AFI Names Top Genre Movies

LOS ANGELES — Snow White, Dorothy Gale, the HAL 9000 computer, Charles Chaplin's Little Tramp and Marlon Brando's Godfather share top billing among the American Film Institute's best genre movies.

Films featuring those characters were among the No. 1 picks Tuesday on the AFI's top-10 lists of the finest flicks in 10 genres, including mystery, Westerns, sports tales and courtroom dramas.

The winners included "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" for animation; "The Wizard of Oz," featuring Dorothy and her little dog, for fantasy; "2001: A Space Odyssey," with HAL the demented computer, for science fiction; Chaplin's "City Lights" for romantic comedy; and Brando's "The Godfather" for gangster flicks.

The other No. 1 movies: Westerns, "The Searchers"; sports, "Raging Bull"; courtroom drama, "To Kill a Mockingbird"; epics, "Lawrence of Arabia"; and mysteries, "Vertigo."

Not surprisingly, Alfred Hitchcock dominated the mystery category. Besides "Vertigo," he landed three others on that top-10 list: "Rear Window" at No. 3, "North By Northwest" at No. 7 and "Dial M for Murder" at No. 9.

Chaplin's "City Lights" from 1931, one of only two silent films to make the genre lists, was a surprise, beating such popular modern romances as "Annie Hall" (No. 2), "When Harry Met Sally ..." (No. 6) and "Sleepless in Seattle" (No. 10).

"This is why these shows are so important. They keep these films in the cultural conversation," said Bob Gazzale, AFI president. "When `City Lights' is honored as the No. 1 romantic comedy, millions of people will go back and watch it again."

The best genre movies were announced in the CBS special "AFI's 10 Top 10," the latest in the institute's annual best-of shows. The winners were chosen by actors, filmmakers, critics and others in Hollywood from ballots that included 50 nominees in each genre.

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Past AFI lists have included rankings of the top-100 American films, comedies, love stories, screen stars and movie quotes.

Walt Disney ruled the animation category. Trailing 1937's "Snow White," the first feature-length animated film, in the top-five were the Disney tales "Pinocchio," "Bambi," "The Lion King" and "Fantasia."

Two Disney-Pixar computer-animated comedies made the list, "Toy Story" at No. 6 and "Finding Nemo" at No. 10. The only non-Disney cartoon was "Shrek" at No. 8.

Some filmmakers were confined to their best-known specialties, such as Hitchcock in mysteries and "The Searchers" director John Ford in Westerns. Others landed films in several genres.

Steven Spielberg had Nos. 3 and 8 among epics with "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan" and No. 3 among sci-fi movies with "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial." Besides "2001," Stanley Kubrick had the No. 4 sci-fi tale with "A Clockwork Orange" and the No. 5 epic with "Spartacus."

Along with "Raging Bull" in sports, Martin Scorsese was on the gangster list with "Goodfellas" at No. 2.

Some actors crossed genre boundaries, too. James Stewart popped up in four categories: Fantasy with "It's a Wonderful Life" (No. 3) and "Harvey" (No. 7); romantic comedy with "The Philadelphia Story" (No. 5); courtroom drama with "Anatomy of a Murder" (No. 7); and mystery with two Hitchcock flicks, "Vertigo" and "Rear Window."

Tom Hanks also made four genres: Fantasy with "Big" (No. 10); romantic comedy with "Sleepless in Seattle"; epics with "Saving Private Ryan"; and animation with "Toy Story," for which he provided lead vocals.

Diane Keaton had films in three categories: Gangster flicks with the two "Godfather" movies (Part II was No. 3 on the list); epics with "Reds" (No. 9); and romantic comedy with "Annie Hall."

Major movie franchises were snubbed as fantasy nominees "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," "Spider-Man 2," "Batman" and "Superman" failed to make the cut.

Such popular Westerns as "Dances With Wolves" and "The Magnificent Seven" were excluded, while best-picture winners "Chariots of Fire" and "Million Dollar Baby" landed outside the top-10 in the sports category.

Gazzale said part of the fun of the film lists is the debate they prompt over which movies are included and omitted.

"These countdowns are a collective opinion of leaders from across the film community. Any surprise about an omission would be entirely subjective," Gazzale said.

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Comments

[Apples]

What happened to best musicals? I realize the whole point of this show was to get people debating film - something in itself which is not a bad idea - but to omit a whole section as important as the musical?

