The AFI's Top Ten Films in Ten Classic Genres

Plenty of people hate lists. Oddly, the majority of those people read the lists and complain about what's wrong with them and how, they people who despise lists, would do it differently.

We love lists; on a personal note, I was enraptured by the original Book of Lists as a boy, and if you've never skimmed through it, you're missing a world of obscure and great information. We do lists here, of course, with our weekly Top Fives. Often, people write in and argue with why something is so high or so low in our ranking, or why something isn't included at all.

But nobody catches the kind of flack that the American Film Institute does. I can certainly understand the frustration with their collections - the top 100 films, the 50 greatest heroes, the 100 greatest uses of "Let's get the hell outta here," etc. - because they make some questionable choices.

My main beef with the AFI is that foreign language films are never included in their rundowns, as if American filmmakers were shielded from the impact of Kurosawa, Godard, Fellini any more than those legends were never influenced by Ford, Welles, Hitchcock, Wilder, and the other great directors of our own bygone era. Film is universal, and I wish the AFI would acknowledge it.

Still, once you wrap your mind around the fact that somehow The Seven Samurai isn't in a discussion of great films, the AFI lists are certainly good reading and make for lively discussion. Now, they're putting all their cards on the table by selecting the ten best films in ten classic genres. First, the lists, then a little opinion:

Animation
1 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
2 - Pinocchio (1940)
3 - Bambi (1942)
4 - The Lion King (1994)
5 - Fantasia (1940)
6 - Toy Story (1995)
7 - Beauty and the Beast (1991)
8 - Shrek (2001)
9 - Cinderella (1950)
10 - Finding Nemo (2003)

Fantasy
1 - The Wizard of Oz (1939)
2 - Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
3 - It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
4 - King Kong (1933)
5 - Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
6 - Field of Dreams (1989)
7 - Harvey (1950)
8 - Groundhog Day (1993)
9 - The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
10 - Big (1988)

Gangster
1 - The Godfather (1972)
2 - Goodfellas (1990)
3 - The Godfather: Part II (1974)
4 - White Heat (1949)
5 - Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
6 - Scarface: The Shame of a Nation (1932)
7 - Pulp Fiction (1994)
8 - The Public Enemy (1931)
9 - Little Caesar (1930)
10 - Scarface (1983)

Science Fiction
1 - 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
2 - Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
3 - E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
4 - A Clockwork Orange (1971)
5 - The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
6 - Blade Runner (1982)
7 - Alien (1979)
8 - Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
9 - Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
10 - Back to the Future (1985)

Western
1 - The Searchers (1956)
2 - High Noon (1952)
3 - Shane (1953)
4 - Unforgiven (1992)
5 - Red River (1948)
6 - The Wild Bunch (1969)
7 - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
8 - McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
9 - Stagecoach (1939)
10 - Cat Ballou (1965)

Sports
1 - Raging Bull (1980)
2 - Rocky (1976)
3 - The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
4 - Hoosiers (1986)
5 - Bull Durham (1988)
6 - The Hustler (1961)
7 - Caddyshack (1980)
8 - Breaking Away (1979)
9 - National Velvet (1944)
10 - Jerry Maguire (1996)

Mystery
1 - Vertigo (1958)
2 - Chinatown (1974)
3 - Rear Window (1954)
4 - Laura (1944)
5 - The Third Man (1949)
6 - The Maltese Falcon (1941)
7 - North by Northwest (1959)
8 - Blue Velvet (1986)
9 - Dial M for Murder (1954)
10 - The Usual Suspects (1995)

Romantic Comedy
1 - City Lights (1931)
2 - Annie Hall (1977)
3 - It Happened One Night (1934)
4 - Roman Holiday (1953)
5 - The Philadelphia Story (1940)
6 - When Harry Met Sally (1989)
7 - Adam's Rib (1949)
8 - Moonstruck (1987)
9 - Harold and Maude (1971)
10 - Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

Courtroom Drama
1 - To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
2 - 12 Angry Men (1957)
3 - Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
4 - The Verdict (1982)
5 - A Few Good Men (1992)
6 - Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
7 - Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
8 - In Cold Blood (1967)
9 - A Cry in the Dark (1988)
10 - Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

Epic
1 - Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
2 - Ben-Hur (1959)
3 - Schindler's List (1993)
4 - Gone With the Wind (1939)
5 - Spartacus (1960)
6 - Titanic (1997)
7 - All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
8 - Saving Private Ryan (1998)
9 - Reds (1981)
10 - The Ten Commandments (1956)

Alex at First Showing did the math for us: Alfred Hitchcock has the most films on the list with four; James Stewart tops the list of actors, with six films appearing within the ten categories.

Now some opinion:

First of all, where are war movies? That's definitely a more vital genre than courtroom dramas, as much as I love courtroom dramas. And cop movies? What about musicals? Anyone?

As for individual lists, there's plenty to quibble about. Most people under 40 would say that 2001 is nowhere near as good as Star Wars. I'd argue that it's a hell of a lot more realistic in terms of spending time in space - which is part of the point - and that the models used by Kubrick 40 years ago still look better than what George Lucas did almost ten years later. I get that 2001 isn't real talky and it doesn't have a lot of action, but it's so far ahead of its time technically. Put it this way: It leans on science more than any other sci-fi in this category.

