The 21st Best All-Time Film

(7th Pre-1973) 

The Wizard of Oz (1939) 

I wonder if this film has as much of an impact on culture today as it did 30 or 40 years ago. Certainly, it still has a huge indirect influence, but do people still watch it? For generations, this was the first “scary” film a child would see. And, for my money, the Wicked Witch of the West is still one of the scarier characters in film. 

But the reason this movie gets a place in my top 25 movies of all time, is it is one of a few films that can be said to have changed the artform of cinema. It holds a place with other films like Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and The Matrix in this regard. 

 It even worked for me as a kid, watching it on a black and white television.