As the American Film Institute's recently released Top 100 list showed, there's plenty of competition when it comes to naming the greatest American movie ever. And it's a sure bet that competition for the title of greatest actor, actress or director would be just as fierce.
But when it comes to the greatest year for American films, there's no disputing the champion - 1939 was such a banner year for Hollywood ("Gone With the Wind," "The Wizard of Oz," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "Intermezzo," "The Women," "Gunga Din," "Stagecoach," "Ninotchka," "Destry Rides Again," "Wuthering Heights"), it would win the nod by acclamation.
Ask about the second greatest year, however, and the arguments start flying. Maybe 1942, which saw - besides "Casablanca" - the release of "Bambi," "The Magnificent Ambersons," "To Be or Not To Be," "The Pride of the Yankees" and "Sullivan's Travels"? How about 1950, with "Sunset Boulevard," "All About Eve," "Cinderella" and "Winchester '73?" Or 1967, with such faves as "The Graduate," "Bonnie and Clyde," "In the Heat of the Night," "In Cold Blood" and "Two for the Road"?
There's no runaway winner for this runner-up trophy. But in the interest of spirited debate, here are a few candidates worthy of consideration.
1925
Highlights: "Ben-Hur," the film that announced new-studio-on-the-block MGM as a force to be reckoned with, still stands as one of cinema's most exciting epics. "The Gold Rush," another in an amazing run of classics from Charles Chaplin, has the little tramp seeking fame and fortune in the Klondike - where, among other disappointments, he has to eat cooked boot for dinner. "The Phantom of the Opera" has an unmasking scene that still qualifies as one of the movies' most frightening moments. "Tumbleweeds" is William S. Hart's swan song to the Old West he so lovingly chronicled. And there's King Vidor's World War I masterpiece, "The Big Parade."
Other films of note: "The Eagle," perhaps Rudolph Valentino's best effort; "The Merry Widow," from fabled director Erich von Stroheim; "The Unchastened Woman," the final film of silent-screen legend Theda Bara; "The Joyless Street," with Greta Garbo, directed by G.W.
Pabst; "Little Annie Rooney," with Mary Pickford; Harold Lloyd's "The Freshman"; and Buster Keaton's "Seven Chances."
Reason it's overlooked: Who remembers silent films? Besides, there were no Academy Awards in 1925, leaving historians with no easy way to measure film greatness.