[3fingerbrown]

I looked at the list of westerns. I know these AFI lists are only meant to be publicity-grabbers and argument-starters, but a top-10 list of westerns that includes "Cat Ballou" (perhaps the most overrated big-budget comedy ever made) and "Butch Cassidy" (a merely amusing summer popcorn-muncher) at the expense of a masterpiece like "My Darling Clementine" isn't worth publicizing or arguing about. I skipped the other lists, assuming they were compiled with the same vulgar assumption that the words "great" and "profitable" are synonyms.

[kmsbt]

3finger: OK, Fonda, Brennan and even Mature were great in MDC but it still hurts me to watch it. Not necessarily as a movie but as a mistelling of recent American history that created a misdirected genre of its own. How many people grew up believing the MDC version WAS history and gulped down with glee all of the successive cinematic propaganda about almost every important event in the American 19th and 20th centuries? It took until the 90s for Costner to even come close to the truth on the Earp thing and there were two movies about it that year! To say nothing about SPR finally delivering on the raw horror of WWII and the real bravery of ALL American combat vets after decades of rehashed BS. Even as late as 2006 we saw a wide-eyed Martin Riggs running around South Carolina in the American Revolution claiming that the Battle of Cowpens was the turning point of the war.

My pet peeve, but if you're gonna make Westerns or epics, try to tell the truth or, if it won't sell or can't get past the MPAA, go completely fictional and symbolic. Like The Searchers, Shane or The Godfather.

[citizenofmars]

show me a Western that tells only the truth and I'll show you a Boxoffice BOMB. "Heaven's Gate" anyone? My favorite is still "McCabe & Mrs. Miller". That Leonard Cohen soundtrack nails me every time.....

[3fingerbrown]

If John Ford were reading this, he'd probably respond with a line from another of his great westerns that didn't make the list: When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.

[rich3324]

The Outlaw Josey Wales was much better than Cat Ballou.

[pfc1369]

Sports flick category, the pick Pride of the Yankees? A 50s formula job.

Bang the Drum Slowly, by a mile.

[Leroy]

"The Dark Crystal" gets no respect!

[RyanK111]

Where the hell is the horror category?

[freshnotbitter]

The Godfather should be in the chick flick category. Asphalt Jungle is one of my favorite gangster movies.

The Godfather is pathetic. Al Pacino can't even make it with his girl because he wants to hang with mommy Marlon. His big sis Cahn gets hysterical. When they need help they call a gorilla. I mean ,
I can't believe this. The Godfather is one of the most pathetic films ever made.

[revko]

Uh Oh

Someones gonna wake up next to a horse noggin'

Just sayin'

[DietrichMoody]

All the post 1990's movies on these list are in the Animation category and Titanic.
This is the best that's been made since, Sad.

[DietrichMoody]

Interesting, I take these with a grain of salt. Otherwise the list appears predicatable and somewhat pedestrian. Seems like if you went back to the 1990's , this same list would come out. What does that say?

Westerns: Where is "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" or even Howard Hawk's "Rio Bravo" ?

Comedies: Sleepless in Seatle and When Harry Met Sally? More 1990's self indulgent baby boomer crap. What about "The Apartment" - wasn't this a Romantic Comedy.

Gangsters: what about "The Big Heat", maybe it was too B Movie. Pulp Fiction?

[galaxian]

Sergio Leone should be made an honorary American just to make this nearly worthless AFI list mean something.

[OttoMann]

There should be a category for "War Movie," instead of forcing them into the vague "Epic" category. And, if they have "Romantic Comedy" then they should have a "Comedy, Other." Also, if they're gonna have "Courtroom Drama," then they should have its twin, "Prison Drama."

[aristippe]

Who the hell gets paid to come up with something as unimportant as a top ten list

[SexayObama]

People don't seem to approve of Shane . . . I kind of liked it. I say it stays. I can't wait until the Cold Wars movie comes out because once they produce that it will definitely make the list. For now you can only see the previews on Digitalfuntown.com

[aristippe]

spamer

[revko]

No surf film catagory?

[citizenofmars]

Gidget's on crack these days...

[SILVANUS]

Some fine inclusions, but omission of "Don't Look Now" in 'suspense-thriller' is unforgiveable. But as one reader pointed out, AFI is really about Hollywood chumminess. A real filmmaker, not a techno-hack crafting images, does not need film school. He needs vision and talent and discipline ...and money, from somewhere.

