Top Ranked Films of Orson Welles

Orson Welles
[Tied for 24th in titles with only 6, but 14th in overall points with 27,246 - between Bunuel and the Coen Brothers, but they all made far more films than Welles. Others with six titles in the top 1000 include Woody Allen, Michelangelo Antonioni, David Lynch, Hayao Miyazaki, Roberto Rossellini, Krszystof Kieslowski, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, David Cronenberg. Welles leads this group in points, Allen is next with 22,541, then Antonioni]


I always thought Welles made a bigger name for himself than his body of work commanded. For years I preferred Ambersons to Kane, and have lately wavered with Touch of Evil – brilliant or just insane? Dennis Weaver’s performance alone put this question’s answer on the fence. One thing for certain, his films were always interesting, even if a bit sparse - likely because sadly he made little or no box office impact – in order to succeed in our system you have to generate huge dollars or you won’t get backed, so directors have learned to throw in the occasional romantic comedy or horror film. Even Spielberg said “I made films like Jaws so I could make films like Schindler’s List”

These are all the films of Welles’ that made the top 1000 in our 2011 update of the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls.

1. Citizen Kane (1941) bw) #11
2. Touch of Evil (1958) bw) #38
3. The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) bw #132
4. F for Fake (1973) #469
5. Chimes at Midnight (1966) #538
6. Lady from Shanghai, The (1947) #622

Just out of the top 1000 (these are the only other two of his films to make any polls):
7. The Trial (1962) # 1090
8. Othello (1959) #1109

I can see the art of Citizen Kane, it’s just such a dreary film (and overanalyzed at this point), avoid it if you have suicidal thoughts. Magnificent Ambersons is a bit more congenial (but with its own touch of insanity), while Touch of Evil and Lady From Shanghai are his attempts at film noir, with mixed results. There are moments of brilliance amid uneven pacing, neither are as compelling as others in the genre, such as Elevator to the Gallows, Out of the Past, or Double Indemnity. F for Fake is a pseudo-documentary, not sure it belongs on this list (1000 films of all time? Who are these people?) Chimes at Midnight is not available on dvd, not sure how to see it, but its the only Welles film I haven't seen. The only one I generally want to rewatch is Ambersons, though Touch of Evil intrigues me about once per decade.

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

Top Ranked Films of Charles Chaplin

Charles Chaplin
(8 titles, tied for 11th with 5 others – 8th overall in points at 37,417 – just after Spielberg and just ahead of Fellini)

These are all the films of Chaplin’s that made the top 1000 in our 2011 update of the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls.

1. Modern Times (1936) #9
2. City Lights (1931) #28
3. Gold Rush, The (1925) #48
4. Great Dictator, The (1940) #131
5. Kid, The (1921) #226
6. Monsieur Verdoux (1947) #560
7. Limelight (1952) #684
8. Circus, The (1928) #894

I’m not a big fan of Chaplin’s, one viewing of each film has been enough for me. His reknown is probably more as an actor (and his character) than as a director. I liked the silent films of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd a lot more, those made me laugh. I tend to agree with this statement by my favorite director Stanley Kubrick: “No one could direct a film in a more pedestrian manner than Charles Chaplin.” He seems to depend more on sentimentality and pathos than cinematic art; in his world the story is everything, the art of film is secondary and often irrelevant (maybe he's right). For me, literature is for stories, films need to be visually interesting or unique, or I’d rather read the original author’s story.

His best film, Modern Times, got him sued by the producer of the French classic À Nous la Liberté (1931) (to the dismay of director Rene Clair, a Chaplin admirer) for stealing a lot, including entire scenes. The weight of Chaplin’s studio financially got the suit by the much smaller French company decided in their favor. Still, he’s managed to maintain popularity for decades, and has five films in the top 250, quite a feat.

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

Top Ranked Films of Robert Bresson

Robert Bresson
(8 titles, tied for 11th with 5 others. He is 16th overall in points, with 25,677 – just behind the Coen Brothers and just ahead of Polanski)

Bresson is a very good French filmmaker, with nearly all of these worth watching, especially the top five. Most are classic black-and-white, and beautifully shot, often in low light (Au Hasard Balthazar, Mouchette). This is a pretty accurate account of his work, imo- start at the top of the list and work your way down if you’re unfamiliar with his films.

These are all the films of Bresson’s that made the top 1000 in our 2011 update of the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls.

1. Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) France, bw #50
2. Pickpocket (1959) #146
3. Man Escaped, A (1956) #188
4. Diary of a Country Priest (1950) #311
5. Mouchette (1967) #496
6. L'Argent (1983) #556
7. Lancelot du Lac (1974) #830
8. Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945) #949


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

Top Ranked Films of Michael Powell

Michael Powell
8 titles, tied for 11th with 5 others – 34th overall in points with 19,155, just behind Robert Altman and just ahead of Clint Eastwood

Michael Latham Powell (September 30, 1905 – February 19, 1990) was a renowned English film director, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger, working together as "The Archers". Reputedly Powell basically directed and Pressburger basically wrote screenplays, but the two obviously felt it all to be a collaberative effort.

