Allan Fish’s Decades Countdown

A complete directory for Allan Fish’s countdown

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The Directory

The Early Years (silents & early talkies, 1895-1929)

1. Sunrise

2. The Wedding March

3. Greed – The Reconstruction

4. Napoleon – Kevin Brownlow Restoration

5. The Passion of Joan of Arc

6. The Thief of Bagdad – Thames Silents Version

7. Nosferatu

8. Metropolis – Restored Version

9. The General

10. The Battleship Potemkin

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

19. A Page of Madness

20. Spione

21. Haxan

22. The Gold Rush

23. The Kid Brother

24. Diary of a Lost Girl

25. Docks of New York

26. Cops

27. Visages d’Enfants

28. The Last Laugh

29. The Skeleton Dance

30. Sherlock Junior

31. Les Vampires

32. The Battle of the Somme

33. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

34. Die Nibelungen – Parts I & II (Siegfried & Kriemheld’s Revenge)

35. Blackmail (silent version)

36. Man with the Movie Camera

37. Safety Last

38. The Phantom Carriage

39. The Chess Player

40. People on Sunday

41. Easy Street

42. Erotikon

43. Un Chien Andalou

44. The Man Who Laughs

45. He Who Gets Slapped

46. The Electric House

47. Lonesome

48. The New Babylon

49. Piccadilly

50. Verdun

51. The House on Trubnaya Square

52. Zvenigora

53. Le Diable au Coeur

54. The Freshman

55. The Immigrant

56. Mother

57. The Joyless Street

58. Foolish Wives

59. One a.m.

60. Faust

61. Two Tars

62. The Birth of a Nation

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

75. Sir Arne’s Treasure

76. The Outlaw and His Wife

77. Fantômas (Serial)

78. Strike

79. The Whispering Chorus

80. Master of the House

81. Underworld

82. Steamboat Bill Jr.

83. The Last of the Mohicans

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

89. The Love of Jeanne Ney

90. The Big Parade

91. Seven Chances

92. The Wedding at Hardanger

93. Arsenal

94. A Cottage on Dartmoor

95. Never Weaken

96. The Living Corpse

97. Variety

98. Stella Maris

99. Casanova

100. Ballet Mécanique

The “Nearlies”: #101-200

The Poll, with The Passion of Joan of Arc at #1

The 1930s

1. Bringing Up Baby

2. La Règle du Jeu

3. The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums

4. City Lights

5. The Music Box

6. M

7. La Grande Illusion

8. Only Angels Have Wings

9. Trouble in Paradise

10. Earth

11. Mr Thank You

12. Love me Tonight

13. Duck Soup

14. The Goddess

15. Limite

16. L’Atalante

17. The Scarlet Empress

18. The Bride of Frankenstein

19. Le Roman d’un Tricheur

20. The 39 Steps

21. L’Age d’Or

22. The Adventures of Robin Hood

23. It’s a Gift

24. Les Misérables: Parts I, II & III (Têmpete sous un Crâne, Les Thénardiers & Liberté, Liberté, Chérie)

25. Oh Mr. Porter!

The Poll, with The Wizard of Oz at #1

The 1940s

1. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

2. Sullivan’s Travels

3. Out of the Past

4. Citizen Kane

5. His Girl Friday

6. Day of Wrath

7. Late Spring

8. The Third Man

9. The Cat Concerto

10. The Magnificent Ambersons

11. It’s a Wonderful Life

12. Ivan the Terrible Part One: Ivan Grozyni

13. Bicycle Thieves

14. Letter From an Unknown Woman

15. Les Enfants du Paradis

16. Spring in a Small Town

17. Rebecca

18. Oliver Twist

19. Casablanca

20. Listen to Britain

21. Kind Hearts and Coronets

22. My Darling Clementine

23. A Matter of Life and Death

24. Pinocchio

25. La Belle et la Bete

26. The Philadelphia Story

27. Red Hot Riding Hood

28. Voyage Surprise

29. Henry V

30. Great Expectations

31. Double Indemnity

32. Gun Crazy

33. The Grapes of Wrath

34. Notorious

35. Brief Encounter

