LONDON (Variety) - The original ``Star Wars’’ has topped satellite broadcaster BSkyB’s Millennium Movies poll, a list of the top 100 films of all time as voted by 60,000 Brits.
The list is overwhelmingly dominated by U.S. pictures. Only one British film, The Full Monty'' at No. 10, placed in the top 10, and only 14 in the entire list are not American. The one foreign-language picture to make the grade was Italy's Cinema Paradiso’’ at No. 95.
The poll, fronted by veteran director Richard Attenborough, is intended as a measure of the British public’s cinema tastes, ‘‘the people’s poll’’ as critic Barry Norman put it – not a critics or industry list. ``Citizen Kane,‘’ for example, came in at No. 41, while it’s near the top of most critics’ lists.
Speaking at BAFTA, the British film academy in central London, Attenborough and Norman expressed surprise at many of the choices. Attenborough had hoped for some recognition of Charlie Chaplin, while Norman deemed Woody Allen’s omission ‘‘disgraceful.’’
Steven Spielberg was the big winner with seven entries, the highest Schindler's List'' at No. 9. Of Attenborough's own work, only Gandhi’’ placed in the top 100, at No. 86, although ‘‘A Bridge Too Far’’ was No. 20 in the exclusively British movie list.