Katharine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and Grace Kelly just 3 of the AFI Top 50 Screen Legends
Sometime in 2011 we decided it would be fun to do a Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) movie page on the AFI Top 50 Screen Legends. The AFI list of the top 50 greatest screen legends in American film history, included 25 male and 25 female stars. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute on June 15, 1999. The American Film Institute defined an “American screen legend” as an actor or a team of actors during the classic film era with a significant screen presence in American feature-length films whose screen debut occurred in or before 1950, or whose screen debut occurred after 1950 but whose death has marked a completed body of work.
When we started doing these pages 6 of the 50 Screen Legends were still alive. Sadly Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley Temple and Lauren Bacall passed away before we could finish our quest. Kirk Douglas, Sidney Poitier and Sophia Loren are still alive and well. Douglas will be 100 later this year…and just last week we received an autograph from that screen legend…but that is another story. After spending the last 5 years looking at the AFI list…we can say we like the list…BUT….there is one massive injustice. How Olivia de Havilland did not make the list makes no sense to us….ok done ranting.
The first AFI screen legend we researched and wrote about was Clark Gable….the last AFI screen legend we did was Mary Pickford. Between the Gable and Pickford pages….5 years passed, we changed our website home 2 times, we took a statistical look at 2,267 movies and we saw our classic movie pages become the most popular on our website….easily kicking our current movie star pages to the curb. So we decided to put all 50 of our AFI Screen Legends on one page. Each link below will take you to that star’s UMR page….where you will find box office grosses, reviews and awards for every single movie that star made during their career. John Wayne and Robert Mitchum are tied with the most movies (83) while James Dean has the least (3 movies).
AFI’s Top 25 Screen Legend Actors….with links to our movie pages on the Screen Legend
1. Humphrey Bogart 58 Movies Ranked….from Casablanca (1942) to Swing Your Lady (1938)
2. Cary Grant 58 Movies Ranked… from North by Northwest (1959) to Born To Be Bad (1934)
3. James Stewart 73 Movies Ranked Mr. Smith Goes to Washington(1939) to Big Sleep(1978)
4. Marlon Brando 37 Movies Ranked….from The Godfather (1972) to Christopher Columbus (1992)
5. Fred Astaire 39 Movies Ranked The Towering Inferno (1974) to The Amazing Dobermans (1976)
6. Henry Fonda 81 Movies Ranked… On Golden Pond (1981) to City on Fire (1979)
7. Clark Gable 63 Movies Ranked….from Gone With The Wind (1939) to Parnell (1937)
8. James Cagney 61 Movies Ranked….from Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) to Boy Meets Girl (1938)
9. Spencer Tracy 53 Movies Ranked….from Boy’s Town (1938) to Up the River (1930)
10. Charles Chaplin 12 Movies Ranked….from The Kid (1921) to A Countess from Hong Kong (1967)
11. Gary Cooper 67 Movies Ranked….from Sergeant York (1941) to Fighting Caravans (1931)
12. Gregory Peck 53 Movies Ranked To Kill a Mockingbird(1962) to Amazing Grace & Chuck(1987)
13. John Wayne 83 Movies Ranked….from True Grit (1969) to Brannigan (1975)
14. Laurence Olivier 48 Movies Ranked….from Rebecca (1940) to Inchon (1982)
15. Gene Kelly 40 Movies Ranked….from Anchors Aweigh (1945) to Viva Knievel! (1977)
16. Orson Welles 75 Movies Ranked….from Citizen Kane (1941) to Treasure Island (1972)
17. Kirk Douglas 71 Movies Ranked….from Spartacus (1960) to Diamonds (1999)
18. James Dean 3 Movies Ranked….from East of Eden (1955) to Giant (1956)
19. Burt Lancaster 67 Movies Ranked From Here to Eternity (1953) to Executive Action (1973)
20. Marx Brothers 18 Movies Ranked….from Horse Feathers (1932) to The Story of Mankind (1957)
21. Buster Keaton 28 Movies Ranked….from The Cameraman (1928) to The Intruder (1936)
22. Sidney Poitier 46 Movies Ranked….from In the Heat of the Night (1967) to Fast Forward (1985)
23. Robert Mitchum 83 Movies Ranked….from The Longest Day (1962) to Matilda (1978)
24. Edward G. Robinson 67 Movies Ranked 10 Commandments(1956) to BiggestBundleofAll(1968)
25. William Holden 66 Movies Ranked….from The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) to Ashanti (1979)
America Film Institutes’ Top 25 Screen Legend Actress and UMR’s Links That Rank All Of Their Movies.
