MRQE Ranks: The Films of Sidney Lumet

1

Network (1976)

Cast: Beatrice Straight, Ned Beatty, Arthur Burghardt, Bill Burrows, John Carpenter, Jordan Charney, Wesley Addy, Robert Duvall, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Peter Finch

Director: Sidney Lumet

Writer: Paddy Chayefsky

Synopsis: In this lauded satire, veteran news anchorman Howard Beale (Peter Finch) discovers that he's being put out to pasture, and he's none too happy abou... [MORE]

2

12 Angry Men (1957)

Cast: Lee Cobb, Jack Klugman, Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Joseph Sweeney, George Voskovec, Robert Webber, Edward Binns, E.G. Marshall, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Warden, Henry Fonda, Ed Begley

Director: Sidney Lumet

Writer: Reginald Rose

Synopsis: Following the closing arguments in a murder trial, the 12 members of the jury must deliberate, with a guilty verdict meaning death for the accused,... [MORE]

3

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Cast: Sully Boyar, Penelope Allen, Carol Kane, Marcia Kurtz, Amy Levitt, Susan Peretz, John Cazale, Al Pacino, Charles Durning, Chris Sarandon, James Broderick

Director: Sidney Lumet

Writer: Frank Pierson

Synopsis: When inexperienced criminal Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino) leads a bank robbery in Brooklyn, things quickly go wrong, and a hostage situation develops. ... [MORE]

4

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

Cast: Philip Hoffman, Brian O'Byrne, Amy Ryan, Michael Shannon, Marisa Tomei, Ethan Hawke, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Albert Finney, Rosemary Harris

Director: Sidney Lumet

Writer: Kelly Masterson

Synopsis: Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a debt-ridden broker, needs some quick cash. He ropes his younger brother, Hank (Ethan Hawke), into a scheme to comm... [MORE]

5

The Verdict (1982)

Cast: Edward Binns, Julie Bovasso, Lindsay Crouse, Roxanne Hart, James Handy, Jack Warden, James Mason, Paul Newman, Milo O'Shea, Charlotte Rampling

Director: Sidney Lumet

Writer: David Mamet

Synopsis: A boozing lawyer (Paul Newman) takes on a law-firm dean (James Mason), the Archdiocese of Boston and the system in general. [MORE]

6

Night Falls on Manhattan (1996)

Cast: James Gandolfini, Shiek Mahmud-Bey, Colm Feore, Paul Guilfoyle, Lena Olin, Richard Dreyfuss, Ian Holm, Andy Garcia, Ron Leibman

Director: Sidney Lumet

Writer: Robert Daley, Sidney Lumet

Synopsis: New attorney Sean Casey (Andy Garcia), a former policeman, has been unexpectedly tapped to prosecute a case against drug dealer Jordan Washington (... [MORE]

7

Find Me Guilty (2006)

Cast: Raúl Esparza, Annabella Sciorra, Richard Portnow, Robert Stanton, Ben Lipitz, Frank Pietrangolare, Marcia Kurtz, Peter Dinklage, Linus Roache, Vin Diesel, Alex Rocco, Ron Silver

Director: Sidney Lumet

Writer: T.j. Mancini, Robert Mccrea, Sidney Lumet

Synopsis: Imprisoned on a drug charge, mobster Jack DiNorscio (Vin Diesel) refuses to testify against his former associates in the Lucchesi crime family. Whe... [MORE]

8

Gloria (1999)

Cast: George C. Scott, Barry McEvoy, Don Billett, Jerry Dean, Tony DiBenedetto, Teddy Atlas, Bonnie Bedelia, Jeremy Northam, Mike Starr, Sharon Stone, Cathy Moriarty, Jean-Luke Figueroa

Director: Sidney Lumet

Synopsis: After serving three years in prison covering for her gangster boyfriend, Kevin (Jeremy Northam), Gloria (Sharon Stone) returns to New York City for... [MORE]

9

The Pawnbroker (1964)

Cast: Marketa Kimbrell, Baruch Lumet, Juano Hernandez, John McCurry, Eusebia Cosme, Warren Finnerty, Jack Ader, E.M. Margolese, Marianne Kanter, Ed Morehouse, Marc Alexander, Thelma Oliver, Jaime Sanchez, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Rod Steiger, Brock Peters

Director: Sidney Lumet

Synopsis: Based on the novel by Edward Lewis Wallant, this drama focuses on former professor Sol Nazerman (Rod Steiger), the survivor of a German concentrati... [MORE]

10

Deathtrap (1982)

Cast: Joe Silver, Tony Di Benedetto, Al Le Breton, Henry Jones, Irene Worth, Christopher Reeve, Michael Caine, Dyan Cannon

