of All Time  by Premiere Magazine (reverse ranking) Part 2 Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 |
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Character Name | Played By | Film Title | Defining Moment |
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Dr. Strangelove | Peter Sellers | Dr. Strangelove Or: ... (1964) | Dr. Strangelove's final proposal in the War Room, while preventing his gloved hand from self-strangulation. |
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Tony Montana | Al Pacino | Scarface (1983) | Tony's taunt to those about to slice open his friend Chi Chi's (Angel Salazar) head with a chain saw. |
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Norma Rae | Sally Field | Norma Rae (1979) | Norma's defiant stand on a factory table, while brandishing a sign that reads, "Union." |
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Lloyd Dobler | John Cusack | Say Anything... (1989) | Lloyd's statement: "I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed..." |
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Rev. Harry Powell | Robert Mitchum | The Night of the Hunter (1955) | Rev. Powell's explanation of the "Love" and "Hate" tattoos on the fingers of his right hand and left hand. |
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Judy Benjamin | Goldie Hawn | Private Benjamin (1980) | Judy's departure from the Army, something that causes the sergeant to be overjoyed and promote the signing of the release document. |
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Terry Malloy | Marlon Brando | On the Waterfront (1954) | Terry's taxi-cab speech to his brother Charley (Rod Steiger) about his betrayal: "I coulda been a contender..." |
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Alex DeLarge | Malcolm McDowell | A Clockwork Orange (1971) | Alex's version of 'Singin' in the Rain' while attacking a couple in their home with his band of droogs. |
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Inspector Jacques Clouseau | Peter Sellers | The Pink Panther (1964) and four later movies | Clouseau's clumsy destruction of a 'priceless Steinway' after getting his hand stuck in a chain mail glove connected to a spiked flail. |
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Navin Johnson, aka "The Jerk" | Steve Martin | The Jerk (1979) | The Jerk's inexplicable targeting by a sniper at a gas station. |
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Edward Scissorhands | Johnny Depp | Edward Scissorhands (1990) | Edward's bittersweet reply - "I can't" - to the girl (Winona Ryder) he loves when she whispers to him, "Hold me." |
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Rocky Balboa | Sylvester Stallone | Rocky (1976) and all its sequels | Rocky's early morning run through the city's streets, and triumphant race up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art - with victorious fist high in the air. |
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Carrie White | Sissy Spacek | Carrie (1976) | Carrie's humiliating experience in the girls' locker room in the opening scene, and the shattering of her first light bulb. |
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John Shaft | Richard Roundtree | Shaft (1971) | Shaft's emergence from a 42nd Street subway station and invulnerable stroll into oncoming traffic. |
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J. J. Hunsecker | Burt Lancaster | Sweet Smell of Success (1957) | Hunsecker's evisceration of Falco (Tony Curtis), a senator, his bimbo consort, and her manager at a table in a NY nightspot. |
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George Bailey | James Stewart | It's A Wonderful Life (1946) | George and Mary's (Donna Reed) first dance - in which they step into a swimming pool. |
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Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore | Robert Duvall | Apocalypse Now (1979) | Kilgore's pause during the war for a soliloquy: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning..." |
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Phyllis Dietrichson | Barbara Stanwyck | Double Indemnity (1944) | Phyllis' palpable fear - and regret - after her stooge insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) killed her husband, and suspicions were aroused. |
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Tom Powers | James Cagney | The Public Enemy (1931) | Tom's self-aware statement as he is shot in the rain: "I ain't so tough." |
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Alan Swann | Peter O'Toole | My Favorite Year (1982) | Alan's triumphant horseback ride through Central Park. |
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The Dude (Jeff Lebowski) | Jeff Bridges | The Big Lebowski (1998) | The Dude's post-coital chat with Maude (Julianne Moore) about his student radical days. |
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Frank Booth | Dennis Hopper | Blue Velvet (1986) | Frank's breathing of gas through a plastic mask while engaging in foreplay with Dorothy (Isabella Rossellini). |
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Ninotchka | Greta Garbo | Ninotchka (1939) | Ninotchka's long-suppressed laugh, after Leon (Melvyn Douglas) accidentally falls off his chair in a Paris bistro. |
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Howard Beale | Peter Finch | Network (1976) | Howard's "I'm mad as hell" speech, and his silence during the delivery of a sermon on corporate America by the network president Arthur Jensen (Ned Beatty). |
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Freddy Krueger | Robert Englund | A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and too many later films | Freddy's sadistic pinning of a victim to the ceiling with his claw before slashing him. |
