100 Greatest Movie Characters: 27

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."

27. Atticus Finch
To Kill A Mockingbird

Somewhere in the great pantheon of fictional fathers, among the Ward Cleavers and Homer Simpsons and Mufasas, there stands a king (moreso than a dang lion). A man of fantastic valor and morality. A strong-willed, deep-thinking man. Atticus Finch is that man.

Finch, a widowed lawyer with two kids, Jem and Scout, is possibly the most noble human being in history, real or fictional. He is prideful of his heritage as a southern gentleman but at the same time sees the changing times of racism and feels ashamed for the treatment of his differently colored brothers in his deeper south.

Atticus Finch is a model for men of tolerance and integrity since Harper Lee's original novel. And Gregory Peck plays him to absolute perfection.

Defining moment: His defense of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman. His speech, in a room filled to the brim with a lynch mob, is a touching plea to believe an honest man, regardless of his skin color.