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Identifying Classic Movies by TV Numbers:
What is a classic movie? Dictionaries agree that a classic is a work judged over time to be a superior example of its kind. However, how this definition is applied to motion pictures depends on the eye of the beholder. One person’s “The Thin Man” is another’s “RoboCop.” If we look to literature for an objective metric, a classic is an older work “still in print,” that is, a work available for purchase as a new book. The early decades of cinema did see a parallel in the profitable rereleases of box office hits. However, in the 1950’s, presentations of films on television began to supplant theater rereleases. Television’s growing demand for content soon led to presentations of forgotten box office flops and caused some, such as “Citizen Kane” (1941) and “Bringing Up Baby” (1938), to be elevated to classic status. The demand for content grew exponentially with cable television and today that demand ensures practically any movie that can be shown will be shown. A little patience and one can watch every film that stars Huntz Hall. This study is intended to identify film classics quantitatively by relying on a fundamental principle of the motion picture industry: That which is most watched is most shown. When applied to new film releases, this means the number of screens devoted to a film after its opening weekend or even opening day will be adjusted according to the film’s box office. A new release can only be a hit if it is screened more than other new releases. When applied to older films, this principle means a classic film is one televised significantly more than most older films based on all ratings data by which network program directors assess viewer demand. It is the premise of this study that classic movies are older films presented by national cable networks significantly more than other older films. Scope of Survey Data We define “older films” as movies released between 1930, when sound went mainstream, and 1989, which approximates a generation in the past. Our data consists of all older films presented by national television networks throughout the years 2018, 2019 and 2020. In all, the data totals 7,742 films accounting for 72,284 presentations. (A PDF containing all data—all films, the number each film was presented and the networks which presented it—can be accessed by clicking here.) Not all networks which present movies were included in our survey. However, those excluded present movies sporadically and pre-1990 releases sparingly. At best their presentations of pre-1990 films might alter slightly our rankings of classic movies, but not which movies are ranked. AMERICAN MOVIE CLASSICS (AMC} BBC AMERICA (BBCA) CINEMAX (MAX)
FREE (FREE) FX MOVIE CHANNEL (FXM) HOME BOX OFFICE (HBO)
IFC (IFC) MOVIES! TV NETWORK (MOVIES) OVATION TV (OVA) PARAMOUNT TELEVISION NETWORK (PARA) SHOWTIME (SHOW)
SYFY (SYFY) TURNER BROADCASTING SYSTEM (TBS) THIS TV (THIS) TNT (TNT) TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES (TCM) Conclusions Our premise that classic movies are those presented significantly more than other pre-1990 films proved too simplistic given that 96 of the top 100 films in our survey were released between 1989 and 1971. (See list below, which includes names of films, their release dates, the networks that presented them and the total presentations of each between 2018-2020.) 