100 Years...100 Movies

AFI's 10 Top 10
Film Genres

Part 3 (Gangster Films)




The American Film Institute in Los Angeles, California, in 2008 honored America’s 10 greatest films in 10 classic film genres. The jury was asked to choose up to 10 movies per genre from a comprehensive list.

To compile the final list, AFI distributed a ballot with 500 Nominated Films (50 per genre) to a jury of over 1,500 leaders from the creative community, including film artists (directors, screenwriters, actors, editors, cinematographers), critics and historians.

In previous years, the AFI has also produced other lists of the following:

AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies (1998) (original)
400 Greatest American Films (nominees) (original)
Read this site's Commentary on AFI's 100 Greatest American Movies (original)

100 Greatest American Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)

AFI asked jurors to consider the following criteria in their selection process:

  • Feature-length: Narrative format typically over 60 minutes in length.

  • American film: English-language film with significant creative and/or production elements from the United States. Additionally, only films released before January 1, 2008 were considered.

  • Critical Recognition: Formal commendation in print, television, and digital media.

  • Major Award Winner: Recognition from competitive events including awards from peer groups, critics, guilds and major film festivals.

  • Popularity Over Time: This includes success at the box office, television and cable airings, and DVD/VHS sales and rentals.

  • Historical Significance: A film's mark on the history of the moving image through visionary narrative devices, technical innovation or other groundbreaking achievements.

  • Cultural Impact: A film's mark on American society in matters of style and substance.

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.



AMERICA's 10 Top 10
Film Genres

Part 3 (Gangster Films)
Please see this site's extensive section on Gangster (Crime) Films

Gangster Films:

AFI described gangster films as "a genre that centers on organized crime or maverick criminals in a twentieth century setting. Profit-minded and highly entrepreneurial, the American gangster is the dark side of the American dream. The gangsters' lifestyles are portraits in extremes, with audiences cheering their excesses and reveling in their demise."

Nominees: Robert De Niro was the most featured actor with seven movies; James Cagney and Al Pacino were featured with five movies each.

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

Comments: Some Like It Hot (1959) was not a gangster film, by any stretch of the imagination, and shouldn't have been in the nominees list. Not included in the top 10: The Roaring Twenties (1939), Reservoir Dogs (1992), Miller's Crossing (1990), or Boyz N the Hood (1991)?


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