Skewing Young

Certainly Harrison Ford has all of the qualities to have earned his status as a mega-successful star (“Speak Softly and Carry a Big Script,” by Robert W. Welkos, Feb. 13).

However, as a 23-year member of the American Film Institute, I am concerned with what seems to be an effort to give “the highest award for a career in film” a younger and more “hip” spin. With previous recipients such as Stewart, Fonda, Cagney, Davis, Stanwyck, Gish and Poitier, Ford’s inclusion begs an obvious footnote.

With so much focus on the power of box-office returns, opening weekends and target marketing, such selections appear to make AFI’s award more vulnerable, more contemporary and, consequently, less prestigious.

And while Ford might have yet to do his best work, I find it more unsettling that he will go home with that silver star that has yet to grace the mantels of Stanley Donen, Blake Edwards, Stanley Kramer, Sidney Lumet, Loretta Young, Olivia de Havilland, Paul Newman, Peter O’Toole, Deborah Kerr or Lauren Bacall.

GREGORY FARMER

Fullerton