1) Back to the Future (1985) MAX/STARZ/SHOW/SYFY 321 2) Road House (1989) AMC/IFC/STARZ/BBCA/PARA/SHOW/OVA/THIS 320 3) RoboCop (1987) MAX/HBO/STARZ/THIS 272 4) Back to the Future Part II (1989) MAX/STARZ/SHOW/SYFY 272 5) Field of Dreams (1989) SHOW/AMC/OVA/STARZ 258 6) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) HBO/MAX/STARZ/OVA/SYFY/SHOW 228 7) Scrooged (1988) STARZ/SHOW/AMC/BBCA 228 8) Predator (1987) HBO/MAX/AMC/BBCA/IFC/STARZ 216 9) The Blues Brothers (1980) AMC/STARZ/SHOW/HBO/IFC 212 10) The Princess Bride (1987) HBO/MAX/BBCA/IFC/AMC/SHOW 207 11) Coming to America (1988) STARZ/PARA/SHOW/IFC 206 12) Uncle Buck (1989) AMC/IFC/STARZ/HBO 204 13) Born on the Fourth of July (1989) MAX/BBCA/OVA/STARZ/HBO 201 14) Jaws (1975) AMC/SYFY/STARZ/BBCA/MAX/HBO 199 15) Die Hard (1988) AMC/IFC/BBCA/FXM/PARA/MAX/HBO 195 16) Major League (1989) SHOW/AMC/IFC/OVA/MOVIES/PARA 195 17) Conan the Barbarian (1982) MAX/HBO/STARZ/SHOW 192 18) Teen Wolf (1985) AMC/IFC/BBCA/SHOW/PARA/STARZ/THIS/OVA 187 19) The Thing (1982) STARZ/SHOW 177 20) The Terminator (1984) AMC/IFC/BBCA/OVA/SYFY/SHOW/THIS 177 21) Young Guns (1988) BBCA/AMC/SHOW/OVA/STARZ 169 22) Fatal Attraction (1987) SHOW/OVA/STARZ 167 23) Rain Man (1988) STARZ/OVA/THIS/SHOW 166 24) Baby Boom (1987) SHOW/THIS/STARZ/TCM 165 25) Twins (1988) STARZ/MAX/HBO 165 26) The Great Outdoors (1988) AMC/IFC/STARZ 164 27) Mad Max (1979) AMC/IFC/STARZ/SYFY/OVA/SHOW/THIS 164 28) They Live (1988) SHOW/STARZ 162 29) The Untouchables (1987) SHOW/BBCA/AMC/STARZ 159 30) Weird Science (1985) AMC/BBCA/IFC/SHOW/OVA/STARZ/HBO 157 31) Willard (1971) SHOW/MAX 155 32) The Warriors (1979) STARZ/IFC/MAX 155 33) Fletch (1985) HBO/STARZ/SHOW 154 34) Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) IFC/AMC/BBCA/SHOW/PARA/STARZ 150 35) Commando (1985) MAX/HBO 150 36) Big Trouble in Little China (1986) MAX/HBO 150 37) Scarface (1983) AMC/IFC/BBCA/OVA/STARZ/TCM/PARA 149 38) The Abyss (1989) MAX/HBO 149 39) Conan the Destroyer (1984) MAX/HBO/STARZ/SHOW 148 40) Shane (1953) STARZ 145 41) Midnight Run (1988) HBO/SHOW/MAX 143 42) Friday the 13th Part II (1981) SHOW/AMC/SYFY/IFC/MOVIES/STARZ 142 43) The Running Man {1987) SHOW/MOVIES/AMC/STARZ 141 44) The Naked Gun: from the Files of Police Squad (1988) SHOW/IFC/STARZ 141 45) Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) STARZ 140 46) Rocky (1976) AMC/BBCA/IFC/SHOW/PARA/TCM 139 47) Flashdance (1983) STARZ/IFC/MOVIES/0VA/SHOW 139 48) The Karate Kid (1984) AMC/BBCA/WE/OVA/MOVIES/SHOW 139 49) Revenge of the Nerds (1984) AMC/IFC/BBCA/MAX 135 50) Smokey and the Bandit (1977) STARZ/IFC/OVA/SHOW 132 51) The Deer Hunter (1978) STARZ/MAX/SHOW 130 52)Tootsie (1982) SHOW/STARZ 130 53) Firestarter (1984) SHOW/STARZ/MAX 130 54) Annie (1982) STARZ/MOVIES/AMC/TCM 129 55) Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) SHOW/IFC/BBCA/PARA/AMC/MOVIES 127 56) High Plains Drifter (1973) SHOW/AMC 126 57) Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) SHOW/IFC 126 58) Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) STARZ/IFC/PARA 125 59) Grease 2 (1982) STARZ/OVA 125 60) Grease (1978) AMC/STARZ/PARA/BBCA 124 61) Black Widow (1987) MAX/FXM 124 62) Fletch Lives (1989) HBO/STARZ/SHOW 124 63) Big (1988) PARA/MAX/HBO/SHOW 123 64) Carrie (1976) STARZ/AMC/IFC/THIS/SHOW 121 65) Aliens (1986) STARZ/IFC/BBCA/AMC/HBO 120 66) Alien (1979) AMC/IFC/BBCA/HBO 118 67) Brewster’s Millions (1985) STARZ 118 68) Friday the 13th (1980) MAX/SHOW/SYFY/STARZ/IFC/BBCA 116 69) Stakeout (1987) MAX/HBO 115 70) Raging Bull (1980) MAX/SHOW/THIS 114 71) Top Gun (1986) AMC/PARA/SHOW 114 72) 9 to 5 (1980) TCM/STARZ 113 73) Airplane! (1980) IFC/AMC/SHOW/MOVIES 113 74) Footloose (1984) AMC/BBCA/STARZ/IFC 113 75) The Beguiled (1971) MAX/STARZ 112 76) Sixteen Candles (1984) PARA/AMC/IFC/STARZ/SHOW 112 77) The Money Pit (1986) STARZ/OVA/SHOW 111 78) Psycho (1960) OVA/STARZ/BBCA/IFC 110 79) The Hustler (1961) MAX/TCM/FXM 109 80) A Fistful of Dollars (1964) STARZ/THIS 108 81) Action Jackson (1988) STARZ 107 82) Crocodile Dundee (1986) MOVIES/STARZ 106 83) The ‘Burbs (1989) STARZ/IFC/SHOW 106 84) Mystic Pizza (1988) SHOW/NEXT/THIS/OVA/STARZ 105 85) Serpico (1973) STARZ/TCM/THIS/SHOW 104 86) Red Dawn (1984) STARZ/OVA/SHOW/TNT/TBS/MAX 104 87) The Wizard (1989) STARZ/MOVIES/SHOW/HBO 104 88) National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) STARZ 102 89) Romancing the Stone (1984) WE/IFC/STARZ 102 90) Rocky IV (1985) AMC/IFC/BBCA/PARA 102 91) Witness (1985) STARZ/SHOW 102 92) A Fish Called Wanda (1988) SHOW/MAX/HBO 102 93) Beaches (1988) SHOW/TCM/HBO/MAX 102 94) The War of the Roses (1989) MAX/OVA/STARZ 102 95) Victory (1981) MAX 101 96) Crocodile Dundee II (1987) STARZ 101 97) True Grit (1969) STARZ/AMC/MOVIES 100 98) Urban Cowboy (1980) STARZ/MOVIES/SHOW 100 99) Terms of Endearment (1983) MOVIES/OVA/SHOW 100 100) Jaws 3-D (1983) AMC/STARZ/BBCA/MAX/HBO 100 One obvious explanation here is that people are favorably biased toward films released during their lifetimes. The more recent a film, the more people living today were alive when the film was released. Conversely, few people living today were alive—let alone of moviegoing age—when 1930s films were released. The spike in presentations of 1985 to 1989 releases further suggests that people become most attached to films released during their adolescences and young adulthoods. Representing this demographic for late 1980s films are people now aged 40 to 60—a group that would also be inclined to introduce their favorite movies to their adolescent and young adult offspring. It’s fitting that the top film in our survey, “Back in the Future,” is a film about a teenager going back in time to encounter his teenage parents. Other factors at play include a prejudice against black-and-white films, a preference for remakes over originals, and familiarity or lack thereof with a film’s stars. Then too, there is overfamiliarity with a favorite film. For instance, one may regard “Casablanca” as the best film ever made and yet have watched the film so many times that he or she is not inclined to watch it again anytime soon. So how can our data lead us to identify the leading classic movies of all time?. A comparison of the six decades shows presentations of films averaged 27.7 for the 1980s, 12.3 for the 1970s, 8.8 for the 1960s, 6.7 for the 1950s, 5.1 for the 1940s, and 3.1 for the 1950s. In other words, a 1980s film with 27 presentations approximates a 1930s film with 3 presentations. But again, this is an approximation. Therefore, instead of ranking all pre-1990 films according to presentatiion calculations, we prefer to maintain that the 25 top films of each decade deserve the status of classic films. Leading Classics of 1980s 1970s 1960 1950s; 1940s; 1930s We realize that many will wonder how some films listed below could qualify as leading classics while other films did not. Again, television networks program to meet demand, ergo our survey counts account for popularity, not taste. We urge those who do not see their favorites listed below to consult our complete data to see how their favorites ranked. Three years proved a window that encompassed presentations of about every film made between 1930 and 1989 save perhaps obscure B films of which Turner Classic Movies apparently has an endless supply. Also, some will ask, to use an example, “Why wasn’t ‘The Hunt for Red October’ included as a leading classic?” Answer: “Because it was released in 1990.” 