76. Burt Lancaster as J.J. Hunsecker
      Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Lancaster was still a matinee idol when he made this most acidic of noirish dramas, which is why he shocked audiences when he first appeared onscreen as the all-powerful gossip columnist holding court at ‘21’. A predator at rest—you can practically hear his tail thumping against the floor—Lancaster spits out his dialogue seemingly before it can corrode his gums; moving from one to the next, he coldly, brutally cuts down to pathetic size all of his tablemates. Over the next hour or so, we wait for him to show some glimmer of humanity, something besides the capacity for offhand cruelty. No dice.

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