Director: Sidney Lumet

Writer: Ira Levin, Jay Presson Allen

Synopsis: When once-successful playwright Sidney Bruhl (Michael Caine) sees his latest Broadway effort bomb on its opening night, he tumbles into despair -- ... [MORE]

11

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

Cast: Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Pierre Cassel, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave, Rachel Roberts, Richard Widmark, Michael York, Colin Blakely, George Coulouris, Ingrid Bergman, Lauren Bacall, Albert Finney, Sean Connery, Martin Balsam

Director: Sidney Lumet

Writer: Paul Dehn, Anthony Shaffer, Agatha Christie

Synopsis: Having concluded a case, detective Hercule Poirot (Albert Finney) settles into what he expects will be a relaxing journey home aboard the Orient Ex... [MORE]

12

The Wiz (1978)

Cast: Richard Pryor, Mabel King, Theresa Merritt, Thelma Carpenter, Carlton Johnson, Ted Ross, Nipsey Russell, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Lena Horne

Director: Sidney Lumet

Synopsis: When Harlem schoolteacher Dorothy (Diana Ross) tries to save her dog from a storm, she's miraculously whisked away to an urban fantasy land called ... [MORE]

13

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970)

Director: Sidney Lumet, Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Synopsis: This Academy Award-nominated documentary presents key events in the life of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. Beginning with the 1955 bu... [MORE]

14

Prince of the City (1981)

Cast: Jerry Orbach, Carmine Caridi, Tony Page, Norman Parker, Paul Roebling, Bob Balaban, James Tolkan, Steve Inwood, Lindsay Crouse, Matthew Laurance, Tony Di Benedetto, Lane Smith, Lance Henriksen, Treat Williams, Richard Foronjy, Don Billett, Kenny Marino

Director: Sidney Lumet

Synopsis: New York police officer Daniel Ciello (Treat Williams) is not a perfect cop. When Rick Cappalino (Norman Parker) from the U.S. Justice Department a... [MORE]

15

The Anderson Tapes (1971)

Cast: Alan King, Val Avery, Dick Williams, Garrett Morris, Stan Gottlieb, Paul Benjamin, Anthony Holland, Richard B. Shull, Conrad Bain, Margaret Hamilton, Judith Lowry, Max Showalter, Janet Ward, Scott Jacoby, Norman Rose, Meg Miles, John Call, Dyan Cannon, Christopher Walken, Sean Connery, Ralph Meeker, Martin Balsam

Director: Sidney Lumet

Synopsis: John "Duke" Anderson is a burglar (Sean Connery) recently released from prison who returns to his ex-girlfriend (Dyan Cannon) after 10 years to fin... [MORE]

17

The Fugitive Kind (1959)

Cast: R. Armstrong, Emory Richardson, Sally Gracie, Lucille Benson, John Baragrey, Ben Yaffee, Joe Brown Jr., Virgilia Chew, Frank Borgman, Marlon Brando, Maureen Stapleton, Joanne Woodward, Anna Magnani, Victor Jory

Director: Sidney Lumet

Writer: Tennessee Williams

Synopsis: When drifter Valentine Xavier (Marlon Brando) arrives in a southern town, he catches the eye of the married Lady Torrance (Anna Magnani) and the ov... [MORE]

18

Running on Empty (1988)

Cast: Jonas Abry, L.M. Kit Carson, Steven Hill, Augusta Dabney, David Margulies, Ed Crowley, Martha Plimpton, Christine Lahti, Judd Hirsch, River Phoenix

Director: Sidney Lumet

Synopsis: Arthur Pope (Judd Hirsch) and his wife, Annie (Christine Lahti), are fugitives, perpetually on the run from federal authorities due to their antiwa... [MORE]

19

Equus (1977)

Cast: Eileen Atkins, Jenny Agutter, Kate Reid, John Wyman, Elva Hoover, Ken James, Patrick Brymer, Harry Andrews, Colin Blakely, Peter Firth, Richard Burton, Joan Plowright

Director: Sidney Lumet

Synopsis: Dr. Martin Dysart (Richard Burton), a psychiatrist who has grown unhappy with his life, takes on the peculiar case of Alan Strang (Peter Firth), a ... [MORE]

20

Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962)

Cast: Jason Robards, Katharine Hepburn, Dean Stockwell, Ralph Richardson, Jason Robards Jr., Jeanne Barr

Director: Sidney Lumet

Synopsis: A quiet Connecticut vacation home is the backdrop for domestic decline. Sensitive son Edmund (Dean Stockwell) returns home from spending time at se... [MORE]