36. Black Narcissus

37. The Lady Eve

38. Open City

39. Meshes of the Afternoon

40. Brighton Rock

41. Nightmare Alley

42. Cross of Love

43. Unfaithfully Yours

44. Fantasia

45. Red River

46. Dead of Night

47. All That Money Can Buy

48. Ditte Meneskebarn

49. The Ox-Bow Incident

50. To Be or Not to Be

The Poll, with Bicycle Thieves at #1

The 1950s

1. Tokyo Story

2. Vertigo

3. Sansho Dayu

4. Singin’ in the Rain

5. Ikiru

6. Floating Clouds

7. Ace in the Hole

8. Pickpocket

9. The Searchers

10. Tokyo Twilight

11. The Seventh Seal

12. Ugetsu Monogatari

13. Sunset Boulevard

14. The Seven Samurai

15. Madame de…

16. Bob le Flambeur

17. Rear Window

18. Rio Bravo

19. Pather Panchali

20. The Night of the Hunter

21. Ballad of a Soldier

22. Twenty-Four Eyes

23. Tout la Memoire du Monde

24. Kiss Me Deadly

25. Umberto D

26. A Man Escaped

27. Paths of Glory

28. Wild Strawberries

29. Rashomon

30. The Wages of Fear

31. Les Quatres Cents Coups

32. La Strada

33. Nuit et Brouillard

34. Lola Montes

35. Beep Beep

36. The House of the Angel

37. The World of Apu

38. The Naked Spur

39. Bad Day at Black Rock

40. A Bout de Souffle

41. The Burmese Harp

42. North by Northwest

43. Sweet Smell of Success

44. Ashes and Diamonds

45. Twelve Angry Men

46. All About Eve

47. The Diary of a Country Priest

48. Magical Maestro

49. Anatahan

50. The Man in the White Suit

The Poll, with Rear Window at #1

The 1960s

1. Eros + Massacre

2. Le Mépris

3. Marketa Lazarová

4. Persona

5. Chimes at Midnight

6. Red Angel

7. The Leopard

8. The Young Girls of Rochefort

9. Au Hasard, Balthazar

10. Belle de Jour

11. Once Upon a Time in the West

12. Kwaidan (4 hour version)

13. 2001: A Space Odyssey

14. Shame

15. 8½

16. Andrei Rublev: director’s cut

17. Doctor Strangelove

18. The Exterminating Angel

19. Psycho

20. The Hour of the Furnaces

21. Charulata

22. The Gospel According to St. Matthew

23. The House is Black

24. An Autumn Afternoon

25. L’Eclisse

26. Onibaba

27. The Wild Bunch: director’s cut

28. Lawrence of Arabia

29. El Verdugo

30. The Battle of Algiers

31. The Round-Up

32. L’Année Dernière à Marienbad

33. When the Cat Comes

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

46. Inferno of First Love

47. Black God, White Devil

48. Ride the High Country

49. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs

50. The Hunt

The “Nearlies”: #51-100

The Poll, with 8½ at #1

The 1970s

1. Duelle

2. Stalker

3. Hitler – A Film from Germany

4. Barry Lyndon

5. Scenes from a Marriage – TV version

6. A Clockwork Orange

7. The Hourglass Sanatorium

8. World on Wires

9. Don’t Look Now

10. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders

11. The Godfather Part II

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

23. The Spirit of the Beehive

24. Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

25. Apocalypse Now Redux

26. The Travelling Players

27. Cries and Whispers

28. L’Innocente

29. Manhattan

30. Nashville

31. The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser

32. Mirror

33. Wanda

34. La Maman et la Putain

35. McCabe & Mrs. Miller

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

45. A Swedish Love Story

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 “Nearlies”: #51-100

The Poll, with The Godfather at #1

The 1980s

1. Heaven’s Gate

2. Once Upon a Time in America

3. The Singing Detective

4. Berlin Alexanderplatz

5. Dekalog

6. Heimat

7. The Asthenic Syndrome

8. Fanny and Alexander (TV version)

9. The Shining

10. A Nos Amours

11. Blade Runner – director’s & final cut

