God I hate the American Film Institute. The entire concept of somehow ranking 'The 50 Greatest' ANYTHING is retarded. Why is it that we feel, as a society, the need to put things in order? There need be no order to the loves and passions in life. Which is your favorite child? What is your favorite memory? What is the best orgasm you have ever had? These are pointless endeavors.
Now, I find the entire list an exercise in retardism. First off, they make up this spiffy list of 'RULES' by which they seem to come across as giving THOUGHT to the construction of this list. Well, gosh... then the list must be right. Right?
"The jury considered star quality, craft, legacy, popularity and historical context."
"Only actors and actresses who made their screen debut before 1950, or who made their debut after that but have died leaving a substantial body of work, were eligible -- ruling out major modern stars from Jack Nicholson to Tom Cruise to Julia Roberts."
Alright. First off, how can you pretend to assemble a list of the 50 Greatest Stars of the last 100 years, but then disqualify everyone since 1950 unless they're dead? Hello? Wouldn't it be better to call this, "The 50 Greatest Stars From 1930 to 1950"? Because ya know... Whoever assembled this list obviously forgot about Rudolf Valentino who... in the great scale of the universe left a legacy that well is not easily forgotten. He had the largest non-Presidential funeral in American History.
Now, I'm not going to pick out any of the stars that they have listed and say, "He's not as big as blah blah" However, I can not believe that someone would assemble a more worthless list that claims to have the greatest stars of the 20th Century... but then not have ERROL FLYNN, FRANK SINATRA, MICKEY ROONEY, BING CROSBY!
Errol Flynn is quite simply one of the greatest superstars we have EVER seen on the silver screen. And to.... Ah hell, ok, I am gonna name names... I can't stand this. How can anyone claim that Sidney Poitier or William Holden or Burt Lancaster or Lawerence Olivier, Edward G Robinson, Robert Mitchum and JAMES DEAN.... How can anyone consider in a realistic way that these guys are BIGGER stars than Errol Flynn.
Ya know what may have been interesting? Perhaps taking into account how many actual TICKETS had been bought for movies starring these stars... and then calculate video sales and the number of times their given films have been broadcast on television... Perhaps then... Maybe you'd begin to see an accurate portrayl of a list.... WHICH IS RETARDED TO BEGIN WITH BECAUSE...... YOU CAN'T RANK THEM!
And if you are going to try.... You don't go and put James Dean, a fantastic actor who might very well have had a brilliant long lasting career had he not been tragically killed..... BUT Errol Flynn wasn't killed.... He did have a MAJOR star career that lasted for a VERY LONG TIME! James Dean made 3 films.... Count them. 1,2, 3. Yup, and two of them are absolutely in the popular minds of every movie goer. But ya know what? Errol Flynn made THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, CAPTAIN BLOOD, THE ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN, PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, SEA HAWK, PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX, SANTE FE TRAIL, THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON, EDGE OF DARKNESS, SAN ANTONIO and a ton of popular iconic movies. Daffy Duck even met him in a cartoon! Every thing Flynn did in his personal life made tabloid front covers. He was one of the biggest personalities Hollywood has ever seen.
Those names I listed above NEVER EVER had the fan base that Errol Flynn did. And his absence infuriates me. (of course I have to say, Flynn is my all time favorite star, so I am taking this personal) But when looking at the full 350 star list that they were choosing from... Well that's the real list. Just issue that, put them all in alphabetical order... And leave it at that. Why limit it to just 50? That ain't a magic number. Ewwww Fifty.... Wow.
Now of more interest to us genre fans.... How come Lon Chaney or Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi or Vincent Price didn't make the list. Let's concentrate solely upon Boris Karloff.
His career began in the 1920's... beginning in the silent era. He rose to super stardom with Frankenstein.... then continued that with the whole mad scientist films, Mr Wong series, The Mummy, The Raven, and on and on. His name was top billing over the title of approximately 60 films. And his name instantly brings people to the theater. He has his own American Stamp. His image and the image of the characters he helped to create are still marketed and are the very symbols of UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. His Frankenstein is the most popular icon worldwide behind Mickey Mouse and Godzilla. He is one of the primary images that has haunted cinema for it's entire life!
Bela Lugosi? Hell... Martin Landau won an Oscar for just portraying him. Everybody can quote his lines. He is Dracula, he is Igor. He sends chills through people just be his pronounciation.
But you know why people like James Dean, William Holden and Sidney Poitier beat Flynn, Karloff and Lugosi?
Is it because of their immense bodies of work? Is it because of their teeming fan bases? NO. It's because the people assembling this friggin list are SNOBS. Flynn was an adventure/action film star. Wasn't known for great dramatic turns. Karloff and Lugosi... two of the biggest names... so big that just their last names conjur their entire careers... they are not on this allegedly coveted list because they made monster movies. It's that simple. They are just 'monsters'.... NEVERMIND THE FACT THAT EVERYBODY IN THE WHOLE FRIGGIN WORLD LOVES AND ADORES THEIR WORK!!!
Sigh.... Here's their damn list... Look over it, gripe and complain... Talk up who is missing, yell at me for claiming Errol Flynn is bigger than James Dean. But goddamn it it's true. Dean may have more merchandise than Flynn.... but Karloff and Lugosi easily TRIPLE the amount of merchandise that Dean has.
Well, hell before I go off again, here's the most insignificant list yet....
Dammit... I just noticed something. They list the MARX BROS., a very cool choice, but wait... are you telling me that they are bigger than... Abbott and Costello or Laurel and Hardy or THE THREE STOOGES... Sigh...
Here's the damn list....
MEN
1. Humphrey Bogart
2. Cary Grant
3. James Stewart
4. Marlon Brando
5. Fred Astaire
6. Henry Fonda
7. Clark Gable
8. James Cagney
9. Spencer Tracy
10. Charlie Chaplin
11. Gary Cooper
12. Gregory Peck
13. John Wayne
14. Laurence Olivier
15. Gene Kelly
16. Orson Welles
17. Kirk Douglas
18. James Dean
19. Burt Lancaster
20. The Marx Bros.
21. Buster Keaton
22. Sidney Poitier
23. Robert Mitchum
24. Edward G. Robinson
25. William Holden
WOMEN
1. Katharine Hepburn
2. Bette Davis
3. Audrey Hepburn
4. Ingrid Bergman
5. Greta Garbo
6. Marilyn Monroe
7. Elizabeth Taylor
8. Judy Garland
9. Marlene Dietrich
10. Joan Crawford
11. Barbara Stanwyck
12. Claudette Colbert
13. Grace Kelly
14. Ginger Rogers
15. Mae West
16. Vivien Leigh
17. Lillian Gish
18. Shirley Temple
19. Rita Hayworth
20. Lauren Bacall
21. Sophia Loren
22. Jean Harlow
23. Carole Lombard
24. Mary Pickford
25. Ava Gardner
