Star Wars Tops AFI's List of 25 Greatest Film Scores of All Time

Star Wars Tops AFI's List of 25 Greatest Film Scores of All Time

Other Honorees Include Celebrated Scores from Gone With the Wind, Lawrence of Arabia, Psycho and The Godfather

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- 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 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 off the top 10 were film scores ranging in theme 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.

The Honorees Are ...

FILM TITLE YEAR COMPOSER

1 STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE 1977 John Williams 2 GONE WITH THE WIND 1939 Max Steiner 3 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA 1962 Maurice Jarre 4 PSYCHO 1960 Bernard Herrmann 5 GODFATHER, THE 1972 Nino Rota 6 JAWS 1975 John Williams 7 LAURA 1944 David Raksin 8 THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN 1960 Elmer Bernstein 9 CHINATOWN 1974 Jerry Goldsmith 10 HIGH NOON 1952 Dimitri Tiomkin 11 THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD 1938 Erich Wolfgang Korngold 12 VERTIGO 1958 Bernard Herrmann 13 KING KONG 1933 Max Steiner 14 E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL 1982 John Williams 15 OUT OF AFRICA 1985 John Barry 16 SUNSET BLVD. 1950 Franz Waxman 17 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD 1962 Elmer Bernstein 18 PLANET OF THE APES 1968 Jerry Goldsmith 19 A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE 1951 Alex North 20 THE PINK PANTHER 1964 Henry Mancini 21 BEN-HUR 1959 Miklos Rozsa 22 ON THE WATERFRONT 1954 Leonard Bernstein 23 THE MISSION 1986 Ennio Morricone 24 ON GOLDEN POND 1981 Dave Grusin 25 HOW THE WEST WAS WON 1962 Alfred Newman

Created as a sidebar to AFI's popular AFI's 100 Years... series, AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores continues the mission of this program-to reignite an interest in classic American cinema. This theme additionally befits the Hollywood Bowl's annual movie night, which brings to life the music of the world's most beloved films.

AFI's 100 Years... series has garnered considerable attention from movie lovers around the world-and consistently sparks national discussions of America's film history. Previous programs within this series have included AFI 100 Years ... 100 Movies (1998), ...100 Stars (1999), ...100 Laughs (2000), ...100 Thrills (2001), ...100 Passions (2002), ...100 Heroes & Villains (2003), ...100 Songs (2004) and ...100 Movie Quotes (2005).

About the Jury Process

AFI distributed a ballot with 250 nominated movie scores to a jury of over 500 leaders from the creative community, including composers, musicians, film artists (directors, screenwriters, actors, editors and cinematographers), critics and historians. The jurors were asked to consider the following criteria in making their selections:

FILM SCORE

An original music composition written to serve as the dramatic underscore to an American film released in the sound era.*

CREATIVE IMPACT

Film Scores that enrich the moviegoing experience by bringing the emotional elements of a film's story to life.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Film Scores that create a new sound and, therefore, present the film in a distinct fashion while advancing the art forms.

LEGACY

Film Scores that are also enjoyed apart from the movie and evoking the memory of its film source, thus ensuring and enlivening both the music and the movie's historical legacy.

*AFI defines an American film as an English language motion picture with significant creative and/or financial production elements from the United States. Additionally, only Film Scores from feature-length American films released in the sound era (1927 to present) will be considered. AFI defines a feature-length film as a motion picture of narrative format that is typically over 60 minutes in length.

About the American Film Institute

AFI is a national institute providing leadership in screen education and the recognition and celebration of excellence in the art of film, television and digital media. AFI trains the next generation of filmmakers at its world- renowned Conservatory, maintains America's film heritage through the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and explores new digital technologies in entertainment and education through the AFI Digital Content Lab and K-12 Screen Education Center. As the largest nonprofit exhibitor in the US, AFI ON SCREEN encompasses the annual AFI FEST presented by Audi: AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival-as well as year-round programming at ArcLight Hollywood and the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, including SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival. AFI AWARDS, the annual almanac for the 21st century, honors the most outstanding motion pictures and television programs of the year, while AFI's 100 Years... series has ignited extraordinary public interest in classic American movies. And, during the past 33 years, AFI's Life Achievement Award has become the highest honor for a career in film. Additional information about AFI is available at AFI.com.

About the Hollywood Bowl

John Mauceri's accomplishments extend nationally and internationally, not only to the world's greatest opera companies and symphony orchestras, but also to the musical stages of Broadway and Hollywood, before large television and radio audiences, and in recording studios and major publications. Mauceri has received substantial recognition for his work as one of the principal forces behind the movement to preserve two of America's great art forms, the American musical and music for the American cinema. He is equally at home conducting artists ranging from Placido Domingo (during a live broadcast of the Grammy Awards) to Madonna (with whom he recorded the soundtrack to Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita), from Garth Brooks (an inaugural inductee into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame) to the Smashing Pumpkins (for the 1996 MTV Music Awards). Carol Burnett, Chicago, John Denver, Rodney Gilfry, Jonathan Pryce, Jane Eaglen, Jennifer Larmore, Patrick Stewart, Tito Puente, Charlotte Church, and Trisha Yearwood are among the multitude of artists who have performed with Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra have presented an astonishing number of premieres, and during his tenure, opera and ballet along with the staging of Broadway musicals returned to the Bowl's stage. In addition to his position as Principal Conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Mauceri has served as music director for the Pittsburgh Opera since June 2000. The 2005 Hollywood Bowl season marks Mauceri's 15th season and 300th concert with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, which was created for him by the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1991.

One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and in 1991 gave its name to the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. The 2004 season introduced audiences to a revitalized Hollywood Bowl, featuring a newly-constructed shell and stage and the addition of four stadium screens enhancing stage views in the venue. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 37th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and close to one million admissions have been recorded. In February 2005, the Hollywood Bowl was named Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue at the 16th Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards; the Bowl's summer music festival has become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers, and Disneyland.

The complete list of 25 Film Scores can be found at both www.AFI.com and www.HollywoodBowl.com.

Source: American Film Institute

CONTACT: Alison Deknatel of AFI, +1-323-856-7896, adeknatel@AFI.com; or Sabrina Skacan of the Hollywood Bowl, +1-213-972-3408, sskacan@laphil.org

Web site: http://www.afi.com/ http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/

------- Profile: Ent