Sidney Lumet was the Oscar-nominated director who proved incredibly prolific during his career, directing over 40 movies in 50 years, from his feature debut “12 Angry Men” (1957) through his cinematic farewell “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” (2007). But how many of those titles remain classics? Let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born on June 25, 1924, Lumet got his start as a child actor, appearing in “One Third of a Nation” (1939) when he was 15 years old. After serving during WWII, he quickly began directing Off-Broadway plays before moving into the burgeoning medium of television, where he helmed hundreds of live teleplays. While working on episodes of “Playhouse 90,” “Kraft Theater” and many more, he honed his abilities to shoot quickly and economically.
His turned to movies with “12 Angry Men,” an adaptation of Reginald Rose‘s TV drama about a lone juror (Henry Fonda) holding out during a murder trial. The film brought Lumet his first Oscar nomination as Best Director, and it competed in Best Picture (for Fonda, who produced it) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Rose).
Lumet returned to the Oscar race four more times: three for directing (“Dog Day Afternoon” in 1975, “Network” in 1976 and “The Verdict” in 1982) and once for screenwriting (“Prince of the City” in 1981). Though he never won a competitive prize, he did receive an Honorary Award in 2005.
Most notably, the director proved to be a secret weapon for actors, guiding 17 performers to Academy Award nominations and four to victories: Ingrid Bergman for “Murder on the Orient Express” in 1974 and Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight for “Network.” Ned Beatty (“Network”), Richard Burton (“Equus”), Albert Finney (“Murder on the Orient Express”), Peter Firth (“Equus”), Jane Fonda (“The Morning After”), Katharine Hepburn (“Long Day’s Journey Into Night”), William Holden (“Network”), James Mason (“The Verdict”), Paul Newman (“The Verdict”), Al Pacino (“Serpico” and “Dog Day Afternoon”), River Phoenix (“Running on Empty”), Chris Sarandon (“Dog Day Afternoon”) and Rod Steiger (“The Pawnbroker”) all earned bids under his direction.
Amongst his other honors, Lumet won a Golden Globe for directing “Network,” competing again for “12 Angry Men,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Prince of the City,” “The Verdict” and “Running on Empty” (1988). He earned DGA bids for “12 Angry Men,” “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” (1962), “The Pawnbroker” (1965), “Serpico” (1973), “Murder on the Orient Express,” “Dog Day Afternoon” and “Network.” On the TV side, he competed at the Emmys for helming “The Sacco-Vanzetti Story: Part I” for “Sunday Showcase” in 1961.
Tour our photo gallery of Lumet’s 20 greatest films, including some of the titles listed above, as well as “Fail Safe” (1964), “The Hill” (1965), “Q & A” (1990) and more.
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20. THE OFFENCE (1973)
Image Credit: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Sidney Lumet. Written by John Hopkins, based on his play. Starring Sean Connery, Trevor Howard, Vivien Merchant, Ian Bannan.
As James Bond, Sean Connery played a charming secret agent who wasn’t above fighting dirty to get what he wanted. In “The Offence,” Lumet explores the deep, dark wounds lurking underneath the Bond persona. Based on the play by John Hopkins, it centers on a burned-out British officer who snaps when interrogating an accused child molester, beating the man to death. The film delves into the underlying reasons for Johnson’s outburst, eventually revealing his own victimhood at the hands of a predator. Connery’s fiery performance — one of the best of his career — helps break this project out of its stage roots.
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19. FIND ME GUILTY (2006)
Image Credit: Will Hart/Yari Film Grp/Kobal/Shutterstock Directed by Sidney Lumet. Written by Sidney Lumet, T.J. Mancini and Robert J. McCrea. Starring Vin Diesel, Peter Dinklage, Linus Roache, Ron Silver, Annabella Sciorra, Alex Rocco.
Lumet kicked off his film career with the sterling courtroom drama “12 Angry Men” (1957), and nearly 50 years later, he returned to the genre with his penultimate feature, “Find Me Guilty.” Vin Diesel dons a wig and a few pounds to play real life gangster Jackie DiNorscio, who in the 1980s got embroiled in the longest Mafia trial in history. Rather than give up his associates, Jackie decides to defend himself, strutting his stuff for an amused jury and exasperated prosecution. The director brings out the best in his star, forcing him to dig deeper than he usually does while cashing in with the “Fast and Furious” franchise.
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18. DANIEL (1983)
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures Directed by Sidney Lumet. Screenplay by E. L. Doctorow, based on his novel ‘The Book of Daniel.’ Starring Timothy Hutton, Mandy Patinkin, Lindsay Crouse, Edward Asner, Peter Friedman, Lee Richardson, Carmen Mathews, Tovah Feldshuh, Ellen Barkin.
