two lists....we have many of the same movies. I think the only one I can not see on your list is On the Waterfront...it is good but it was not a box office blockbuster...it was a hit but compared to the others on your list it did not make hardly any money. Thanks for including the link.
True (about "Waterfront"). If a film ranked really high in 2 of 3 categories, that was enough for me to forgive the 3rd category. Similarly, "E.T." did nothing as far as awards, but scores very high elsewhere. If I had "thrown out" films that are not in the Top 100 in any one category, "Waterfront" and "E.T." drop out of the Top 10.
Yep, we actually shared 4 or 5 films in our Top 10s: "Godfather", "Wind", "Hur", "Arabia", and (if I threw out "Waterfront" and "E.T."), "Bridge". Those few films are indisputable, no matter how you slice it - whether your system is complex or simple like mine.
The only thing that bothers me a little about "Godfather" is that it didn't dominate the 1973 Oscars. It did win "Best Picture", but the Academy seemed to be just as enthralled with "Cabaret" that year.
"French Connection" ranked very high for you. I had it as winning "only" 5 Oscars; not in the Top 100 in Box Office; and kind of so-so in the AFI poll. It would be around #35 for me.
There were 5 films in my Top 27 from the site, that were not in your Top 100: "Amadeus", "The Sting", "It Happened One Night", "All About Eve", and "Snow White". What they had in common for me was that they all lacked that third category.
We both seem to be missing "The Ten Commandments". I think we know why. :) (If I'm not mistaken, it is the last theatrical film that is shown ONLY on one of the 3 broadcast networks. I wonder when ABC is going to give it up?)
"Hur" is my personal favorite. Too bad it seems to be falling off gradually over time. More and more people are seeing it as one of "those religious pictures". It's so much more.
Hey pythias....my system does not forgive a weakness in one of the three categories. My thought process was what would be a perfect movie for a movie producer.....box office hit....critic and audience love....and finally holding up the final Oscar of the night.
On the Waterfront did crack my Top 50 so I think we both agree that it is a classic movie....I remember seeing the clip where Brando says "I coulda been a contender" all the time when I was younger....sadly I do not see that clip nearly as much today....it seems to being fading away.
The Sting is actually #44 on my list. Looking at the other ones we differ on Amadeus came in at #167, All About Eve #165, It Happened One Night #131, Snow White #243 and Ten Commandments #119.....so all of them rank pretty high in my system....as they all rank higher than almost all the movies I have ranked so far....currently it is right under 6000 movies.
Ben-Hur is one of my HubPage(Steve Lensman) friend's favorite movie...so I am sure he will be happy to see that there is another person that appreciates that classic movie.
You make a good point on The Godfather....only winning 3 Oscars seems to diminish it a little....especially with Cabaret taking so many other Oscars...including Best Director ....but I think if they were to hold the vote today....The Godfather would be a double digit winner....as Cabaret is not mentioned very much when people talk about classic movies. Cabaret did end up in my Top 100(at #75)....so it did perform very well even though it did not get the Best Picture win. As always it is good talking movies with you.
I don't know about you, but to me, if I just take a step back and look at it subjectively from a distance (without trying to apply any kind of a scoring system), I really believe that 3 films "did it all" to a greater extent than any others, have stood the test of time, and truly stand out: "Gone With the Wind", "The Godfather", and "The Sound of Music". Even though "Star Wars" scored very high for me, I'm sorry but you have to win Best Picture. "Titanic" also scores very high for me, but it remains to be seen how it will be viewed in another 20 years. I would love to say "Ben-Hur" too (and for a while, it would have been one of the big 3), but it's just falling off a little with modern audiences.
All 3 ("Wind", "Godfather", "Music") won Best Picture and other awards against difficult competition - "Wind" during that great film year of 1939, "Godfather" vs. the academy darling "Cabaret" in 1972, and "Music" vs. "Dr. Zhivago" in 1965. All 3 were monster Box Office hits ("Godfather" slightly less so). And all 3 continue to be viewed as fan and critic classics ("Music" somewhat less so).
