James Naremore
Emeritus Chancellors' Professor, Indiana University
USA
Voted for
| Film | Year | Director |
|---|---|---|
| Sherlock Jr. | 1924 | Buster Keaton |
| Citizen Kane | 1941 | Orson Welles |
| Letter from an Unknown Woman | 1948 | Max Ophuls |
| The Night of the Hunter | 1955 | Charles Laughton |
| North by Northwest | 1959 | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Memories of Underdevelopment | 1968 | Tomás Gutiérrez Alea |
| Wanda | 1970 | Barbara Loden |
| Barry Lyndon | 1975 | Stanley Kubrick |
| Killer of Sheep | 1977 | Charles Burnett |
| Mulholland Dr. | 2001 | David Lynch |
Comments
I'm honoured to participate in this legendary poll, but as usual I agonised over my choices. I voted for Citizen Kane mainly because I didn't want it to fall lower in the rankings. I included a few lesser-known films that deserve recognition, but I probably listed too many Hollywood pictures. I wish voters could vote for 20 films, even if you only rank ten. Here is a list of ten that are just as good as the ones I submitted: The Gold Rush (1925), Sunrise (1927), Trouble in Paradise (1932), The Scarlett Empress (1934), The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), The Third Man (1949), The Exterminating Angel (1962), Barren Lives (1963), Au Hazard Balthazar (1966), Variety (1983).