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Wednesday, June 04, 2003

By Ron Weiskind, Post-Gazette Movie Editor

You want movie villains and heroes?

Here are a few whom the American Film Institute didn't nominate.

	Gregory Peck's Atticus Finch, the moral lawyer in "To Kill a Mockingbird," beat out the likes of Indiana Jones, James Bond and Gandhi, for the top movie hero spot.

How about the first guy to run commercials in a movie theater? How about the people who make trailers that give away the entire plot? How about Disney chairman Michael Eisner, just on general principles?

As for heroes, I nominate the next studio head who greenlights a movie that isn't a sequel, prequel or remake. I'll vote for the inventor of stadium seating or, for that matter, cupholders.

But AFI, in its never-ending quest to reduce 100 years of movies into a series of lucrative television specials, wanted onscreen characters to populate this year's list, "AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Heroes & Villains" -- 50 white hats, 50 black hats.

Well, sort of. The entire Dirty Dozen comprised one nomination. So did the countless Martians who invaded Earth in "War of the Worlds."

Maybe such, er, logic makes it even more surprising that, on both sides of the list, brains trump brawn. But who would have figured that the greatest movie hero ever is ... a lawyer. And the greatest villain is ... a doctor.

Coming soon to a theater near you: the Pennsylvania Malpractice Crisis.

Still, if Indiana Jones and James Bond seemed more obvious choices for the top hero slot (they played second and third fiddle, respectively), Atticus Fitch in "To Kill a Mockingbird" has all the attributes they lack. He's a sensitive male but one who knows what to do with a shotgun. He's a good father and a righteous man who defends an innocent black man against a rape charge in the old South not because he expects to win but because it's the right thing to do.

Two women made the top 10 -- another brainy type, Clarice Starling of "Silence of the Lambs," in sixth place and rock 'em, sock 'em Ellen Ripley of "Alien" in the eighth spot.

As for minorities, you get Virgil Tibbs of "In the Heat of the Night" in 19th place. That's it. One out of 50.

Well, of course you could count Superman (one of the last survivors from Krypton). There's Zorro, but he was played by a gringo, and Gandhi, who was played by a white Englishman. Or Tarzan, who IS a white Englishman. Or Andrew Beckett of "Philadelphia," who is gay.

Or the most unlikely heroes of all: two journalists (Woodward and Bernstein from "All the President's Men").

Villains are always more fun and even easier to identify. The top five on the Black Hat side -- Hannibal Lecter, Norman Bates, Darth Vader, the Wicked Witch of the West and Nurse Ratched -- deserve a place of honor in any rogue's gallery.

Now here are my questions:

With all those great John Wayne characters to choose from, the best they can do is Rooster Cogburn?

Travis Bickle of "Taxi Driver" was No. 30 on the villains list. But he properly qualifies as an antihero -- somewhere in between the absolutes. AFI didn't account for them (but there's always next year).

Han Solo and Obi-Wan Kenobi but no Luke Skywalker? That's like Harpo and Chico without Groucho. Just who blew up the Death Star anyhow?

Minorities are underrepresented on the list, but what would Darth Vader be without James Earl Jones' majestic voice? And should Denzel Washington be grateful or resentful that his rogue cop from "Training Day" slips in at No. 50?

How do you separate the movie character from the real person? Dr. Joseph Mengele, lead character in "The Boys from Brazil," didn't make the cut on the movie list. Does that make him a better person than the real guy, who did grisly experiments on humans?

If Ernst Stavro Blofeld were a real person, I wonder how he'd feel about being left off the villains list because there was room for only one James Bond opponent, and that was Auric Goldfinger.

On the other hand, if you could only take one Charlton Heston hero, I suppose you would have to select Moses over Ben-Hur.

The villains list includes some truly great female characters. But I wish they could have given Norma Desmond her closeup. But I suppose she wasn't evil so much as tragic.

Comedy can't catch a break even on these lists. Sure, you've got Charlie Chaplin's Tramp in "City Lights," but by film's end he's as much of a tragic figure as Norma Desmond. But where is Inspector Clouseau?

Then again, there is Sly Stallone, in which case, better "Rocky" than "Rambo." Yo, Adrian!

Most inspired choice: opening the pod-bay doors for HAL 9000 from "2001: A Space Odyssey."