I know what you mean, though many will disagree,
I think a lot of the "big names" in acting relied on "screen presence"..and Sean Connery has that in spades.
The same could be said of John Wayne, Charlton Heston, and dozens of others.
I still enjoy practically every film Connery has appeared in, I guess charisma has a lot to do with it..does star quality and screen presence top acting ability? I think the answer is yes..sometimes.