1. Katharine Hepburn 43 Movies Ranked..On Golden Pond (1981) to Grace Quigley (1985)
2. Bette Davis 79 Movies Ranked…from All About Eve (1950) to Wicked Stepmother (1989)
3. Audrey Hepburn 24 Movies Ranked…from My Fair Lady (1964) to The All Laughed (1981)
4. Ingrid Bergman 32 Movies Ranked..Gaslight(1944) to Files of Mrs. Basil E.Frankweiler(1973)
5. Greta Garbo 24 Movies Ranked.. from Ninotchka (1939) to Torrent (1928)
6. Marilyn Monroe 23 Movies Ranked…from Some Like It Hot (1959) to Ladies of the Chorus (1948)
7. Elizabeth Taylor 47 Movies Ranked..Who’s Afraid of Va.Woolf?(1966) to A Little Night Music(1977)
8. Judy Garland 31 Movies Ranked…from A Star Is Born (1954) to I Could Go On Singing (1963)
9. Marlene Dietrich 30 Movies Ranked…from Shanghai Express (1932) to Just A Gigolo (1978)
10. Joan Crawford 72 Movies Ranked…from Mildred Pierce (1945) to The Law of the Range (1928)
11. Barbara Stanwyck 72 Movies Ranked.. Double Indemnity (1944) to The Bride Walks Out (1936)
12. Claudette Colbert 48 Movies Ranked..It Happened One Night(1934) to Royal Affairs(1954)
13. Grace Kelly 11 Movies Ranked.. from The Country Girl (1954) to Green Fire (1954)
14. Ginger Rogers 54 Movies Ranked.. from Kitty Foyle (1940) to The Groom Wore Spurs (1951)
15. Mae West 12 Movies Ranked.. from She Done Him Wrong (1933) to Sextette (1978)
16. Vivien Leigh 15 Movies Ranked.. from Gone With The Wind (1939) to Dark Journey (1937)
17. Lillian Gish 31 Movies Ranked.. from Intolerance (1916) to Hambone and Hillie (1983)
18. Shirley Temple 37 Movies Ranked.. from Since You Went Away (1944) to Honeymoon (1947)
19. Rita Hayworth 35 Movies Ranked.. from Gilda (1946) to The Naked Zoo (1970)
20. Lauren Bacall 36 Movies Ranked.. from To Have and Have Not (1944) to Diamonds (1999)
21. Sophia Loren 29 Movies Ranked.. from El Cid (1961) to Firepower (1979)
22. Jean Harlow 22 Movies Ranked.. from The Public Enemy (1931) to Riffraff (1936)
23. Carole Lombard 39 Movies Ranked from My Man Godfrey (1936) to It Pays To Advertise(1931)
24. Mary Pickford 31 Movies Ranked.. from The Little Princess (1917) to Rosita (1923)
25. Ava Gardner 40 Movies Ranked.. from The Killers (1946) to City on Fire (1979)
The amount of hours that went into this quest is mind boggling….but now that it is over….gotta admit…damn glad we did it. Of course that brings out the question…What Now?
Hey Paul she was one of the greats. Her peak was probably 1939 t0 1945…I think if it was a little longer she might have cracked the Top 25….we do have a UMR page on her though. https://www.ultimatemovierankings.com/joan-fontaine-movies/ The page looks at 39 of her movies. Thanks for visiting our page.
I really loved your picture of the mountain climbers. Several years ago I climbed Kilimanjaro. I was so focused on getting to the top and avoiding altitude sickness that when I did reach the top, I forgot that I would have to make my way down. You did a fantastic job on the list and like all lists, somebody is going to be left out. Roseleen Russell, Greer Garson and Alice Faye to mention a few but I’m sure you’ll get to them eventually.
Thanks for all the effort, really appreciated.
Hey Chris. Very impressive that you climbed Kilimanjaro. I just watched Everest the other day…and that movie makes mountain climbing seem even more impressive. Congrats on that awesome achievement. Garson is coming soon. I will add Russell and Faye to the request list. Thanks for the congrats and the visit.
Hey Rosemary…I agree with you that Loy should be on the list too. Her career was awesome. I have a page on her that might interest you…https://www.ultimatemovierankings.com/myrna-loy-movies/ it looks aT 59 of her movies. As for Jennifer Jones…not sure but for somebody that was so popular back in the day….she does not seem to get much attention today. She was awesome in Song of Bernadette. I just saw and enjoyed Portrait of Jenny a few months ago….thanks for stopping by.
Hey Linann….Yvonne de Carlo did not make the list…but she had a great career….my favorite de Carlo movies would easily be three of the movies she made in 1956….The Ten Commandments, Magic Fire and Flame of the Island…thanks for checking out my AFI Top 50 list.
Congratulations for your remarkable work, Bruce !
Thank you laurent….it was fun to do…and I learned a lot about movies and these legends…thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Joan Fontaine should be in the top 25. She was fabulous!!!!!!!
Hey Paul she was one of the greats. Her peak was probably 1939 t0 1945…I think if it was a little longer she might have cracked the Top 25….we do have a UMR page on her though. https://www.ultimatemovierankings.com/joan-fontaine-movies/ The page looks at 39 of her movies. Thanks for visiting our page.
Hi
I really loved your picture of the mountain climbers. Several years ago I climbed Kilimanjaro. I was so focused on getting to the top and avoiding altitude sickness that when I did reach the top, I forgot that I would have to make my way down. You did a fantastic job on the list and like all lists, somebody is going to be left out. Roseleen Russell, Greer Garson and Alice Faye to mention a few but I’m sure you’ll get to them eventually.
Thanks for all the effort, really appreciated.
Hey Chris. Very impressive that you climbed Kilimanjaro. I just watched Everest the other day…and that movie makes mountain climbing seem even more impressive. Congrats on that awesome achievement. Garson is coming soon. I will add Russell and Faye to the request list. Thanks for the congrats and the visit.
Missed Myrna Loy (The Best Years of Our Lives). Also, Jennifer Jones (Song of Bernadette and Portrait of Jenny)
Hey Rosemary…I agree with you that Loy should be on the list too. Her career was awesome. I have a page on her that might interest you…https://www.ultimatemovierankings.com/myrna-loy-movies/ it looks aT 59 of her movies. As for Jennifer Jones…not sure but for somebody that was so popular back in the day….she does not seem to get much attention today. She was awesome in Song of Bernadette. I just saw and enjoyed Portrait of Jenny a few months ago….thanks for stopping by.
No Yvonne de Carlo?
Hey Linann….Yvonne de Carlo did not make the list…but she had a great career….my favorite de Carlo movies would easily be three of the movies she made in 1956….The Ten Commandments, Magic Fire and Flame of the Island…thanks for checking out my AFI Top 50 list.