Valley connection behind many of AFI’s top movies of all time
And now the American Film Institute has given us the ultimate movie list.
No more of these long-winded 100 greatest this or 100 greatest that.
Tonight at 8 p.m. on CBS, AFI will give us its best list of lists.
“AFI’s 10 Top 10″ will unveil 10 films in the 10 categories of:
Animation, Fantasy, Gangster movies, Science Fiction, Westerns, Sports, Mysteries, Romantic Comedies, Courtroom Dramas and Epics.
You can see all 500 nominations at afi.com.
But that’s a lot of titles to wade through.
If you go to mydesert.com, you’ll find a list of AFI nominated films with significant desert connections - that is, films produced, directed, written or featuring people with desert homes.
That’s also a huge list. We counted 135 titles, including two counted in two categories.
Some readers will undoubtedly find other desert-related films they feel are significant. If so, add their names to our list at mydesert.com.
But, to determine the films with local ties that have the best chance of making the AFI finals, we’ve narrowed our lists to two in each category. We present them in the following face-offs:
Fantasy
Frank Capra’s “Lost Horizon” was the best-ever publicity film for Palm Springs. After all, the La Quinta-based director chose Tahquitz Canyon for his depiction of Shangri La.
But another Capra classic, “It’s A Wonderful Life,” deserves a spot in this face-off with Disney’s great live-action/animation mix, “Mary Poppins.”
Give “It’s A Wonderful Life” its wings for its enduring appeal. Charles Dickens couldn’t have written a better script.
Animation
Walt Disney, who lived at Smoketree Ranch in Palm Springs, dominated this category with 13 producer credits. Joseph Barbera of Hanna-Barbera scored with “Charlotte’s Web,” but this contest comes down to Disney’s early masterpiece, “Fantasia,” and his enduring musical, “The Jungle Book.”
Phil Harris, who lived in Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage, and Louis Prima, whose ex-wife Keely Smith still lives in Palm Springs, made “The Jungle Book” cool with their unique voices as Baloo and King Louie, respectively. And, if you listen carefully, you can hear another desert resident, Lord Tim Hudson, as Dizzy.
But “Fantasia” was such a breakthrough in 1940, we have to give it the nod. No film - animated or live action - has showcased classical music better.
Gangster
Joe Pesci, who once owned a home in La Quinta, dominates this category with his co-star, Robert DeNiro. We’ll pick their 1990 gem “Goodfellas” to shoot it out against the ’30s classic “Little Caesar.”
Producers Darryl Zanuck of Palm Springs and Hal B. Wallis of Rancho Mirage virtually invented the gangster genre with “Little Caesar.” But Pesci was one of the all-time scariest bad guys in “Goodfellas,” produced by Irwin Winkler of Palm Springs.
Give the nod to “Goodfellas.”
Science Fiction
Rancho Mirage native Gale Anne Hurd should have a half-dozen films in this category. AFI recognizes her second “Terminator” film and it is worthy.
But if endurance matters, you must include “Frankenstein.”
Carl Laemmle Jr., who lived in Palm Springs shortly before his 1979 death in Beverly Hills, saved Universal with that film (along with “Dracula” and “All Quiet On the Western Front”). The family of “Frankenstein” star Boris Karloff also has deep roots in Rancho Mirage.
Give this face-off to the manufactured face of Frankenstein.
Western
John Ford, who lived in Palm Springs, and Clint Eastwood, who has a restaurant in La Quinta, dominate this category like Disney does animation.
Eastwood’s best was “Unforgiven” in 1992. Ford’s masterpiece is “Stagecoach” from 1939, but that film isn’t as worthy as “Shane,” starring Palm Springs icon Alan Ladd. It remains a masterpiece 55 years after its release.
Still “Unforgiven” may be the best Western ever.
Sports
There’s a surprising wealth of Coachella Valley-connected films in this category. “Champion,” “The Freshman,” “Jerry Maguire,” “Knute Rockne - All American,” “Pride of the Yankees,” “Rocky” and “Seabiscuit,” to name just a few.
But the ball game here has to be between two boxing films: Eastwood’s “Million Dollar Baby” and Martin Scorsese’s “Raging Bull,” starring Pesci.
Give “Raging Bull” a TKO for Scorsese’s finest work.
Mystery
Joseph Cottten, a Palm Springs resident who helped launch the Desert Theatre League, has some great films in the AFI nomination list, including “The Third Man” and “Gaslight” in this category.
But the two best mysteries with desert clues are Wallis’ “The Maltese Falcon” and “In the Heat of the Night,” produced by Walter Mirisch of Palm Springs.
Wallis was robbed of an AFI nomination for “Casablanca,” just as he was cheated out of the Oscar for that film when his boss, Jack Warner, accepted the 1944 Best Picture award in his place.
So give Wallis the happy ending in this category for his 1941 film starring Humphrey Bogart, “The Maltese Falcon.”
Cary Grant, whose Palm Springs house is now Copley’s restaurant, was Hollywood’s best romantic comedy actor.
But the best films in this category are “My Man Godfrey,” starring longtime Palm Springs resident William Powell, and Capra’s “It Happened One Night,” starring Clark Gable, who lived in Bermuda Dunes shortly before his death.
And the award goes to: “It Happened One Night,” which happens to be the first film to sweep the top Oscar awards.
Courtroom dramas
If you measure success by the number of showings a film has on cable TV, “My Cousin Vinnie,” starring the omni-present Mr. Pesci, would win this category undisputedly.
But, in a battle of lawyers, Kirk Douglas has to get the verdict for his work in Stanley Kubrick’s “Paths of Glory.”
Epic
Eastwood’s “Letters From Iwo Jima” probably doesn’t belong in a category with “Ben Hur” and “The Ten Commandments,” even though it’s better than most of the overblown classics the AFI is calling epic.
But, in keeping with the AFI’s criteria, the best epics with desert connections are Douglas’ “Spartacus” and “Bridge Over the River Kwai,” starring Palm Springs icon William Holden.
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[...] Valley connection behind many of AFI’s top movies of all timePhil Harris, who lived in Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage, and Louis Prima, whose ex-wife Keely Smith still lives in Palm Springs, made “The Jungle Book” cool with their unique voices as Baloo and King Louie, respectively. …Dizney Words - http://www.dizneywords.com/ [...]
[...] Valley connection behind many of AFI’s top movies of all timeBut the two best mysteries with desert clues are Wallis’ “The Maltese Falcon” and “In the Heat of the Night,” produced by Walter Mirisch of Palm Springs. Wallis was robbed of an AFI nomination for “Casablanca,” just as he was cheated …Dizney Words - http://www.dizneywords.com/ [...]
[...] Valley connection behind many of AFI’s top movies of all timeBut the two best mysteries with desert clues are Wallis’ “The Maltese Falcon” and “In the Heat of the Night,” produced by Walter Mirisch of Palm Springs. Wallis was robbed of an AFI nomination for “Casablanca,” just as he was cheated …Dizney Words - http://www.dizneywords.com/ [...]