I recently read this volume as well as its companion, Leading Ladies: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actresses of the Studio Era, and thoroughly enjoyed both while agreeing with others that the selections may have been biased if executives within the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) organization were involved in the decision as to whom to include and whom to omit. For example, Alan Ladd but not Tyrone Power. That said, both volumes offer a Foreword by Robert Osborne and an Introduction by Molly Haskell and have the same reader-friendly format which consists of a brief but adequate bio of the given actor followed by selections (with comments) of his "essential films," then a "Behind the Scenes" section. Here are a few brief excerpts.

From the brief bio of Charles Chaplin: "Even as late as 1972, a decision to honor him with a special Academy Award was considered controversial, though it marked the start of a series of late-life honors for the man who helped invent motion pictures."

From the brief bio of Clark Gable: "When the book Gone with the Wind became a runaway best seller, fans clamored for him to play Rhett Butler. Gable resisted (he hated period films after the failure of 1937's Parnell) but gave in when MGM agreed to pay a divorce settlement to his second wife so that he could marry Carol Lombard."

From the "Essential Films" of Rock Hudson: "Although [Seconds] initially failed at the box office, director John Frankenheimer's tale of an aging businessman (Hudson) who hires a mysterious organization to fake his death and rebuild him surgically has become a cult classic."

From the "Essential Films" of Steve McQueen: "In his favorite film [The Thomas Crowne Affair], McQueen was a slick millionaire who seduces insurance investigator Faye Dunaway to cover up his involvement in a bank robbery."

From "Behind the Scenes"of Henry Fonda: "On the first day of shooting for On Golden Pond (1981), costar Katherine Hepburn gave [him] a fishing hat that had belonged to her longtime companion Spencer Tracy. He wore it throughout the film."

From "Behind the Scenes" of Gregory Peck: "In Roman Holiday (1953), Peck improvised the moment in which he pretends to have lost his hand in 'The Mouth of Truth.' Audrey Hepburn's screams of horror, followed by delighted laughter, were real."

It would be unfair to expect more of this volume than what it was intended to be: An enjoyable, often informative discussion of 50 actors of the studio era, most of whom are "unforgettable." More a quibble than a complaint, I wish those who organized the material in this volume had also identified (in a bibliography) the biography of each actor which is generally regarded as most accurate and comprehensive.

I was extremely disappointed in this book. Just because Turner Classic Movies does not own 20th Century Fox films does not give them the right to rewrite history and leave out Tyrone Power. I cannot think of anything more ridiculous than including Bing Crosby and Buster Keaton and omitting one of the great stars of the classic era. Hello, there's a difference between LEADS - which Keaton, Harold Lloyd and Edgar G. Robinson certainly were - and LEADING MEN - which connotes a more romantic status. Where's Cornel Wilde? Ooops - wrong studio! Where's Tony Curtis? Dana Andrews? Leslie Howard? Glenn Ford? Douglas Fairbanks Jr.? Richard Widmark? David Niven? A couple of the actors covered are a real stretch for "leading man" status - so they really had to work hard to come up with 50 AND eliminate Tyrone Power and others.

Just to focus on Tyrone Power, he was in the top ten box office stars in 1938, 1939, and 1940. He was crowned King of Hollywood in 1937. After the war, he continued to place in the top 20 box office stars. When he died - unlike Errol Flynn - he was still an international star commanding top dollar. In fact, the film Witness for the Prosecution would not have been made without him. When he turned it down, the project was abandoned. Wilder then went back to him and offered him a huge amount of money plus a percentage of the gross.

Tyrone Power was considered one of the handsomest men to ever make movies and he was one of the great swashbucklers, starring in films such as The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, Son of Fury, Captain from Castile, Prince of Foxes, and The Black Rose.

I submit that this is not "Leading Men: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actors of the Studio Era" but rather "Leading Men: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actors Whose Films Are Owned by TCM." Others need not apply.

As the inevitable sequel to "Leading Ladies" released last spring, this glossy paperback covers their male counterparts in exactly the same format. Robert Osborne, longtime host of the Turner Movie Classics (TCM) and veteran film critic Molly Haskell have again winnowed down a list that presents the fifty actors they feel epitomized enduring box office appeal when the major Hollywood studios dominated the business and groomed its stars. For each of the legends, there is a full-page close-up photo, a thumbnail profile which includes even astrological sign, a select filmography of most memorable roles, selected stills, and some intriguing trivia. Like "Leading Ladies", it's all superficial but supremely entertaining for movie buffs.

Whereas the top actress list Osborne and Haskell assembled has a few idiosyncratic choices (e.g., Louise Brooks), as well as some pickings from the second-tier pool (e.g., Debbie Reynolds), the final list here feels somewhat more definitive. I believe this has far less to do with comparative quality than it does with the inherent sexism of a business where male actors were more typically maintained for box office longevity given the painfully erroneous notion that actresses have shorter shelf lives. There are the obvious no-brainers included as their status has gone well beyond iconic proportions - Bogart, Cooper, Gable, Astaire, Tracy, Cagney, Grant, Wayne, Fonda, Stewart, Olivier. Brando, of course, is here as well as his Method-oriented brethren - Clift, Dean (a legacy based on just three films) and in the same generation, Newman, Poitier and McQueen.

Several actors on the list have either faded almost completely or been severely underestimated in hindsight, and the editors have smartly included them here - Joel McCrea, John Garfield, Paul Muni, Edward G. Robinson and Alan Ladd are good examples. There is also a healthy dose of actors who dominated in the silent era - Valentino, Chaplin, Fairbanks, Keaton, John Barrymore, Lon Chaney, Harold Lloyd and likely the least remembered, John Gilbert, MGM's top screen draw in the 1920's and the most infamous casualty of the talkie revolution. Then there are a few whose personalities, other show business pursuits or private lives have so overshadowed their images that one tends to forget how vital they were on the big screen - Bob Hope, Mickey Rooney, Frank Sinatra, Rock Hudson, Bing Crosby.

The arbitrary cut-off of luminaries included looks to be around 1960 since actors like Sean Connery and Robert Redford are not included, though I wish the editors were more forthcoming about the actual prerequisites since Peter O'Toole is here. When one looks at a list that includes stalwarts like William Holden and Fredric March, it seems odd not to include enduring actors such as Tony Curtis, Tyrone Power, Richard Widmark, Robert Montgomery and Walter Matthau. From my perspective, the most egregious exclusion is Orson Welles, who was perhaps deprioritized since his staggering filmmaking talent was seen to overshadow his screen persona. I also wish the editors could have included some recognition for foreign actors of similar stature in the same era, for example, Jean Gabin, Toshiro Mifune and Marcello Mastroianni. But this is all part of the fun. The others on the top fifty list, in case you're wondering, are Charles Boyer, Ronald Colman, Kirk Douglas, Errol Flynn, Gene Kelly, Burt Lancaster, Jack Lemmon, Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, William Powell, Anthony Quinn and Robert Taylor.