November 22, 2002: The Challenge: A random selection of writers accredited to the Online Film Critics Society were asked an intentionally vague question. The Question: In your opinion, who was the most remarkable personality in film history? The concept of "remarkable" and "personality" was left open for interpretation. The answers follow... Mark Adnum, MarkAdnum.com Marilyn Monroe, whose screen identity was so unique and unmistakable that she resembles an animated cartoon figure. Her vivid screen presence and her effortlessness in lighting it up in role after role contrasted with her fragmented, chaotic real life which she never seemed to understand and eventually cut short. There are so many remarkable personalities in the history of film, but none, in my opinion, who seem as unreal and fictional as Marilyn Monroe. Dragan Antulov, Film.Purger.com So, IMHO, the most remarkable personality in the history of films is Stanley Kubrick. He showed great diversity in his filmography, and in the same time all of his films had a recognisable style and very palpable world view.

Jeanne Aumuth, Palo Alto Weekly
Without question, the most remarkable personality in the history of motion pictures is Orson Welles. He did it all - stage, radio, and film, and created a timeless masterpiece (CITIZEN KANE) at the tender age of 25.

Jorge Avila Andrade, Moviola
For me, the most remarkable personality in the history of motion pictures is Steven Spielberg, because he's responsible of the 'marriage' between the commercial and the artistic. In Mexican cinema, I believe is Pedro Infante, because nobody have had the emotional impact of him. It's simply the greatest actor of our moviemaking industry.

James Berardinelli, Reel Views
Three names come to mind: Hitchcock, Brando, and Welles. I discount Hitchcock almost immediately. He was a great director, but a "remarkable personality"? Don't think so. That leaves Brando and Welles, both of whom had personality in spades. Brando wins when it comes to physical girth and overall strangeness, but Welles was more flamboyant, and his ego was second-to-none. So I'll go with Orson Welles.

Rob Blackwelder, Spliced Wire
I don't think I can really come up with one person for this question. It's so vague. Even if it was more specific (most influential?), I don't think I could do it. But I will tell you who eventually popped into my head, and keep in mind I haven't put much thought into this. Billy Wilder, mainly because the guy could cross into any genre and make a remarkable film.

Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews
I guess I'd have to say Alfred Hitchcock, who consistently made great films both within and outside of the Hollywood system over a career that lasted over half a century. That's remarkable. One could also bring in the 'personality' aspect of the man by noting that he once alarmed dinner guests by having all the food dyed blue.

Robin Clifford, Reeling Reviews
In my heart, I'm inclined to say John Ford, but that would be based on personal preference. He's a great director, but I hesitate to call him the most remarkable personality. So, I guess I would have to say D.W. Griffith. He used film to create the first epic tales, produced a number of landmark films such as "The Birth of a Nation" and "Intolerance," but also created more personal, lyrical films as "Broken Blossoms" and "Way Down East." Griffith was the one to break filmic ground with his use of cutaways, close ups and dissolves to create visual tension in his movies. Some may argue that he is the equivalent of a caveman artist in view of the works of Murnau or Hitchcock, but I truly believe that these filmmakers and others benefitted from the groundbreaking technical and artistic innovations of Griffith.

Rose Cooper, 3 Black Chicks
I gave this a lot of thought. But every time I try to come up with an answer, it seems insufficient. I've said "Charlie Chaplin", "Katherine Hepburn", "Sidney Poitier", and "Gene Kelly", but even though I admire each of them greatly, those answers just seem too small. Then I realized why: the most remarkable "personality" in the history of motion pictures, isn't a person at all. It's the history itself. Look how far we've come from its humble beginnings! It's an all-encompassing event, that it could never be reduced to a single factor. Does the wonders of modern digital photography, trump the thrill of that first moving picture? Does the first "talkie" take a backseat to TMX/Dolby Digital/Surround Sound? Is Hattie McDaniel's historic Oscar win, any more - or less - important than the double whammy of Halle Berry and Denzel Washington? No, of course not. They each played a key role in getting us from yesterday to today, and beyond. So, if I had to choose, I'd have to say Motion Picture History is its most remarkable personality.

David Cornelius, Amazing-Colossal Site
Alfred Hitchcock. He's one of the few filmmakers who were just as interesting to watch as his movies. What other director would make light of his own work, joking about his upcoming features in such unusual trailers? What other director would play an ongoing game of "spot the filmmaker" in his own films? What other director so thoroughly understood the mechanics of the thriller genre, making interviews so compelling? What other director came ready with an endless supply of practical joke-related anecdotes? And what other director made do many films that were so friggin' great? Each aspect of Hitchcock's public persona--the genius filmmaker, the witty TV host, the clever promoter, the wise interviewee--was remarkable on its own; that all factors came from one person makes him the obvious answer. Plus, his voice was kinda cool.

