Films that OW completed and released as he wished should go on top, with one exception.
1. Chimes at Midnight (the greatest and OW's favorite)
2. Citizen Kane (of course)
3. F for Fake (an underrated gem)
4. The Trial (depressing but great)
5. Othello (fragmented but still all OW)
-- The Immortal Story*
TIS is my exception. I don't like it. Saw it in the roughly 60-minute version on TCM; maybe the 47-minute cut is better.
So let's start from 6 with the "less-than-100%-Orson" movies.
6. The Magnificent Ambersons
7. Mr. Arkadin (Comprehensive Version)
8. Touch of Evil (Murch version)
9. The Stranger
10. The Lady from Shanghai
I put MA on top of these, despite MA's mangling, because even the one we have is a downright gorgeous and tender movie.
Arkadin over TOE because the Comprehensive Version on Criterion is special - the tone, music, pace, atmosphere, and zaniness strike a nerve in me as a filmmaker. Whereas TOE is a little less entertaining (despite devastating scenes).
Stranger over TLFS because TLFS, frankly, is a mess, while Stranger has that curious dark, bitter feeling. Also because the small town is well-evoked - especially those scenes with Billy House.
Macbeth and TIS fall beneath the top ten, as 11 and 12, respectively.
What about Don Quiote, The Other Side of the Wind, The Deep, The Magic Show, The Dreamers, The Big Brass Ring, etc.? Friends, we've never seen them - just fragments (or nothing at all). Maybe these can go provisionally in a special category: best concept for a movie, not completed? (We'd have to omit TOSOTW as a work-currently-in-progress.)
