A complete directory for Allan Fish’s countdown
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The Directory
The Early Years (silents & early talkies, 1895-1929)
1. Sunrise
4. Napoleon – Kevin Brownlow Restoration
6. The Thief of Bagdad – Thames Silents Version
7. Nosferatu
8. Metropolis – Restored Version
9. The General
11. Pandora’s Box
12. The Last Command
13. Intolerance
14. La Roue
15. The Crowd
16. The Wind
17. L’Argent
18. Big Business
20. Spione
21. Haxan
22. The Gold Rush
23. The Kid Brother
26. Cops
28. The Last Laugh
30. Sherlock Junior
31. Les Vampires
33. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
34. Die Nibelungen – Parts I & II (Siegfried & Kriemheld’s Revenge)
35. Blackmail (silent version)
37. Safety Last
39. The Chess Player
40. People on Sunday
41. Easy Street
42. Erotikon
43. Un Chien Andalou
47. Lonesome
48. The New Babylon
49. Piccadilly
50. Verdun
51. The House on Trubnaya Square
52. Zvenigora
54. The Freshman
55. The Immigrant
56. Mother
58. Foolish Wives
59. One a.m.
60. Faust
61. Two Tars
63. Beggars of Life
64. Bed and Sofa
65. The Kid
66. Our Hospitality
67. Seventh Heaven
68. J’Accuse
69. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
70. The Lodger
71. By the Law
72. The Merry Widow
73. The Burning Soil
74. Queen Kelly
78. Strike
81. Underworld
84. Les Trois Mousquetaires (Serial)
85. Doctor Mabuse – Parts I & II (Der Grosse Spieler & Inferno)
86. Asphalt
87. The Adventures of Prince Achmed
88. La Marveilleuse Vie de Jeanne d’Arc
90. The Big Parade
91. Seven Chances
93. Arsenal
95. Never Weaken
97. Variety
98. Stella Maris
99. Casanova
100. Ballet Mécanique
The Poll, with The Passion of Joan of Arc at #1
The 1930s
3. The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums
4. City Lights
6. M
10. Earth
11. Mr Thank You
12. Love me Tonight
13. Duck Soup
14. The Goddess
15. Limite
16. L’Atalante
20. The 39 Steps
21. L’Age d’Or
22. The Adventures of Robin Hood
23. It’s a Gift
25. Oh Mr. Porter!
The Poll, with The Wizard of Oz at #1
The 1940s
1. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
4. Citizen Kane
6. Day of Wrath
7. Late Spring
12. Ivan the Terrible Part One: Ivan Grozyni
13. Bicycle Thieves
14. Letter From an Unknown Woman
17. Rebecca
18. Oliver Twist
19. Casablanca
23. A Matter of Life and Death
24. Pinocchio
28. Voyage Surprise
29. Henry V
31. Double Indemnity
32. Gun Crazy
34. Notorious
35. Brief Encounter
36. Black Narcissus
37. The Lady Eve
38. Open City
40. Brighton Rock
41. Nightmare Alley
42. Cross of Love
44. Fantasia
45. Red River
46. Dead of Night
The Poll, with Bicycle Thieves at #1
The 1950s
1. Tokyo Story
2. Vertigo
3. Sansho Dayu
5. Ikiru
8. Pickpocket
10. Tokyo Twilight
11. The Seventh Seal
13. Sunset Boulevard
15. Madame de…
16. Bob le Flambeur
17. Rear Window
18. Rio Bravo
19. Pather Panchali
22. Twenty-Four Eyes
24. Kiss Me Deadly
25. Umberto D
26. A Man Escaped
27. Paths of Glory
29. Rashomon
32. La Strada
34. Lola Montes
35. Beep Beep
37. The World of Apu
38. The Naked Spur
41. The Burmese Harp
45. Twelve Angry Men
46. All About Eve
47. The Diary of a Country Priest
48. Magical Maestro
49. Anatahan
The Poll, with Rear Window at #1
The 1960s
2. Le Mépris
4. Persona
6. Red Angel
7. The Leopard
8. The Young Girls of Rochefort
10. Belle de Jour
11. Once Upon a Time in the West
14. Shame
15. 8½
16. Andrei Rublev: director’s cut
19. Psycho
21. Charulata
22. The Gospel According to St. Matthew
25. L’Eclisse
26. Onibaba
27. The Wild Bunch: director’s cut
29. El Verdugo
31. The Round-Up
32. L’Année Dernière à Marienbad
34. Le Samourai
35. The Apartment
36. Viridiana
37. Bonnie and Clyde
38. Hamlet
39. Witches Hammer
40. Vidas Secas
41. Jules et Jim
42. L’Avventura
43. Don’t Look Back
44. Playtime
45. Pierrot le Fou
49. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
50. The Hunt
The 1970s
1. Duelle
2. Stalker
3. Hitler – A Film from Germany
4. Barry Lyndon
5. Scenes from a Marriage – TV version
10. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
12. The Ceremony
13. Blanche
14. Les Deux Anglaises et le Continent
15. That Obscure Object of Desire
16. Chinatown
17. Céline et Julie vont en Bâteau
18. The Conformist
19. Taxi Driver
20. Ai No Corrida
21. The Ascent
22. The Godfather
24. Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
28. L’Innocente
29. Manhattan
30. Nashville
31. The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
32. Mirror
33. Wanda
36. La Dentellière
37. Ludwig – Requiem for a Virgin King
38. Out 1
39. Claire’s Knee
40. The Last Picture Show: the director’s cut
41. The Devils
42. Fat City
43. Straw Dogs
44. Deep End
46. I, CLAVDIVS
47. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Rue de Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
48. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid: director’s cut
49. Mihai Viteazul
50. Beauty’s Exotic Dance: Torture!
The Poll, with The Godfather at #1
The 1980s
2. Once Upon a Time in America
5. Dekalog
6. Heimat
8. Fanny and Alexander (TV version)
9. The Shining
10. A Nos Amours
11. Blade Runner – director’s & final cut
13. Raging Bull
14. Ran
15. Cinema Paradiso – Special Edition
16. Blue Velvet
17. The Sacrifice
19. Le Pont du Nord
20. Hotel Terminus – The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie
23. The Time to Live and the Time to Die
24. L’Argent
25. Nostalgia
26. Comrades
29. Shoah
33. The Big Red One – Reconstruction
34. Rouge
35. Come and See
36. Marlene
37. Kagemusha
38. The Last Emperor: director’s cut
39. Scarface
40. City of Sadness
41. Le Grand Chemin
42. The Elephant Man
43. Alice
44. Interrogation
46. Loulou
47. Yellow Earth
48. Yeelen
49. Excalibur
50. Akira
The Poll, with Fanny and Alexander at #1
The 1990s
1. The Double Life of Veronique
3. Magnolia
5. Actress
13. Lone Star
14. Heimat 2
19. Fargo
20. Sátántangó
21. G.B.H.
22. American Beauty
23. Schindler’s List
24. GoodFellas
25. Toy Story
26. Pulp Fiction
27. Beauty and the Beast: Special Edition
28. Unforgiven
29. City of Hope
31. Rosetta
34. The Piano
35. Time Regained
37. After Life
38. Howards End
39. Jeanne la Pucelle: Parts I & II (Les Batailles & Les Prisons)
42. Naked
43. The Big Lebowski
44. Mother and Son
47. Boogie Nights
48. Reservoir Dogs
49. Freeway
50. Metropolitan
The Poll, with Goodfellas at #1
The 2000s
2. Melancholia
4. 2046
9. Irreversible
10. The Prestige
11. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
12. Russian Ark
13. The New World (Extended Version)
14. Lust, Caution
18. Dogville
19. Downfall
20. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
21. A One and a Two
22. Caché
23. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Version)
25. Memento
27. Spirited Away
29. Fish Tank
30. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
31. Bleak House
32. The Reader
33. Far from Heaven
35. Paprika
37. Closer
38. Amores Perros
39. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
41. Heimat 3
42. You, the Living
43. Un Prophète
44. Inland Empire
46. Mesrine: Parts I & (Killer Instinct & Public Enemy Number 1)
47. The Son’s Room
48. The Fountain
49. Lady Chatterley: Extended Version
50. Antichrist
51. Vendredi Soir
52. 10
53. Before Sunset
54. Still Walking
55. Talk to Her
56. Moolaadé
59. Wall-E
60. Moon
61. Hunger
62. Band of Brothers
64. Être et Avoir
65. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
66. The Libertine
68. The Return
69. Import/Export
70. Help Me Eros
71. Razone
72. State of Play
74. Atanarjuat – The Fast Runner
75. Twenty-Thousand Streets Under the Sky
76. Manderlay
77. Inside
80. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Version)
81. Funland
82. Gosford Park
85. Visitor Q
86. The Dark Knight
88. Uzak
89. Blissfully Yours
90. I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone
91. Brief Crossing
92. Baise-Moi!
93. The Wrestler
94. Atonement
95. The Good, the Bad and the Weird
96. The Departed
97. Sin City
100. Oui, mais…
The Poll, with Mulholland Drive at #1
Originally, this piece featured the following introduction:
In 2010, Allan Fish concluded his ambitious, erudite, and stimulating countdown of every era in film history (a top 100 for the first 35 years of cinema, a top 25 for the 1930s, a top 50 for the ensuing decades of the 20th century, and another top 100 for the decade just past). The project was launched on Sam Juliano’s popular website Wonders in the Dark in the autumn of 2008. In several paragraphs, Allan would summon up the world of the movie effortlessly, giving a bit of history and story, but focusing on the film’s mood, its connections to other movies (and books and TV shows and plays…), and whatever it is that drew him in the first place.
Allan’s short, succinct, yet highly evocative pieces were intended to provoke conversations (which they certainly did) and to evoke curiosity and excitement. In this they were assisted by an often bold and original image – a screen capture in almost all cases, snapping a picture in the midst of merry movement, making us want to see more. As a tribute to the countdown, I organized a reverse-chronological picture gallery of all his choices. The rest of this page is devoted to a complete directory of Allan’s entries; click on a link and you will find yourself at the review in question. (My own pieces on a given movie can be reached through the asterisk, where applicable.)
-Joel, updated 12/3/2011
Click on names for archives
Writers/Founders
Oh my its so hard to ignore Frantiseks Vlacils White Dove from the 1960s its almost sickening to dismiss that film but nonetheless this list is the best and I think should be on a list of required watching for every filmmaker in the world
Well, Lloyd, I’m glad you found us and can only thank you for the kind words. I do like The White Dove and indeed The Devil’s Trap which followed it, but Marketa remains his unqualified masterpiece with Valley of the Bees just behind. Hope you come back again.