Ryan Cracknell, Apollo Guide
Most colorful personality, eh. Well, I've given it some thought and I'm going to have to go with D.W. Griffith. A prolific director while the medium was still young, he revolutionized the way stories were told on film, made some movies that were both controversial and technically brilliant at the same time ("Birth of a Nation" comes to mind). Plus Griffith was willing to answer his criticisms by starting his own production company, essentially putting his money where his passion was.

Criminy Pete, CriminyPete.com
Good Gravy, what an impossible question. Rankings and lists are so dependent on mood, knowledge and subjectivity that nothing can ever be definitive. Also, "Remarkable" is such a silly word. "Able to be remarked upon." That's what it literally means. Therefore, "remarkability" would tend to be most easily judged by how much a personality has been remarked upon. In that case, it would most likely either be Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe or perhaps Marlon Brando or Frank Sinatra, or even John Lennon or Muhammad Ali, who count as motion picture personalities. You'd think that possibly, due to sheer amount of time passed, Charlie Chaplin or even Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny would qualify for this, but the sheer glut of remarks that Elvis and Marilyn have had bestowed upon them easily outweighs Chaplin, and I'm not going to count cartoons as actual personalities.

I think I'll have to go with Elvis Presley, though, due to the fact that he is remarked upon constantly in both movie circles AND music circles, while Marilyn never really staked her claim on the Billboard charts so much. Elvis Presley is a personality in the history of motion pictures, and I can't think of anybody that has been remarked upon more.

Tim Dirks, Greatest Films
Answer: Charlie Chaplin. Influential for revolutionizing the film industry - signed the papers to create United Artists with Pickford and Fairbanks. Served as actor, writer, director, producer, composer and choreographer (and even other tasks such as casting and editing) for most of his films. Portrayed the melancholy, upbeat Tramp character with great artistry and talent. One of the greatest actors in film history, and an international star. Incredible pantomime comedian. Three of his films voted into top 100 American films of all time by the AFI survey, and he was also voted into top 25 of male screen legends by same organization.

Curtis Edmonds, TXReviews.com
Jimmy Stewart had the remarkable quality of reflecting the personality of his directors while still maintaining his own charm and grace. Stewart was a rarity among movie stars in combining both a magnetic screen presence with depth and versatility. Equally at home in a Frank Capra heartwarmer, an Alfred Hitchcock thriller, and a John Ford Western, Stewart was remarkable in any and every role. And even more remarkable, he was a real-life hero, too, earning the rank of general in World War II.

Thom Fowler, eFilmCritic.com
The people who run independent repertory moviehouses, serving home-baked cookies and decent coffee at next to no profit are the most remarkable people in movie history. I also would say P.T. Barnum, because he understood the pleasure of spectacle that no doubt influenced the way the movie industry displays itself to the world.

Bryant Frazer, Deep Focus
This may be a boring, obvious answer to the question, but I think it's gotta be Orson Welles. Theatrical wunderkind arrives in Hollywood, scores the sweetest contract in the history of Hollywood contracts, makes the greatest movie of all time, and then endures one of the most painful career declines in history -- though even Welles' "decline" is dotted with small masterpieces. That Welles' life story resonates with KANE, making it more affecting in uncanny, history-spanning ways, further bolsters the argument. And the fact that Pauline Kael wrote an entire book dedicated to demolishing his reputation as KANE's auteur just seals the deal. Coolest. Director. Ever.

Blake French, FilmCritic.com
Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon stand out as the best movie personality. Although they are two different people, when combined, they made a single, very funny and very memorable personality.

Jeremy Heilman, Movie Martyr
My choice would be Godard. More than anyone he's completely convinced by the power of the medium to act not just as a mode of personal and political expression, but as a prism through which the world can (must?) be viewed. He's cloistered himself outside of the mainstream with his methods and extreme dialectics, but still resolutely clings to his ideals, placing cinema above all else, including his own point of view. If anyone speaks to the sheer power that the movies have to reinvent the way that we see the world, surely it's him.

Brandon Judell, IndieWire
The most important person in film history for me is Henri Laglois, who founded the Cinémathèque. He realized film was an art, and he started preserving many great features we today cannot imagine being without. With thanks to Henri, many celluloid treasures would be out of reach, turned into dust by carelessness and indifference. And he saved everything he could get his hands on. He thought to do otherwise would be a form of censorship. He single-handedly helped create the international archive movement.

