| 1. Robert De Niro |
| 2. James Stewart |
| 3. Marlon Brando |
| 4. Toshirô Mifune |
| 5. Al Pacino |
| 6. Jack Nicholson |
| 7. Daniel Day-Lewis |
| 8. Humphrey Bogart |
| 9. Cary Grant |
| 10. Charlie Chaplin |
| 11. Marcello Mastroianni |
| 12. Tony Leung |
| 13. John Wayne |
| 14. Henry Fonda |
| 15. Brad Pitt |
| 16. Leonardo DiCaprio |
| 17. Paul Newman |
| 18. Gene Hackman |
| 19. Clint Eastwood |
| 20. Dustin Hoffman |
| 21. William Holden |
| 22. Robert Mitchum |
| 23. Max von Sydow |
| 24. Emil Jannings |
| 25. Alain Delon |
| 26. Jean-Paul Belmondo |
| 27. Buster Keaton |
| 28. Philip Seymour Hoffman |
| 29. Klaus Kinski |
| 30. Joe Pesci |
| 31. Burt Lancaster |
| 32. Montgomery Clift |
| 33. Joaquin Phoenix |
| 34. Jean-Louis Trintignant |
| 35. Tom Cruise |
| 36. Kirk Douglas |
| 37. Bill Murray |
| 38. Jean Gabin |
| 39. Takashi Shimura |
| 40. Edward Norton |
| 41. Ethan Hawke |
| 42. Clark Gable |
| 43. Denzel Washington |
| 44. Chishû Ryû |
| 45. Ralph Fiennes |
| 46. Michael Caine |
| 47. Sean Penn |
| 48. Sean Connery |
| 49. Christian Bale |
| 50. Anthony Hopkins |
| 51. Dirk Bogarde |
| 52. Harrison Ford |
| 53. Laurence Olivier |
| 54. Michael Fassbender |
| 55. Orson Welles |
| 56. Morgan Freeman |
| 57. Ryan Gosling |
| 58. Harvey Keitel |
| 59. Gunnar Björnstrand |
| 60. Tom Hanks |
| 61. Tatsuya Nakadai |
| 62. Benicio Del Toro |
| 63. Samuel L. Jackson |
| 64. Joseph Cotten |
| 65. Oscar Isaac |
| 66. Paul Muni |
| 67. Gary Oldman |
| 68. Jeff Bridges |
| 69. Anatoliy Solonitsyn |
| 70. Robert Duvall |
| 71. Erland Josephson |
| 72. Peter O’Toole |
| 73. Willem Dafoe |
| 74. Heath Ledger |
| 75. James Cagney |
| 76. Johnny Depp |
| 77. Fernando Rey |
| 78. Matt Damon |
| 79. James Dean |
| 80. Warren Beatty |
| 81. Viggo Mortensen |
| 82. Song Kang-ho |
| 83. John Cazale |
| 84. Russell Crowe |
| 85. Jean-Pierre Léaud |
| 86. Martin Sheen |
| 87. Christopher Walken |
| 88. Alec Guinness |
| 89. George Clooney |
| 90. Jack Lemmon |
| 91. John Turturro |
| 92. Gael Garcia Bernal |
| 93. Rudolf Klein-Rogge |
| 94. Bruce Willis |
| 95. Donald Sutherland |
| 96. Ken Ogata |
| 97. Kevin Spacey |
| 98. Frank Sinatra |
| 99. Timothée Chalamet |
| 100. Ewan McGregor
|
@Drake- what are some honorable mentions that were in consideration for the list?
@RujK- There are so many that feel like they are just one film/performance away – I hate to mention some in fear of inevitably leaving some off. I believe this update has 82 of the 100 from five years ago. So, there are 18 actors left off from last time including Steve McQueen, George C. Scott, John Hurt and others that certainly magnificent actors. Others, like Lee Marvin, Jake Gyllenhaal, Adam Driver and a dozen others have an argument to those last 10 slots as well.
I couldn’t find Peter Lorre in this list? Did he miss out? Even with M on his resume.
