2nd Greatest Movie Year After 1939? Your Pick

As the American Film Institute’s 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 besides “Casablanca” saw 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 favorites 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 chariot race between Ramon Novarro’s Ben-Hur and Francis X. Bushman’s Messala is every bit as breathtaking as its sound-film counterpart. “The Gold Rush,” another in an amazing run of classics from Charlie 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.

1940:

Highlights: “The Grapes of Wrath,” director John Ford’s flawless adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel, with Henry Fonda in the role of his career; “His Girl Friday,” maybe the best film about reporters--and certainly the funniest--ever; “Rebecca,” the film that brought Alfred Hitchcock to Hollywood and made a star of Joan Fontaine; “Fantasia” and “Pinocchio,” an unprecedented double triumph for Walt Disney; “The Philadelphia Story,” one of the great screwball comedies (with a cast including Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart and Cary Grant, how could it not be?); and Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator,” an early and devastating attack on Hitler.

Other films of note: W.C. Fields in “The Bank Dick”; Raymond Massey’s dignified, Oscar-nominated performance in “Abe Lincoln in Illinois”; “The Sea Hawk,” with Errol Flynn (under the direction of Warner Bros. workhorse Michael Curtiz) as a dashing British sea captain out to cripple the Spanish; “The Great McGinty,” the first in a long run of hilarious films from director Preston Sturges; “One Million B.C.,” from director Hal Roach, featuring some wonderful special effects; and MGM’s “Pride and Prejudice,” with a powerhouse cast that includes Greer Garson, Laurence Olivier, Edna May Oliver, Maureen O’Sullivan, Ann Rutherford and Edmund Gwenn.

Reason it’s overlooked: If you had 1939 for a neighbor, you’d be overlooked too.

1962:

Highlights: David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia,” unquestionably one of the greats; the still-moving “To Kill a Mockingbird,” a remarkably evocative look at growing up in the south, with a resonant performance from Gregory Peck; Bette Davis and Joan Crawford battling each other tooth and claw in “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?”; “The Manchurian Candidate,” a relentlessly tense thriller with what may be Frank Sinatra’s best screen performance; an all-star cast in the overblown but still honorable “The Longest Day”; Robert Preston’s magnificent performance in the relentlessly clever “The Music Man”; and director John Ford’s spin on the mythology of the Old West, “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.”

Other films of note: “Days of Wine and Roses,” with Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick; “The Miracle Worker,” with Oscar-winning performances from Patty Duke and Anne Bancroft; director Sidney Lumet’s star-studded adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”; “Birdman of Alcatraz,” with a winning performance from Burt Lancaster; director Sam Peckinpah’s “Ride the High Country.”

Reason it’s overlooked: It isn’t. It’s probably the leading candidate for best year runner-up.

1976:

Highlights: “All the President’s Men,” with Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman chasing after Nixon and the truth, influenced an entire generation of journalists and would-be journalists; “Network,” a film that proved as prophetic as it was entertaining (it was also wonderfully acted, winning three of the four acting Oscars); “The Front,” director Martin Ritt’s tribute to the artists whose lives and careers were ruined by the blacklist; “Taxi Driver,” featuring the incomparable team of Scorsese and De Niro (and a young Jodie Foster); the underrated “Robin and Marian,” with Sean Connery as an aging Robin Hood and Audrey Hepburn as his fair maid; John Wayne’s tear-jerking goodbye to films in “The Shootist.”

Other films of note: “Rocky,” which, despite its progeny, is a pretty good film; Clint Eastwood’s “The Outlaw Josey Wales”; Brian De Palma’s “Carrie,” with a star-making turn from Sissy Spacek; David Carradine as folk singer/legend Woody Guthrie in “Bound for Glory”; Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier in “Marathon Man,” the film that showed a dentist’s drill for the instrument of torture it is; director Alan Parker’s first-rate oddity, “Bugsy Malone”; and the sci-fi thriller “Logan’s Run.”

Reason it’s overlooked: The ‘70s were a great decade for films, particularly since there were so many good young directors making the scene. But since they all turned out roughly one picture annually, it’s hard to single out any particular year. As strong a case, perhaps even stronger, could be made for 1973 (“American Graffiti,” “Badlands,” “The Exorcist,” “Mean Streets,” “Bang the Drum Slowly,” “The Last Detail,” “The Sting,” “Serpico”).