1980s 1) Back to the Future (1985) MAX/STARZ/SHOW/SYFY 321 2) Road House (1989) AMC/IFC/STARZ/BBCA/PARA/SHOW/OVA/THIS 320 3) RoboCop (1987) MAX/HBO/STARZ/THIS 272 4) Back to the Future Part II (1989) MAX/STARZ/SHOW/SYFY 272 5) Field of Dreams (1989) SHOW/AMC/OVA/STARZ 258 6) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) HBO/MAX/STARZ/OVA/SYFY/SHOW 228 7) Scrooged (1988) STARZ/SHOW/AMC/BBCA 228 8) Predator (1987) HBO/MAX/AMC/BBCA/IFC/STARZ 216 9) The Blues Brothers (1980) AMC/STARZ/SHOW/HBO/IFC 212 10) The Princess Bride (1987) HBO/MAX/BBCA/IFC/AMC/SHOW 207 11) Coming to America (1988) STARZ/PARA/SHOW/IFC 206 12) Uncle Buck (1989) AMC/IFC/STARZ/HBO 204 13) Born on the Fourth of July (1989) MAX/BBCA/OVA/STARZ/HBO 201 14) Die Hard (1988) AMC/IFC/BBCA/FXM/PARA/MAX/HBO 195 15) Major League (1989) SHOW/AMC/IFC/OVA/MOVIES/PARA 195 16) Conan the Barbarian (1982) MAX/HBO/STARZ/SHOW 192 17) Teen Wolf (1985) AMC/IFC/BBCA/SHOW/PARA/STARZ/THIS/OVA 187 18) The Thing (1982) STARZ/SHOW 177 19) The Terminator (1984) AMC/IFC/BBCA/OVA/SYFY/SHOW/THIS 177 20) Young Guns (1988) BBCA/AMC/SHOW/OVA/STARZ 169 21) Fatal Attraction (1987) SHOW/OVA/STARZ 167 22) Rain Man (1988) STARZ/OVA/THIS/SHOW 166 23) Baby Boom (1987) SHOW/THIS/STARZ/TCM 165 24) Twins (1988) STARZ/MAX/HBO 165 25) The Untouchables (1987) SHOW/BBCA/AMC/STARZ 159 1970s 1) Jaws (1975) AMC/SYFY/STARZ/BBCA/MAX/HBO 199 2) Mad Max (1979) AMC/IFC/STARZ/SYFY/OVA/SHOW/THIS 164 3) Willard (1971) SHOW/MAX 155 4) The Warriors (1979) STARZ/IFC/MAX 155 5) Rocky (1976) AMC/BBCA/IFC/SHOW/PARA/TCM 139 6) Smokey and the Bandit (1977) STARZ/IFC/OVA/SHOW 132 7) The Deer Hunter (1978) STARZ/MAX/SHOW 130 8) Grease (1978) AMC/STARZ/PARA/BBCA 124 9) Carrie (1976) STARZ/AMC/IFC/THIS/SHOW 121 10) The Beguiled (1971) MAX/STARZ 112 11) Serpico (1973) STARZ/TCM/THIS/SHOW 104 12) National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) STARZ 102 13) Fist of Fury (1972) MAX 94 14) Death Wish (1974) AMC/SHOW/STARZ 92 15) Patton (1970) MOVIES/MAX/FXM 90 16) Way of the Dragon (1972) MAX 89 17) American Graffiti (1973) STARZ/SHOW/HBO 85 18) Chinatown (1974) SHOW/MOVIES/STARZ 83 19) Paper Moon (1973) MOVIES 8apillon (1973) STARZ/MOVIES 78 20) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) STARZ/THIS/SHOW 76 21) The Eiger Sanction (1975) STARZ 73 22) Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) AMC/BBCA/IFC 73 23) Annie Hall (1977) MAX/HBO/TCM/STARZ 67 24) The French Connection (1971) TCM/STARZ 65 25) The Bad News Bears (1976) STARZ/MOVIES 65 1960s 1) Psycho (1960) OVA/STARZ/BBCA/IFC 110 2) The Hustler (1961) MAX/TCM/FXM 109 3) A Fistful of Dollars (1964) STARZ/THIS 108 4) True Grit (1969) STARZ/AMC/MOVIES 100 5) West Side Story (1961) MAX/THIS/STARZ 97 6) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) TCM/OVA/STARZ 90 7) The Last Sunset (1961) STARZ 88 8) Casino Royale (1967) STARZ/MAX/TCM 85 9) Rosemary’s Baby (1968) STARZ/MOVIES/SHOW 84 10) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) STARZ/MOVIES 83 11) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1967) STARZ/THIS 83 12) Once Upon a Time in the West (1969) STARZ/MOVIES 83 13) The Magnificent Seven (1960) THIS/STARZ/OVA/TCM 75 14) Goldfinger (1964) PARA/STARZ/BBCA 75 15) From Russia with Love (1963) BBCA/STARZ 71 16) For a Few Dollars More (1965) STARZ/THIS 71 17) Rio Conchos (1964) FXM/MOVIES/STARZ 69 18) Hang ‘Em High (1968) THIS/OVA/STARZ 68 19) The Second Time Around (1961) STARZ/FXM 66 20) Return of the Seven (1966) THIS/STARZ 65 21) Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) STARZ/MOVIES 64 22) Flaming Star (1960) MOVIES/STARZ 64 23) One Foot in Hell (1960) MOVIES/STARZ 62 24) The Great Escape (1963) THIS/TCM 62 25) Night of the Living Dead (1968) THIS/IFC/STARZ/TCM/OVA/MOVIES 61 1950s 1) Shane (1053) STARZ 145 2) The Bravados (1958) STARZ/FXM 78 3) Rio Grande (1950) TCM/MOVIES/STARZ 66 4) The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) FXM/STARZ/TCM 59 5) The Man from the Alamo (1953) STARZ 58 6) The True Story of Jesse James (1957) STARZ 57 7) Rawhide (1951) MOVIES/STARZ 56 8) Love Me Tender (1956) MOVIES/STARZ/FXM 56 9) The Duel at Silver Creek (1952) STARZ 54 10) Man without a Star (1955) STARZ 54 11) Hondo (1953) MOVIES/STARZ 52 12) River of No Return{1954) STARZ/TCM 51 13) Day of the Bad Man (1958) STARZ 50 14) Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) FXM/STARZ 50 15) Rear Window (1954) STARZ/BBCA/TCM/IFC 49 16) The Horse Soldiers (1959) STARZ 47 17) Broken Arrow (1950) TCM/STARZ 46 18) The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) TCM/STARZ 46 19) Broken Lance (1954) STARZ/TCM 45 20) Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) TCM/FXM 45 21) An Affair to Remember (1957) MAX/HBO/FXM 44 22) Let’s Make It Legal (1951) FXM 43 23) The Proud Ones (1956) MOVIES/STARZ 43 24) Decision Before Dawn (1959) MOVIES/FXM 41 25) The Three Faces of Eve (1957) TCM/FXM 41 1940s 1) The Red Stallion (1947) STARZ 78 2) The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) TCM/STARZ/FXM 62 3) Red River (1948) THIS/STARZ 51 4) The Shepherd of the Hills (1941) STARZ 48 5) My Darling Clementine (1946) STARZ/TCM 47 6) I Wake Up Screaming (1941) FXM/MOVIES 44 7) The Spoilers (1942) STARZ 42 8) Mildred Pierce (1945) MOVIES/SHOW/TCM 39 9) The Blue Bird (1940) FXM/MOVIES/TCM 38 10) Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) STARZ 36 11) The Man Who Wouldn’t Die (1942) FXM 34 12) The Woman in Green (1945) MOVIES/TCM/STARZ 33 13) The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) MOVIES/TCM 31 14) House of Strangers (1949) MOVIES/TCM 31 15) The Dark Command (1940) STARZ 30 16) High Sierra (1941) MOVIES/TCM 30 17) Key Largo (1948) MOVIES/TCM 28 18) A Bell for Adano (1945) FXM 28 19) Dressed to Kill (1946) MOVIES/TCM 26 20) Call Northside 777 (1948) MOVIES/FXM 25 21) Dark Passage (1947) TCM/MOVIES 25 22) Dangerous Passage (1944) MOVIES/TCM 25 23) Out of the Past (1947) TCM/MOVIES 24 24) Adam’s Rib (1949) TCM/MOVIES 24 25) The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) TCM/FXM 24 1930s 1) Reefer Madness (1936) SHOW/MAX/TCM 52 2) Destry Rides Again (1939) STARZ/TCM 36 3) Stand Up and Cheer! (1934) FXM 31 4) Frankenstein (1931) STARZ 30 5) The Thin Man (1934) TCM/MOVIES 30 6) Union Pacific (1939) STARZ 30 7) Les Miserables (1935) MOVIES/FXM 29 8) Poor Little Rich Girl (1936) FXM 29 9) Curly Top (1935) MOVIES/FXM 28 10) Bride of Frankenstein (1935) STARZ/TCM 27 11) Cavalcade (1933) FXM 25 12) Blue Steel (1934) STARZ 25 13) After the Thin Man (1936) TCM/MOVIES 24 14) North of the Rio Grande (1937) STARZ 24 15) The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936) STARZ 23 16) The Star Packer (1934) TCM/STARZ 22 17) They Made Me a Criminal (1939) MOVIES/TCM 22 18) The Baroness and the Butler (1938) TCM/FXM 22 19) It Happened One Night (1934) TCM/MOVIES 21 20) The Petrified Forest (1936) TCM/MOVIES 21 21) Stowaway (1936) TCM/MOVIES/FXM 21 22) Bringing Up Baby (1938) TCM/MOVIES 21 23) Another Thin Man (1939) MOVIES/TCM 21 24) I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) TCM/MOVIES 20 25) Little Women (1933) TCM/MOVIES 20 |