AFI described mystery films as "a genre that revolves around the solution of a crime. Steeped in the unpredictability of human nature and wrapped in a tangle of plot twists, mysteries inhabit a world where the secrets are dark and the agendas well hidden. Unlike the open-endedness that characterizes so much of real life, a movie mystery delivers the ultimate satisfaction of a solution in the final reel."

(Winners marked with this icon and ranking number)

1. AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1945
2. THE BIG EASY, Columbia, 1987
3. THE BIG HEAT, Columbia, 1953
4. THE BIG LEBOWSKI, Gramercy, 1998
5. THE BIG SLEEP, Warner Bros., 1946
6. BLOW OUT, Filmways, 1981
7. BLUE VELVET, DEG, 1986 (# 8)
8. THE BOURNE IDENTITY, Universal, 2002
9. CHARADE, Universal, 1963
10. CHINATOWN, Paramount, 1974 (# 2)
11. THE CONVERSATION, Paramount, 1974
12. D.O.A., United Artists, 1950
13. DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS, TriStar, 1995
14. DIAL M FOR MURDER, Warner Bros., 1954 (# 9)
15. THE FUGITIVE, Warner Bros., 1993
16. THE GAME, Polygram, 1997
17. GASLIGHT, MGM, 1944
18. GOSFORD PARK, USA, 2001
19. THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1939
20. HOUSE OF GAMES, Orion, 1987
21. IN A LONELY PLACE, Columbia, 1950
22. IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, United Artists, 1967
23. KISS ME DEADLY, United Artists, 1955
24. KLUTE, Warner Bros., 1971
25. L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, Warner Bros., 1997
26. THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, Columbia, 1948
27. THE LAST OF SHEILA, Warner Bros., 1973
28. LAURA, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1944 (# 4)
29. THE LIST OF ADRIAN MESSENGER, Universal, 1963
30. THE MALTESE FALCON, Warner Bros., 1941 (# 6)
31. THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, Paramount, 1956
32. MEMENTO, Newmarket, 2001
33. MULHOLLAND DR., Focus, 2001
34. MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, Paramount, 1974
35. THE NAKED CITY, Universal, 1948
36. NORTH BY NORTHWEST, MGM, 1959 (# 7)
37. THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE, MGM, 1946
38. REAR WINDOW, Paramount, 1954 (# 3)
39. REBECCA, United Artists, 1940
40. SE7EN, New Line, 1995
41. SEA OF LOVE, Universal, 1989
42. A SHOT IN THE DARK, United Artists, 1964
43. SLEUTH, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1972
44. SPELLBOUND, United Artists, 1945
45. SUSPICION, RKO, 1941
46. THE THIN MAN, MGM, 1934
47. THE THIRD MAN, Selznick, 1949 (# 5)
48. TO CATCH A THIEF, Paramount, 1955
49. THE USUAL SUSPECTS, Gramercy, 1995 (# 10)
50. VERTIGO, Paramount, 1958 (# 1)

Nominees: Nine movies were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Winners:

1. Vertigo (1958)
2. Chinatown (1974)
3. Rear Window (1954)
4. Laura (1944)
5. The Third Man (1949)
6. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
7. North by Northwest (1959)
8. Blue Velvet (1986)
9. Dial M For Murder (1954)
10. The Usual Suspects (1995)

Comments: This category was a strange one - does it include suspense/thriller films as well? What about Sherlock Holmes films? Four Hitchcock films were in the top 10, and included one of his lesser films, Dial M For Murder (1954). Other top 10 choices might have been: Rebecca (1940), The Big Sleep (1946), Gaslight (1944), The Conversation (1974), and Se7en (1995). The Sixth Sense (1999) should have been a nominee on this list, and Blue Velvet (1986) was a 'mystery' film, of sorts, but a whole lot more.