Every month, our contributors submit lists of ten films fitting certain topics. Each month, we feature an alphabetical list of films along with commentary explaining our selections. There will also be an itemized list at the end of each of our individual selections.
For August and September, our contributors have decided to approach our top ten lists differently and pick our ten favorite actors and actresses. The gentlemen lead off today with a wide variety of actors, young and old from all styles and methods. They have credits going back into the silent era all the way through to the present.
None of the actors received unanimous approval, but three were mentioned more than once. The most mentioned was Charles Laughton who appeared on three lists. The other two were Alec Guinness and Jack Nicholson who showed up on two lists each.
After the break, dig into our setups and follow that by reading about each film.
The Introductions
Wesley Lovell: When it comes to cinema, we have our own personal tastes I terms of types of films we enjoy. Some may like horror, some may like action, some may like comedy. Some will like everything. It’s all a matter of perspective. This might even be more true of actors. Many great performances can be agreed upon, but for you to connect with and truly enjoy an actor, that requires a series of performances that entwine themselves with you emotionally. The actors I’ve chosen for this first list are an eclectic collection. They represent actors that I frequently enjoy, even if they aren’t giving the best performances. They are actors I personally appreciate whether they are considered “great” or not.
Peter J. Patrick: It seems odd to limit a selection of favorite actors to ten, but that’s what this exercise calls for, so that’s what I’ve done. Looking over my selections I find that the 1960s is the decade in which they intersect, two having died then, two others having become stars then, while four others gave their last great performances then. One whose career was in descent then would enjoy a great comeback two decades later and one, having established himself in the decade before, would make great contributions to the art of cinema for four more decades. Three are still alive, but only one of the three is still active.
Tripp Burton: Picking a list of favorite actors can be difficult: there are so many to choose from. Finally, I had to settle on the actors that mean the most for me. When I see a new movie is starring them (or find an old one I haven’t seen), I stop and watch it, regardless of reviews, directors, story or genre. They just suck me in automatically with their name in the credits. At the end of each write-up I have also listed five favorite performances. These aren’t necessarily their best, but they are some of the ones that have resonated with me most strongly and are meant to give a range of the actor’s abilities.
Thomas LaTourrette: I am not certain why my list skewed so much to the recent, leaving out the Gary Coopers and Spencer Tracys of classic Hollywood. It mostly started with actors who were working in the 50s and later, but at least four of them were big time Hollywood names of the past. I guess I came up mostly with actors still working today and whose films I can still look forward to seeing for the first time.
Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957)
Commentary By Tripp Burton – Humphrey Bogart was the first classic Hollywood star I remember discovering. As a teenager, I loved his cynicism and vibrancy, and devoured many of his classic films along with an oversized biography of him. He brought me into classic films. To this day, I cling to his movies. In even his worst films, he is still magnetic. As a heavy, he was always chilling, but was also never afraid to let his sensitive side leak out. He was also much more versatile than he was usually allowed to be, with a few effective turns in comedy and a late-career attempt to break away from his usually stoic self. Favorite performances: The Petrified Forest, Casablanca, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen, Sabrina.
Jeff Bridges (1949-)
Commentary By Tripp Burton – Perhaps no actor could cause me to watch them in anything more than Jeff Bridges. His effortless charisma on screen, mixed with his impeccable timing and natural presence, can transcend even the dreariest of material. You always see the real Jeff Bridges in every character he plays, but the fact that he has been able to channel that into any role, from comedy to drama and from drugged-out loser to extra-terrestrial to President of the United States, is remarkable. Favorite performances: Starman, The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Fisher King, The Big Lebowski, The Door in the Floor.
Michael Caine (1933-)
Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – Caine may have started as the typical Cockney, though now we all think of him as the perfect Englishman. Many thought of him as the upstart cockney of Alfie and Sleuth, but then he switched to upper crust and equaled Maggie Smith in California Suite. He became ubiquitous in films and was one of the first actors to be accused of taking too many roles just for the paychecks, but then he reminded people how good he was in Educating Rita and then winning an Oscar for Hannah and her Sisters. He continues an uneven run of choices, but he did bring gravitas to the role of Alfred in the The Dark Knight series. And last year’s odd Youth may not have been as good as he was in it, but it served as a reminder of just how good he can by.
