Pointless List Ignores Too Many Screen Beauts, but Why?

bergman225.jpgNow hear this: Movieline loves a good pointless list. Problem is, we like when pointless lists actually have a point -- and people are ranked and weird subject matters are brought to the fore. In the case of LA Times Magazine's newest list, the 50 Most Beautiful Women in Film, the selections aren't even ranked. They're just listed in alphabetical order, as if we don't know who Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor are, and need to look them up in the Yellow Pages. The amount of notable omissions is also worthy of a fight. Let's give them one.

First, the 50 Most Beautiful Women in Film:

1. Isabelle Adjani

2. Brigitte Bardot

3. Kim Basinger

4. Monica Bellucci

5. Halle Berry

6. Louise Brooks

7. Claudia Cardinale

8. Julie Christie

9. Jennifer Connelly

10. Joan Crawford

11. Penelope Cruz

12. Dorothy Dandridge

13. Catherine Deneuve

14. Faye Dunaway

15. Farrah Fawcett

16. Greta Garbo

17. Ava Gardner

18. Eva Green

19. Anne Hathaway

20. Salma Hayek

21. Rita Hayworth

22. Audrey Hepburn

23. Angelina Jolie

24. Grace Kelly

25. Beyonce Knowles

26. Nicole Kidman

27. Hedy Lamarr

28. Vivien Leigh

29. Virna Lisi

30. Blake Lively

31. Jennifer Lopez

32. Sophia Loren

33. Ali Macgraw

34. Marilyn Monroe

35. Kim Novak

36. Merle Oberon

37. Michelle Pfeiffer

38. Freida Pinto

39. Natalie Portman

40. Julia Roberts

41. Jean Seberg

42. Brooke Shields

43. Sharon Stone

44. Elizabeth Taylor

45. Charlize Theron

46. Gene Tierney

47. Lana Turner

48. Rachel Weisz

49. Natalie Wood

50. Catherine Zeta-Jones

Now, the uproar: Where is Ingrid Bergman? Lauren Bacall? Claudette Colbert? Joanne Woodward? Jane Fonda? Anjelica Huston? Better yet: Why are half of these people on the list?

It appears that The LA Times picked specific quantities of ladies from each decade of film. That's why you see Farrah Fawcett, Brooke Shields, and Ali Macgraw here. They're definitively '70s. But Farrah Fawcett was barely a movie star, right? Logan's Run and Dr. T. and the Women? It's weird that she's here? Thought so. (R.I.P. nonetheless.)

Then there's the strange smattering of modern-day stars. Freida Pinto has two completed films to her name. Clearly The LA Times wanted an Indian actress on the tally -- but was an anti-Aishwarya Rai dark force in charge here? She's pretty stunning. Also, is Blake Lively secretly a thriving Indian film star, because what the hell is she doing here? Apparently acting ability was not taken into account, because Blake Lively was secretly played by an old Cheri Oteri character in The Town. Beyonce isn't really a movie star, and Jennifer Lopez barely qualifies. At this rate, we should include the spellbinding Natalie Imbruglia for her contributions to Johnny English. I wouldn't object. Or maybe, like, Cate Blanchett. She'd work too.

If we're getting nit-picky about the "types" listed, I'd pick Hitchcock blonde Eva Marie Saint over the smokin', but more generic Kim Novak. I'd also throw in more obscure Hollywood glamor girls, like James Dean's main girl Pier Angeli. Who would you include or un-include?



Comments

  • SunnydaZe says:

    No Janet Leigh?! That's just psycho.

  • NP says:

    Delphine Seyrig
    Jeanne Moreau

  • Michelle Orange says:

    Monica Vitti! Charlotte Rampling, Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore...

  • anonymous says:

    "Beyonce isn’t really a movie star, and Jennifer Lopez barely qualifies. At this rate, we should include the spellbinding Natalie Imbruglia for her contributions to Johnny English."
    I think just appearing in movies makes a woman eligable. I don't think the list included anything about the women needing to be a huge movie stars.
    I never takes these most beautiful lists too seriously. Most of the time they seem to be more influenced by other factors than actual attractiveness.

  • Louis Virtel says:

    Also: Marlene Dietrich, Esther Williams, and Vanessa Redgrave.

  • Louis Virtel says:

    Monica. Effing. Vitti.

  • Brian Clark says:

    Amen to Claudette Colbert!
    Also: Naomi Watts, Anna Karina, Juliet Binoche, Emily Mortimer

  • NP says:

    Gena Rowlands

  • S.T. VanAirsdale says:

    Tyler Perry

  • Louis Virtel says:

    Armond White.

  • Citizen Bitch says:

    I second Naomi Watts. I see her movies just to look at her.

  • Sean says:

    Frances Farmer should be on the list. Didn't she suffer enough already?

  • ssa says:

    Ditto on Ingrid Bergman, Claudette Colbert, and Juliet Binoche.
    I'd add Myrna Loy - who was beautiful and the box office queen of the late thirties; Jean Harlow - who may not seem conventionally beautiful to modern audiences, but she was, in fact, the thirties equivalent of Marilyn Monroe in screen heat and sex appeal; and Lena Horne - totally beautiful and shamefully underemployed in Hollywood due to her race.
    Let's face it, 50 is just too small a number to capture all of the beautiful women who have graced the silver screen.

  • sittingpat says:

    Bette Davis! with those Bette Davis eyes.

  • Louis Virtel says:

    Or at least Kate Hepburn!

  • Troy says:

    Jacqueline Bisset

  • Strawberry Pain says:

    They left off all of the Kates/Cates. Winslet, Blanchett, Hepburn. Also, Julia Ormond. And given their strange populist slant with the American actresses, what about Sandy Bullock?

  • Clive says:

    Jessica Lange - my god, watch King Kong or Tootsie or Frances. She's the most beautiful blonde ever.

  • Brian Clark says:

    I love Julia Ormond. Good call.

  • Sue Ann says:

    Agree with Louis V. regarding Marlene Dietrich and Esther Williams. Both great beauties. And what about Veronica Lake, Gloria Swanson, Leslie Caron? Bo Derek? (Go back and watch "10.") Greer Garson? And both Scarlett J. and Naomi W. deserve a spot. The absence of both Jeanne Moreau and Charlotte Rampling - it's a plot!!!