Hometown boy-who-made-good Kevin Kline stars in "The Extra Man," opening today in St. Louis. What a perfect time to take a look at the best movies featuring St. Louisans in starring roles.

Now when we say St. Louisans, we don't mean Tom Cruise, who lived here for like, what, one semester when he was in high school? We're talking about people whose birthplace is listed as St. Louis (or surrounding communities).

Also, we don't include TV shows, so some good perfomers like Robert Guillaume, Scott Bakula, John Hamm, Doris Roberts and Betty Thomas are not mentioned. And with all due respect to Betty Grable, her iconic WWII pin-up poster was her best performance.

Honorable mentions: John Goodman's "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"; Kline's "Sophie's Choice" and "The Ice Storm"; Marsha Mason's "Goodbye Girl"; Vincent Price's "House of Wax"; Peter Sarsgaard's "Garden State" and "An Education"; and Shelley Winter's "A Patch of Blue" and "A Place in the Sun."

Here is the list, with the local hero's name following the title:

10. The Big Chill (1983) Kevin Kline: Kline plays the college buddy who started a tennis shoe company and serves with Glen Close as host of the post-funeral party.

9. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Virginia Mayo: She plays the unfaithful wife of an Air Corps captain (Dana Andrews) in this excellent story about veterans returning from WWII.

8. The Exorcist (1973) Linda Blair: We all know that Blair plays the afflicted young Regan, possessed by the devil and engaging in some wildly inappropriate behavior.

7. Raising Arizona (1987) John Goodman: As the eldest Snoat brother, Gale, Goodman leads his younger sibling on a prison escape and then hides out with Nicolas Cage, who is trying to go straight.

6. Laura (1944) Vincent Price: He plays the society boyfriend of Laura, who is the subject of a murder investigation. Also stars Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney in one of the best of the film noir genre.

5. The Night of the Hunter (1955) Shelley Winters: Winters shines as a woman who marries her dead husband's cellmate (Robert Mitchum), who is looking for a hidden stash of loot.

4. A Fish Called Wanda (1988) Kevin Kline: Winning a supporting-actor Oscar for his turn as the violent, dim-witted boyfriend of Jamie Lee Curtis, Kline is hilarious as he tries to scam a London barrister.

3. The Big Lebowksi (1998) John Goodman: Playing Walter Sobchak, Goodman deserved a supporting-actor nomination for his turn as the obnoxious, but strangely childlike, friend of "The Dude."

2. White Heat (1949) Virginia Mayo: Mayo is the wife of Cody Jarrett, played by James Cagney in his greatest role. One of the top gangster flicks, one of the best films noir and an all-around classic. "Made it, Ma. Top of the world."

1. My Favorite Year (1982) Mark Linn Baker: Young writer Benjy Stone (Baker) works on a 1950s TV show, and also serves as the chaperone for the heavy-drinking and womanizing Allan Swan, played with excellence by Peter O'Toole. This is one of the 20 or so films I'd want with me if I were stranded on an island.

-- Here is a long, a little more than six minutes, scene in which Mark Linn Baker and Peter O'Toole plan an assault on a cocktail party. Hilarious. Please click here.

-- And I never get tired of watching one of the greatest endings in film history, the closer from "White Heat." Please click here.

-- I passed on "The Big Lebowski" clips because I couldn't find any loaded with naughty words. So please accept this apology by clicking here.