The Top 25 Best American Movies
Almost everyone has a favorite movie. You may love it because it had a message that touched your soul or an actor who seemingly spoke to you or cinematography that transformed a simple film into a work of art. Choosing the best American movies ever made is a daunting job. But film critic Jason Fraley, who is with WTOP News in Washington, DC, took on the challenge. number one on his list is “The Godfather.” Says Fraley of the film that was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, “As a combined piece of work — Part I baptism to Part II betrayal — it’s hard to top Coppola’s operatic tragedy of sons (an unrivaled Al Pacino) who become their fathers (Marlon Brando and Robert DeNiro).” The top 25 American films (and the directors who made them so great):
- “The Godfather” (Francis Ford Coppola)
- “Vertigo” (Alfred Hitchcock)
- “Casablanca” (Michael Curtiz) 4. “It’s a Wonderful Life” (Frank Capra)
- “Singin’ in the Rain” (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly)
- “Citizen Kane” (Orson Welles)
- “The Searchers” (John Ford)
- “Raging Bull” (Marin Scorsese)
- “The Graduate” (Mike Nichols)
- “The Wizard of Oz” (Victor Fleming)
- “Schindler’s List” (Steven Spielberg)
- “Chinatown” (Roman Polanski)
- “Psycho” (Alfred Hitchcock)
- “The Shawshank Redemption” (Frank Darabont)
- “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (Steven Spielberg)
- “Sunset Boulevard” (Billy Wilder)
- “All About Eve” (Jospeh L. Mankiewicz)
- “Rear Window” (Alfred Hitchcock)
- “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (Milos Forman)
- “Forest Gump” (Robert Zemeckis)
- “To Kill a Mockingbird” (Robert Mulligan)
- “The Silence of the Lambs” (Jonathan Demme)
- “On the Waterfront” (Elia Kazan)
- “Pulp Fiction” (Quentin Tarantino)
- “Star Wars” (George Lucas)