James Cagney (1899-1986)
Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Cagney certainly played his share of gangsters and tough guys, but he was much more than that. There’s his superb George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy for which he won a richly deserved Oscar, as well as his blind former boxer in City for Conquest, his steel tycoon in mid-life crisis in These Wilder Years, his tyrannical Navy captain in Mister Roberts, his Lon Chaney in Man of a Thousand Faces, his war mongering IRA leader in Shake Hands With the Devil, his bombastic Coca-Cola executive in One, Two, Three, and so many more.
Bradley Cooper (1975-)
Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – I remember his work on an early television show, Jack and Bobby, where he was hired mainly to be Christine Lahti’s boy toy, but even then he brought more to the role than just easy good looks. Since then he rose to fame with The Hangover, but then started to impress with a series of Oscar-nominated roles. Personally, I thought he outshone Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook, though I may be in the minority on that. He did very good work in American Hustle and exceptional work in American Sniper. He still sometimes takes the easy roles that do not stretch him, but then he can anchor a film like Limitless and it makes me realize just how good he can be. I look forward to seeing what he will do next.
Matt Damon (1970-)
Commentary By Wesley Lovell – I hadn’t been impressed with Damon in his breakthrough role in Good Will Hunting, but over the next two decades, he’s become a reliable and enjoyable screen presence. The Talented Mr. Ripley and The Departed showcased his acting chops; The Jason Bourne franchise and Elysium provided his action bona fides; and The Informant! and The Martian delivered on his comic abilities. He’s proven on screen that he has talent and off screen that he has compassion, and for that he has more than earned my admiration.
Daniel Day-Lewis (1957-)
Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – Day-Lewis may not have that many films in his resume, but he holds a record for the most wins as Best Actor with three. I first remember him in A Room with a View, where he was a little too one-dimensional and forced, but he then started to dig deeper and win awards in films like My Left Foot, The Last of the Mohicans, and In the Name of the Father. He even was riveting, if strangely, in the rather atrocious Gangs of New York. Then he did There Will Be Blood where he is stunning and disturbing as an oilman gone mad. Five years later he utterly impressed as Lincoln and deservedly added a third Oscar to his collection. He has not released a film since, but I dearly hope that he is not finished with films.
Michael Fassbender (1977-)
Commentary By Wesley Lovell – Although I had heard of Fassbender before, my first experience with him was X-Men: First Class where he took over as the younger version of the character portrayed by Ian McKellen in the first three pictures. His performance was good, but it was that year’s startling Shame where I got my first true experience with someone who may well be one of the greatest actors of his generation. The performance should have been Oscar nominated, but wasn’t, and he has since delivered plenty of strong performances including his two deserved Oscar-nominated performances in 12 Years a Slave and Steve Jobs.
Colin Firth (1960-)
Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – For a long time it seemed that he would be known simply as the perfect Mr. Darcy from the BBC version of Price and Prejudice, but he has since come into his own as a movie actor. He slightly repeated it in Bridget Jones’ Diary, down to the same name, but then got further afield with roles in The Importance of being Earnest and Love Actually. Nanny McPhee and Mamma Mia may not have done much for his reputation, but he was good in both. Then he absolutely blew me away with his portrayal of A Single Man, playing a closeted college professor. It was a brilliant performance and should have won him an Oscar. It would have too if Jeff Bridges hadn’t been receiving a lifetime one for Crazy Heart that year. He did make up for it the following year winning for his measured performance of King George VI in The King’s Speech. He should be around for years and I hope he produces more work like those rather than the Kingsman series, but time will tell.
Henry Fonda (1905-1982)
Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Fonda was as close to the quintessential heroic everyman as any actor could be. Unforgettable as the Young Mr. Lincoln, the itinerant farm worker in The Grapes of Wrath, the witness to a lynching in The Ox-Bow Incident, the martinet colonel in Fort Apache, the buffer between captain and crew in Mister Roberts, the persuasive juror in 12 Angry Men, a potential Secretary of State in in Advise & Consent, and the President in Fail Safe. He finally won an Oscar for his grumpy retiree in On Golden Pond.
