Beyond the Countdowns: Allan Fish's Film & TV Reviews

For the tenth annual Allan Fish Online Film Festival, where I am cross-posting this round-up, I couldn't think of a better way to pay tribute to the late critic than to lead you right back to his own writing. Having already gathered his decades countdowns in two directories (one text, the other purely image) I'm combining those approaches for this round-up of all his other film and TV reviews published on this site. Since he was as fond of chronology as I am, I've organized them from earliest to latest release. If you have a favorite era, scroll down fast (or control-F a year) and you'll reach it in a moment - but I'd encourage a more leisurely perusal, in order to soak in the full sweep of this cultural history.

Some titles were entries in the multiauthor genre countdown series, some were part of his own exclusive endeavors like "the Fish Obscuro" (which led me to many wonderful cinematic experiences I never would have discovered otherwise). Many were entries in a "Top 100 British TV" countdown entirely authored by him, the only such exercise after his decades countdowns concluded. And almost all of these selections were part of his ongoing process, cultivated for an eventual book: simple, straightforward but deeply evocative prose limited to one page but containing volumes.

Rest in peace, Allan; your legacy lives on.

Germinal (1913)

L'Enfant de Paris (1913)

The Oyster Princess (1919)

Cops (1922)

The Faithful Heart (1923)

The Great White Silence (1924)

Les Misérables (1925)

Menilmontant (1926)

The Student of Prague (1926)

A Diary of Chuji's Travels (1927)

Chicago (1927)

Noah's Ark (1928)

Finis Terrae (1929)

Fraulein Else (1929)

Mother Krause's Journey to Happiness (1929)

The Love Parade (1929)

The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrowna (1929)

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Au Bonheur des Dames (1930)

Journey's End (1930)

Westfront 1918 (1930)

A Nous la Liberté (1931)

Ariane (1931)

Blonde Crazy (1931)

Five Star Final (1931)

Le Million (1931)

Love and Duty (1931)

Night Nurse (1931)

On purge Bébé (1931)

Peach O' Reno (1931)

The Last Flight (1931)

The Maltese Falcon (1931)

The Miracle Woman (1931)

The Murderer Dimitri Karamazov (1931)

The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)

The Three-Penny Opera - Die Dreigroshenoper (1931)

Broken Lullaby (1932)

Call Her Savage (1932)

Kuhle Wampe (1932)

La Nuit de Carrefour (1932)

Les Croix de Bois (1932)

L'Idée (1932)

Liebelei (1932)

One Hour With You (1932)

Poil de Carotte (1932)

The Blue Light (1932)

The Mouthpiece (1932)

The Sign of the Cross (1932)

Baby Face (1933)

Friday the Thirteenth (1933)

Heroes for Sale (1933)

Little Women (1933)

Man's Castle (1933)

Roman Scandals (1933)

The Bowery (1933)

The Dancing Girl of Izu (1933)

The Invisible Man (1933)

The Sin of Nora Moran (1933)

The Story of Temple Drake (1933)

Wild Boys of the Road (1933)

1860 (1934)

Angèle (1934)

Cleopatra (1934)

Evergreen (1934)

Happiness (1934)

La Signora di Tutti (1934)

Our Neighbour Miss Yae (1934)

An Inn in Tokyo (1935)

Sazen Tange and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo (1935)

Wife! Be Like a Rose! (1935)

Intermezzo (1936)

La Belle Équipe (1936)

Faisons un Rêve (1937)

Forget Love for Now (1937)

Gueule d'Amour (1937)

Harvest (1937)

Les Perles de la Couronne (1937)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Stage Door (1937)

Straits of Love and Hate (1937)

The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)

Un Carnet de Bal (1937)

La Bête Humaine (1938)

Stolen Death (1938)

The Childhood of Maxim Gorky (1938)

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

They Drive by Night (1938)

A Girl Must Live (1939)

Broadway Melody of 1940 (1939)

Destry Rides Again (1939)

Earth (1939)

Four Seasons of Children (1939)

La Fin du Jour (1939)

The Stars Look Down (1939)

Remember the Night (1940)

A-Plumbing We Will Go (1940)

Arise My Love (1940)

Christmas in July (1940)

Crimes at the Dark House (1940)

Gaslight (1940)

Sans Lendemain (1940)

It Started With Eve (1941)

Quiet Wedding (1941)

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Cat People (1942)

L'Assassin Habite au 21 (1942)

There Was a Father (1942)

Lumière d'Été (1943)

My Learned Friend (1943)

The Silent Village (1943)

This Land is Mine (1943)

Le Ciel est a Vous (1944)

Peasant Symphony (1944)

The Tower of the Seven Hunchbacks (1944)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)

Farrebique (1946)

Five Women Around Utamaro (1946)

The Big Sleep (1946)

Dark Passage (1947)

It Always Rains on Sunday (1947)

Ivy (1947)

Le Diable au Corps (1947)

Odd Man Out (1947)

Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947)

Somewhere in Europe (1947)

The Ball at the Anjo House (1947)

They Made Me a Fugitive (1947)

