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'Vertigo,' 'Godfather' top AFI lists

Published: June 18, 2008 at 10:19 AM

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Actors Robert Duvall and James Caan (right) who starred in the first Godfather movie appear at a 2/10/05 promotional event in New York for EA Games which is producing "The Godfather" video game for release in mid 2005. The late Marlon Brando recorded his voice overs for the game shortly before he died in 2004. (UPI Photo/Ezio Petersen)

LOS ANGELES, June 18 (UPI) -- The American Film Institute has named "Vertigo" the best movie in the mystery genre and "The Godfather" the best gangster picture in a new television special.

The AFI revealed its selection of the 10 greatest movies in each of 10 Hollywood film genres in "AFI's 10 Top 10," a three-hour special that aired Tuesday night on CBS.

The rankings were based on the votes of a jury of 1,500 film artists, critics and historians.

"2001: A Space Odyssey" topped the list of science fiction films, while "City of Lights" was named best romantic comedy, "Lawrence of Arabia" was the No. 1 epic, "Raging Bull" the best sports movie and "The Searchers" ranked highest among westerns.

"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" topped the list of animated films, "To Kill A Mockingbird" was ruled the best courtroom drama and "The Wizard of Oz" was the No. 1 fantasy film.

The AFI special enlisted the help of celebrity hosts for each genre's list. Appearing on the show were Jessica Alba, Sean Astin, Gabriel Byrne, Kirk Douglas, Clint Eastwood, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Quentin Tarantino, Sigourney Weaver and James Woods.