Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’ Snubs ‘Citizen Kane’ As Best Flick In Critics’ Poll

Though the “greatest movie… ever” has been Citizen Kane for half a century, a recent critic’s pick poll showed Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo taking the lead and the title by a slim majority.

Though Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane has held the spot of highest regard for 50 years running in the British Film Institute-published magazine Sight & Sound‘s once-a-decade international critics’ film poll, the crown has passed to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller Vertigo as of 2012, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The poll was the magazine’s most ambitious yet, with over 2,000 films reviewed and 846 critics, programmers, academics and distributors voting. Vertigo has been inching up on critic’s pick lists over the decades, and all that hard work finally paid off when it beat Citizen Kane by a mere 34 votes, reports MSN.

Vertigo was released in 1958, and starred James Stewart and Kim Novak in the title roles. The psychological drama drew mixed reception in its time, but has slowly become regarded as one of Alfred Hitchcock’s finest films, and pioneered several cinematic techniques still in use today.

The list also welcomed newcomer Man With a Movie Camera by Dziga Vertov. The film is the first documentary to make the list since its founding in 1952, and clocked in at 8th place, reports the Associated Press.

Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story ranked third, with Jean Renoir’s Rules of the Game, F.W. Murnau’s Sunrise, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, and John Ford’s The Searchers following after. Carl Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc ranked in 9th place, followed by Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2.

All of the top 10 were made over 40 years ago.

Have you seen Vertigo? Do you think it’s better than Citizen Kane? Is it the greatest film of all time?