@Anderson- He did miss out- yes
Congratulations. Incredible list and been an absolute pleasure to read through..
@AP- Thank you – so nice of you to say that
That’s a great list. One of the most coherent I’ve seen.
@KidCharlemagne- Appreciate it – always look forward to your comments
Nice work, obviously its basically impossible to agree 100% on a list like this but I really love the majority of it, in particular I loved seeing
Alain Delon # 25 – limited range but incredible filmography
Joe Pesci # 30 – great example of quality over quantity, holds his own with De Niro in Raging Bull which is maybe the best performance ever, and outacts De Niro in Goodfellas and The Irishman. Casino is a toss up
Harvey Keitel # 58 – incredible work with auteurs; Scorsese, Tarantino, Campion, Ridley Scott, Schrader
Oscar Isaac # 65 – His performance in Inside Llewyn Davis might be top 5 male performance of the decade
John Cazale # 83 – only supporting roles but in 5 films (all MP) and holds his own against Pacino and De Niro
While I think Pitt is slightly too high # 15 I still love this ranking as far too many people (in general not on this site) seem unwilling to give Pitt the credit he deserves for his ambition and dedication working with auteurs. There are some actors that I think are more talented like Denzel and Cruise who went the $$$ route instead.
I don’t agree with your last quote James. Denzel didn’t went the $$$ route. In most of his films he is the show while the rest of the film can’t keep up with him. Pitt is a bigger star than Denzel. And also works with auteurs very often unlike Denzel.
My highlights throughout of this list was
*There was some actors I had never heard about before (Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Ken Ogata, Emil Jannings, Chishu Ryu, Anatoliy Solinytsin)
*Extremely high rating for Tony Leung(Not sure many people rate him this high even though he is a very talented actor)
*Ward Bond probably mentioned more times than any other actor even though he didn’t make the list
*A massive drop for James Cagney at #75, he was in the #30’s before
*5 Japanese actors(Mifune, Shimura, Ryu, Nakadai, Ogata)
*Bogarde at #51-I don’t think he was in the previous list. The highest rated native English-speaking actor without an Oscar nomination
@Anderson – “I don’t agree with your last quote James. Denzel didn’t went the $$$ route. In most of his films he is the show while the rest of the film can’t keep up with him”
Yeah, after posting that I thought the same thing. I posted the following on the Denzel page
“@Drake – Interesting you mention Cruise above because I see some similarities in their career paths just in the sense that they both seem to stop working with auteurs for the most part by the early 2000s. They are both mega box office stars who can carry mediocre films and make them enjoyable/watchable but still doesn’t change that they are overall solid films but far from amazing as you mention: “Denzel is fantastic – but overall… the film is just good”. They both seem to gravitate toward actions films, Cruise more than Denzel, but still.”
Glad that he decided to walk with Coen for The Tragedy of Macbeth. Turned out to be one of his best performances. But he doesn’t work with auteurs very often.
Just a little I wanna comment about Leung, Leung is so high not only because of his amazing filmography with lot of auteurs but because as an acting student myself I can say what Leung does is almost impossible, the way he acts only with his eyes and his way with microexpressions have practically no rival. He is a natural force on the screen, so much that you may not notice how great he is.
@Jey Neo- Good share here- thank you
@James Trapp- Thank you James – appreciate it
Oh my god, you finally did it, I literally opened this website everyday, to check whether the list was completed, congratulations on finally completing it.
What happened to Robert Redford and Steve McQueen are they off the list 🙁
What’s your thoughts on barbenheimer, do the both movies qualify as Masterpieces??
@Zee188- Thank you for the comment and for coming to the site every day! I know- I love Redford and McQueen – it was tough leaving them off. Still sort of processing Barbenheimer- did you see them? What did you think? They’re both strong – but it does Barbie a bit of a deserves to be compared to Oppenheimer artistically
I saw them both, I think Oppenheimer is a MS/MP for me and Barbie a HR/MS…
The script for Barbie is a little bit weak, the cinematography is great but not oustanding, I think it does better on set and wardrobe design that in visually stunning shots althought there are some fantastic shots on the film
thank you!!!
