The AFI Does It Again

Some of you who know me know that, almost ten years ago, when the American Film Institute put out their 100 Best American Films List, I tore it apart on my (then) website.

Now a decade later, the AFI has put out a new list of what they contend are the 100 Best American Films. Is the new list any better?

I've made a cursory examination of the list, and have come to some tentative conclusions that I may refine in the next few days. This is what I think at the moment -- my first impressions.

But first, let me remind you of the critique I made of the original AFI list, a decade ago:

Of the silent era, only four films were chosen: three by Chaplin and one by D.W. Griffith.

And actually, when you consider that both "City Lights" and "Modern Times" are sound films (albeit sound films that just don't happen to have dialogue), that makes only two silent films on the entire list.

Not one film by Buster Keaton was on the AFI's list. "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" was.

Not one film by Preston Sturges was on the list. "Dances With Wolves" was.

Not one film with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers was on the list. "Tootsie" was.

"Intolerance" was not on the list. "The Jazz Singer" (one of the worst movies ever made) was.

"Sunrise" was not on the list. "Doctor Zhivago" was.

"Greed" was not on the list. "Midnight Cowboy" was.

Okay, you get the point.

The new list is marginally better than the old one, and a lot of the flaws of the old list have been taken into account and corrected in the new list. Both Intolerance and Sunrise made the cut this time. Buster Keaton, Preston Sturges, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers -- all are included this time. This is all to the good.

But some classic films that were included ten years ago have been pointlessly dropped -- such as All Quiet on the Western Front and The Birth of a Nation. The former is still one of the most powerful anti-war movies ever made, as is the latter, Griffith's 1915 masterpiece, which almost certainly fell victim to America's passion for political correctness.

Offhand I counted at least 20 films on the list that for one reason or another I didn't think belonged there. And while the previous list was just a ploy to sell videocassettes, this list is pretty much just a ploy to sell DVDs.

The more things change...

Tom Moran