I Love Trouble (1948)

Raw Deal (1948)

The Banquet (1948)

The Red Shoes (1948)

A Hometown in Heart (1949)

Alias Nick Beal (1949)

My Love Has Been Burning (1949)

Occupe toi d'Amélie (1949)

The Big Steal (1949)

The Last Stage (1949)

The Lure of the Sila (1949)

Une si Jolie Petite Plage (1949)

Whisky Galore (1949)

Manèges (1950)

The Girl With Hyacinths (1950)

Until We Meet Again (1950)

Winchester '73 (1950)

A Tale of Genji (1951)

Awaara (1951)

L'Auberge Rouge (1951)

Repast (1951)

Scrooge (1951)

Traité de bave et d’éternité (1951)

Children of Hiroshima (1952)

A Japanese Tragedy (1953)

Gion Festival Music (1953)

Hobson's Choice (1953)

Muddy Water (1953)

Where Chimneys Are Seen (1953)

1984 (1954)

An Inn at Osaka (1954)

French Can Can (1954)

Knave of Hearts (1954)

Confidential Report (1955)

Empress Yang Kwei-Fei (1955)

The Big Combo (1955)

The Man From Laramie (1955)

Deadlier Than the Male (1956)

Gervaise (1956)

Street of Shame (1956)

Suzaki Paradise Red Light District (1956)

Bakumatsu Taiyoden (1957)

Banka (1957)

I Love Lucy (1951 - 57)

Mother India (1957)

Night of the Demon (1957)

Pyaasa (1957)

Quatermass (1953 - 57)

En cas de Malheur (1958)

Fanfare (1958)

Giants and Toys (1958)

Man of the West (1958)

Mon Oncle (1958)

The Vikings (1958)

Underworld Beauty (1958)

Une Vie (1958)

Violent Summer (1959)

An Age of Kings (1960)

La Dolce Vita (1960)

Late Autumn (1960)

Macario (1960)

Mughal-e-Azam (1960)

Plein Soleil (1960)

The Criminal (1960)

The Strange World of Gurney Slade (1960)

The Wild Wild Rose (1960)

El Cid (1961)

Hancock's Half Hour/Hancock (1956 - 61)

Paris nous appartient (1961)

Placido (1961)

The Girl With the Suitcase (1961)

Akitsu Springs (1962)

Elgar (1962)

Eva - the director's cut (1962)

The Graceful Brute (1962)

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

The Wanderer's Notebook (1962)

A Dream Play (1963)

Ikarie XB-1 (1963)

The Lover (1963)

Culloden (1964)

Gate of Flesh (1964)

Hamlet at Elsinore (1964)

Manji (1964)

Noite Vazia (1964)

The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)

The Great War (1964)

The Peach Thief (1964)

The Tomb of Ligeia (1964)

The Visit (1964)

A Story Written With Water (1965)

Alphaville (1965)

Black Snow (1965)

I am Twenty (1965)

Mudhoney (1965)

Rapture (1965)

The War Game (1965)

Cathy Come Home (1965)

Knight Without Armour (1966)

La Religieuse (1966)

Masculin Feminin (1966)

Pharaoh (1966)

Talking to a Stranger (1966)

Happy End (1967)

Herostratus (1967)

Komissar (1967)

La Chinoise (1967)

Morning (1967)

Mouchette (1967)

People Meet and Sweet Music Fills the Heart (1967)

The Affair (1967)

The Forsyte Saga (1967)

Thirst for Love (1967)

Affair in the Snow (1968)

Death by Hanging (1968)

Farewell to the Summer Light (1968)

I, the Executioner (1968)

La Prisonnière (1968)

The Caesars (1968)

The Plea (1968)

The Prisoner (1967 - 68)

The Profound Desires of the Gods (1968)

Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968)

Blind Beast (1969)

Civilisation (1969)

Go, Go, Second Time Virgin (1969)

L'Amour Fou (1969)

Larks on a String (1969)

Ma Nuit Chez Maud (1969)

Son of Man (1969)

The Boarding School (1969)

Dance of the Seven Veils (1970)

Dougal and the Blue Cat (1970)

Fruit of Paradise (1970)

Henry 9 'til 5 (1970)

Lilika (1970)

This Transient Life (1970)

Up Pompeii (1969 - 70)

Confessions Among Actresses (1971)

Edna the Inebriate Woman (1971)

Elizabeth R (1971)

La Maison des Bois (1971)

Macbeth (1971)

Mandara (1971)

Red Psalm (1971)

The Telephone Book (1971)

Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets (1971)

Alistair Cooke's America (1972)

Clochemerle (1972)

Ecstasy of the Angels (1972)

Female Prisoner #701 - Scorpion (1972)

The Devil (1972)

The Dupes (1972)

The Other Side of Underneath (1972)

Coup d'Etat (1973)

F for Fake (1973)

Hot Winds (1973)

Jack the Ripper (1973)

Jail Bait (1973)

The Ascent of Man (1973)

The Holy Mountain (1973)

Jennie - Lady Randolph Churchill (1974)

Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969 - 74)

Penda's Fen (1974)

