Turner Classic Movies has named the 15 most influential films in cinema history, in celebration of the 15th anniversary of the great-old-movies network (digital channel 210 in Tulsa).
The selections concentrate on those films that shaped the future of motion pictures. “Star Wars” is the most recent entry, a difference-maker in the way that George Lucas used merchandising rights, as we now see hit films become TV shows, novels, comic books....the list goes on.
My immediate thoughts: How many of these 15 pictures has the average filmgoer seen? What films would they say were more influential in shaping how we see movies today? In order of the year of release, TCM’s list includes:
The Birth of a Nation (1915): The birth of the American film epic as well as film controversies for its depiction of the Ku Klux Klan.
Battleship Potemkin (1925): Perhaps for its often-imitated “Odessa Steps” scene alone, which modern audience may know best as “that scene with the baby carriage” in “The Untouchables”.
Metropolis (1927): The grand-daddy of the sci-fi genre, an inspiration on video games, music videos and more.
42nd Street (1933): The magic of Busby Berkeley, who choreographed the future of musicals.
It Happened One Night (1934): Frank Capra invents the screwball comedy.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937): Its visual look is the reason we refer to the genre as “animated films” rather than “cartoons.”
Gone with the Wind (1939): No film captured the American imagination so intensely, and for so many decades.
Stagecoach (1939): The first of two John Ford films on the list is the action-Western with great depth of character.
Citizen Kane (1941): Deep-focus photography, overlapping dialogue, a flashback narrative assembled from multiple viewpoints: Orson Welles made the definitive director’s picture.
The Bicycle Thief (1947): Shot in real locations rather than on a set, with real people that didn’t look like Hollywood stars.
Rashomon (1950): Akira Kurosawa employed unique editing techniques and storytelling devices.
The Searchers (1956): John Ford and John Wayne take the Western in a new direction in a brooding showcase of one man’s obsession.
Breathless (1959): Jump cuts between scenes, and within scenes; the origin of the shaky camera film school.
Psycho (1960): Hitchcock the big-budget hitmaker went small and disturbing and surprised audiences by killing off the star early.
Star Wars (1977): Discovered new markets for merchandising in this galaxy.
