Bogart, Hepburn Top Stars List
By JEFF WILSON - AP
LOS ANGELES (AP) - He didn't have the stunning good looks of Clark
Gable. He didn't always perform better than his contemporaries, or die an icon-making
death like James Dean. Still, Humphrey Bogart had a beautiful relationship with
America.
More than four decades after his death, Bogie's fans put him atop the American
Film Institute's list of the greatest American male screen legends of the century.
``For a guy who didn't think of acting as a competitive sport, he would have been honored
and awestruck by this,'' said Stephen Bogart, the actor's son.
The younger Bogart had much to be proud of Tuesday. His mother, Lauren Bacall,
was No. 20 on the greatest actress list, behind top vote getters Katharine Hepburn and
Bette Davis. ``I'm shocked and I'm flattered beyond words,'' Miss Bacall said by
telephone from Italy. ``My God! I would never have expected it. But I'm not
surprised that Bogie's No. 1.'' Some critics complained that the list overlooks many
stars of the seminal silent era as well as musicals, but most agree that those who made
the cut deserved the honor. ``I'd find it hard to argue against anyone who's on the
list,'' film critic and historian Leonard Maltin said. ``But lists are fundamentally
silly. It's never going to be to everybody's satisfaction.''
Bogie, most agreed, had to be on it - somewhere, at least. ``You look at
the 75 films he's done, from `The African Queen' to `Casablanca,' `Treasure of the Sierra
Madre' and `The Maltese Falcon.' These were all such disparate roles, yet he carried them
all off,'' Stephen Bogart said. Cary Grant was No. 2 on the lists, followed by James
Stewart, Marlon Brando, Fred Astaire, Henry Fonda, Clark Gable, James Cagney, Spencer
Tracy and Charlie Chaplin. Following Miss Davis among female legends were Audrey
Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland,
Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford. Ballots were sent to about 1,800 voters,
including critics, historians, directors, producers and screenwriters. To be eligible,
actors had to have made their debut in or before 1951; also eligible were those who made
their debuts after 1950 but have since died.
Thus, current box office stars like Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, John Travolta,
Harrison Ford and Paul Newman weren't included on the list of 500 nominees announced in
January. Jurors were asked to consider five criteria: star quality (charisma and
presence), craft (ability to embody different characters), legacy (body of work),
popularity and historical context. The roster was revealed Tuesday night during a
three-hour CBS-TV special.
Those eligible who didn't make the top 50 lineup included Douglas Fairbanks,
Rudolph Valentino, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Harold Lloyd, Alec Guinness, Mickey
Rooney, Doris Day, Bob Hope, Will Rogers, Lon Chaney, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Clara
Bow and Gloria Swanson.
``The silent film people always get the shaft. This is more a comment on a lack
of cinema literacy,'' Maltin said. Entertainment writers and editors of The
Associated Press, in a recently compiled list of the 25 most significant stars of the
century, also selected Bogart, Miss Bacall and Miss Hepburn, but included Fairbanks,
Valentino and Laurel and Hardy. The AFI compilation also paid little regard for
musicals. Astaire, Miss Rogers and Miss Garland appeared from that film genre, but
where was Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra? Last year, the film institute celebrated the
centennial of movies by announcing the 100 greatest American motion pictures of all time,
with ``Citizen Kane'' topping the list.
Critics and movie buffs quickly jumped on the AFI for overlooking so many silent
movies. Only four were chosen, and way down in 44th place was D.W. Griffith's ``The Birth
of a Nation.'' ``We expect that sort of thing again. Someone will find fault,'' AFI
Chairman Tom Pollock said. ``Lists by their nature create controversy because of who is on
them and who is left off them.'' Miss Bacall, however, was tickled pink to make the
recent list. ``Gee, this makes me feel a helluva lot more important than I am,''
said the star of ``To Have and Have Not'' and ``The Big Sleep,'' both with Bogart. ``I'm
going to call my agent right now.''
