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 The American
Film Institute (AFI) in Los Angeles, California conducted its ninth polling, 100 Years...100
Cheers. It was to be a definitive selection of the 100 most 'inspiring'
American films of all time, as determined by more than 1,500 film artists
(directors, screenwriters, actors, editors, cinematographers), critics
and historians.
AFI’s 100 Years…100 Cheers revealed America’s
100 greatest inspirational films, as chosen by leaders of the entertainment
community, in a three-hour television event, that aired on the CBS Television
Network in June 2006.
A ballot was distributed with 300
nominated films to a jury of 1,500 leaders from the creative
community, including film artists (directors, screenwriters, actors,
editors, cinematographers) critics and historians. The jurors were asked
to consider the following criteria in their selections:
Judging
Criteria for the Selection Process of the Top 100 films included:
- Feature Length Fiction Film - The film must
be in narrative format, typically over 60 minutes in length.
- American Film - The film must be in the English
language with significant creative and/or production elements from
the United States. Additionally, only feature-length American films
released before January 1, 2005 will be considered.
- Cheers - Films are those that inspire with
characters of vision and conviction who face adversity and often make
a personal sacrifice for the greater good. Whether these movies end
happily or not, they are ultimately triumphant – both filling
audiences with hope and empowering them with the spirit of human potential.
- Legacy - Jurors were asked to also consider
"films whose 'cheers' continue to echo across a century of American
cinema."
Facts (and
Some Opinions) About the List of 100 Most Inspiring American Films:
Note: The films that are marked with a yellow
star  are the films
that "The Greatest Films" site has selected as the 100
Greatest Films
- Charlton Heston was twice celebrated for two religious
epics: Ben-Hur (1959) (# 56) and The Ten Commandments
(1956) (# 79).
- Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg placed five
films on the list, more than any other director, including three in
the Top 10: Schindler's List (1993) (# 3), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) (# 6), Saving Private
Ryan (1998) (# 10), The Color Purple (1985) (# 51) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) (# 58).
- Director Frank Capra had four films in the top 100,
the first two (in the top 10) with James Stewart: It's a Wonderful Life (1946) (# 1), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) (# 5), Meet
John Doe (1941) (# 49) and Mr. Deeds
Goes to Town (1936) (# 83).
- Performers starring in the most films among the 100
were: Sidney Poitier and Gary Cooper with five apiece, Tom Hanks with
four, and Katharine Hepburn, Jean Arthur and Sally Field, each with
three.
- At least 11 of the 100 films selected involved athletes
or sporting competitions (3 were horse-racing films!): Rocky
(1976) (# 4), Breaking Away (1979) (# 8), Hoosiers
(1986) (# 13), The Pride of the Yankees (1942) (# 22), National Velvet (1944) (# 24), Field
of Dreams (1989) (# 28), Seabiscuit (2003) (# 50), Rudy (1993) (# 54), The Black Stallion (1979) (# 64), The Karate Kid (1984) (# 98), and Chariots of Fire (1981) (# 100).
- Three dubious choices, among
others (two from 1993) were: Working Girl (1988) (# 87), What's
Love Got to Do With It (1993) (# 85) and Searching for Bobby
Fischer (1993) (# 96).
- There were only a few westerns represented in the
top 100: High Noon (1952) (# 27), Shane (1953) (# 53), and Dances With Wolves (1990) (# 59). Surprisingly, both space-related films were in the list: Apollo
13 (1995) (# 12) and The Right Stuff (1983) (# 19).
- The most recent films in the top 100 list were: Hotel
Rwanda (2004) (# 90), Ray (2004) (# 99), Seabiscuit
(2003) (# 50), A Beautiful Mind (2001) (# 93), and Erin
Brockovich (2000) (# 73).
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