Morgan Freeman (1937-)
Commentary By Wesley Lovell – That Freeman appears in one of my all-time favorite films has little to do with why he’s on my list. Co-starring in 1989’s Best Picture winner Driving Miss Daisy, the film that got me into the Oscars in specific and film in general, Freeman was an immensely likable presence. His performances conveyed calm and rationality, traits he brought to every role I’ve seen of his since. Even when he appears in films of dubious merits, his warmth, generosity, and talent shine through the material.
Cary Grant (1904-1986)
Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – Grant is the one old-time movie star that made my cut. He had a long career that covered the slapstick comedy of Bringing up Baby to much more serious roles. He often played the slightly sarcastic (or very) man about town, but no one ever did it better. And he brought a sense of being someone you could imagine knowing, or at least wanting to know, to many of his roles. He was the perfect foil for Katharine Hepburn in Bringing up Baby and The Philadelphia Story, and Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday. His work in serious films brought him two Oscar nominations but they never achieved the box office success of his comedies. And then he was able to segue into being the perfect Alfred Hitchcock actor in Notorious and North by Northwest. Handsome, witty, and debonair, it’s no wonder everyone wanted to be Cary Grant.
Alec Guinness (1914-2000)
Commentary By Wesley Lovell – This was a man who easily blended into every role he took. I had seen Star Wars at a fairly young age, which would make that the first time I was familiar with his work, but it wasn’t until Murder By Death, that I understood his broad range of talent. Adept at both drama and comedy, Guinness has delivered some great performances, such as in The Bridge on the River Kwai, but it’s his work in Murder By Death and Kind Hearts and Coronets that hold the most special places in my heart.
Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – Guinness worked for David Lean in many films, but is probably most known for his work as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars films. He made a great wizened guru, but he had an impressive number of films come out before that. The older crowd will remember him as Herbert Pocket from Great Expectations and then as Fagin in Oliver Twist. Later he would snag a last Oscar nomination for his third Dickens’ adaptation, Little Dorrit. It was a tad slow moving, but he was brilliant in it. He achieved notoriety for playing all of the D’Ascoyne family who are humorously murdered off by a distant poor relation in Kind Hearts and Coronets. Work in The Bridge over the River Kwai brought him an Oscar and cemented his reputation as a fine actor. There were a number of films over the next 20 years, but his work in Star Wars let a new generation know just how good he could be.
Jake Gyllenhaal (1980-)
Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – Another young actor that impresses me is Gyllenhaal. He had brought a sense of realism to The Day After Tomorrow, grounding an over the top movie. I was never certain if he would be capable of more than that, then he came out with Brokeback Mountain. Heath Ledger may have gotten the most attention for that role, but it would not have been as successful a film if Gyleenhaal had not held up his end of the loving pair. He then had a few years with with some strong roles like Jarheads, but then he leapt out of the screen with an able supporting role in Prisoners. He followed that up with the creepy Nightcrawler, which should have gotten him a second Oscar nomination. He does not always pick the best movies, but he is always fascinating to watch.
Gene Hackman (1930-)
Commentary By Tripp Burton – Of all of the great method actors to emerge in Hollywood in the late 1960s and 1970s, Hackman is easily my favorite. You never see the gears working in Hackman’s head, the way you can in many of his peers, and his natural screen presence went a long way for him. He also was able to keep that realness in one of the most wide-ranging careers in Hollywood history: he could be as quietly wounded as he could be angrily violent, as heroic as he could be sinister, as funny as he could be scary, and as welcoming as he could be distancing, sometimes all in the same performance. Favorite performances: Bonnie and Clyde, Scarecrow, The Conversation, Unforgiven, The Royal Tenenbaums.
Dustin Hoffman (1937-)
Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Already thirty years old when he became a star playing the title role in The Graduate, Hoffman proved his versatility with his portrayals of a down-and-out Ratzo Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy and the 121-year-old narrator of Little Big Man. Unforgettable as Lenny Bruce in Lenny, Carl Bernstein in All the President’s Men, the suddenly single ad exec in Kramer vs. Kramer, the cross-dressing actor in Tootsie, the savant in Rain Man, and so many more, the double Oscar winner is still going strong.
Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967-2014)
Commentary By Tripp Burton – Looking back, it is remarkable that Hoffman was only a movie actor for two decades; perhaps no actor has packed more into a brief career than he managed. He disappeared into every role he played: I first saw him in The Big Lebowski and Boogie Nights in the same month and it took me years to realize he was the same person. Along the way he added to every film he was in, memorable whether he was in every frame or only one scene, and became one of the great ensemble members in movie history. Not only was he always great, but he made everyone around him greater too. Favorite performances: Almost Famous, Punch-Drunk Love, Capote, Synecdoche, New York, The Master.
Toby Jones (1967-)
Commentary By Wesley Lovell – Jones is one of those actors who almost everyone recognizes, but whom most people don’t know his name. Thanks to high profile performances in two Harry Potter films, the first Captain America film, and The Hunger Games franchise, Jones has been widely seen by audiences, but it’s in the performances most haven’t seen that he truly shines. A far greater Truman Capote in Infamous than Hunger Games co-star Philip Seymour Hoffman ever could have hoped to be, and equally brilliant in Berberian Sound Studio, Jones has a fine array of films to sate the most curious.
Charles Laughton (1899-1962)
Commentary By Wesley Lovell – I first became familiar with Laughton in the 1957 Billy Wilder classic The Witness for the Prosecution. Since then I’ve seen him in a handful of films, each time finding a strong performance at its core. From Les Misérables to Mutiny on the Bounty to The Hunchback of Notre Dame to his final performance in Advise & Consent, he was a superb thespian worth your attention.
Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – The versatile Laughton was a character star of the first magnitude who elevated every film he was in from his Oscar-winning monarch in The Private Life of Henry VIII to his English valet in the American West in Ruggles of Red Gap to his Captain Bligh in Mutiny on the Bounty to his tortured painter in Rembrandt to his heartbreaking Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame to his henpecked husband in The Suspect to his London barrister in Witness for the Prosecution to his wily Southern senator in Advise & Consent.
Commentary By Tripp Burton – Laughton is mostly remembered as being a great movie heavy, terrifying and chilling as he tormented the noble hero across the screen from him. In truth, though, he was an actor as comfortable in comedy as he was in drama, and able to crumple his great frame and play the put-upon heel as well as he could dominate the screen. Every time I think I understand what Laughton can do, I discover another hidden gem of a performance that shows me the opposite. He was a chameleon, remarkable for someone as distinctive as he was, who was allowed more versatility than most of the movie stars of his time. Favorite performances: The Private Life of Henry VIII, Les Miserables, Ruggles of Red Gap, Mutiny on the Bounty, The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Jean-Pierre Leaud (1944-)
Commentary By Tripp Burton – The face of much of the French New Wave, a trend that includes some of my favorite films but which I can also run very cold on, Leaud literally grew up on film. He started at the age of 14 and then managed a solid career as a leading man in France. He is a natural on screen, so open and willing to let you in while also retaining a sense of coolness in everything that he does. In the decades since he has become less and less of a presence in film but has popped up in the occasional supporting role, this time adding gravitas to every project. One thing is for sure with Leaud: if you see him in a film, you know that it is something worth taking a risk on. Favorite performances: The 400 Blows, Stolen Kisses, Day for Night, Last Tango in Paris, Irma Vep.
Jack Lemmon (1925-2001)
Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – Lemmon also ran the gamut from the farce to the serious, and he always imbued his characters with an essential humanity. Mister Roberts was probably the movie I was introduced to him in, and he was a riot as Ensign Pulver, holding his own against a batch of Hollywood royalty, Henry Fonda, James Cagney and William Powell. Following that Oscar-winning role, he created one of the classic characters in Some Like it Hot. And the next year was The Apartment. He could clown around in The Great Race and then bring pathos to vivid life in Days of Wine and Roses. His second Oscar came for Save the Tiger, which was not the best received film, but he was absolutely brilliant in it. He continued to rack up Oscar noms over the years, and then was introduced to a new generation in Grumpy Old Men. It was not my favorite film, but I was glad that a younger crowd got to meet him.
