Like many others I’ve been inspired by that much-derided BBC list of the 100 Greatest American Films to assemble my own roster. Except I can’t pare it down to 100 — the best I can do is 160, and even with this number I’ve had to cut dozens and dozens. It’s not a fun thing to do because over and over again you’re saying “no, no, naaah, hasn’t aged well, no longer, naaah, don’t think so.” And every one of the films that’s been “naahed” was pretty good if not great to start with. On its own terms, I mean.

I’ve broken my list into groups of ten. There are several great films I’ve left out because I’ve never liked watching them very much so there. If a film bothers me on some level, it gets tossed — I don’t care how “great” everyone else says it is. I’m not saying there aren’t 200 or 300 more films that could easily be on someone else’s list. I’m saying these are my choices, and it wasn’t easy.

The most daunting part was choosing The Best American Film Of All Time, which it not a rock or a boulder but a dream, a passing fancy, a thought bubble in the mind of God. Or whatever…a film that expresses something vital and enduring about the American experience or character or attitude. But that sounds pretentious and tedious. Every and every greatest film choice on this list is a keeper, but the very best is…oh, the hell with it. I’m choosing The Treasure of The Sierra Madre (’48) but tomorrow I might select Dr. Strangelove or Zero Dark Thirty or 12 Angry Men or Tender Mercies. No guarantees, nothing rock solid. The top tier of any list is always debatable.

The definition of an “American” film is one principally funded by an American company.

HE’s Top Ten Greatest American Films: (1) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, (2) Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, (3 & 4) The Godfather & The Godfather, Part II (5) The Graduate, (6) Election, (7) Zodiac, (8) Rushmore, (9) Pulp Fiction, (10) Some Like It Hot.

Greatest American Films (11 to 20): (11) North By Northwest, (12) Notorious, (13) On The Waterfront, (14) Groundhog Day, (15) Goodfellas, (16) Out Of The Past, (17) Paths of Glory, (18) Psycho, (19) Raging Bull, (20) 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Greatest American Films (21 to 30): (21) Annie Hall, (22) Apocalypse Now, (23) Strangers on a Train, (24) East of Eden, (25) Bringing Up Baby, (26) The African Queen, (27) All About Eve, (28) The Wizard of Oz, (29) Zero Dark Thirty, (30) Only Angels Have Wings.

Greatest American Films (31 to 40): (31) Repo Man, (32) Heat, (33) Red River, (34) Drums Along the Mohawk, (35) Gone With The Wind, (36) Rebel Without a Cause, (37) Ben-Hur (38) The Best Years of Our Lives, (39) The Big Sleep, (40) Shane.

Greatest American Films (41 to 50): (41) Rear Window, (42) Bonnie And Clyde, (43) The Bridge On The River Kwai, (44) Casablanca, (45) Chinatown, (46) Citizen Kane (47) Marnie…kidding! I really mean Duck Soup, (48) King Kong, (49) 12 Angry Men (50) The Informer.

Greatest American Films (51 to 60): (51) The Big Lebowski, (52) Gunga Din, (53) The Social Network, (54) Schindler’s List, (55) Moneyball, (56) Being John Malkovich, (57) Point Blank, (58) The Grapes of Wrath, (59) The Public Enemy, (60) The Train.

Greatest American Films (61 to 70): (61) High Noon, (62) Double Indemnity, (63) The General, (64) Full Metal Jacket, (65) The Lady Eve, (66) Silver Linings Playbook, (67) United 93, (68) A Letter to Three Wives, (60) It’s A Wonderful Life.

Greatest American Films (71 to 80): (71) Se7en, (72) Lawrence of Arabia, (73) The Maltese Falcon, (74) Children of Men, (75) Jaws, (76) Sullivan’s Travels, (77) A Serious Man, (78) There Will Be Blood, (79) Fargo, (80) Traffic.

Greatest American Films (81 to 90): (81) The Empire Strikes Back, (82) Che, (83) E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial, (84) Easy Rider, (85) The Maltese Falcon, (86) Singin’ In The Rain, (87) Star Wars, (88) A Streetcar Named Desire, (89) Sunrise, (90) Sunset Boulevard.

Greatest American Films (91 to 100): (91) Taxi Driver, (92) The Third Man, (93) Touch Of Evil, (94) Vertigo, (95) The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, (96) Collateral, (97) Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, (98) The Wild Bunch, (99) Yankee Doodle Dandy, (100) Network.

Greatest American Films (101 to 110): (101) Rosemary’s Baby, (102) The Apartment, (103) Alien, (104) Shadow of a Doubt, (105) White Heat, (106) Days of Heaven, (107) The Big Country, (108) Badlands, (109) The Silence of the Lambs, (110) Viva Zapata!

Greatest American Films (111 to 120): (111) Unforgiven, (112) The Last Picture Show, (113) The Manchurian Candidate, (114) Manhattan, (115) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, (116) McCabe & Mrs. Miller, (117) The Bad and the Beautiful, (118) The Day The Earth Stood Still, (119) Mean Streets, (120) The Ox-Bow Incident.

Greatest American Films (121 to 130): (121) Scarface (1983 version), (122) A Place in the Sun, (123) Platoon, (124) Close Encounters of the Third Kind, (125) The Limey, (126) Patton, (127) Fight Club, (128) The Conversation, (129) Birdman, (130) Five Easy Pieces.

Greatest American Films (111 to 140): (131) No Country For Old Men, (132) The Hurt Locker, (133) Frankenstein, (134) The French Connection, (135) From Here to Eternity, (136) Gun Crazy, (137) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 version), (138) The Killers (1946 version), (139) Brokeback Mountain, (140) Kiss Me Deadly.

Greatest American Films (141 to 150): (141) Tender Mercies, (142) Broadcast News, (143) Born on the Fourth of July, (144) Terms of Endearment, (145) The Insider, (146) Memento, (147) Deliverance, (148) Reds, (149) Thief, (150) Purple Rose of Cairo.

Greatest American Films (151 to 160): (151) Midnight Run, (152) Die Hard, (153) Atlantic City, (154) Champion, (155) Local Hero, (156/167) Diner/Tin Men, (158) The Long Goodbye, (159) The Exorcist, (160) Los Angeles Plays Itself.

I meant to throw in One-Eyed Jacks but I forgot until it was too late. For what it’s worth, Alfred Hitchcock‘s Marnie ranks somewhere between #1650 and #1655 or thereabouts.