Powell got his start at an early Technicolor specialist on films, trained by that color studio. He gradually gravitated to directing, and eventually made some of the most visual and color-saturated films of that era, notably A Matter of Life and Death (1946, aka Stairway to Heaven in the U.S., which balked at a film with death in the title soon after WW2), Black Narcissus (1947), and The Red Shoes (1948). Black Narcissus in particular is one of the most visually stunning films ever made, and Powell recreated the look of a convent in the Himilayas all on a British sound stage with matte painting backgrounds. Ironically, he was vilified for his solo work Peeping Tom, which was really just a Hitchcockian murder thriller, a bit too unsubtle for my taste compared to his other films.

These are all the films of Powell’s (both with and without Pressburger) that made the top 1000 in our 2011 update of the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls.

1. The Red Shoes (1948) #252
2. A Matter of Life and Death (1946) #350
3. Peeping Tom (1960) #360
4. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) #422
5. Black Narcissus (1947) #438
6. Thief of Bagdad, The (1940) #578
7. A Canterbury Tale (1944) bw #710
8. I Know Where I'm Going! (1945) #799

I like all of Powell’s films. Red Shoes is probably the most intense, Black Narcissus the most visual, and A Matter of Life and Death (released in the U.S. as "Stairway to Heaven") the most cerebral, dealing as it does with the afterlife vs corporal reality, the connection between the two, and judgment as a man must argue to continue his life.

Martin Scorsese was so influenced by him that he flew to England to meet him after Powell’s retirement, and then brought him back to the U.S. to meet other directors affected by his work. Powell was apparently overwhelmed and assumed he had retired into relative obscurity, had no idea his work was so revered among other directors. I haven’t reviewed it but also liked I Know Where I’m Going, an early black-and-white film about stormy islands, and Edge of the World, another early bw film about people barely surviving in the outer Shetland Islands.

The stunningly shot Black

Narcissus is a good example

of Powell's visual work

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

Top Ranked Films of Luchino Visconti

Luchino Visconti
8 titles overall, tied for 11th with 5 others. 40th in overall points with 17,919

One of seven children, Visconti was born in Milan (the town of Rocco and His Brothers) into a noble and wealthy family. In his early years he was exposed to art, music and theatre, at one time meeting the opera composer Giacomo Puccini, and the famous conductor Arturo Toscanini . During World War II he joined the Italian Communist Party.

Visconti made no secret of his homosexuality. His last partner was the Austrian actor Helmut Berger, who played Martin in Visconti's film The Damned. Other lovers included director Franco Zeffirelli (Romeo and Juliet, Tea with Mussolini), who also worked as part of the crew in a few of Visconti's films.

These are all the films of Visconti’s that made the top 1000 in our 2011 update of the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls.

1. Leopard, The (1963) #151
2. Rocco and His Brothers (1964) Italy, bw #222
3. Senso (1954) #487
4. Death in Venice (1971) #516
5. La Terra Trema (1948) #794
6. Ossessione (1943) #939
7. Intruder, The (L'innocent, 1976) #967
8. Damned, The (1969) #991

Most critics rave about The Leopard – it is opulent and beautiful, but for me moves too slowly, it has no sense of pace. I much prefer Rocco and His Brothers, in classic black-and-white, a faster moving near epic tale of brothers from southern Italy who move to Milan, and a couple become professional boxers. This film seems to have directly influence Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980) bw. It's interesting that in this film, the brothers from the 'south' are referred to as "rednecks" by the northern Italians.

I also liked La Terra Trema, but was bored by The Damned and Death in Venice - again, they moved at a snail pace.

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

Top Ranked Films of Jean Renoir

Jean Renoir
8 titles, 23rd in points with 21,372

Jean Renoir is the son of the famous French impressionist painter August Renoir. He is considered by many critics to be perhaps the greatest filmmaker ever. Even though Rules of the Game came in higher on the consensus of all polls, you will more often see La Grande Illusion chosen as someone's choice for all time favorite. Woody Allen said only three films rose above cinema for him, and elevated themselves to the status of pure art: Bergman’s Seventh Seal, Antonioni’s L’avventura, and Renoir’s La Grande Illusion.

These are all the films of Renoir’s that made the top 1000 in our 2011 update of the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls. He has 8 titles in the top 1000, tied with 5 others (Bresson, Chaplin, Visconti, Powell, and Hawks) for 11th most.

1. Rules of the Game, The (1939) #63
2. Grande Illusion, La (1937) France, bw #197
3. Golden Coach, The (1952) #345
4. The River (1951) #610
5. Crime of Monsieur Lange, The (1936) #620
6. Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932) #676
7. French Cancan (1954) #818
8. La Chienne (1931) #912

The River is a very good story shot in India, and I believe Renoir's first film in color.

Boudu Saved From Drowning was slightly altered and re-made as Down and Out in Beverly Hills, which had a more comedic slant than the original, a more serious film about a down and out bum who tries to drown himself.

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