Top Ranked Films of Howard Hawks

Popular American director Howard Hawks was tied at 11th with 8 titles in the top 1000 (along with Chaplin, Bresson, Renoir, Powell, and Visconti), but was only 18th in total points, the director with the most titles in the top 1000 without any in the top 100. [Our 2011 update of our film polls compendium is here at Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls.]



It seems like Hawks makes lots of very good films, but no real masterpieces, and that the polls pretty much correctly placed him. His films tend to mostly be macho American men films, where the men control both the action and the ladies that hang around them, who seem resigned to the fact that this is how real men act, with a take the bull by the horns spirit.



In 2009, he had 11 titles in the top 1000, but three have fallen just out, so I listed those below, led by Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, now just outside at 1060. Hawks also had a low average total per film at 3168 – the only other directors with this many titles and a lower per film average were the Coen Brothers, at 2680 pts per film, but with 10 titles cracking the top 1000 this time, compared to just six in 2009, which I first compiled all the polls into one big one.



1. His Girl Friday (1940) #147

2. The Big Sleep (1941) #154

3. Bringing Up Baby (1938) #217

4. Rio Bravo (1959) #346

5. Red River (1948) #371

6. To Have and Have Not (1944) #505

7. Scarface (1932) #518

8. Only Angels Have Wings (1939) #584



Previously ranked in the top 1000, new rankings

9. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) #1060

10. Hatari! (1962) #1217

11. El Dorado (1966) #1409

I think they got his best two correct, His Girl Friday followed by The Big Sleep. I’d also rank them that way. Both feature crsip dialogue and briskly moving plots, though the plot of Sleep gets a little muddled and one killing appears to be unsolved, a mystery to the screenwriters as well, according to one source. Yet it remains one of a handful of classic American noir from the 40's, one that helped define the genre.



However, I see Bringing Up Baby and Rio Bravo as just exercises in silliness (and always overrated), easy writing if any at all (especially true of Bravo, which reeks as a serious western, and it certainly isn't funny either), neither one has ever made me laugh or get involved in any way, though I did want to belt the Hepburn character in Baby with a baseball bat just to shut her up – one of the most irritating people in cinema history. Red River is just more homage to John Ford stuff, nothing new but still another classic western in that genre canon.



To Have and Have Not, though it made Lauren Bacall famous, was much better filmed in 49 as The Breaking Point, with John Garfield and Patricia Neal (who was even smoother than Bacall and not as obvious), the version Hemingway preferred as well. Scarface is pretty standard gangster fare.



Only Angels Have Wings deserves a higher ranking, even with it’s totally cheesy special effects featuring aircraft landings on a small jungle airstrip in South America that are akin to kids' wooden models landing on a card table with plastic trees, I swear you can see cables on the planes at one point. Otherwise it’s a moving story with some good performances, typical of Hawk’s best works, when ensemble casts click and appear to mesh smoothely onscreen. This cast is led by Cary Grant and Jean Arthur (always one of my favorites), with a welcome intrusion by a young Rita Hayworth.



The ensemble clicking like machinery was especially true of His Girl Friday, it’s a classic of the genre, non-stop dialogue and plot movement, which tried to simulate news flashes in style, as it was about crime reporters on a big breaking story about a killer escaping prison. It was a remake of the previously filmed The Front Page, co-penned by Billy Wilder.



See the full list of top ranked 100 directors here: Top Ranked 100 Directors, 2011 Edition

Top Ranked Films of Jean-Luc Godard

These are all the films of Godard’s that made the top 1000 in our 2011 update of the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls. He place third with overall titles, tied with Bergman at 12, behind Hitchcock and Scorsese, and down from 16 in 2009, so he’s actually had four titles fall out of the top 1000. But then, with only 1 in the top 100, he's tied with about 60 others there; compare that with Kubrick's six.





1. Contempt (1963) #89

2. Pierrot le fou (1965) #124

3. Masculine-Feminine (1966) #126

4. Breathless (1959) #159

5. My Life to Live (Vivre sa vie) (1963) #171

6. Band of Outsiders (Bande à part, 1964) bw #268

7. Week-End (1967) #304

8. Two or Three Things I Know About Her (1966) #341

9. Alphaville (1965) #544

10. A Woman is a Woman (1961) #712

11. Passion (1982) #951

12. Sauve qui peut (la vie) (1980) #976



Not my favorite canonical director (though at least interesting), I hope he loses four over the next two years as well and he’ll be down where he more appropriately belongs. Many of his films are two hour discourses about the same thing, usually leftists reading propaganda (not that there's anything wrong with revolution! just do it, don't read a prepared statement about it - viva Che!), or sometimes people just telling you about themselves (Two or Three Things) – boring! But then, "your results may vary", lol..