A personal favorite of the director’s, this adaptation of E. L. Doctorow’s novel takes a semi-fictionalized look at the life of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Renamed Paul and Rochelle Isaacson (Mandy Patinkin and Lindsay Crouse), the couple is tried for espionage at the height of the Cold War and executed in the 1950s. In the 1960s, their college-aged son, Daniel (Timothy Hutton), tries to uncover the truth of what happened to them while involving himself in the antiwar protests of the era. By jumping back-and-forth through time, Lumet shows how the political activism of the parents both influenced their children and ruined their lives.
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17. THE FUGITIVE KIND (1960)
Image Credit: United Artists/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Sidney Lumet. Screenplay by Meade Roberts and Tennessee Williams, based on the play “Orpheus Descending” by Williams. Starring Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, Joanne Woodward, Maureen Stapleton, Victory Jory.
Marlon Brando launched to stardom with Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire,” so it’s little wonder he would return to the Williams well with “The Fugitive Kind,” adapted from his play “Orpheus Descending.” He plays Val Xavier, a snakeskin-clad drifter who arrives at a sleepy Mississippi town and finds work at a general store run by the sexually-repressed Lady Torrance (Anna Magnani), whom he quickly romances along with the alcoholic hellcat Carol Cutrere (Joanne Woodward). Lumet elicits outstanding performances from his cast, including Maureen Stapleton as a local artist. Though it failed to receive the same level of acclaim as “Streetcar,” it’s nevertheess a steamy, compelling character drama.
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16. THE DEADLY AFFAIR (1967)
Image Credit: Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock Directed by Sidney Lumet. Screenplay by Paul Dehn, based on the novel by John le Carre. Starring James Mason, Harry Andrews, Simone Signoret, Maximilian Schell, Harriet Andersson.
The spy novels of John le Carre have produced classy, suspenseful movies for over 50 years, including this adaptation of his literary debut, “Call for the Dead.” James Mason stars as Charles Dobbs (renamed from George Smiley, the frequent hero at the heart of the author’s fiction), a British MI5 agent investigating the mysterious suicide of a government official. As per usual with le Carre, “The Deadly Affair” relies more on atmosphere and character motivations than action sequences, and Lumet handles the material with skill and care. The BAFTAs showered it with five nominations, including Best British Film and Best British Actor for Mason.
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15. EQUUS (1977)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Directed by Sidney Lumet. Screenplay by Peter Shaffer, based on his play. Starring Richard Burton, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Joan Plowright, Colin Blakely, Harry Andrews, Eileen Atkins.
In translating Peter Shaffer’s shocking play from the stage to the screen, Lumet makes explicit what was largely left imagined. The results are disturbing and often electrifying, though the show’s expressionistic theatricality is lost in the realistic approach. No matter, because the performances keep us engaged throughout. Richard Burton stars as a psychiatrist investigating the blinding of several horses by a troubled young stable boy (Peter Firth) who has an unhealthy obsession with the animals he harmed. Both Burton and Firth earned respective lead and supporting actor Oscar bids and won Golden Globes for their roles.
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14. THE HILL (1965)
Image Credit: MGM/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Sidney Lumet. Screenplay by Ray Rigby, based on his play. Starring Sean Connery, Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen, Alfred Lynch, Ossie Davis, Roy Kinnear, Jack Watson, Ian Hendry, Sir Michael Redgrave.
The best of Lumet’s collaborations with Sean Connery is this tense military drama set inside a British army prison in North Africa during WWII. Connery plays Joe Roberts, a former Squadron Sergeant Major convicted of assaulting a commanding officer. As punishment, the brutal Staff Sergeant Williams (Ian Hendry) forces Roberts and the other prisoners to climb an artificial hill over-and-over again in the blistering hot sun. Shot in stark black-and-white by Oswald Morris, “The Hill” is a lean, gritty little film that’s a career highlight for both the director and star. Though it reaped six BAFTA nominations including Best British Film, winning for its cinematography, it was completely overlooked at the Academy.
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13. Q & A (1990)
Image Credit: Tri-Star/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Written and directed by Sidney Lumet, based on the novel by Edwin Torres. Starring Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton, Armand Assante, Lee Richardson, Patrick O’Neal, Jenny Lumet, Charles S. Dutton, Luis Guzman, Paul Calderon, Fyvush Finkel, Dominic Chianese.
“Q & A” finds Lumet right at home in the genre that made him famous: gritty cop dramas shot on the mean streets of New York City. Scripted by the director himself from a novel by former NY judge Edwin Torres, the film revolves around an ambitious young D.A. (Timothy Hutton) investigating the murder of a Puerto Rican by a racist white cop (Nick Nolte in a towering performance). Lumet peels back the ugly underbelly of discrimination that permeates through the law and justice system, including the prejudice that broke Hutton up with his black girlfriend (Lumet’s own daughter, Jenny Lumet). Armand Assante earned a Golden Globe nomination for playing the Hispanic drug kingpin who runs the city.
