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AFI names top movie heroes, villains of all time
LA, June 05: There is good and evil, and then there is Atticus Finch and Hannibal Lecter.
"I think its wonderful that there is an individual (Finch) from classic filmmaking that touched everyone so much," said AFI chief Jean Picker Firstenberg. "That emotional connection is still there."
In fact, both lists have a fair number of classic movies and characters among the picks, such as right-minded night club owner Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) in "Casablanca" and courageous Marshal Will Kane (Gary Cooper) in "High Noon" at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, on the hero list.
Rounding out the top five heroes were Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) for "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in the No. 2 spot and James Bond 007 (Sean Connery) in the No. 3 spot for original Bond movie, "Dr. No."
The top five villains had killer Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) of Alfred Hitchcock thriller "Psycho" in the No. 2 spot and The Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) from 1939 classic "The Wizard of Oz" as No. 4.
Also on the villain side, masked menace Darth Vader (David Prowse) from "The Empire Strikes Back" landed in the No. 3 spot, and mean Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next" in the No. 5 position.
The heroes and villains list is the sixth in a series of all-time movie favorites that jurors selected by AFI have picked in recent years. AFI has compiled lists of top overall movies, best comedies, thrillers, romances and stars.
Los Angeles-based AFI is considered one of the top U.S. educational institutions dedicated to film and television.
AFI's jurors were told to use several criteria in making their decision, such as cultural impact of the character and their legacy in film.
Among other notable roles on the hero list was Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) from "Rocky" in the No. 7 slot and T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) of "Lawrence of Arabia," No. 10.
Leading villains included computer HAL 9000 in "2001: A Space Odyssey," No. 13, and the shark in "Jaws," No. 18.
Bureau Report