Saluting AFI's Great American Genre Films: Part 1

Warner Studios

Eva Marie Saint (right) starred with Cary Grant in North by Northwest, which ranked seventh on the AFI's list of best American mystery movies.

The American Film Institute has named the top 10 American films in 10 popular genres. From sci-fi flicks to classic Westerns, the lists include some of the most influential works in American cinema.

Today's Fresh Air presents archival interviews with several of the actors and a screenwriter whose work has been recognized on the new list:

Eva Marie Saint, star the AFI's seventh-ranked mystery movie, North by Northwest, speaks with Terry Gross about her career, her Oscar-winning role in On the Waterfront and being typecast as a "sexy spy lady."

Screenwriter Robert Towne and actress Faye Dunaway worked together on Chinatown (mystery, No. 2) and Bonnie and Clyde (gangster, No. 5).

Kirk Douglas' and Tony Curtis' performances in Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus helped earn the film the fifth position in the epics category.

Lawrence of Arabia, which starred Peter O'Toole, was named the best epic.

Eva Marie Saint's interview was originally broadcast on Dec. 15, 1988; Robert Towne's on Dec. 15, 1988; Faye Dunaway's on Jan. 11, 1996; Kirk Douglas' on Aug. 2, 1988; Tony Curtis' on April 19, 1991; and Peter O'Toole's on April 16, 1993.