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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On the Net:

http://www.afi.com

Comments

[bluegreen]

I used to live in LA and loved going to a revival theater, not far from CBS studios and the Farmer's Market, that showed nothing but silent flicks. It would be great to have AFI add a genre next time they do this list: silent movies. This would help ensure that such films remain part of the national conversation, and they need that exposure most. There is something very pure about this genre that relies so much on image, you're watching pure cinema, you're watching the birth of a beautiful and important new art form. I wish I had more exposure to the best ones. AFI could help!

[AustinCynic]

They are an artform unto themselves. I personally prefer Modern Times among Chaplin films, but any true film buff needs an education in (at the very least) Chaplin and Keaton; they need to see Metropolis, without which the design for much of the Star Wars saga would not exist; as well as classics like Nosferatu and the restored version of Rain. I especially recommend the latter for anyone who only knows Gloria Swanson from the movie Sunset Boulevard.

[slobone]

They got the wrong romantic comedy for 1989 -- should have been Say Anything instead of the highly overrated When Harry Met Sally.

All these AFI lists are intended to kiss as many Hollywood asses as possible. Titanic one of the top 10 epics? Please.

[AustinCynic]

My wife pointed out that Bringing Up Baby was a glaring omission from the romantic comedy category. Perhaps the thinking was that the Hepburn-Grant pair was already on the list with Philidelphia Story (deservedly on the list), but they both should have been on there.

Also, no way Annie Hall is the no. 1 romcom over It Happened One Night. Nothing against Woody, but I would argue Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert set the standard against which all other couples in the genre must be measured.

[slobone]

For whatever reason, the AFI always seem to think they have to give "equal time" to more recent movies on their lists. I would be perfectly happy with a list of 10 romantic comedies that stopped in about 1945. Most of the ones since then are either not funny enough or not romantic enough (or both, in the case of Annie Hall).

[ElodieStClair]

AFI? Who cares what this joke of a film school thinks about movies? The place is a B-rate studio pipeline for spoiled idiots who couldn't get into one of the real film schools. Their idea of canons is a perpetuation of the same corporo-tainment garbage that they themselves want to make. These people aren't filmmakers; they're little businessmen making spectacle and distraction and cinema-as-advertising. If you want a real best films list from someone who has a grasp on the history of aesthetics and the true role of canons, turn to someone like Jonathan Rosenbaum: http://mapage.noos.fr/screenville/highlights/rosenbaum1000.htm

[aristippe]

"real film school?"" Film school ain't even school, snobby!

[ElodieStClair]

It has nothing to do with snobbery. It has to do with art vs. commerce, the latter being the sole domain of AFI. It is not a film school. It's a business school. And it diminishes cinema.

[JTyroler]

As examples that these lists have to taken with a grain of salt - 2 of the top 5 movies on IMDB.com, "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" weren't listed in AFI's recent listing, although I'm not sure where "The Shawshank Redemption" would fit. "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" (No. 4 on IMDB.com) wasn't one of the 100 choices for best western (or any other motel chain).

[Sheef]

I believe Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns fall outside the list because they are not "American" films, which they have to be to be on the AFI list. Calling their lists the "top films" is like referring to the winners of MLB's World Series as "World Champs" - it neatly ignores international input. There was a lot of discussion about this when AFI's first Top 100 list came out as far as what qualifies as an "American" film. It seems pretty subjective, but at the end of the day that's why we don't have any Kurosawa films in the list, for example. But somehow David Lean's movies make it in there.

[liberaldawg]

"The Searchers" is a better western than "Shane?"
Those AFI people are "lowdown Yankee liars"

[glesslib]

I have never been able to sit through "Shane". For some reason, I find it a real yawner.
So, you've got my vote that "Searchers" is far better.

[sandiegoconservative]

I think Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid should have been a bit higher, same with Unforgiven. Shane stunk.