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Wednesday, June 04, 2003

By Barbara Vancheri, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Hold the lawyer jokes.

	Dr. Hannibal Lecter, portrayed by Anthony Hopkins, from "Silence of the Lambs" tops the American Film Institute's list of 50 top movie villains. (American Film Institute, via the Associated Press) Commentary: Analyzing the good, the bad and the debatable AFI's list of top heroes, villains

Atticus Finch, Gregory Peck's principled attorney in "To Kill a Mockingbird," was No. 1 on the American Film Institute's list of 50 top heroes, with such iconic figures as Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," James Bond in "Dr. No," Rick Blaine in "Casablanca" and Marshal Will Kane in "High Noon" on his wingtip heels.

On the film flip side, Hannibal Lecter from "The Silence of the Lambs" was crowned the most vile of the villains. Anthony Hopkins' unblinking, creepy cannibal edged out Norman Bates from "Psycho," Darth Vader from "The Empire Strikes Back," the Wicked Witch of the West from "The Wizard of Oz" and Nurse Ratched from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

The Terminator was the only character to double dip, turning up as No. 48 on the heroes and No. 22 on the villains roster.

The full list of 50 heroes and 50 villains was unveiled on a CBS special last night studded with film clips, interviews and reminiscences about the characters who moved audiences to tears or terror.

"One of the themes that seems to be kind of proving itself over and over again in this sixth annual show is that the movies we see in our adolescence really stay with us, and a great example of this is that the Wicked Witch of the West is the No. 4 villain of all time," said Bob Gazzale, who produced the three-hour show. He is also director of AFI productions.

"I would guess these voters have probably not seen that film in 50 years, but she's still with them. The same is true of Man in 'Bambi,' a villain who doesn't even appear on screen and yet we all carry that moment with us through our entire lives. It's amazing how powerful that is," he said yesterday in a phone interview.

Gazzale, who doesn't get to vote but singled out the "Psycho" hotelier and Lou Gehrig from "The Pride of the Yankees" as his favorites, knows that the current world climate lends itself to talk about good and evil, but those cinematic symbols have existed as long as the movies themselves.

And yes, he's anticipating viewers may not agree on the names, let alone the rankings. "The AFI's ultimate goal is to create a national conversation about American film, and we encourage people if their favorite hero or villain isn't on the list or high enough on the list, to go out and tell 10 people about it because that will get the national conversation started again."

Some of that chatter will be on the organization's Web site, www.afi.com, which, Gazzale predicts, will have "traffic beyond words."

Hollywood's attraction to real-life heroes is reflected by the presence of such characters as Gandhi, Gen. Patton, Erin Brockovich, Oskar Schindler, Frank Serpico and Karen Silkwood. But it's the villains, ranging from the greedy Gordon Gekko to a cartoon who covets the coats of 101 Dalmatians, who always catch the public's fancy.

"They're much more fun than the heroes, but at the end of the day, we go back to the heroes, and so the conversation may begin with the villains, but it will certainly end with who's our favorite hero," the producer said.

What has become a summer tradition started in June 1998 with a list of the 100 greatest American movies -- topped by "Citizen Kane." The next year, the AFI tackled the 50 greatest screen legends. It segued to the 100 funniest American movies, "100 Years, 100 Thrills" and, in 2002, a roster of the 100 greatest love stories.

To draw up a list of 400 nominees, half heroic and half heinous, the AFI turned to its scholars, academics, historians and catalog staffers who record every movie ever made. The most represented actor and actress on the ballot were John Wayne and Bette Davis.

The Wicked Witch if the West in the "Wizard of Oz," played by Margaret Hamilton, with Judy Garland as Dorothy and Billie Burke as Glinda, is the top female on the American Film Institute's list of 50 top movie villains at No. 4.

The ballot also included some performers who probably didn't pay union dues: The great white shark in "Jaws," the winged terrors in "The Birds," dogs Lassie and Rin Tin Tin, the sheep-herding pig, Babe, and the unseen Blair Witch.

All of them reflected the belief that "heroism and villainy can take many forms," Gazzale said.

Ballots were sent to 1,500 "leaders of the creative community" such as directors, screenwriters, actors, editors and cinematographers, along with critics and historians. Only characters in movies released before Jan. 1, 2002, were considered. Voters were asked to weigh their selections' cultural impact and legacy.

Participants were allowed to pick up to 50 of each, and they could rank their top five choices in each category. They were due back Dec. 13, with votes tallied during the holidays.

"In mid-January, our producing team comes on board. Everybody signs a major confidentiality agreement, and then we begin our production process of interviews and choosing the proper clips," Gazzale said. Even the celebrities being interviewed aren't told what's on the list, but they likely can assume they have some connection to the final selections.

Asked what the focus of the 2004 list will be, Gazzale said, "We haven't chosen a topic yet. We're going to celebrate and see what next year holds. Seven is a lucky number and initially when we began the program six years ago, there was some concern we would run out of ideas. What has proven itself time and time again is a century of films seems to have an infinite number of ways to celebrate them."