[HDR]

I'd agree with you except w/ Stanley Kubrick being included in the "Hollywood chumminess." He never even received an Oscar nomination.

[aristippe]

crazy right?

[leftbehind2000]

Why not a silent movie top 10?

[HDR]

Good idea! I nominate Lon Chaney's "He Who Gets Slapped" and just about anything by Buster Keaton.

[citizenofmars]

I agree with most of the choices- but Schindlers List? That seems a bit gratuitous to say the least. Political correctness shouldn't be a requirement here. The idea of the movie is noble, but it's execution lacks any sustained dramatic crescendos that make it compelling enough to re-watch many times, like say. 'The Ten Commandments'. But you know Hollywood is going to get the Holocaust in there somewhere, though there were several TV miniseries that covered the ground with deeper cinematic and emotional style than the typical Spielberg brand of in your face, turn up the music to deafening sort of approach. I kinda miss Charleton Heston. Now for 'Gangster Films'. The 'Godfather' isn't really a gangster flick. It's a miniseries soap opera with some violence. It's 'General Hospital' Sicilian Style. Want a gangster flick? How about James Cagney? That Irish maniac could out O.G. Marlon Mumbles any day of the week. He could chew Pacino up and spit him out like a pistachio shell. ":Angels With Dirty Faces" or "Castle on the Hudson" portray the true American Gangster phenom. Those films represented the times they were made in. They were about real life in the 30's urban jungle, not some arty auteur's fantasy of family life in Bensonhurst. And Private Ryan? Great D-Day stuff, but it doesn't come close to "A Walk in the Sun" or "A Bell for Adano".... and "Goodfellas" doesn't nearly compare to 'Taxi Driver", the urban noir thriller of all time...

[Sheef]

Oh come now. "The Godfather" is quite possibly the definitive gangster flick. You cannot deny that (a) it's a movie (b) about gangsters. It has one of the best screenplays ever written, and Coppola brought it to life masterfully. The wedding sequence is as good an introduction of a wide cast of characters as you'll ever see - it's bravura filmmaking. It doesn't matter that Don Corleone is a reserved man rather than a fire-breathing Cagney clone. He's a gangster through and through. So is Sonny, so is Michael, so is . . .

Your dismissal of "Private Ryan" is also misplaced. Whatever faults it may have, if nothing else, "SPR" has redefined how combat scenes must be depicted in war movies - every combat scene for the next twenty years will be measured by "SPR". "Walk" is a fine movie, but it has been outclassed.

You lost me completely when you compared "Schindler's List" to "The 10 Commandments." I don't watch "Schindler's List" more often because the movie destroys me. From the stellar performances to the artistic shots to Oskar Schindler's awakening to the death-spiral of the camps to the appearance of the Schindler Jews, "SL" rivets you to your seat. "Commandments" is pure cheese . I watched it recently with my high school English students - a smart bunch who gave ita fair shake - and they giggled more than anything. Take a Saturday, watch the two movies back-to-back, and let me know which affected you more.

[citizenofmars]

The Godfather is one of the darkest films ever made. You have to squint to make out what's going on in every scene but the wedding. I gave Private it's due for the battle sequences. The rest of it outclassed 'A Walk in the Sun"? I don't buy that. The last 3/4 of P.R. was pedestrian and there were no surprises. And a movie doesn't have to 'move you' or 'destroy you' to rate as a fine flick. The 10 C's worked because it met the definition of entertainment on a grand scale. Did your students get to watch it in Cinemescope on a Wide-Screen, the way it was released? Or did they just watch a TV somewhere? It's an epic spectacular. Old Hollywood. The Old Bible. I wasn't comparing the two movies on any level except that they both made the list. It's apples and oranges. Just because a film doesn't leave you all bummed out doesn't mean it's not a good film. Of course it's PC to hate Heston too.

[citizenofmars]

sorry. The DEFINITIVE gangster flick is "Little Caesar" w/ Edward G. Robinson...

[samguy]

dude, u los crediblity when u mentioned "The Ten Commandments" which is more of a camp ("Moses, you silly fool") than an epic....but far from great camp like "Valley of the Dolls" or "Mommie Dearest"

[citizenofmars]

lose credibility? Hardly. I can always watch the Red Sea part, or stare in awe as Moses' staff morphs into a snake. It may be a bit campy, but it was a major eye and ear feast that always rewards another viewing.

[thebirdstheword]

i'm just not really into someone saying "yeah, see?" over and over for two hours.