@wingnutzredux75- Thank you for coming to the site and the comment
Gone but not forgotten:
Steve McQueen
Gary Cooper
Peter Lorre
Edward G. Robinson
Rod Steiger
George C. Scott
Peter Sellers
John Hurt
Robert Shaw
Richard Burton
John Goodman
Casey Affleck
Robert Redford
Roy Schieder
Maurice Chevalier
Ray Liotta
Thomas Mitchell
Anthony Quinn
Of those id have to say George Scott should be on. Crazy talented at acting, perfect for Patton and aside from Newman was the best actor in The Hustler
I don’t understand the inclusion of George Clooney. The list is perfect if we remove Clooney and add George C. Scott in there
@Dylan- Yep, you wouldn’t get a long argument from me on George C. Scott. There is not separating him with the last 5 to 10 names
@Dylan – I saw Hardcore (1979) for the first time last night, not my favorite of Schrader’s films but impressive performance from Scott, much different than any other role I have seen him play. But I agree with you overall on George C Scott, he is phenomenal in Patton (1970) and The Hustler (1961) He is great in Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and gets to show off his comedic chops in Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove (1964)’
His top 4 films are very strong and he is excellent in them. Patton in particular is an all time great performance, there are some other strong actors in that film but Scott takes it to an entirely different level, starting with that iconic opening shot with him on stage with the American Flag taking up the entire background
Dr. Strangelove – MP
Patton – MS
Anatomy of a Murder – MS
The Hustler – MS
Not an auteur film. But I liked his performance in The Hospital one year after Patton. There is a long take scene in this film where Scott’s character descents into madness that is a strong acting showcase. The Changeling has its admirers too. I think in the TSPDT Top 2000.
Changeling is actually rated higher than Patton by the TSPDT Consensus haha. In 2022, Changeling was #1100 while Patton was #1937. I have not seen The Changeling. But still quite bizzare.
Agreed on Hardcore, I remember him being good in it. Hardcore was pretty good too, should be atleast an R on here if it isnt
whats your next project??…maybe a revised top 500??
@wingnutzredux75- That’s the next big project – yes
@Drake what are other sites you use to read movie reviews? As im sure you know RT, imdb etc are trash and reviewers solely talk about plot and not about the actual filmmaking like you do. Do you read other reviewers that talk about the filmmaking aspect like you do?
@Dylan- Thanks for the compliment here. I do not have the time lately to read as many reviews as I used to – but I do still seek out the writing of Jeffrey Anderson from Combustible Celluloid, Justin Chang from Variety and David Sims from The Atlantic to name a few.
Before you post your own rankings/reviews or before/after you watch a film, do you go to any specific site to compare your thoughts, or are your thoughts always your own? I assume you compare to TSPDT list as you mention them a lot
@Dylan – My thoughts are my own – but I am always reading about films and filmmakers and trying to continue my education. I do love the TSPDT site – but the reason it is referenced often is it is used as the consensus for the overrated/underrated categories that are on just about every page.
@Drake- Great list!! Any chance you could post your older list so that I could see the changes? Also any particular reason that actors from the past such as James Cagney dropped in the rankings? It’s not like they had any change in filmography from the time of the last list. Again, love the website!