Fredric March (1897-1975)
Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Banker turned actor, double Oscar winner March enthralled audiences from his good guy/bad guy in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to his personification of death in Death Takes a Holiday to his self-destructive actor in A Star Is Born to his World War II veteran in The Best Years of Our Lives to his perplexed middle-aged man in Death of a Salesman to his three-time Presidential candidate in Inherit the Wind to his sitting President in Seven Days in May to his observant bartender in The Iceman Cometh.
Ian McKellen (1939-)
Commentary By Wesley Lovell – Occasionally, there are longtime actors who don’t hit it big until late in their careers. McKellen is one of those actors. Having made his first film in 1969, it wasn’t until the mid-90s that he began building a reputation in Hollywood that would eventually lead him to his iconic performance of Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. The first film I saw of his was 1998’s Gods and Monsters, a performance that undeniably should have won the Oscar for Best Actor. From that point forward, I was entranced by his capability as an actor, digging into even the seemingly most superficial roles and pulling out great humanity from them.
Zero Mostel (1915-1977)
Commentary By Tripp Burton – While his greatest work was probably limited to the stage, and he has a shorter filmography than anyone else on my list, Mostel was a presence to be reckoned with in any medium. His greatest film roles allowed him to dominate the screen, but when asked to he could also draw it back and be heartbreakingly intimate. He had more control of his body than perhaps any other actor I can think of, but his acting was also as intellectually guided as it was physically motivated. Favorite performances: Panic in the Streets, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Producers, Rhinoceros, The Front.
Paul Newman (1925-2008)
Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Newman became a star playing Rocky Graziano in Somebody Up There Likes Me, a role he inherited from James Dean. The Oscar winner thrilled audiences for the next five decades with acclaimed performances such as his alcoholic husband in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, his up-and-coming pool player in The Hustler, his selfish son in Hud, his non-conformist prisoner in Cool Hand Luke, his ambulance chasing lawyer in The Verdict, his aging ne’er-do-well in Nobody’s Fool, and his elderly Irish-American mobster in Road to Perdition.
Jack Nicholson (1937-)
Commentary By Wesley Lovell – It’s difficult for me to remember now which film I first saw Nicholson in. It may have been Batman and his unparalleled performance or perhaps The Shining in another iconic performance. Matter of fact, his performances have always veered towards the iconic. Films like Easy Rider, Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Terms of Endearment, and many many others are all so incredibly well known that he might just be one of the most easily recognized talents Hollywood has ever produced.
Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Triple Oscar winner Nicholson made his film debut in 1959 but took ten years to become an overnight star as the doomed lawyer in Easy Rider. After that it was one iconic role after another as he went from his musician turned laborer in Five Easy Pieces to his private detective in Chinatown to his mental patient in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to his retired astronaut in Terms of Endearment to his phobic malcontent in As Good As It Gets to his recent retiree in About Schmidt to his Boston mob leader in The Departed.
Leslie Nielsen (1926-2010)
Commentary By Wesley Lovell – Not many actors are so incredibly adept at comedy as Nielsen. In a career that was most exemplified by the zany, straight man comedy routine, Nielsen’s work in films like Airplane! and The Naked Gun is completely fun to watch, but even when he was doing drama in genre flicks like Prom Night and Creepshow, he was one of those actors you just loved to watch.
Peter O’Toole (1932-2013)
Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – Lawrence of Arabia may not have been his first film, but he blazed into the consciousness of the world with his stunning performance in it. He could have won the Oscar that year for his amazing debut, but he was up against Gregory Peck who had never won. He proved adept at both drama and comedy. He was nominated twice for playing Henry II, and arguably should have won for the second portrayal in The Lion in Winter. Or he could have won for the megalomaniac director in The Stuntman, the crazy English Lord in the bizarre The Ruling Class, or even for his wry swashbuckling turn in My Favorite Year. I am sorry that he never won a competitive Oscar, for he created so many indelible roles, and he ranks as one of the greatest actors never to have won. But he was always fun to watch and listen to.
