There are traditional cowboys and tough guys on the list, but the former (as in Stagecoach , 1939, and The Searchers , 1956) is limited mostly to John Wayne, and the latter (as in The Maltese Falcon , 1941) to Humphrey Bogart; and you get the sense these films were chosen more out of nostalgia for their stars than for their dramatic power.
These films were selected because of sentimental feelings for the actors instead of for the films dramatic strengths.