The old list is on one of the top comments on the De Niro page
@Gohan
1. Robert De Niro
2. James Stewart
3. Marlon Brando
4. Humphrey Bogart
5. Jack Nicholson
6. Al Pacino
7. Daniel Day-Lewis
8. Toshiro Mifune
9. Charlie Chaplin
10. Cary Grant
11. Marcello Mastroianni
12. John Wayne
13. Henry Fonda
14. Paul Newman
15. William Holden
16. Klaus Kinski
17. Dustin Hoffman
18. Gene Hackman
19. Clint Eastwood
20. Leonardo DiCaprio
21. Max von Sydow
22. Robert Mitchum
23. Brad Pitt
24. Philip Seymour Hoffman
25. Burt Lancaster
26. Jean-Paul Belmondo
27. Buster Keaton
28. Montgomery Clift
29. Tony Leung
30. Tom Cruise
31. Jean Gabin
32. James Cagney
33. Kirk Douglas
34. Bill Murray
35. Sean Connery
36. Tom Hanks
37. Denzel Washington
38. Clark Gable
39. Sean Penn
40. Joseph Cotten
41. Jean-Louis Trintignant
42. Edward Norton
43. Harrison Ford
44. Takashi Shimura
45. Joe Pesci
46. Laurence Olivier
47. Emil Jannings
48. Harvey Keitel
49. Joaquin Phoenix
50. Christian Bale
51. Paul Muni
52. Ryan Gosling
53. Ralph Fiennes
54. Chishu Ryu
55. Peter O’Toole
56. Heath Ledger
57. Morgan Freeman
58. Orson Welles
59. Jeff Bridges
60. Michael Caine
61. James Dean
62. Alain Delon
63. Steve McQueen
64. Martin Sheen
65. Warren Beatty
66. Anthony Hopkins
67. Robert Duvall
68. Johnny Depp
69. Frank Sinatra
70. Jack Lemmon
71. Gary Cooper
72. Peter Lorre
73. Edward G. Robinson
74. Bruce Willis
75. Samuel L. Jackson
76. Rod Steiger
77. Matt Damon
78. George C. Scott
79. George Clooney
80. John Cazale
81. Christopher Walken
82. Peter Sellers
83. Gunnar Bjornstrand
84. Robert Redford
85. Alec Guinness
86. John Hurt
87. Jean- Pierre Leaud
88. Robert Shaw
89. Richard Burton
90. John Goodman
91. Casey Affleck
92. Donald Sutherland
93. Russell Crowe
94. Roy Schieder
95. Maurice Chevalier
96. Ray Liotta
97. Kevin Spacey
98. Thomas Mitchell
99. Anthony Quinn
100. Willem Dafoe
@Gohan- Thank you for the kind words on the website. I try to improve the lists with each update and sort of start from scratch putting it together every five years. So each actor has a case by case basis. The best answer here is since the 2019 list I’ve had the opportunity to watch some 2600+ films.
Changes from the previous list-:
Added-:
1.Ethan Hawke(41)
2.Dirk Bogarde(51)
3.Michael Fassbender(54)
4.Tatsuya Nakadai(61)
5.Benicio del Toro(62)
6.Oscar Isaac(65)
7.Gary Oldman(67)
8.Anatoliy Solonitsyn(69)
9.Erland Josephson(71)
10.Fernando Rey(77)
11.Viggo Mortensen(81)
12.Song Kang-ho(82)
13.John Turturro(91)
14.Gael Garcia Bernal(92)
15.Rudolf Klein-Rogge(93)
16.Ken Ogata(96)
17.Timothee Chalamet(99)
18.Ewan McGregor(100)
Removed-:
1.Steve McQueen(63)
2.Gary Cooper(71)
3.Peter Lorre(72)
4.Edward G. Robinson(73)
5.Rod Steiger(76)
6.George C. Scott(78)
7.Peter Sellers(82)
8.Robert Redford(84)
9.John Hurt(86)
10.Robert Shaw(88)
11.Richard Burton(89)
12.John Goodman(90)
13.Casey Affleck(91)
14.Roy Scheider(94)
15.Maurice Chevalier(95)
16.Ray Liotta(96)
17.Thomas Mitchell(98)
18.Anthony Quinn(99)
Biggest movers within the list-:
1.Alain Delon[UP 37(from 62 to 25)]
2.Willem Dafoe[UP 27(from 100 to 73)]
3.Gunnar Bjornstrand[UP 24(from 83 to 59)]
4.Emil Jannings[UP 23(from 47 to 24)]
5.Tony Leung[UP 17(from 29 to 12)]
