Hannibal chews his way to top film villains list

HANNIBAL “The Cannibal” Lecter, portrayed

And Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird has defeated an army of swashbuckling idols for the top spot on the American Film Institute’s list of top screen heroes.

The institute unveiled its ranking yesterday of the top good and bad guys (and gals) in American filmFinch, played by Gregory Peck in the 1962 classic, was a faultlessly noble widower raising a daughter and son amid Southern racial unrest as he defended a black man accused of raping a white woman.

“I think Atticus Finch just represents the goodness all of us want to see in others and feel in ourselves,” said Jean Picker Firstenburg, the institute’s director.

Two Irish actors made the heroes list

They were Peter O’Toole (10th), as TE Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and Liam Neeson (13th) as Oskar Schindler in Schindler’s List.

Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones from Raiders Of The Lost Ark was second and Sean Connery’s James Bond from Dr No came in third.

Lecter, played by Hopkins in the 1991 thriller, plus the sequel Hannibal and the prequel Red Dragon, was a delectably fiendish serial killer.

norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) of Psycho was second on the villains’ list, and Darth Vader (played by David Prowse and voiced by James Earl Jones) third for The Empire Strikes Back.

Arnold Schwarzeneggerwas the only actor to place essentially the same character on both lists.

His malevolent cyborg from The Terminator was No 22 among villains, while his nice-guy cyborg in Terminator 2: Judgment Day placed 48th among heroes.

“I am absolutely ecstatic about it,” Schwarzenegger said.

“To say you are one of the 50 favourite villains and one of the 50 favourite heroes in the history of American motion pictures, that is unbelievable, and I felt very honoured.”