James Kendrick, Film Desk at Q Network
While I can't say that he is "the" most remarkable person in film history, I would have to say that one of the most remarkable was David O. Selznick. Working outside the confines of the Studio System at a time when that was a virtual impossibility, he was one of the most committed producers to ever work in Hollywood. Fiery, brash, confident and, most important of all, independent, he paved the way for every powerful producer ever since.

Kevin Laforest, Montreal Film Journal
I want to say Steven Spielberg, because I don't believe any other filmmaker has ever balanced so successfully art and commerce, sometimes even in the same movie. For twenty five years, he has practically modeled Hollywood, for better more often than for worst.

Jon Lap, Apollo Guide
Daryl Zanuck's genius came in many forms. His uncanny providence proved a consistent understanding of what the public desired. The heartrending hands of his past further controls the nob that brings his achievements into sharper focus. Said more simply, he is a man who crawled from the ashes of maternal abandonment, much like the Phoenix, to find external greatness beyond belief. Sadly, external success never amounted to inner self-acceptance. However, such a severe fate drew the line for which the final equation was to be totaled underneath.

This sum was Daryl Zanuck: cocky, arrogant and ruthless, the very caricature of a movie tycoon with ever-present cigar, sunglasses, and starlet by his side. Zanuck's genius spread to the creation of the most ambitious war film ever attempted, THE LONGEST DAY, as well as other enduring and controversial films (THE GRAPES OF WRATH, HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY, PINKY, GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT).

Not always in an exalted position, Zanuck was forced to climb on the ledge of his divine instincts to find a landscape of achievement. From his position as production head of Warner Brothers at age twenty-three, and as the founder of 20th Century-Fox, Zanuck used his intuition for storyline, editing, casting and directing to elude categorization as just a stuffed-suit appendage. Largely responsible for carving the preeminent place film has in our culture, creating Hollywood as not merely a place, but a state of mind, Daryl F. Zanuck resembles one of film history's most remarkable personalities.

Kamal Larsuel, 3 Black Chicks
Orson Welles. He took the risk of biting the hand that fed him. He wanted Hollywood to be so much more than it was and worked hard to go against the grain even if it meant fame and fortune would take a backseat. From an African-American perspective I would have to say Spike Lee. I don't always agree with him, but like Orson Welles, he makes it his mission to slap Hollywood in the face every chance he gets.

Andrew Manning, Radio Free Movie Reviews
I'd have to go with Godzilla, because, as an actor, he was able to go from rampaging mutant beast to alien-fighting superhero without the slightest bit of trouble. All that range, and he never once demanded a $20 million paycheck!

Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide Online
Sergei Eisenstein, for looking at the fledgling movie medium and seeing both the art behind the business and the potential of visual metaphor to convey complex ideas. Eisenstein composed images in widescreen when everyone saw in 1:1.33 and cut like someone weaned on MTV before television -- let alone music video -- was a gleam in pop culture's collective eye.

Mike McGranahan, Gamut Magazine
This is obviously a tough question, but the person I chose was coincidentally the first person I thought of: Steven Spielberg. He's been responsible for more great movies than any other filmmaker ever: "Jaws," "E.T.," the Indiana Jones trilogy, "Schindler's List," "Saving Private Ryan," and so on. He can make unbeatable popcorn movies (like "Jurassic Park"), but also more personal films that are deeply affecting (such as "Schindler's List," which I think is the greatest film of all time). Additionally, he has used his talents as producer and mogul to help other filmmakers advance their work. He has given a lot to audiences but he's also given back to the industry as well.

Eric Monder, Film Journal
I'm tempted to say Slim Pickens (how can I pick just one person?), but if you want something serious then I'll nominate Augustin Le Prince. After all, if Christopher Rawlence is correct in his book, "The Missing Reel" (Antheneum, 1990), Le Prince is an unheralded hero (the inventor of the first moving picture camera and projector), and Thomas Alva Edison is dastardly villain (he may had done in Le Prince in order to steal his patent).

John A. Nesbit, Culture Dose
I'm not going to attempt being objective about the "most remarkable personality in film history" since Luis Bunuel has been a recent obsession. But Bunuel must be considered for a variety of reasons: his ambiguous nationality (was he Spanish, French, and/or Mexican), his years hanging out with the most creative avant garde artists of the day, his creative "eyeball slicing" genius changing the way cinema was seen. Also, anyone who can shock Charlie Chaplin by destroying his Christmas tree must rank high on the "remarkable personality" scale!

