AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores
26-Sep-2005 - American Film Institute (AFI) revealed the top 25 film scores of all time in THE BIG PICTURE-AFI'S 100 YEARS OF FILM SCORES, a one- night only presentation on 23 September produced by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association in cooperation with AFI. A jury of over 500 film artists, composers, musicians, critics and historians selected John Williams' iconic score from the classic film STAR WARS as the most memorable film score of all time. John Williams is additionally noteworthy as the most represented composer on the list with three scores making the top 25.

Rounding out the top ten were film scores ranging in themes from sweeping epics to westerns, including: GONE WITH THE WIND (#2), composer Max Steiner; LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (#3), composer Maurice Jarre; PSYCHO (#4), composer Bernard Herrmann; THE GODFATHER (#5), composer Nino Rota; JAWS (#6), composer John Williams; LAURA (#7), composer David Raksin; THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (#8), composer Elmer Bernstein; CHINATOWN (#9), composer Jerry Goldsmith; and HIGH NOON (#10), composer Dimitri Tiomkin.

Spanning a century of film music and counting down from 25 to number one throughout the evening, Principal Conductor John Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra performed excerpts from each of the winning scores, many of them accompanied by favorite movie scenes shown on the Bowl's big video screens. While television broadcasts have announced the previous eight installments of AFI'S 100 YEARS . . .series, this event marks the first time an AFI countdown was revealed before a live audience.

1. STAR WARS
2. GONE WITH THE WIND
3. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
4. PSYCHO
5. THE GODFATHER
6. JAWS
7. LAURA
8. THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
9. CHINATOWN
10. HIGH NOON
11. THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD
12. VERTIGO
13. KING KONG
14. E.T. THE EXTRATERRESTRAL
15. OUT OF AFRICA
16. SUNSET BOULEVARD
17. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
18. PLANET OF THE APES
19. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
20. THE PINK PANTHER
21. BEN-HUR
22. ON THE WATERFRONT
23. THE MISSION
24. ON GOLDEN POND
25. HOW THE WEST WAS WON

Never understood the love for Lawrence of Arabia... at #25 OK, but at #3??

Here's a list of 25 I put together 5 or 6 years ago. I still like it.

1. Psycho
2. King Kong
3. Jaws
4. Planet of the Apes
5. Ben Hur
6. Star Wars
7. The Adventures of Robin Hood
8. Romeo & Juliet
9. The Bride of Frankenstein
10. To Kill a Mockingbird
11. Gone With the Wind
12. Citizen Kane
13. How the West Was Won
14. Breakfast at Tiffany's
15. A Streetcar Named Desire
16. Double Indemnity
17. The Mission
18. The Magnificent Seven
19. Conan the Barbarian
20. Vertigo
21. The James Bond Legacy
22. Glory
23. A Fistful of Dollars
24. Halloween
25. North by Northwest<HR size=1></BLOCKQUOTE>

I like your list better than AFI's although I don't see SPARTACUS or CLEOPATRA. But you did have the wisdom to include CITIZEN KANE and BREAKFAST AT TIFFANYS!

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Originally posted by JeffBond:
Joan, where's the love? Chinatown is a classic score that underscores complex emotions in a classic motion picture. I love Star Trek TMP and I voted for it (as well as for Chinatown) but it's music for a mediocre movie; I would never think Chinatown was less deserving than TMP. I'm just happy two Goldsmith scores made the cut, and in terms of science fiction Planet of the Apes is a far more groundbreaking score and for a superior film.

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quote:

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Originally posted by filmfactsman:

1. STAR WARS
3. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
7. LAURA
8. THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
9. CHINATOWN
10. HIGH NOON
11. THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD
12. VERTIGO
13. KING KONG
15. OUT OF AFRICA
16. SUNSET BOULEVARD
17. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
18. PLANET OF THE APES
19. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
21. BEN-HUR
22. ON THE WATERFRONT
25. HOW THE WEST WAS WON

(From the AFI press release)

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