Steptoe and Son (1962 - 74)

The World at War (1973 - 74)

Days of Hope (1975)

Numéro Deux (1975)

Sholay (1975)

Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 - 75)

Winstanley (1975)

Cria Cuervos (1976)

Noroit (1976)

The Signalman (1976)

Abigail's Party (1977)

Count Dracula (1977)

Dad's Army (1968 - 77)

France/Tour/Detour/Deux/Enfants (1977)

Ghatashraddha (1977)

Il était une fois…l’homme (Once Upon a Time...Man) (1978)

Pennies from Heaven (1978)

The Spongers (1978)

Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens (1979)

Blue Remembered Hills (1979)

Caligula (1979)

Fawlty Towers (1975 & 1979)

Kitty - Return to Auschwitz (1979)

Ripping Yarns (1976 - 79)

The Tin Drum (1979)

The Woman With Red Hair (1979)

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979)

Sauve qui peut... (1980)

The Falls (1980)

The Nest (1980)

Passion (1982)

Made in Britain (1983)

Our Century (1983)

The Annunciation (1984)

The Jewel in the Crown (1984)

In Search of the Trojan War (1985)

A Promise (1986)

Horse Thief (1986)

The Journey (1987)

The Rainbow (1988)

Wuthering Heights (1988)

Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister (1980 - 84 & 1986 - 88)

Blackadder (1983 - 89)

Doctor Who (1963 - 89)

Oranges are not the Only Fruit (1990)

Van Gogh (1991)

London (1994)

Through the Olive Trees (1994)

England, My England (1995)

Pride and Prejudice (1995)

Karaoke (1996)

Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995 - 96)

A Dance to the Music of Time (1997)

Neon Genesis Evangelion: End of Evangelion (1997)

Dark City (1998)

Drop the Dead Donkey (1990 - 98)

Father Ted (1995 - 98)

Happiness (1998)

Histoire(s) du Cinema (1988 - 98)

People's Century (1995 - 98)

Talking Heads (1988 & 1998)

Election (1999)

L'Humanité (1999)

Walking With Dinosaurs (1999)

As I Was Moving Ahead I Occasionally Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000)

Gulag (2000)

Brass Eye (1997 & 2001)

In a Land of Plenty (2001)

Spaced (1999 - 2001)

Va Savoir (2001)

A History of Britain (2000 - 02)

Hlemmur (2002)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 - 2003)

Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

The Office (2001 - 03)

Tie Qi Xu - West of the Tracks: Parts I, II & III (Rust, Remnants & Rails) (2003)

Blackpool (2004)

North and South (2004)

Star Spangled to Death (2004)

The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear (2004)

Auschwitz (2005)

Bleak House (2005)

Deadwood (2004 - 06)

Jane Eyre (2006)

La Morte Rouge (2006)

Longford (2006)

Planet Earth (2006)

The Power of Art (2006)

Death in the Land of Encantos (2007)

Life on Mars (2006 - 07)

Nightwatching (2007)

Rome (2005 - 07)

United Red Army (2007)

Extraordinary Stories (2008)

Gran Torino (2008)

Little Dorrit (2008)

The Wire (2002 - 08)

A History of Scotland (2008 - 09)

Doctor Who (2005 - 09)

Enter the Void (2009)

Visage (2009)

A Serbian Film (2010)

Another Year (2010)

Carlos (2010)

Confessions (2010)

Doctor Who (2010)

Five Daughters (2010)

I Saw the Devil (2010)

Le Quattro Volte (2010)

Mysteries of Lisbon (TV version) (2010)

Poetry (2010)

The King's Speech (2010)

The Trip (2010)

This is England '86 (2010)

A Separation (2011)

A Simple Life (2011)

Century of Birthing (2011)

Dreams of a Life (2011)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part Two (2011)

Melancholia (2011)

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011)

Senna - Extended Version (2010 & 2011)

The Crimson Petal and the White (2011)

The Shadow Line (2011)

The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011)

The Tree of Life (2011)

War Horse (2011)

We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

Amour (2012)

Doctor Who (2012)

Margaret (Extended Version) (2011 & 2012)

Sherlock (2010 - 12)

The Act of Killing (2012)

The Hollow Crown (2012)

The Master (2012)

The Thick of It (2012)

The 'Up' Series (1964, 1970, 1977, 1985, 1991, 1998, 2005 & 2012)

To the Wonder (2012)

Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013)

Die Andere Heimat (2013)

Hard to be a God (2013)

Ida (2013)

Nymphomaniac: Vol I & II (2013)

Southcliffe (2013)

The Grandmaster (2013)

The Great Beauty (2013)

The Story of the Jews (2013)

Top of the Lake (2013)

Under the Skin (2013)

Black Mirror - White Christmas (2014)

From What is Before (2014)

Interstellar (2014)

Mommy (2014)

Mr Turner (2014)

Night Will Fall (2014)

The Duke of Burgundy (2014)

Winter Sleep (2014)

Ex Machina (2015)

Game of Thrones (2011 - 15)

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (2015)

Wolf Hall (2015)