Apparently others don’t think so. In fact, his top ranked film here, Contempt, is two hours of mostly silent brooding, and perfectly fits the archetype of what I don’t like about Godard – I personally think he wastes film footage and makes the creative process as easy as possible for himself by singles takes and not much editing and long scenes where not much happens. Most of these look like they were made in a few days – see Two or Three Things I Know About Her, Week-End (which is dreadful to sit through in a theater), Alphaville, and A Woman Is a Woman for more examples, if you have some time to kill. (I'd rather be having a root canal than sit through Week-End again)



A few films however, appear fresh and lively by comparison. I especially liked Band of Outsiders and Breathless – each were classic b&w films with a vitality usually lacking in Godard, these actually have pace and move like a good film should. These films may give the filmgoer a wrong impression of his overall work however, as he quickly moved from these faster-paced stories to the films with no stories, only long discourses. I received plenty of school lectures growing up, I don’t need them in films as well, not even in documentaries. Godard will be a acquired taste at best for most film fans, I find most of these more on the pretentious than artistic side of the scale.



One interesting film that didn’t make the top 1000 is better than most of these that did, Le Petit Soldat (1960), which has a journalistic and gritty style through most of its fast moving story, then disintegrates into political rhetoric. It’s about Algerian agents operating in Switzerland against France and trying to avoid capture from intelligence agents. It almost has a John Le Carré feel to it.

Top Ranked Films of Ingmar Bergman

The films of Swedish master Bergman are a mixed bag, as he can often produce what I consider art, as in The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries, then he can descend into the angst and inner hell of characters in crisis - films like Cries and Whispers and Scenes From a Marriage almost sent me out of the theater. He is definitely a visual master worth studying, by anyone interested in cinema, but don't expect many pleasant hours here, outside of the lighter Fanny and Alexander - this is some serious stuff.



Hey, where's that midnight sun when you need it, eh?



These are all the films of Bergman’s that made the top 1000 in our 2011 update of the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls combined in a big spreadsheet. Bergman was tied with Godard for 3rd highest film count at 12 (after Hitchcock and Scorsese), and was sixth in total points among all directors, pretty lofty heights. (My own results vary, lol.. he's not my favorite; I admire him more than I like or enjoy him, and I suspect this is true of most cinephiles)

1. The Seventh Seal (1957) bw #31 Medieval knight Max von Sydow plays a chess game with Death while fleeing the Black Plague with his family - just another typical Swedish family film

2. Fanny and Alexander (1982) #46 A nostalgic family album kinda film, so un-Bergmanlike that perhaps it had a different sperm donor, I dunno.. maybe he liked Fellini's Amarcord

3. Persona (1966) #86 C'mon man, any two beautiful women I've known that were together in a house this much would have definitely experimented (and I've known many!), this film failed to deliver much of anything but a big audience tease - hey, L'avventura did the same thing now that I think about it, the dressing scene on the boat!

4. Wild Strawberries (1957) #104 Beautiful story, and realistic, just kinda slow like most Bergman films, but very rewarding, my favorite after Seventh Seal

5. Cries and Whispers (1972) #273 Not even Liv Ullman close-ups are worth all this cinematic pain

6. Winter Light (1962) #512

7. Silence, The (1963) #553

8. Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) #559

9. Scenes from a Marriage (1973) #664

10. Through a Glass Darkly (1961) #743

11. Virgin Spring, The (1960) #882

12. Sawdust and Tinsel (1953) #975

The Top Ranked Films of Luis Buñuel

Spanish surrealist Luis Buñuel, a friend of surrealist painter Salvador Dali, has given cinema a glimpse of his unique vision of cinema as art. His most accessible film, Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie [photo below], is a gentle satire of suburban life, in which dinner guest arrive for a dinner that gets continually delayed by the mind of Buñuel and other unforeseen events.

1. Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The (1972) #99

2. Belle de jour (1967) #218

3. Viridiana (1961) #231

4. L'Âge d'or (1930) #263

5. That Obscure Object of Desire (1977) #293

6. Exterminating Angel, The (1962) #365

7. Los Olvidados (1950) #419

8. Tristana (1970) #443

9. El (1952) #685

10. Phantom of Liberty, The (1974) #827

Top Ranked Films of the Coen Brothers

Joel and Ethan Coen

Photo by Pascal Le Segretain, © 2011 Getty Images

These are all the films of the Coen Brothers, Ethan and Joel, that made the top 1000 in our 2011 update of the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls. They usually share both directing and screenwriting duties, so I lumped them all together here, and they had 10 titles make the top 1000 in all.

Frances McDormand won a best actress

Oscar® for her sheriff character in Fargo

1. Fargo (1996) #49

2. No Country for Old Men (2007) #133 [AA]

3. Big Lebowski, The (1998) #260

4. Barton Fink (1991) #467

5. Raising Arizona (1987) #626

6. Serious Man, A (2009) #627

7. Miller's Crossing (1990) #673

8. Blood Simple (1984) #717

9. True Grit (2010) #889

10. O Brother, Where Art Thou (2000) #958



My favorite Coen Brothers film remains one of the funniest ever made, Raising Arizona. This is also one of the fastest-paced films ever.

