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100 Greatest Movie Characters of All-Time
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Character Name |
Played By |
Film Title |
Defining Moment |
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75
|
Dr. Strangelove |
Peter Sellers |
Dr. Strangelove Or: ... (1964) |
Dr. Strangelove's final proposal in the War
Room, while preventing his gloved hand from self-strangulation. |
|
74
|
Tony Montana |
Al Pacino |
Scarface (1983) |
Tony's taunt to those about to slice open
his friend Chi Chi's (Angel Salazar) head with a chain saw. |
|
73
|
Norma Rae |
Sally Field |
Norma Rae (1979) |
Norma's defiant stand on a factory table,
while brandishing a sign that reads, "Union." |
|
72
|
Lloyd Dobler |
John Cusack |
Say Anything... (1989) |
Lloyd's statement: "I don't want to
sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't
want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed..." |
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71
|
Rev. Harry Powell |
Robert Mitchum |
The Night of the Hunter (1955) |
Rev. Powell's explanation of the "Love"
and "Hate" tattoos on the fingers of his right hand and left
hand. |
|
70
|
Judy Benjamin |
Goldie Hawn |
Private Benjamin (1980) |
Judy's departure from the Army, something
that causes the sergeant to be overjoyed and promote the signing of the
release document. |
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69
|
Terry Malloy |
Marlon Brando |
On the Waterfront (1954) |
Terry's taxi-cab speech to his brother Charley
(Rod Steiger) about his betrayal: "I coulda been a contender..." |
|
68
|
Alex DeLarge |
Malcolm McDowell |
A Clockwork Orange
(1971) |
Alex's version of 'Singin' in the Rain' while
attacking a couple in their home with his band of droogs. |
|
67
|
Inspector Jacques Clouseau |
Peter Sellers |
The Pink Panther (1964) and four later
movies |
Clouseau's clumsy destruction of a 'priceless
Steinway' after getting his hand stuck in a chain mail glove connected
to a spiked flail. |
|
66
|
Navin Johnson, aka "The Jerk" |
Steve Martin |
The Jerk (1979) |
The Jerk's inexplicable targeting by a sniper
at a gas station. |
|
65
|
Edward Scissorhands |
Johnny Depp |
Edward Scissorhands (1990) |
Edward's bittersweet reply - "I can't"
- to the girl (Winona Ryder) he loves when she whispers to him, "Hold
me." |
|
64
|
Rocky Balboa |
Sylvester Stallone |
Rocky (1976) and
all its sequels |
Rocky's early morning run through the city's
streets, and triumphant race up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of
Art - with victorious fist high in the air. |
|
63
|
Carrie White |
Sissy Spacek |
Carrie (1976) |
Carrie's humiliating experience in the girls'
locker room in the opening scene, and the shattering of her first light
bulb. |
|
62
|
John Shaft |
Richard Roundtree |
Shaft (1971) |
Shaft's emergence from a 42nd Street subway
station and invulnerable stroll into oncoming traffic. |
|
61
|
J. J. Hunsecker |
Burt Lancaster |
Sweet Smell of Success
(1957) |
Hunsecker's evisceration of Falco (Tony Curtis),
a senator, his bimbo consort, and her manager at a table in a NY nightspot. |
|
60
|
George Bailey |
James Stewart |
It's A Wonderful Life (1946) |
George and Mary's (Donna Reed) first dance
- in which they step into a swimming pool. |
|
59
|
Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore |
Robert Duvall |
Apocalypse Now (1979) |
Kilgore's pause during the war for a soliloquy:
"I love the smell of napalm in the morning..." |
|
58
|
Phyllis Dietrichson |
Barbara Stanwyck |
Double Indemnity (1944) |
Phyllis' palpable fear - and regret - after
her stooge insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) killed her
husband, and suspicions were aroused. |
|
57
|
Tom Powers |
James Cagney |
The Public Enemy (1931) |
Tom's self-aware statement as he is shot
in the rain: "I ain't so tough." |
|
56
|
Alan Swann |
Peter O'Toole |
My Favorite Year (1982) |
Alan's triumphant horseback ride through
Central Park. |
|
55
|
The Dude (Jeff Lebowski) |
Jeff Bridges |
The Big Lebowski (1998) |
The Dude's post-coital chat with Maude (Julianne
Moore) about his student radical days. |
|
54
|
Frank Booth |
Dennis Hopper |
Blue Velvet (1986) |
Frank's breathing of gas through a plastic
mask while engaging in foreplay with Dorothy (Isabella Rossellini). |
|
53
|
Ninotchka |
Greta Garbo |
Ninotchka (1939) |
Ninotchka's long-suppressed laugh, after
Leon (Melvyn Douglas) accidentally falls off his chair in a Paris bistro. |
|
52
|
Howard Beale |
Peter Finch |
Network (1976) |
Howard's "I'm mad as hell" speech,
and his silence during the delivery of a sermon on corporate America by
the network president Arthur Jensen (Ned Beatty). |
|
51
|
Freddy Krueger |
Robert Englund |
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and
too many later films |
Freddy's sadistic pinning of a victim to
the ceiling with his claw before slashing him. |
