03. Marlon Brando - THE GODFATHER (1972)
One of Marlon Brando's most notable roles, the image of him as gangster Vito Corleone is quite possibly more iconic than those of him as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire or Johnny Strabler in The Wild One. The photo displays the intense menace of the character and the bloated Brando resembles very little of the dashing young actor evident in the earlier photos. The composition of the image - the dark tones that shroud Brando in copious amounts of shadow as well as beams of harsh light - helps generate an element of mystery surrounding the character as well as eluding to his power. The still has become a classic image of gangster cinema and is available in a number of formats today - remaining iconic of both the film itself and the emerging New Hollywood movement of the 1970s.