Top Ranked Films of Martin Scorsese

These are all the films of Scorsese’s that made the top 1000 in our 2011 update of the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls. Martin had 13 titles in all, second only to Hitchcock's 14, and in my opinion, a much better, more serious body of work than Hitch's.

1. Taxi Driver (1976) #3

2. Raging Bull (1980) bw #25

3. Goodfellas (1990) #26

4. Casino (1995) #120

5. Mean Streets (1973) #166

6. The Departed (2006) #191 [AA]

7. The King of Comedy (1982) #393

8. Age of Innocence, The (1993) #417

9. Last Temptation of Christ, The (1988) #494

10. After Hours (1985) #531

11. Shutter Island (2010) #567

12. My Voyage to Italy (1999) #755

13. Last Waltz , The (1978) #796



This list could also include the excellent Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, which won Ellen Burstyn her only Oscar®, so far anyway. I suppose it could include The Aviator (#1265), but the one really missing here to me is Gangs of New York, which came it at #1681.

Top Ranked Films of Federico Fellini

These are all the films of Fellini’s that made the top 1000, in our 2011 update of the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls - he had nine total, including two in the top 100. [Photos courtesy of Fanpix.net]

Fellini and wife, actress Julietta Masina

1. 8 ½ (1963) Italy, bw #40

2. La Dolce Vita (1960) Italy, bw #74

3. La Strada (1954) #114

4. Nights of Cabiria (1957) Italy #172

5. Amarcord (1973) #254

6. I Vitelloni (1953) #348

7. Juliet of the Spirits (1965) #478

8. Fellini Satyricon (1969) #682

9. Fellini's Casanova (1976) #842



Many prefer the metaphor-laden surrealism of 8 ½, but I think I lean toward the realism of the decadent artists portrayed in La Dolce Vita. Both are classics. Wife Julietta Masina’s performance makes Nights of Cabiria a must-see for fans of Italian cinema, it’s a rare gem.



A more accessible film for the public may be the affable comedy Amarcord (1973), a beautifully shot color film about growing up in Italy. It's said that he wrote down his nightmares and dreams in a journal, hence the surrealist aspect of most of his films, as he's obviously attempting to partially film his own subconscious.



As a rule, I avoid all films with the filmmaker’s name in the title, lol..

Top Ranked Films of Stanley Kubrick

These are all the films of Kubrick’s that made the top 1000 in our 2011 update of the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls. In fact, these are all eleven films that Kubrick made, and he has the most titles in the top 100 with six. 2001 thankfully changed the look of science fiction films forever.



1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) #4

2. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) #18

3. Barry Lyndon (1975) #56

4. Clockwork Orange, A (1971) #59

5. Paths of Glory (1957) #91

6. Shining, The (1980) #94

7. Full Metal Jacket (1987) #135

8. Killing, The (1956) #366

9. Spartacus (1960) #390

10. Lolita (1962) #474

11. Eyes Wide Shut (1999) #568

2001 was shot entirely on a sound stage in England

Leading Film Totals by Directors in the Top 1000

These are the highest film counts by individual directors in our Top Ranked 1000 Films (all polls), 2011 edition.

Andy Warhol and Alfred Hitchcock

Similar to the last poll in 2009, but at the top Hitchcock lost 2 titles down to 14, Godard dropped 4 films to 12 - they were tied last time. Scorsese obviously picked up Shutter Island and jumped up a little in count, as Bergman also lost a couple. Kubrick's 11 films represent his ENTIRE filmography! That's the most amazing feat on this list, plus he has 6 in the top 100, easily the most of any director.



Rank, Director, Titles in the 1000



1. Hitchcock, Alfred 14

2. Scorsese, Martin 13

3. Bergman, Ingmar 12

3. Godard, Jean-Luc 12

5. Kubrick, Stanley 11

5. Kurosawa, Akira 11

7. Buñuel, Luis 10

7. Coen, Joel and Ethan (I lumped all theirs together) 10

7. Ford, John 10

10. Fellini, Federico 9

11. Bresson, Robert 8

11. Hawks, Howard 8

11. Powell, Michael (some shared) 8

11. Renoir, Jean 8

11. Visconti, Luchino 8

16. Eisenstein, Sergei 7

16. Keaton, Buster (some shared) 7

16. Kiarostami, Abbas 7

16. Spielberg, Steven 7

16. Tarkovsky, Andrei 7

16. Wilder, Billy 7



Total of 21 directors, 194 films



Disappointments

- Zhang Yimou, China - only 3

- William Wyler - only 4 (he had 13 best picture nominees)

- Fritz Lang – only 4 (c'mon, deserves 7-8 at least)

- Carol Reed - 3 (missing Outcast of the Islands and Oliver!)

- Sydney Pollack – just 1

- Joseph Losey – just 1

- Chen Kaige, China - 0 (Together, Farewell My Concubine, The Promise)