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The Filmsite.org website doesn’t offer much explanation as to how these films were selected, other than to say that “there is reasonable consensus by most film historians, critics and reviewers that these selections are among cinema’s most critically acclaimed, significant ‘must-see’ films (of predominantly Hollywood-American production).” It also notes that the focus was on English-language films. One can click on the movie titles at Filmsite.org for detailed reviews.
The site was created in 1996 by Tim Dirks. He also published his own list of “The Greatest 100 Movies of All Time,” a list no longer available online. The lists are nearly identical. The primary difference is that the Filmsite.org list is presented in alphabetical order while Dirks’ list is ranked. There is no indication when either list was published, but the most recent title on the Filmsite.org list is 1993’s Schindler’s List while Dirks’ list includes a pair of 1994 releases (The Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction). With so little variation between the two lists, this is a consolidation of the two lists with Dirks’ rankings. Films only appearing on one list or the other are noted:
* These movies appear on Dirks’ list, but not on the Filmsite.org list.
** These movies appear on the Filmsite.org list, but not on Dirks’ list.
1. Casablanca (1942)
2. The Shawshank Redemption (1994) *
3. The Godfather (1972) / The Godfather Part II (1974)
4. Gone with the Wind (1939)
5. Star Wars:
6. Schindler’s List (1993)
7. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
8. Rear Window (1954)
9. Citizen Kane (1941)
10. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
11. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
12. Psycho (1960)
13. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
14. Vertigo (1958)
15. Pulp Fiction (1994)
16. North by Northwest (1959)
17. Jaws (1975)
18. Taxi Driver (1976)
19. Apocalypse Now (1979)
20. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
21. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
22. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
23. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
24. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
25. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
26. On the Waterfront (1954)
27. Ben-Hur (1959)
28. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
29. Chinatown (1974)
30. The Graduate (1967)
31. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
32. Notorious (1946)
33. Double Indemnity (1944)
34. All About Eve (1950)
35. Rebecca (1940)
36. Touch of Evil (1958)
37. Raging Bull (1980)
38. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
39. The African Queen (1951)
40. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
41. High Noon (1952)
42. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
43. Some Like It Hot (1959)
44. King Kong (1933)
45. Blade Runner (1982)
46. The Searchers (1956)
47. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
48. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
49. West Side Story (1961)
50. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
51. Fantasia (1941)
52. Shane (1953)
53. The Quiet Man (1952)
54. Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
55. Roman Holiday (1953)
56. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
57. It Happened One Night (1934)
58. Stagecoach (1939)
59. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
60. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
61. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
62. The Third Man (1949)
63. The Big Sleep (1946)
64. Red River (1948)
65. The Wild Bunch (1969)
66. Duck Soup (1933)
67. Modern Times (1936)
68. Midnight Cowboy (1966)
69. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
70. Easy Rider (1969)
71. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
72. Paths of Glory (1957)
73. My Darling Clementine (1949)
74. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
75. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
76. City Lights (1931)
77. Annie Hall (1977)
78. A Night at the Opera (1935)
79. The General (1927)
80. Wuthering Heights (1939)
81. His Girl Friday (1940)
82. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
83. The Gold Rush (1925)
84. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
85. An American in Paris (1951)
86. Top Hat (1935)
87. A Star Is Born (1954)
88. The Birth of a Nation (1915)
89. Out of the Past (1947)
90. The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
91. The Lady Eve (1941)
92. 42nd Street (1933)
93. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
94. Greed (1924)
95. Ninotchka (1939)
96. Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)
97. Trouble in Paradise (1932)
98. Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
99. Nashville (1975)
100. The Crowd (1928)
These two titles are unranked:
The Big Parade (1925) **
Broken Blossoms (1919) **
Resources:
Originally posted 7/24/2019. | 
