Leslie Howard was another wooden stick, but everyone loved to WATCH him, especially in Gone With the Wind.
There's many others I can't think of right now who couldn't act their way out of a popcorn bag....but who had or have that certain "aura", face, carriage, way-of-speaking plus a certain presence that commands/compels attention.
Hedy Lamar, Ava Gardner and Robert Taylor mostly were just "in motion" when it came to real acting, but the only thing that the plastic trio really had to do was look gorgeous with not a hair out of place throughout the entire film. Folks just loved to LOOK at them.
Peter Lorre looked like an ugly little garden gnome....but in his case, he could ACT very well....and moviegoers loved to LOOK at him in his many wonderful character roles.
I guess it boils down to either you have "it" or you don't have "it"....and "it" can be in many forms, not necessarily beauty, glamor or acting ability, but just the actor's own particular form of "it"....if you follow me....LOL.
Gary Cooper had "it" in spades.
Leni
I agree with you...but I can’t get over his ineptness in the courtroom scene in “The Fountainhead”.
For my money, Coop was great in pix like PETER IBBETSON , THE WESTERNER and MOROCCO, but casting him in the lead in MARCO POLO ranks among the worst ideas ever.
Hedy Lamar was no dummy.