6.Joaquin Phoenix[UP 16(from 49 to 33)]
6.Anthony Hopkins[UP 16(from 66 to 50)]
8.Joe Pesci[UP 15(from 45 to 30)]
9.Michael Caine[UP 14(from 60 to 46)]
10.Samuel L. Jackson[UP 12(from 75 to 63)]
11.Chishu Ryu[UP 10(from 54 to 44)]
Biggest fallers within the list-:
1.James Cagney[DOWN 43(from 32 to 75)]
2.Frank Sinatra[DOWN 29(from 69 to 98)]
3.Tom Hanks[DOWN 24(from 36 to 60)]
3.Joseph Cotten[DOWN 24(from 40 to 64)]
5.Martin Sheen[DOWN 22(from 64 to 86)]
6.Jack Lemmon[DOWN 20(from 70 to 90)]
6.Bruce Willis[DOWN 20(from 74 to 94)]
8.Heath Ledger[DOWN 18(from 56 to 74)]
8.James Dean[DOWN 18(from 61 to 79)]
10.Peter O’Toole[DOWN 17(from 55 to 72)]
11.Paul Muni[DOWN 15(from 51 to 66)]
11.Warren Beatty[DOWN 15(from 65 to 80)]
13.Klaus Kinski[DOWN 13(from 16 to 29)]
13.Sean Connery[DOWN 13(from 35 to 48)]
14.Harvey Keitel[DOWN 10(from 48 to 58)]
14.George Clooney[DOWN 10(from 79 to 89)]
Stayed the same-:
1.Robert De Niro(1)
2.James Stewart(2)
3.Marlon Brando(3)
4.Daniel Day-Lewis(7)
5.Marcello Mastroianni(11)
6.Gene Hackman(18)
7.Clint Eastwood(19)
8.Robert Mitchum(22)
9.Jean-Paul Belmondo(26)
10.Buster Keaton(27)
11.Kevin Spacey(97)
Actors with 20 or more archivable films included here: (43 of them)
1.Willem Dafoe-36
2.Robert De Niro-34
2.James Stewart-34
4.Humphrey Bogart-33
4.John Wayne-33
6.Gene Hackman-31
7.Henry Fonda-30
7.Robert Duvall-30
9.Burt Lancaster-29
9.Michael Caine-29
11.Jack Nicholson-27
11.Cary Grant-27
13.Kirk Douglas-26
13.Matt Damon-26
15.Robert Mitchum-25
15.Chishû Ryû-25
17.Brad Pitt-24
17.Christian Bale-24
17.Harvey Keitel-24
20.Al Pacino-23
20.Takashi Shimura-23
20.Laurence Olivier-23
20.Jeff Bridges-23
24.Paul Newman-22
24.Max von Sydow-22
24.Philip Seymour Hoffman-22
24.Sean Penn-22
24.Sean Connery-22
24.Harrison Ford-22
24.Tom Hanks-22
31.Samuel L. Jackson-21(22)
31.Marlon Brando-21
31.Toshirô Mifune-21
31.Anthony Hopkins-21
31.Johnny Depp-21
36.Leonardo DiCaprio-20
36.Clint Eastwood-20
36.Tom Cruise-20
36.Ralph Fiennes-20
36.Jean-Pierre Léaud-20
36.Alec Guinness-20
36.Jack Lemmon-20
36.John Turturro-20
@Malith – thank you for doing this- fun to see them in list form here
Actresses with 20 or more archivable films: (5 of them)
1.Tilda Swinton-26
2.Cate Blanchett-23(27)
2.Meryl Streep-23
4.Frances McDormand-22
5.Julianne Moore-21
Actors here without an Oscar nomination:
1.Toshiro Mifune
2.Tony Leung
3.Alain Delon
4.Jean-Paul Belmondo
5.Buster Keaton
6.Klaus Kinski
7.Jean-Louis Trintignant
8.Jean Gabin
9.Takashi Shimura
10.Chishû Ryû
11.Dirk Bogarde
12.Gunnar Björnstrand
13.Tatsuya Nakadai
14.Joseph Cotten
15.Oscar Isaac
16.Anatoliy Solonitsyn
17.Erland Josephson
18.Fernando Rey
19.Song Kang-ho
20.John Cazale
21.Jean-Pierre Léaud
22.Martin Sheen
23.John Turturro
24.Gael Garcia Bernal
25.Rudolf Klein-Rogge
26.Bruce Willis
27.Donald Sutherland
28.Ken Ogata
29.Ewan McGregor
Top 100 Male Actors by nationality:
American(58)
British(14)
French(5)
Japanese(5)
German(3)
Swedish(3)
Canadian(2)
Italian(1)
Spanish(1)
Irish(1)
Hong Kong(1)
Puerto Rico(1)
Russian(1)
Australian(1)
Mexican(1)
New Zealand(1)
South Korean(1)
For great performances, how about Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland? Quietly terrifying & insane. Very difficult role.
