# The Most American Movie of All Time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 7, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808 "2015-10-07T14:02:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/21 "2015-10-07T16:25:14Z")
**Bull Durham**. I see they added the “y” to fantas since this appeared on reddit yesterday, but they still need to fix “pale of death.” ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/22 "2015-10-07T16:32:50Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **Citizen Kane**. Kane is the American dream (one working title for the film was **American** ) and the dream is a chimera. I’m what now? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/23 "2015-10-07T16:33:42Z")
_Deep Throat_ ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/24 "2015-10-07T16:43:54Z")
My late father used to insist that\* The Music Man\* was the most American musical, so it should probably be in the running for movie, as well. _Our Town_ is probably the most American stage play, and it was made into a movie, as well. _It’s a Wonderful Life_ is a great choice. I’d also nominate _Young Mr. Lincoln_ because you can’t get more American than Henry Fonda in a John Ford movie about Abe Lincoln. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/25 "2015-10-07T16:48:14Z")
_Back to the Future_ perhaps deserves a mention with its depictions of both 1980s and 1950s American life. It’s got skateboards, the birth of rock ‘n’ roll and the American feel-good happy ending where the hero’s family end up rich in material wealth. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/26 "2015-10-07T16:54:38Z")
Oh, and _Apollo 13_ and _The Martian_. Tributes to American pluck, determination, ingenuity and know-how. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/27 "2015-10-07T16:59:33Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I’d also nominate _Young Mr. Lincoln_ because you can’t get more American than Henry Fonda in a John Ford movie about Abe Lincoln. Or _ **Mr Smith Goes to Washington** _, with Jimmy Stewart playing a guy named Jefferson in a Frank Capra movie. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/28 "2015-10-07T17:02:47Z")
As long as we’re on Capra movies, \*\*\*Meet John Doe \*\*\*should probably be mentioned as well. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/29 "2015-10-07T17:09:11Z")
**Rocky** - classic underdog/Horatio Alger story, running through Philadelphia, Apollo Creed dresses as Uncle Sam… ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/30 "2015-10-07T17:11:05Z")
The Right Stuff ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/31 "2015-10-07T17:17:24Z")
[The Best Years of Our Lives](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036868/) I don’t think it’s possible to pick just one, but you’ll have a difficult time convincing me that any other movie is clearly better. I like a lot of the movies already mentioned too, but maybe this one isn’t as well known. Now many years later the stories of these WWII veterans returning home are still relevant, and they foreshadow the reality that we’ve seen since that time. It’s 7 Oscars and box office records additionally speak to it’s quality. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/32 "2015-10-07T17:26:40Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > **Rocky** - classic underdog/Horatio Alger story, running through Philadelphia, Apollo Creed dresses as Uncle Sam… ROCKY IV: the biggest threat to peace and freedom and democracy and capitalism can be shown the error of their ways – they’ll get up and _applaud,_ even – if a lone American just speaks his mind after pluckily defeating their science-fueled champion in a fair fight: the big guy cheats, the little guy wins _anyway,_ and the speech ends the Cold War. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/33 "2015-10-07T18:29:27Z")
_The Expendables._ Old guys blowing shit up and saving the day in the most over-the-top-way possible. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/34 "2015-10-07T18:45:36Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > National Lampoon’s European Vacation Roman Holiday ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/35 "2015-10-07T18:57:01Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Roman Holiday Greg Peck ain’t no Chevy Chase. ---
**Author:** ![Gothic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Gothic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gothic)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/36 "2015-10-07T19:00:17Z")
Most American movie from the perspective of France? Animal House. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/37 "2015-10-07T19:13:58Z")
\*Field of Dreams. \* ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/38 "2015-10-07T19:14:27Z")
> [@Labtrash](#): > > The Right Stuff Or, _Independence Day_. _To Kill a Mockingbird_ is a wonderful film, but it’s too regional. Could be a western, though, if we were looking at a foreign audience. Maybe _Stagecoach_ or _The Searchers_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/39 "2015-10-07T20:15:16Z")
> [@Gothic](#): > > Most American movie from the perspective of France? > > Animal House. Mais non, mais non! Quelque-chose de Jerry Lewis! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808/40 "2015-10-07T20:39:30Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Maybe _Stagecoach_. This was apparently one of Stalin’s favorite movies. The Russian title is _ **Put’ budet opasnyi** _ (The Journey/Road Will Be Dangerous). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-american-movie-of-all-time/733808.md?page=3)