‘The Wizard Of Oz’ Beats ‘Star Wars’ as Most Influential Film of All Time

According to a study from University of Turin, The Wizard of Oz is found to be the most influential movie of all time ahead of 1977’s Star Wars and 1960's Psycho.

Researchers used an algorithm instead of box office takings as usual to calculate an 'influence score' for 47,000 movies listed in the internet movie database (IMDb).  This alternative method analyzes the success of a film through

The lead researcher Livio Bioglio explained.

The score was based on how often a film was referenced by a later film. Published in the journal Applied Network Science, the study showed the top 20 most influential films, all of which were all produced before 1980 and mostly in the US.

Starring Judy Garland, the 1939 musical masterpiece The Wizard of Oz revolves around a heartless tin man, a yellow brick road and a pair of dazzling red shoes. It has been adapted in numerous films, video games, musicals, and television specials.

The top 20 films ranked Star Wars and Psycho in second and third place, respectively while King Kong (1933) came in fourth and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) was ranked top five.

If applying the same process to the most influential actors, Clint Eastwood (The Mule), Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers),  and Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible — Fallout) were ranked top three.

The result also realized a strong bias toward male actors since she was only one in the top ten - Lois Maxwell played a role as Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond movies.

The team says that this method could be applied for film historians and research in the arts.