FRANKLIN Bobadilla, my friend in Amsterdam who?s a diehard Audrey Hepburn fan, emailed me a list in which the star of ?Breakfast at Tiffany?s,? ?My Fair Lady? and ?Roman Holiday? was named the ultimate screen beauty of all time. Note the operative words: ?of all time.?

I couldn?t disagree too much with the choice of Hepburn because, indeed, she has had a lasting effect on the worlds of cinema and fashion. There?s such a thing as the Hepburn look?eyes, eyebrows, lips and jaw line. She was also known for her emaciated body silhouette.

Choices

I also agree with the choices of Elizabeth Taylor, Vivien Leigh, Brigitte Bardot and Doris Day. Taylor?s influence on Hollywood and the world?s perception of beauty is unique and long-lasting. Ask Amalia Fuentes.

Vivien Leigh?s fragile beauty contrasted with her piercing, cat-like green eyes. I mean, how can you talk about ?Gone With the Wind? and not remember Scarlett O?Hara?s beauty?

Brigitte made slim but shapely bodies lasciviously desirable. Doris infused the All-American look with eroticism.

However, I question the choices of Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly because they were not ?original.? Monroe?s platinum-blonde, sex siren look was patterned after Jean Harlow, while the beauty of the Philadelphia heiress-turned-Princess of Monaco was patterned after the Swedish import, Ingrid Bergman.

What happened to Gloria Swanson, Theda Bara, Clara Bow, Mary Pickford, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford? They were original, and they made a difference in film viewers? concept of screen pulchritude. And, what about Ava Gardner? Her face and figure were acclaimed by Hollywood?s greatest cinematographers and make-up artists.

I suspect that the panel that chose the list was made up of young people, because they included contemporary beauties like Angelina Jolie, Catherine Zeta Jones, Keira Knightley, Halle Berry, Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Cameron Diaz, Scarlett Johansson, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Aniston, Michelle Pfeiffer and Liv Tyler.

Standards

Most of them are beautiful by today?s standards. But, isn?t Zeta Jones a lookalike of the exotic Yvonne de Carlo?

Pfeiffer and Theron are outstanding only because they remind us of the great beauties of Hollywood?s Golden Age. Tyler is very pretty, but she pales in comparison to the young Liz Taylor. And, Aniston is not even as pretty or as cute as June Allyson.

A decade from now, most of the young names on the list shall have been forgotten. But, Garbo, Dietrich, Horne, Harlow, Bara, Crawford and, yes, Hepburn and Taylor, will last forever!