Sidney Lumet 1924-2011

[cinemabon]

Director Sidney Lumet has passed. He started early in life acting in New York Yiddish theater. He even had an acting troupe of ex-Lee Strausberg actors that included Yul Brenner and Eli Wallach. He started out in television, eventually working his way into the director's spot. He worked with Ed Murrow in "You are there." His film debut, "12 Angry Men" brought him critical success and acclaim. From there, he had a long illustrious career in Hollywood, nominated five times as Best Director but never won (He was given an honoree award in 2005). Several pictures he directed were nominated for Best Picture. Here is the list of the best in chronological order:

12 Angry Men (AA nom)
The Fugitive Kind
Long Day's Journey in Night
The Pawnbroker
Failsafe
The Hill
The group
The Seagull
The Appointment
The Anderson Tapes
Child's Play
Serpico
Murder on the Orient Express
Dog Day Afternoon (AA nom)
Network (AA nom)
Equus
The Wiz
Prince of the City (AA nom)
Deathtrap
The Verdict (AA nom)
Power
The morning after
Family Business
Gloria
Before the devil knows you're dead

An actor's director, Lumet had incredible ability to communicate with his actors and drew from them several Oscar nominated/winning performances. My personal favorite is "12 Angry Men." I can watch that film any day of the week and enjoy it each time, purely an actor's movie made by an actor's director - the finest performances from a stellar cast. Sid leaves behind a great legacy of work, one that will live on for many decades to come. We mourn his passing.

[oscar jubis]

Thanks cinemabon. I am curious as to which films of Lumet filmleafers like the most...As a form of acknowledgement for his passing, I am listing the following as the ones I think are best, roughly in order of preference. I am sure some will disagree...

Prince of the City
Dog Day Afternoon
Long Day's Journey into Night
Night Falls on Manhattan
Find Me Guilty
Serpico
The Verdict
12 Angry Men
Murder on the Orient Express
Network

[Chris Knipp]

His movies could grab you and hold you. My sure picks are TWELVE ANGRY MEN and DOG DAY AFTERNOON, both totally gripping experiences that I have not forgotten seeing in theaters when they were new and both having those qualities of compulsive, glue-you-to-the-screen intensity, which also meant opportunities for actors to chew up the rug and make us love every minute of it. In person four years ago it seemed hard to believe he was in his eighties when I saw him at the New York Film Festival press Q&A after his BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD. (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18531#post18531) I didn't entirely like it, but it had that intensity, and certainly didn't seem one bit like the work of an old man. He was 83 then. Many of his other films were strong but those two are the ones I'd care about.

[Johann]

Giant. Gone. He left a mark. Sidney Lumet will be greatly missed. He's a Legend.
My favorite is Serpico, but Dog Day Afternoon is Awesome.
And so are most of his films.