I’d put Daniel Day Lewis at #1, I’ve never seen anyone do what he can do.
Also John Wayne at #13? A movie star, definitely. A good actor? Yikes.
@Melissa- Thank you for the comment and visiting the site. Forest Whitaker certainly does great work in The Last King of Scotland
Roy Scheider is a big miss here. Three(3) best of the year mentions I believe. Top 5 Performances:
1.All That Jazz(1979)
2.The French Connection(1971)
3.Jaws(1975)
4.Klute(1971)
5.Sorcerer(1977)
@Malith- Roy Scheider certainly has a strong case – “big miss” is an overstatement.
I meant to say more like one of if not the biggest miss out of the actors that didn’t make it. Scheider has a claim to land anywhere between probably 58-100 in this list.
@Malith – certainly one of
Great list. What are thoughts on Gerard Depardieu? Would personally find place for Depardieu, Tim Roth, Vincent Cassel, Daniel Auteuil, Tim Robbins and Peter Sellers and remove Chalamet, Clooney, Ledger and Sinatra.
@LeRoi- Thank you for sharing – I think I’m one big Depardieu away from putting him on the list – respect his talent. But I either need to see or re-see a big performance or two to get him on the list.
Sellers and Cassel were pretty close
@Drake – I watched Jean de Florette and Manon De Source recently and was quite blown away by the quality and sheer beauty of the films. I think I would grade Jean de Florette largely higher than you do. I think the top dog performance goes to Yves Montand in a Daniel Plainview like role, but Depardieu’s work is also incredible, heartbreaking.
Even in 1900, not really a big performance (though a huge part) but I think he’s only behind Sutherland and Lancaster there.
Thanks for responding, Depardieu has an incredibly deep and varied filmography. Just watched Loulou and My American Uncle the other day and he has a pressence that’s difficult to ignore. How do you rate Mads Mikkelsen?
@Mikkelsen- big admirer of Mads- 8 archiveable films- Valhalla Rising is sublime. Sort of missing that #2 and #3 to make a real run at this list
How close was Woody Allen the actor to joining this list?
@Malith- Not terribly close here. Though Woody certainly has an identifiable screen persona and is a great comedian.
My favourite roles for him: The Hunt, Pusher, Another Round, Riders of Justice. Michel Picolli (Le Mepris, Belle Noiseuse) and Yves Montand (Wages of Fear, Z, Jean de Florette, Cercle Rouge) would probably get into my top 100 as well.
How can you forget about Contempt when talking about Michel Piccoli?
@Anderson- I am 95% sure that Le Mepris is the French title for Contempt.
Damn. Looks like you are right
How about Massimo Girotti? Best performances:
1.Ossessione(1943)
2.Teorema(1968)
3.Senso(1954)
@Drake-What do you think about Massimo Girotti?
In terms of best of the year mentions, Pacino is very close to De Niro. Pacino has 8(1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1983, 1990, 1999, 2019) to De Niro’s 9(1973, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1990, 1995). So I’m pretty confident Pacino makes this list even if his 1970’s output is ineligible. Surprising given some have the opinion he only excelled in the 1970’s.
Hey drake, how close is Bradley cooper near the list, is he in the top 150?? He had a pretty good decade in 2010s and starting strong 2020s
Cooper is missing a very strong performance in a top-quality film, I’d say. But he has good depth (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, A Star is Born, American Sniper, Nightmare Alley, Licorice Pizza, even Limitless).