12. Boys from the Blackstuff

13. Raging Bull

14. Ran

15. Cinema Paradiso – Special Edition

16. Blue Velvet

17. The Sacrifice

18. Diary for My Children

19. Le Pont du Nord

20. Hotel Terminus – The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie

21. Brideshead Revisited

22. The King of Comedy

23. The Time to Live and the Time to Die

24. L’Argent

25. Nostalgia

26. Comrades

27. Au Revoir les Enfants

28. Amadeus – director’s cut

29. Shoah

30. This is Spinal Tap

31. Grave of the Fireflies

32. Hannah and Her Sisters

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

45. Das Boot (TV version)

46. Loulou

47. Yellow Earth

48. Yeelen

49. Excalibur

50. Akira

The “Nearlies”: #51-100

The Poll, with Fanny and Alexander at #1

The 1990s

1. The Double Life of Veronique

2. The Long Day Closes

3. Magnolia

4. The Truman Show

5. Actress

6. Three Colours: Red

7. Breaking the Waves

8. Eyes Wide Shut

9. Shooting the Past

10. Three Colours: Blue

11. La Belle Noiseuse

12. L.A. Confidential

13. Lone Star

14. Heimat 2

15. A Brighter Summer Day

16. Our Friends in the North

17. Raise the Red Lantern

18. The Thin Red Line

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

30. Our Mutual Friend

31. Rosetta

32. The Sweet Hereafter

33. The Girl on the Bridge

34. The Piano

35. Time Regained

36. The Wrong Trousers

37. After Life

38. Howards End

39. Jeanne la Pucelle: Parts I & II (Les Batailles & Les Prisons)

40. The Wings of the Dove

41. Leon (Version Longue)

42. Naked

43. The Big Lebowski

44. Mother and Son

45. Being John Malkovich

46. All About My Mother

47. Boogie Nights

48. Reservoir Dogs

49. Freeway

50. Metropolitan

The “Nearlies”: #51-100

The Poll, with Goodfellas at #1

The 2000s

1. Love Exposure

2. Melancholia

3. Red Riding Trilogy

4. 2046

5. Memories of Matsuko

6. In a Land of Plenty

7. The White Ribbon

8. Mulholland Drive

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

15. The Lives of Others

16. There Will Be Blood

17. The House of Mirth

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)

24. Lost in Translation

25. Memento

26. Of Time and the City

27. Spirited Away

28. No Country for Old Men

29. Fish Tank

30. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

31. Bleak House

32. The Reader

33. Far from Heaven

34. Werckmeister Harmonies

35. Paprika

36. In the Mood for Love

37. Closer

38. Amores Perros

39. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

40. The Man Who Wasn’t There

41. Heimat 3

42. You, the Living

43. Un Prophète

44. Inland Empire

45. 4 Months, 3 Weeks & Days

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

57. The Squid and the Whale

58. Devils on the Doorstep

59. Wall-E

60. Moon

61. Hunger

62. Band of Brothers

63. Brokeback Mountain

64. Être et Avoir

65. A.I. Artificial Intelligence

66. The Libertine

67. The Barbarian Invasions

68. The Return

69. Import/Export

70. Help Me Eros

71. Razone

72. State of Play

73. Hero – Extended Version

74. Atanarjuat – The Fast Runner

75. Twenty-Thousand Streets Under the Sky

76. Manderlay

77. Inside

78. Y Tu Mamá También

79. The Bourne Ultimatum

80. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Version)

81. Funland

82. Gosford Park

83. Let the Right One In

84. Girl With a Pearl Earring

85. Visitor Q

86. The Dark Knight

87. The Girlfriend Experience

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

98. Revolutionary Road

99. Across the Universe

100. Oui, mais…

The “Nearlies”: #101-250

The Poll, with Mulholland Drive at #1

The Tribute in Pictures 

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