Last post was about POW movies and was Part I of my favorite prison movies lists. I will come back to that subject with Part II in a few weeks (Criminals) but for now Really Long and Really Great Movies is the topic.
I was wondering what the trend in movie length has been over time. Luckily someone else with lots more free time, even than me, has given us the answer. The following data is based on the "top 50 movies" of each year.
10s ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ 79 minutes
20s ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ 98 minutes
30s ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ 96 minutes
40s ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ 109 minutes
50s ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ 114 minutes
60s ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ 127 minutes
70s ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ 125 minutes
80s ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ 129 minutes
90s ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ 127 minutes
00s ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ 129 minutes
Clear to see that movies over the last 50 years have all averaged around two hours and are significantly longer than the previous 50 years. Not sure there is the quality to justify a less stringent hand in the cutting room. And, given the incredibly high cost per minute, it makes me wonder even more. Still, some of the greatest movies of all time are LOTS longer than the average and this post focuses on some of them.
The longest movie I have personally ever seen is Voyna i Mir (War & Peace), a 1968 Russian film that clocks in at a mind numbing 484 minutes. It won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film and the only reason I saw it was because it was required for a film class in college. I only remember trying desperately not to fall asleep during the several sessions. They used 120,000 extras in this film.
I have artificially set my cutoff for this category at 180 minutes. Since there are lots to choose from I am holding firm to that line. I am also not including "extended editions" so a couple that would make it with the extensions don't. (Mainly, two of the three Lord of the Rings movies are just under the limit without the extended footage and so are not on the list.)
Three hours is a long time (for me) to sit still. So, one of my criteria for greatness in this category is how quickly the movie was paced and how well it held my interest for the full film. After compiling my candidates I was surprised how difficult the choice is. There are a lot of very high quality long films. When many of these were first aired there was an intermission so the theaters could sell stuff but I prefer to watch in one sitting.
The top movies in this category will include many of my top movies overall. Let's look at some of the ones that did NOT make the list:
Judgment at Nuremberg - Top 10 in courtroom movies
Spartacus - "I'm Spartacus..No, I'm Spartacus...No, I'm Spartacus." One of the most famous film lines of all.
Gandhi - there were 300,000 extras used in this film. Most likely the record. Beats War & Peace all to hell.
Seven Samurai
The Green Mile - Top 10 in Prison Movies
Short Cuts - One of Altman's best films, but not as good as Nashville.
Dr. Zhivago
Exodus - Lots of folks were surprised to find out that blond-haired, blue-eyed Paul Newman was Jewish (half and self-identified).
JFK - Oliver Stone classic. After watching this the conspiracy theory seems the only possibility.
Reds - won three Oscars, nominated for NINE more.
The Ten Commandments - Yul Brenner was never better. Even Chuckie Heston was great.
O Lucky Man - Little known film starring Malcolm McDowell. Really interesting film.
Cleopatra - Liz Taylor was quite the hottie (when I was 11)
Malcolm X
The Birth of a Nation - For true film buffs you need to see this one. The classic of all classics. 1915 Civil War historical film by D.W. Griffiths. I doubt there is a film major anywhere who hasn't see this one and The Battleship Potemkin
Mutiny on the Bounty
The Last Emperor - This was a really interesting movie.
Giant - A lesser known film starring James Dean, ROck Hudson, Liz Taylor, Chill Wills, Dennis Hopper and Sal Mineo (who also starred in Exodus)
Fiddler on the Roof, The Sand Pebbles and LoTR - The Two Towers made it easier for me by being 179 minutes each.
So, on to the Top Ten. There are five I cannot separate in terms of quality. Most of these do not require any comment but FOR SURE, if there are any you have not seen, get up off that couch right now and head out to the video store. You are in for a great evening with any one of them.
[Click the title for the trailer, and check the other hot links as well.]
Gone With the Wind - The first Oscar ever for a black actress went to Hattie McDaniel (Mammy). Adjusted for inflation, GwtW has grossed $1.4 Billion, most ever. Some of the greatest individual scenes and lines of all film history; like "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" and "I don' know nuthin' bout birthin' no babies." Prissy, by the way, was played beautifully by Butterfly McQueen. Years ago Carol Burnett did a fantastic parody of the movie and thanks to YouTube you can see it too. (Part 1 - Part 2)
Lawrence of Arabia - Marlon Brando was originally set to play Sir Lawrence. Peter O'Toole was nominated for Best Actor but Gregory Peck won it for To Kill A Mockingbird. No argument from me on that choice. Lawrence won Best Picture. This movie flows really well. Even a repeat viewing flew by. And, what a wonderful soundtrack.
Braveheart - This movie was a disappointment at the box office - only $75MM gross - but it got 10 Oscar nominations and has a cult following. Still it gets blasted by many critics for being shallow. For its length it moves amazingly quickly and is ideal for a plane trip - if your battery can take it. Even better on a big screen TV. I think I have seen this movie more times than any other (except maybe Mrs. Doubtfire, a film watched almost every single day in my house for about a year or more. It is still hilarious even after about 20 viewings.)
Godfather II - It wasn't better than the original but almost. Claimed to be the first film to use the Part II moniker. Ranked #1 all time by TV Guide; #3 by IMDB (The Godfather is #2). Watching the two in sequence make for a terrific snowy day affair. One strange piece of trivia - Troy Donahue plays Connie's boyfriend. My generation remembers him from TV shows like Sunset Strip, and Surfside 6. In The Godfather II, he plays the part of Merle Johnson, which happens to be his real name.
Once Upon a Time in America - This is among my top four Gansta' pics as well. Not as well known as the others but a really great film. DeNiro was masterful. Loved James Woods part as well. This is one of those movies you don't want to end. This movie has occasionally been referred to as the "Jewish Godfather." Directed by Sergio Leone, who also directed the best spaghetti western series, Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, a movie that traumatized my daughter for years (the scene where a finger gets cut off) when she walked in the room just as it was happening.
And the second five - very close are:
Dances with Wolves - Kevin Costner was terrific.
Lord of the Rings - Return of the King - The whole sereis was great but the other two are just a tad short on the length (1 and 2 minutes too short for this list).
Schindler's List - Won 7 Oscars. Also on (or will be on) several other of Wayner's lists. Like best B&W films that didn't have to be and best war movies.
The Deer Hunter - See POW movies for more on this one.
Ben-Hur - The lepper scene and the chariot scene were my favorites.
While working on this post, I began to think about movies with really LONG TITLES. Here are three excellent ones.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Johnson
Next Issue - In honor of the inauguration. Prison Movies Part II follow that.