Eugene Novikov, Ultimate Movies
I've sat here for some time trying to come up with an intelligent-sounding answer to this question, but keep coming back to one person. Perversely enough, it is Lucille Ball. All of her endeavors, both film and tv, have been geared towards the design of a single personality, and by the end of her career, it was perfected. No one in motion picture history has made me laugh so hard, so consistently and so many times.

Harvey O'Brien, Harvey's Movie Reviews
Hmmmm. Difficult question to answer, but the first name that leapt to mind was Alfred Hitchcock. He was both a 'personality' in that his unique self was as much a trademark as his work was, and he was also 'remarkable' in the sense that his films have left an indelible mark upon the cinema on the whole. In a sense it's an easy answer to a tricky question, but I'm a believer in responding to my gut, so we'll leave it at that.

James O'Ehley, The Sci-Fi Movie Page
Woody Allen. He may not be making movies as great as "Manhattan" and "Annie Hall" anymore, but he keeps on making movies that never kowtow to Hollywood formulas and commercialism. And while his movies never make any money really - they keep on letting him make movies!

Mike Pinsky, Daily-Reviews
I'd have to go with Orson Welles: a huge influence on both mainstream ("Citizen Kane") and independent filmmaking (everything he made after Hollywood kicked him out), a technical innovator and adept at assimilating the innovations of others, involved in both "important" films and schlock (to pay the bills, of course). He was also a tremendous influence on others, yet both creative and self-destructive in his own career. And the story behind "Citizen Kane" and his personal battles both during and after are a prime example of not only the relationship between cinema and other media, but everything that is both great and corrupt about Hollywood. I cannot think of any other figure who covers so many aspects of cinema, its history, art, and politics, better.

John J. Puccio, DVD Town
Although his "Birth of a Nation" remains controversial, few people contributed as much to the evolution of filmmaking as D.W. Griffith. Called by many "the father of film," Griffith developed and refined modern editing techniques, cinematography, storytelling, and created some of cinema's first major epics. He may have faded away from the screen by the early "talking" era, but his influence is still felt in movie studios all over the world. He was a remarkable fellow.

Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
I've considered Jean Renoir, Jean-Luc Godard, Eric von Stroheim, Charlie Chaplin, and Jerry Lewis, but I'm going to go with Orson Welles. It's partly because I've recently read Movie Wars, and I'm currently riding Jonathan Rosenbaum's jock. But Welles is a unique figure in film history, and I think his career as a filmmaker, actor, pitchman, subject of many essays and books, and Merv Griffin guest illustrate American culture's notions of creative independence, genius, failure, and celebrity, and the limitations of those ideals.

Kevin A. Ranson, Movie Crypt
Unquestionably: Alfred Hitchcock. Most new writers, screenplays, directors, and films all seem to find themselves compared to the works of the master of suspense or the man himself. To paraphrase Tangina from the film "Poltergeist": "(Hitchcock) knows what scares you. (He) has from the very beginning."

Robert Roten, Laramie Movie Scope
My nomination is Mary Pickford because she was one of the first big stars in cinema and because she was the first woman to run a movie studio. As a founding member of United Artists, she paved the way for future stars and directors to have more creative control of films. She was not merely a talented pioneer, but a true visionary and a person of courage and conviction.

Greg Dean Schmitz, Yahoo's Upcoming Movies
I think the most remarkable personality in film history is Charles Chaplin. Chaplin was the first true super star, bridging the gap between vaudeville and the new cinematic art form; the giant of his age. Chaplin directed, produced, wrote, composed his music, did his own stunts... and was the co-founder of a studio in the form of United Artists. If one imagines a world without Chaplin, it's possible another silent star might have taken his place as the king (perhaps Harold Lloyd, perhaps Buster Keaton), but it's difficult to imagine that such a proxy would have taken the daring and iconic paths.

Nathan Shumate, Cold Fusion Video
Hmm. As cliche as it may be, I'd probably have to go with Orson Welles, who basically planted all of the techniques that would become the tools and language of twentieth century cinema.

Stefan Birgir Stefansson, SBS.is
About 200 names came to mind when I read the question but if I have to choice Marlon Brando. I did change the way actors acted in "A Streetcar Named Desire," and when he starred in "Superman" he paved the way for major actors to do popcorn movies, like Jack Nicholson in "Batman." He may not be the greatest person in the world but when I think of a great actor, Marlon Brando is one of the first one that springs to mind.

David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor
I guess I'd have to go with an oldie like D.W. Griffith, who wasn't the single-handed founder of narrative film that some make him out to be, but did more than any other single person to conceptualize and consolidate the stylistic and technical practices that gave birth to the classical film style, which remains the foundation of most commercial cinema to this day. He's also remarkable for his shortcomings as a thinker about social and psychological realities, despite his forward-looking ideas in the art of filmmaking itself.

Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion
I've given your question some thought and, though there are many names that could be cited, I'd say Alfred Hitchcock. For a couple of reasons: (1) He created the "above the title" director in the modern era after the dominance of the studio system. (Sure, Griffith had done so at the industry's beginning, but that personal stamp had become lost in the studio age.); (2) he thus gave birth to the entire "auteur" theory of filmmaking, which is still a dominant school of criticism here and abroad. Most of today's "big" directors are Hitchcockians; (3) he went further by making himself--though hardly a photogenic presence--a star in his own right, in advertising, in publishing, and on television; and (4) he created the modern big studio B-movie-as-A-movie with "Psycho." Before then, pictures like that would have been relegated to the lower half of double bills. Without it "Jaws" and "Star Wars" and all of today's "event movies" would have been inconceivable.

The fact that Hitchcock did all this--and made personal masterpieces in the guise of popular cinema, too--with a physique and a personality that hardly had leading-man charisma gives him a claim, I think, to being the most remarkable personage in the history of the movies.

Rumsey Taylor, NotComing.com
Roger Corman. He is influential (Bogdanovich, Cameron, Coppola, Demme, Sayles, and Scorsese were all given a start under his helm), exceedingly successful (he has boasted the uncanny statistic of having never directed a film that did not recoup its budget), efficient (arguably his first success, "Little Shop of Horrors" was shot in a mere two days), and apparent (he has produced over three hundred films, directed and acted in over fifty ). On the distributive front, Corman is responsible for securing the American releases of films by Bergman, Fellini, Herzog, Kurosawa, and Truffaut. Remarkable indeed.

Betty Jo Tucker, Reel Talk Reviews
My pick for the most remarkable personality in the history of motion pictures is Judy Garland. She could do it all -- sing, dance, act in comedies or in dramas -- better than anyone else before or since. Each time I watch one of Garland's many films, I'm amazed all over again at her raw talent. And nobody haunts my movie memories quite like Judy's Dorothy singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

Dean Winkelspecht, DVD Town
I would consider Alfred Hitchcock the most remarkable person in motion picture history. The directors and films that have been influenced by Hitchcock are innumerable. Today his films are still as powerful and important as they were decades ago and his hand will be felt in the craftwork of motion pictures for decades to come.

Tim Burton is quite a remarkable character too :)

Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
If we're talking on a purely personal level, my choice would have to be Steve Martin. As a kid, I used to listen (and dance) to his comedy albums constantly, and I've had a great time watching Martin progress from erudite absurdist to adored clown to superlative character actor. As a personality, I'd contend that he brings a sense of humor, wit, and class to an industry sorely in need of such things. (The periodic comparisons to the immortal Spencer Tracy seem rather appropriate.) Though the former 'wild & crazy guy' is also known as a devoted art collector, best-selling author, and award winning playwright, my admiration stems mainly from a series of wonderful film performances.

He may not have starred in many 'modern classics', but Steve Martin has constructed an impressive repertoire of universally adored characters. Any movie fan worth his salt can quote Neil Page's car-rental diatribe from "Planes, Trains & Automobiles." Who among us hasn't tried out Martin's bizarre Italian inflections from "My Blue Heaven" or screamed "He hates these cans!" in their finest Navin Johnson voice?

Not many actors can play a homicidal singing dentist, pen one of the finest takes on Cyrano ever conceived, insert himself seamlessly into the beloved film noirs of old, somehow convince the world that half his body is inhabited by Lily Tomlin, and steal an entire scene from Miss Piggy in her debut feature. The guy gave Ron Howard his best flick to date, offered a love letter to Los Angeles that ranks among Woody Allen's finest NY valentines, fell in love with a dismembered brain, took a big chance on a wonderful (yet poorly received) old-fashioned musical, and starred with Charles Grodin in one of the best comedies nobody's ever seen. At risk of sounding sappy, I just love the guy. He may never win an Oscar, but I'll always tip my hat to Steve Martin. And he may not be the most 'remarkable' name in movies, but he sure is around my house.

William Wolf, Wolf Entertainment Guide
If you confine the question to American cinema, it is a tossup between Orson Welles and Charlie Chaplin. Welles not only had a profound influence on the art of film but was an icon representing the struggles to pursue an independent course and make worthwhile films. Chaplin at the height of his success achieved a universal appeal and enormous popularity throughout the world as well as helping to set up an independent company early-on, and he was, of course, a subject of great controversy.