David Christenson's Top Ten Movie List

1. The Seven Samurai (Kurosawa, 1954)
   Like the rest of this list, this film is a personal choice, but many critics agree it succeeds on many levels - storytelling, spectacle, humanism. Many fine scenes but the ultimate battle in the rain is an amazing piece of action filmmaking, awe inspiring without special effects.
   
   
2. Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958)
   Like other films on this list, I've seen this multiple times with enjoyment, but Vertigo has gained more depth with each viewing. A rare and intense example of personal filmmaking within the "system," with the perfectionism that studio resources allowed.
   
   
3. The Wizard of Oz (Fleming, 1939)
   The greatest American fairy tale. The peak of "Hollywood magic" of the classic era.
   
   
4. Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941)
   Supercharged melodrama that summarized and topped previous Hollywood sagas, then set serious film on a new course.
   
   
5. The Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941)
   Samurai detective: not so much a mystery as a battle of wills and wits, with one of the most appropriate casts ever assembled. Great storytelling, innovative photography.
   
   
6. Singin' In the Rain (Kelly, Donen, 1952)
   The best musical ever. Also one of the best movies about the movie industry.
   
   
7. The Road Warrior (Miller, 1981)
   The action film rising to the level of mythmaking. Shocking stunts, and a whole new look and feel for science fiction.
   
   
8. Night of the Living Dead (Romero, 1968)
   Landmark horror film and along with "Dr. Strangelove" one of the best social comment films of the 1960s. So innovative that the distributor didn't know what to do with it, until releasing it in a double feature in inner city theaters to largely black audiences in 1969, after which it became a hit.
   
   
9. The 39 Steps (Hitchcock, 1935)
   The master's best British film still works on audiences. Its blend of suspense, drama and humor has been matched, sometimes by Hitchcock, but never surpassed. The "crofter's wife" scene breaks my heart every time.
   
   
10. The Thing From Another World (Nyby, 1951)
    Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo, a wonderfully compact 141-minute western, almost made this slot, but Hawks' SF production won out. Fast-paced blend of prototypical 1950s science fiction, don't-open-that-door suspense, monster movie, Hawksian buddy movie and screwball romance. Check out the scene where Margaret Sheridan ties up and teases star Kenneth Tobey.