I never got this. Can you explain it?
The Sound of Music and Dr. Zhivago were both released in 1965, so the inflation factor should be about the same. (Dr. Zhivago made some of it's money in 1966 because it was released in December, 1965.) It cost about a dollar to see a film then, on average.
Sound of Music is listed at Mojo as 1.115 Billion after inflation, and Dr. Zhivago is listed as 972 Million. The Sound of music is only about 15% more.
BUT, in 1965-66 dollars, Sound of Music made 158 million and Dr. Zhivago made about 111 million. Sound
of Music made about 42% more, a much larger gap.
So, on the inflation list, why is Dr. Zhivago so close to Sound of Music? We know that Sound of Music was released only once, so its dollars are "pure". Even if Zhivago was re-released later, if anything, its box office take after inflation would be devalued.
The only thing I can think of is that maybe some places were charging a premium to see The Sound of Music and maybe they take that into consideration too. OR, maybe it's just an error.
Hey Pythias....It is hard to argue against the three movies you mentioned. Sound of Music, Godfather and Gone With The Wind have it all. In my scoring system I do not have anything for cultural reference....but these three would top those charts as well. On to your second comment now.
Hey Pythias....looking at the two Doctor Zhivago got released December 31st 1965....so I think right away you have to look at 1966 and 1967 as it's earning years. Plus it's only re-release was in 1999, when the David Lean movies were all being re-released. Looking at Variety issue January 4th 1967...Doctor Zhivago was the 2nd biggest hit of the year only behind Thunderball....it's box office rentals was an estimated 30,000,000 million.
Meanwhile Sound of Music was released March 10th 1965 and Variety issue January 5th 1966 ranks Sound of Music as the 2nd biggest hit of the year(only behind Mary Poppins) and an estimated box office rentals of 35,000,000 million. So it looks like 5 million more in box office rental and 40 plus years of inflation gives Sound of Music the edge over Doctor Zhivago...but they are both in the top 10 with Sound being 3rd and Doctor being 8th.
I have yet to see Doctor Zhivago....as it is on my list of movies to watch....thanks for the comments and hope I was able to answer your question.
Looking at lifetime rentals(Variety May 4th 1983)...Sound of Music earned 79 million to Doctor Zhivago's 46 million. That difference of 33 million....using my program that should have translated into an additional 259 million more in 2012 dollars for Sound over Doctor....but it looks like it is missing about 144 million according to Box Office Mojo. My program has Sound of Music's inflated box office at 1.244 billion....which is about 117 million more than Box Office Mojo's numbers.
I have noticed that many of Box Office Mojo's numbers before 1980 do not seem correct. I did a Clint Eastwood hub and noticed everything before 1980 was wrong....I even e-mailed them but they responded back that they were happy with their numbers.
So in conclusion...I would have to agree with you that it seems odd that their box office numbers are so close....but inflated box office is not an exact science....as many people do the calculation many different ways.
FloraBreenRobison 3 months ago
No fair I did not see this until after 12:30am. I saw two movies tonight on PBS, both of which I had already seen, so no time to alter my total. (By the way, they were To Have and Have Not and the original Oceans Eleven)
First thing: I have never even *heard* of the movie at the pretend spot of number 20. hahahahahahahahahahahaha!
For now, though, I will just tell you overall:
I have seen 32 of these films. That is 64 percent, lower than the other half of films for me, as I expected, but still not too bad all things considered..
For all groups of ten, the lowest number of films I saw listed was 6. In fact, with the exception of 50-41 where I saw 8 of the films, I saw 6 movies in each of the other ten. That leaves the grouping of 5 films in one of the groups of ten in the last hub of 100-51 as the sole lowest showing for me. Great! I am thrilled that at no time did I go below the 50% mark of any group of ten films. :)
It also means that I have seen 68% of the top 100 films according to your movie score. I am satisfied with that total so far.
The highest ranking film I've seen is the number 2 movie. Casablanca.
I will talk of each group of ten more closely tommorrow.