griggs's - Sidney Lumet Ranked List
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12 Angry Men (1957)Twelve Angry Men
Eleven jurors are convinced that the defendant is guilty of murder. The twelfth has no doubt of his innocence. How can this one man steer the others toward the same conclusion? It's a case of seemingly overwhelming evidence against a teenager accused of killing his father in "one of the best pictures ever made". - Director:
- Sidney Lumet
- Cast:
- Henry Fonda, Martin Balsam, John Fiedler
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Fail-Safe (1964)Fail Safe
When a computer error deploys a squadron of SAC bombers to destroy Moscow, the American President (Henry Fonda) tries to call them back. But their sophisticated fail-safe system prevents him from aborting the attack, so he must convince the Soviets not to retaliate. In desperation, the President offers to sacrifice an American city if his pilots succeed in their deadly mission over Moscow. This Cold War thriller builds tension and suspense with every tick of the nuclear clock. - Director:
- Sidney Lumet
- Cast:
- Henry Fonda, Charles Tyner, Walter Matthau
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A plainclothes street patrolman, Frank Serpico (Al Pacino) might be the best cop in New York, but he's unwilling to play dirty and give into the police corruption surrounding drugs, violence, and kickbacks that his colleagues indulge in every day. When he decides to expose those around him, Frank finds himself a target - not just to the city's criminals, but to his own peers. - Director:
- Sidney Lumet
- Cast:
- Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe
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Dog Day Afternoon (1975)Tarde de perros
On a hot Brooklyn afternoon, two optimistic losers set out to rob a bank. Sonny (Al Pacino) is the mastermind, Sal (John Cazale) is the follower, and disaster is the result. Because the cops, crowds, TV cameras and even the pizza man have arrived. The "well-planned" heist is now a circus. Based on a true incident, this thriller earned six Academy Award nominations. - Director:
- Sidney Lumet
- Cast:
- Al Pacino, John Cazale, Penelope Allen
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Even more compelling today than when it was first released, Sidney Lumet's 'Network' is a wickedly funny, spot - on indictment of the TV news media. Winner of four Academy Awards including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay (Paddy Chayefsky), this searing satire stars Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch and Robert Duvall. When longtime news anchor Howard Beale (Finch) is fired, he suffers a violent, on - air breakdown. Ironically, his angry rantings boost his sagging ratings - much to the surprise and delight of the UBS brass. Subsequently rehired and reinvented as the "mad prophet of the airwaves", he soon becomes a pawn of ruthless programming executives who milk his madness for every share point it's worth. Of course, when the "prophet" ceases to be profitable, something has to be done about Beale, preferably on camera, before a live studio audience... - Director:
- Sidney Lumet
- Cast:
- Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch
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North Africa, World War II. British soldiers on the brink of collapse push beyond endurance to struggle up a brutal incline. It's not a military objective. It's The Hill, a man made instrument of torture, a tower of sand seared by a white-hot sun. And the troops' tormentors are not the enemy, but their own comrades-in-arms. Sean Connery headlines this stark tale of war inside military prison walls. The inmates are soldiers who once defied, rebelled, talked back. The wardens are sadists who perpetrate cruelty in the name of discipline. - Director:
- Sidney Lumet
- Cast:
- Sean Connery, Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen
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Andy, a frustrated, drug-using New York accountant with a failing marriage to Gina, is in desperate need of some money. He persuades his timid younger brother, to rob their parents' jewellery store and solve all of their monetary problems. But the job goes horribly wrong, triggering a series of events that sends the brothers and their father hurtling towards a shattering climax... - Director:
- Sidney Lumet
- Cast:
- Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney
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"The first thing a cop learns is that he can't trust nobody but his partners", Detective Danny Ciello tells an assistant D.A. "I sleep with my wife, but I live with my partners. I will never give them up". From Robery Daley's riveting book about New York City police-corruption investigations, director/co-writer Sidney Lumet's film portrays a squad that pays a terrible price when one in its ranks does just that. Treat Williams (as Ciello, inspired by real-life undercover narcotics cop Robert Leuci), Jerry Orbach, Bob Balaban and Lindsay Crouse give standout performance in this gripping film. - Director:
- Sidney Lumet
- Cast:
- Treat Williams, Jerry Orbach, Richard Foronjy
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Serpico. Dog Day Afternoon. Prince of the City. In these gritty and distinguished films, director Sidney Lumet held a mirror up to his adopted hometown, New York. In 'Bye Bye Braverman', he uses a funhouse mirror. The result is hilarious, satiric, wise, giddy - and no less trenchant. Sparked by a blue-ribbon cast, the film follows four Jewish intellectuals jammed into one Volkswagen and squabbling nonstop en route to the funeral of their friend Leslie Braverman. What happens on the way (a fender bender with a Yiddish-spouting African-American cabbie, a stop at the wrong funeral) forms the plot, but the kvetching, joking, fuming and ultimately fearful quartet forms the heart of this smart, sardonic comedy. - Director:
- Sidney Lumet
- Cast:
- George Segal, Jack Warden, Joseph Wiseman
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Sol Nazerman (Rod Steiger) is a survivor of the concentration camps, which took the lives of his wife and children. Managing a New York pawn shop, he is bereft of hope and takes refuge in condemnation of humanity while seemingly numb to the circumstances of the prostitutes, pimps and thieves that frequent his store. Yet there are those who strive to connect with him, even as their intrusion into his world threatens the protective cynicism within which he has wrapped himself for so long. - Director:
- Sidney Lumet
- Cast:
- Rod Steiger, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Brock Peters
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Duke Anderson (Sean Connery), released from prison after a 10-year term for safe-cracking, immediately starts planning and executing his next job, a daring million- dollar heist of an entire East Side New York apartment building. Among the wealthy tenants is his girlfriend Ingrid (Dyan Cannon), a wayward mistress who is under surveillance by her current means of support Werner (Richard B. Schulll). Duke and his gang of expert thieves, including Martin Balsam and Christopher Walken, plot their elaborate robbery, while their every move is monitored and recorded by Werner's private investigators and other agencies, unaware of each other and Duke's impending crime, the final explosive showdown between the police and Duke's crew is a stunning action set piece staged on Fifth Avenue. - Director:
- Sidney Lumet
- Cast:
- Sean Connery, Dyan Cannon, Martin Balsam
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