_The 100 Best Films of All Time (84-80) (extended and updated)

84. High Noon

Director: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Lloyd Bridges
Genre: Western
Academy Awards: 4
Year: 1952
Imdb-Rating: 8.3
Critic's opinion (Dragan Antulov):
The more I think about classical westerns, the more I come to the strange conclusion that classical westerns actually weren't westerns at all. For most people, western is nothing more than simple action/adventure story set in the Old West. But the films that turned into classical westerns were anything but simple; even when they fulfilled the action/adventure criteria, they actually were multi-layered dramas, with complex characters, subplots and raised issues that could cause some serious head-scratching even for the causal viewers. Such films used mythical setting of Old West in order to ask some hard questions and discover unpleasant answers about dark sides of American history, as well as the state of human civilisation in general. One of such films was HIGH NOON, 1952 film directed by Fred Zinnemann. This film is often regarded as one of the best and most influential films of all time.

83. Ladri di Biciclette

Director: Vittorio De Sica
Cast: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Vittorio Antonucci
Genre: Drama
Academy Awards: 1
Year: 1948
Imdb-Rating: 8.3
Critic's opinion (Dennis Schwartz): De Sica's grim b/w film is visually stimulating, and it is fully observant of the human condition while being influenced by liberalism, humanism, and Catholicism. What it fails to be, is anything but politically naive. The story was told in the form of an allegory meant to pull at your heartstrings, as it was not possible to be anything but sympathetic with the victimized father. It's a film about an honest family man who feels ashamed that he can't support his family through no fault of his -- a subject that is universal and timeless, and this stark story is powerful in showing the ordinary man might be drab but he has strong feelings for his family.

82. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Director: Frank Capra
Cast: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains
Genre: Comedy
Academy Awards: 1
Year: 1939
Imdb-Rating: 8.4

81. Duck Soup

Director: Leo McCarey
Cast: Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo
Genre: Comedy
Academy Awards: 0
Year: 1933
Imdb-Rating: 8.0

80. C'era una volta il west

Director: Sergio Leone
Cast: Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Charles Bronson, Jason Robards
Genre: Western
Academy Awards: 0
Year: 1968
Imdb-Rating: 8.7
Critic's opinion (Dragan Antulov): In ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, same as in his previous films, Leone again displays superb directorial skills. Each of the scenes is elaborately staged, extreme close-ups are excellent substitute for dialogue and Ennio Morricone again shows enormous talents as a film music composer. His score for ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST is among his best, with three major characters having their very recognisable themes. Yet, all of Leone's and Morricone's mastery can't hide the fact that this film is not an undisputed masterpiece. There are some flaws in this film. First of them could be easily spotted by younger viewers, those accustomed to MTV style of filmmaking. The opening scene lasts for some 14 minutes and in it almost nothing happens (except one of the longest credit sequences in the history of film). For Leone this looked like a good idea to build suspense, but the author of this review believes that Leone went too far. Younger viewers would be seriously tempted to walk out of theatres or stop watching on TV (or simply use fast-forward buttons while watching it on video or DVD), thus depriving themselves of real cinematic treasure once the pace increases in the rest of the film. Another flaw is a somewhat serious plot hole somewhere in the middle of film. This plot hole could be spotted only after repeated viewings, but it is there nevertheless. Because of that ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST is slightly disappointing, at least for those who expected perfection worthy of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. Yet, there are so many great things about this film that we could only yearn for more disappointments of such calibre.