Pointless List Ignores Too Many Screen Beauts, but Why?
Now 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
No Janet Leigh?! That's just psycho.
Delphine Seyrig
Jeanne Moreau
Monica Vitti! Charlotte Rampling, Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore...
"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.
Also: Marlene Dietrich, Esther Williams, and Vanessa Redgrave.
Monica. Effing. Vitti.
Amen to Claudette Colbert!
Also: Naomi Watts, Anna Karina, Juliet Binoche, Emily Mortimer
Gena Rowlands
Tyler Perry
Armond White.
I second Naomi Watts. I see her movies just to look at her.
Frances Farmer should be on the list. Didn't she suffer enough already?
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.
Bette Davis! with those Bette Davis eyes.
Or at least Kate Hepburn!
Jacqueline Bisset
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?
Jessica Lange - my god, watch King Kong or Tootsie or Frances. She's the most beautiful blonde ever.
I love Julia Ormond. Good call.
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!!!