• PGA president Marshall Herskovitz says the 10 Best Picture nominees thing is working. We’ll see. [Variety]
• “Avatar” vs. “Gone With the Wind”: Reflections on James Cameron’s plantation in the sky. [Speakeasy]
• Guy discusses gender matters in Hollywood with a handful of colleagues. [Showbiz Sandbox]
I’ve been a good less obnoxious than usual boy this year. And if you’re a devoted reader of our site, you might know that “Gone With the Wind” is my favorite film of all time.
Chad’s excellent Sunday Cents columns have previously inspired discussion amongst readers about the rights and wrongs of adjusting box-office figures for inflation. I must say it’s always made perfect sense to me, and I’m even more in favor after reading this interesting Bloomberg chart, which lists the top grossers of all time after inflational adjustment.
Under these circumstances, “Gone With the Wind” handily see off all challengers with a gross of $1.45 billion — a satisfactory outcome for me, given that it’s my personal number-one film of all time too. Meanwhile, “Titanic” — the all-time champ on the unmodified chart — drops all the way to #6 when inflation enters the equation. Result.
Below is Bloomberg’s inflation-adjusted Top 10; after the cut, the equivalent ranking irrespective of inflation.
TOP 10 ADJUSTED FOR TICKET PRICE INFLATION
1. Gone with the Wind ($1,450.7)
2. Star Wars ($1,278.9)
3. The Sound of Music ($1,022.5)
4. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial ($1,018.5)
5. The Ten Commandments ($940.6)
6. Titanic ($921.5)
7. Jaws ($919.6)
8. Doctor Zhivago ($891.3)
9. The Exorcist ($793.9)
10. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves ($782.6)
TCM is showcasing the great productions of 1939 tonight, kicking it off a few hours ago with “The Wizard of Oz,” which followed a two-hour doc on the film.
I wish I had gotten this post up earlier so as to give you the heads up, because I just clicked through the DVR and came across the documentary “1939: Hollywood’s Greatest Year,” which was presented as a world premiere amid the network’s night-long salute to the 70th anniversary of what is still considered in most circles to be the finest 12 months of cinematic output on these shores.
You know the films: “Gone With the Wind,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Stagecoach,” “Ninotchka,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “Of Mice and Men,” “Goodbye, Mr. Chips,” “Gunga Din,” “Juarez,” “Wuthering Heights,” etc. I really don’t think there’s ever been a more impressive line-up, and only 1999 has ever come close. And what a year THAT was.
And with that, part one of the first round of voting comes to a close. Go here for the background on our survey.
Today, we have 10 fresh titles in the left sidebar for you to rifle through on the way to choosing THREE worthy of moving forward to the next round. Each poll throughout the rest of round one will include 10 films and choices of up to three. Last week’s poll was the big dive, 16 titles. The five that moved on from there were:
“Apocalypse Now” (1979)
“Battleship Potemkin” (1925)
“Citizen Kane” (1941)
“Gone with the Wind” (1939)
“Rashomon” (1959)
I must say, I was sad to see “Bonnie and Clyde” left out. The Arthur Penn classic was in the top five for a while, but it was too close for comfort on “Battleship Potemkin” as far as I’m concerned. Literally, a final vote right at the deadline secured it a place in the top five over “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.” That says one thing to me: more people need to see it. So to those of you who’ve never seen it, do yourself a favor: seek it out.
No, it is not the most captivating film of all time and no, you won’t be seeing anything “new” by your standards. But do a little digging and find out why the film has meant so much to the practice of film editing and montage and you’ll discover why its impact is probably felt as much if not more than the most seminal titles on our massive list of 66.
Keep in mind when voting: this isn’t a popularity contest. Don’t just rattle off votes for your favorite films (which, I imagine, has to be the main reason “E.T” was so high on the list during part one). Take a moment to think about what the films have meant to the medium. This list represents you, the readership, after all, so vote wisely.
This poll will close Wednesday, April 29 at 2:00 pm EST.
Well, here’s something I guess. Rope of Silicon points us to TCM’s list of the top 15 most influential “classic” films of all time. I actually started working up such a list for the site a while back but abandoned it for whatever reason. It was going to include all comers, though, not just classic films. They seem to be listed in chronological order over at TCM.com. The 15:
“The Birth of a Nation” (1915)
“Battleship Potemkin” (1925)
“Metropolis” (1927)
“42nd Street” (1933)
“It Happened One Night” (1934)
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937)
“Gone with the Wind” (1939)
“Stagecoach” (1939)
“Citizen Kane” (1941)
“The Bicycle Thief” (1947)
“Rashomon” (1950)
“The Searchers” (1956)
“Breathless” (1959)
“Psycho” (1960)
“Star Wars” (1977)
My list certainly included most of those, which are by and large hard to argue with. “Birth,” “Battleship,” “Metropolis,” “Night,” “Snow White,” “Wind,” “Kane” and “Star Wars” were definitely included in my tally. If we were to extend it beyond the “classic” realm, I think we’d have to include “Jurassic Park” and the “Lord of the Rings” franchise. “Toy Story” would have to have a secure place, while “Pulp Fiction” obviously sparked a revolution some would argue had roots in “sex, lies and videotape” (also a contender for an “all-time” list).
Since TCM’s idea of “classic” obviously stretches into the late 1970s, I think it’s rather foolish to leave off “Jaws” and/or “The Godfather” considering what they meant to big business theatrical revenue before “Star Wars” came along. And going way back, “The Great Train Robbery” had people running from the theater screaming after the final image of a bandit firing his gun at the camera. There’s something to be said for one of the first films to enthrall like that.
And what about “The Jazz Singer?” How do you leave that title off a list of “classic” cinema? I guess it had to be narrowed to 15 but there are a couple of films on that list that could have been bumped, I think.
Let’s put it to the readership. Assuming an “all-time” list rather than limiting it to the classics, what would you say have been the most influential films? I could make a mean case for “Die Hard,” but I’ll anxiously await your input. Rattle off your lists and maybe we’ll settle things with a series of polls.
It’s a question that just came to me this evening when talking with some friends. What would you say is the most watched film of all time? How many films would even be on that list of contenders?
Off the top of my head I would have to consider “The Wizard of Oz” and “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Maybe “Titanic,” given the givens.
We could maybe be so bold as to propose “The Shawshank Redemption” or “The Lord of the Rings” films. And isn’t “Finding Nemo” the best-selling DVD of all time? I guess that means it has to be on the list.
“The Lion King?” “Fantasia?” “Gone with the Wind?” What do we think?