6. Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose, Midnight in Paris, Big Fish, Public Enemies, Nine)

Cotillard struck a chord in us when she donned Edith Piaf's famously high forehead and thin brows in La Vie en Rose, establishing the coy and languid charm she would bring to nearly every role. Watching her play Picasso’s muse Adriana in Midnight in Paris, we want to make like Owen Wilson and flee into another century with Cotillard. Somehow, though, we don't find her quite as toothsome in modern-day films — she was a little crazy in Inception, but it wasn't the old-timey, good kind of crazy.  

7. Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean 1-∞, Pride & Prejudice, The Duchess, Atonement, Anna Karenina)

We loved Keira Knightley in A Dangerous Method, where her portrayal of Sabina Spielrein (patient, student, and mistress of Carl Jung) featured lace, high collars, top buns, and some light bondage. But  that's no surprise — her ever-hanging lower lip is best accompanied by corsets, hoop skirts, and tight banana curls. (See: The Duchess, Anna Karenina, or hell, everything.) Her brand of pouty persuasion is so inextricably linked to the period-piece market that seeing her in 21st-century clothing (as in Domino) now seems oddly anachronistic. And libido-killing.

8. Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility, An Education, Brideshead Revisited, Much Ado About Nothing)

Are you watching a Victorian romance starring an acerbic, assertive female lead who can hold her own against her cocksure male counterpart? You’re probably watching an Emma Thompson film. The resident wit of this list, Emma Thompson can work a bonnet and a satin frock like no other highly-lauded, classically-trained actress. We're equally aroused and amused watching her Beatrice scrap with Kenneth Branagh’s Benedict in Much Ado About Nothing. Sadly, the same could not be said for her dour contemporary author in Stranger Than Fiction.

9. Cate Blanchett (Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Robin Hood, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Elizabeth)

Cate Blanchett's sculpted cheekbones automatically generate an air of regality, refinement, and wisdom. Slather those cheekbones in wigs and powder, and for some reason, it works even better, as evinced by her Queen Elizabeth. I'm Not There only solidified her cross-generational sexiness: getting aroused by a woman imitating Bob Dylan at the height of his anemic, speed-popping misanthropy is not easy, but Blanchett made it look like a breeze. 

10. Kate Winslet (Titanic, Revolutionary Road, Finding Neverland, Sense and Sensibility)

While her films always display her rich range as an actress, it’s Winslet’s timeless features and form that land her on this list. Much as we loved Eternal Sunshine, seeing Winslet in a hoodie instead of a corset just seemed wrong, not to mention dowdy. We prefer her Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility or Sylvia Llewelyn Davies in Finding Neverland. And obviously, her performance as Rose DeWitt Bukater helped a whole generation of men learn how sexy the early 20th century really was.