Sidney Poitier (1927-)
Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Poitier was not the first black actor to play a starring role in films, but he was the first to do so on a regular basis. The Oscar winner was unforgettable as the escaped convict chained to another in The Defiant Ones; the struggling son, husband and father in A Raisin in the Sun; the itinerant handyman in Lilies of the Field; the kind-hearted office worker in A Patch of Blue; the idealistic teacher in To Sir, With Love; the homicide detective in In the Heat of the Night; and the intended bridegroom in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, all in the course of ten years.
Geoffrey Rush (1951-)
Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – When Rush shot to fame with Shine, I wondered if he would be a bit of a one-hit wonder. Then he followed that up with great supporting performances in Elizabeth and Shakespeare in Love, copping a second nomination as the ever-optimistic theater owner in the latter. He shines in lesser works like Pirates of the Caribbean and The Book Thief, and then is the perfect second lead in The King’s Speech. I do not know what he has coming up, but will be looking forward to his next character.
Paul Scofield (1922-2008)
Commentary By Tripp Burton – At his best, Scofield was the great voice of reason in film history. He could handle even the most pious of speeches with a natural grace that made you believe whatever he was selling you. Like many other actors of his day, though, he also had an unmined versatility that made you realize, if you knew where to look, that he was an exceptional character actor. He could be as evil as he could be righteous and as funny as he could be serious. Favorite performances: The Train, A Man for All Seasons, Hamlet, Quiz Show, The Crucible.
Peter Sellers (1925-1980)
Commentary By Wesley Lovell – If you want to know what one of history’s greatest comedy performances is, you just have to look to the three characters Sellers played in Dr. Strangelove. Each highly distinctive, it was the performance that should have netted him an Oscar; however, it wasn’t his only triumph. As Pink Panther detective Inspector Clouseau, he became an icon, and in films like Casino Royale, Murder By Death, and Being There, he secured his place as one of history’s greatest comedy actors.
Timothy Spall (1957-)
Commentary By Tripp Burton – Another actor who can constantly amaze me with his range and depth, Spall has exceeded all of my expectations for over twenty years. He came onto the scene as a Mike Leigh regular, who often found different ways to use him as the growing conscience of his films, Spall has used that exposure to becoming a reliant big-budget character actor and an occasionally electrifying low-budget leading man. What I love best about Spall, though, are the big, seemingly ridiculous acting choices he makes that he imbues with an honesty and commitment that makes them feel obvious and real. He is a treasure of an actor who I seek out at every turn if only to see what he is going to do next and how he can further amaze me. Favorite performances: Secrets & Lies, Topsy-Turvy, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Oliver Twist, Mr. Turner.
James Stewart (1908-1997)
Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – A favorite of Capra, Hitchcock, Ford and Anthony Mann, Oscar winner Stewart started out as the boy next door, became a real-life World War II hero, and played ever more complex characters throughout his career as the idealistic Capra heroes of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and It’s a Wonderful Life; gave way to the conflicted Hitchcock protagonists of Rear Window and Vertigo; and Preminger’s Anatomy of a Murder, as well as the hardened western heroes of The Naked Spur, The Man From Laramie, Shenandoah, and many others.
Spencer Tracy (1900-1967)
Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Double Oscar winner Tracy was a master of minimalist acting who gave powerful performances throughout his career from his embittered hero in Fury to his Portuguese fisherman in Captains Courageous to his fighting Father Flanagan in Boys Town to his perplexed Father of the Bride to his one-armed messenger in Bad Day at Black Rock to his big city mayor in The Last Hurrah to his liberal lion in Inherit the Wind to his American judge in Judgment at Nuremberg to his liberal father in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.
John Wayne (1907-1979)
Commentary By Tripp Burton – Our greatest movie stars, in the purest sense of the word, tend not to have the world’s largest range. They become movie stars because we want to see them do the same thing over and over again. Wayne had very little range, but he spent a career of over 200 films finding different shades of his persona and quietly pushing himself in different directions. He wasn’t always the most artistically successful actor on my list, but he was always an honest actor and charismatic. He was our greatest pure Hollywood movie star. Favorite performances: Stagecoach, Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Searchers, The Shootist.
Wesley’s List |
Peter’s List |
Tripp’s List |
Thomas’ List |
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