@Zee188- Good question- I didn’t keep going beyond the 100 and make a list of 125, 150, etc. but Cooper wasn’t on that very short list left off. It doesn’t mean he isn’t a talented actor who has put together a good resume recently. I have 10 Bradley Cooper films in the archives I believe – might be one or two big performances away from making a run at the top 100
What are your thoughts on Leslie Cheung?
I’ve seen him in A Better Tommorow, Happy Together, and Days Of Being Wild. He is in a lot of other films from Hong Kong as well, 56 films in total
@MovieJoker – great actor – sad about passing away so young. Add Farewell My Concubine and Ashes of Time to your list as well
Yes, it really is tragic, one wonders what he would have done had he not died so young.
where would he fall on this ranking if it went past top 100?
@MovierJoker- Good question – but I did not expand the list beyond 100- I had a few that were close – and Leslie Cheung was not one of those handful (not to say he wasn’t a great actor – we’re just talking resume here) – probably a big performance of two away
@MovieJoker – His performance in Days of Being Wild (1990) is probably my favorite of any WKW films. Not saying its at the same level as Tony Leung in Chungking Express, 2046, and In the Mood For Love but its probably my personal favorite. I love the 1 minute speech, he exudes confidence. But its a layered performance since his confidence is a facade to a degree as he suffers from maternal rejection when he discovers that he is adopted and later his biological mother refuses to even meet him; its gut wrenching stuff
How about James Caan?
Top 7 performances:
1.Thief(1981)
2.The Godfather(1972)
3.The Yards(2000)
4.Gardens of Stone(1987)
5.Cinderella Liberty(1973)
6.Misery(1990)
7.The Gambler(1974)
@Anderson- James Caan had a great career- but not a top 100 male actor of all-time resume or talent though necessarily though
How do you exactly measure talent? He basically plays the Vito Corleone role in The Yards to great effect. And he is never bad or miscast in any good movie starring him I have watched.
@Malith- well there is no “exactly” here- there is more subjectivity in measuring talent than measuring a resume. Viewing experience certainly helps with context. Are you saying he is more talented than some or any of these 100 actors? If you said James Caan is/was a crazy, talented actor – you would be the first person I’ve heard say that. And I say that as an admirer of his work in films like The Godfather and Thief of course.
I don’t like to compare actors with other actors in terms of talent or range. But Caan was certainly talented. His most known roles are similar (let’s say The Godfather, Thief, The Gambler). But he showed he has range in his later/middle years and performances like The Yards, Misery, Gardens of Stone or even Cinderella Liberty in a quieter understated performance. Well if you say most of his characters are lower intelligence, his The Yards character is hardly a lower intelligence character. Wahlberg plays the lower intelligence character here. It’s just Caan was known for a certain type and directors mostly cast him in that type of role. He didn’t really struggle when given a different role like in The Yards. Or in any of the roles he had in good films.
@Malith- thanks for sharing- Caan is great – but feels like it is a stretch to include him on this list – feels like it might be a personal preference thing – which is totally fine – everyone is allowed to have their favorites.
Quite surprised no one has mentioned Harry Carey, Harold Lloyd or George Sanders.
Worse still: Walter Brennan (the first actor to win 3 Academy Awards) is completely ignored.
And if the audience is always right, undoubtedly Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and Danny Kaye should be in that list.
You’re right to put John Wayne up there. He still is one of the greatest icons of the movies and unsurpassed in the western genre.
And surely Sidney Poiter (talk about icons) has deserved a place in Top 25?!
@Martin – Thank you for visiting the site and sharing…. tough to see the case for Carey, Lloyd, or Sanders. Same for Astaire, Kelly and Danny Kaye – there are just too many superior actors with superior resumes. Brennan’s 3 Academy Awards sounds impressive (and he is a very fine actor), but if you break it down, I’m not sure his work in Kentucky (1938) or Come and Get it (1939) should have any real impact on a list like this. Sidney Poitier is a very important actor for socio-political reasons, but his resume does not include a single film on top 1000 of all-time list. So his bid to get on the list pretty much died right there.
No place for Michel Simon? La Chienne, L’Atlante, Panique, Boudu Saved From Drowning etc.
@Anderson – He has a very decent case – certainly in that top 125-150