I fear they've overvalued The Lion King; I'd take Toy Story or Beauty and the Beast any day. And frankly, Toy Story shouldn't be any lower than third, because it's the most influential animated film since Fantasia, and it's the blueprint for modern animated film. I don't know how they're defining "fantasy" movies, really, but if all of those movies qualify, they've probably got them in the right order, although you can no doubt think of a dozen movies that would work just as well. I instantly wondered where The Princess Bride was. Pulp Fiction should be a notch or two higher in the gangster category, ditto Back to the Future in sci-fi.

Rio Bravo is missing from their list of westerns - scandalous! - although they got about seven others just right. The Searchers is almost shamefully good. It's pure moviemaking from John Ford, possibly the purest director who has ever lived. But seriously, McCabe and Mrs. Miller? Cat Ballou? Over The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, or The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly? Oh wait...sorry, one of the three greatest Western films ever made isn't eligible because it's in Italian. Oops.

Sports movies are tough to pin down. I think Rocky is the best sports movie ever, with Hoosiers number two, because they feel like sports make us feel. Raging Bull, while a masterpiece of cinematography and incisive character exploration, has never really hit me as a sports movie, even though the central figure was a boxer. Bull Durham, on the other hand, instantly evokes a minor league stadium. I can't argue with Raging Bull topping the list, really, but I'd have it below Rocky. Not saying Rocky's a better film, but I do think it feels more like a sports movie.

I'm surprised Fargo didn't make the list of mysteries, and that Silence of the Lambs and L.A. Confidential are nowhere to be found. Laura is a vastly underrated film (I just saw it again last summer and it holds up, plus Gene Tierney was gorgeous, so that's nice). I don't think it's the fourth best mystery of all time, though. Dial M for Murder has consistently been overrated for 50 years; it's really not great Hitchcock. The others, however, are some of the shining examples of his work and mystery filmmaking.

Comedies are the toughest genre to rank, and this is where lists like this lose people. City Lights is great, deserves acknowledgment in a we-got-here-from-there kind of way, but since you know women are going to look here first, the number one movie ought to be familiar to them, don't you think? It's a great film, don't get me wrong, but I thought we were already in agreement that Annie Hall is the Mt. Everest of rom-coms.

I'll give you two reasons, though, why City Lights can't top this particular list, even if it's a great romantic comedy: Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally. For one thing, only one of them is good. For another, if you're catering to the Meg Ryan rom-com crowd, City Lights just doesn't belong. If you're going to go the "City Lights is a landmark blah blah blah" route, then where the hell is Some Like It Hot? The Apartment? The 40-Year-Old Virgin? You're either picking great films that happen to be romantic comedies or you're picking good romantic comedies, regardless of whether or not they're actually good movies. I don't think it works both ways. And that, in a nutshell, is the problem with these lists.

Turning our attention to courtroom dramas, there's no way in hell Kramer vs. Effing Kramer is the third best courtroom drama of all time. Nope. Just isn't. Poll a hundred people, and if that one is the the third highest ranking courtroom drama in that poll, I'll tongue kiss Dustin Hoffman. Repeatedly. I like the eight of the other nine, in that order, and I'd put, I dunno, Inherit the Wind tenth. Kramer vs. Kramer...

Finally, in epics, they appear to have more or less gotten it right. Reds kind of stands out here, but it's low enough on the list that I can't readily think of what should replace it. Except maybe Citizen Kane. I mean, shouldn't it be on this countdown somewhere? Certainly, they started strong, though, but I believe Kane and Dr. Zhivago seem conspicuously absent.

So there you have it. Now discuss.

Comments

[William Anthony]

The absence of the war movie list was indeed a tragedy. Even so, Saving Private Ryan as 8th on the epic list is an absolute travesty--I love Lawrence of Arabia dearly, but no movie in the history of film has captured an environment like SPR. I had nightmares that stuck with me for weeks after seeing it in the theatres because it was so devastatingly real; its not only the reality, the incredible sense of "being there" but the heart-wrenching and masterful character development leading to one of the truly great concluding scenes in cinema.

[Jen]

I know, I know, I’m an AFI member and I completely forgot about voting or reviewing any of the stuff beforehand. Laura and City Lights are two of my favorite films so I'm thrilled they made the cut-- good thing you didn't wager a tongue kiss on women recognizing City Lights there, Colin (of course, it would’ve made a difference whom the wager was with). It's obscure though, I grant you and I felt like again, they're missing the boat by leaving something like The Apartment or Sturges' Palm Beach Story out of the running if they're deciding to go with the Little Tramp. In addition, I feel confident you won't need to break out the breath mints for a Hoffman rendezvous since yes, I've always thought that Kramer Vs. Kramer was overrated and agree with inserting Inherit the Wind instead just for Gene Kelly's angry atheist alone. Great comments, per usual and we’ll see what list they come up with next year.