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12. RUNNING ON EMPTY (1988)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock Directed by Sidney Lumet. Written by Naomi Foner. Starring Christine Lahti, Judd Hirsch, Martha Plimpton, River Phoenix, Steven Hill, Jonas Abry, Ed Crowley, L.M. Kit Carson.
It would take a heart of stone to not be moved by “Running on Empty,” a heartbreaking drama about a family on the run. Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti star as political radicals who blew up a building in the 1960s, accidentally injuring a janitor they didn’t know was there. They’re been fugitives ever since, moving from town to town with their children (Supporting Actor nominee River Phoenix and Jonas Abry). But when Phoenix, a talented pianist, meets a new girlfriend (Martha Plimpton) and earns a scholarship to Juilliard, he must choose between remaining with his family or starting a new life without them. Lumet, who received a Golden Globe bid for the film, reaps as much power out of Naomi Foner’s Oscar-nominated screenplay as possible without veering into melodrama.
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11. PRINCE OF THE CITY (1981)
Image Credit: Orion/Kobal/Shutterstock Directed by Sidney Lumet. Screenplay by Sidney Lumet and Jay Presson Allen, based on the book by Robert Daley. Starring Treat Williams, Jerry Orbach, Richard Foronjy, Lindsay Crouse, Bob Balaban.
“Prince of the City” is one of Lumet’s most ambitious outings, a complex, multi-layered crime epic set in the director’s favorite local: the tough, grimy streets of New York City. Based on a true story, it involves a narcotics detective (Treat Williams) forced to cooperate with an investigation into police corruption that will soon ensnare his partners (including an electrifying Jerry Orbach). Lumet and Jay Presson Allen’s Oscar-nominated screenplay has a real feel for the language of cops, criminals and everything in-between. It also presents an interesting moral conundrum, since doing the right thing is viewed as an unforgivable betrayal. In addition to his Academy Award bid, Lumet also competed at the Golden Globes as Best Director.
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10. BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD (2007)
Image Credit: Snap Stills/Shutterstock Directed by Sidney Lumet. Written by Kelly Masterson. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney, Rosemary Harris, Brian F. O’Byrne, Aleksa Palladino, Michael Shannon, Amy Ryan.
Lumet’s career went out on a high note with “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead,” the last movie he completed before his death in 2011. The then 83-year-old filmmaker displays more energy and verve than most directors half his age with this story of two brothers (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke) who hatch a desperate scheme to rob their parent’s jewelry store in order to pay off their debts. But when their mother (Rosemary Harris) is killed during the heist by a bumbling crook, their father (Albert Finney) seeks revenge, little knowing it’s his sons who are responsible. Marisa Tomei is electrifying as the woman simultaneously sleeping with both siblings. The film brought Lumet a Critics Choice bid as Best Director.
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9. LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (1962)
Image Credit: Embassy/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Sidney Lumet. Based on the play by Eugene O’Neill. Starring Katharine Hepburn, Ralph Richardson, Jason Robards, Dean Stockwell.
Rather than hiring a screenwriter to “open up” the text, Lumet simply took Eugene O’Neill’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play and translated it word-for-word to the screen, allowing his actors and cinematographer (Boris Kaufman) to make it cinematic. The results are electrifying, a three-hour epic about the decline of an upper-class New England family during one summer day in 1912. Katharine Hepburn gives one of her greatest performances as Mary Tyrone, the drug-addicted matriarch, who lives with her pompous, former actor husband James (Ralph Richardson), alcoholic eldest son Jamie (Jason Robards), and sickly youngest son Edmund (Dean Stockwell). All four actors won prizes at Cannes, while Hepburn competed at the Oscars. Lumet earned a DGA bid for his efforts.
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8. FAIL SAFE (1964)
Image Credit: Columbia/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Sidney Lumet. Screenplay by Walter Bernstein and Peter George, based on the novel by Eugene Burdick and Henry Wheeler. Starring Henry Fonda, Dan O’Herlihy, Walter Matthau, Frank Overton, Larry Hagman, Edward Binns, Fritz Weaver.
This nail-biting political thriller imagines a nightmare scenario in which the U.S. government must scramble when American planes are mistakenly sent to Moscow for a nuclear attack. Henry Fonda headlines the all-star cast as the concerned President, who must make a fateful decision to avoid war. Lumet creates almost unbearable tension with his gritty, claustrophobic style, making great use of dramatic closeups and dark lighting. “Fail Safe” had the misfortune of coming out months after “Dr. Strangelove” lampooned a similar situation, causing it to bomb (at the box office, that is). Yet both the comedic and dramatic interpretations have stood the test of time. A live TV remake with George Clooney followed in 2000.
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7. MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1974)
Image Credit: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Sidney Lumet. Screenplay by Paul Dehn, based on the novel by Agatha Christie. Starring Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam, Ingrid Bergman, Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave, Rachel Roberts, Richard Widmark, Michael York.
“Murder on the Orient Express” is the kind of big-budget, star-studded, entertainment Hollywood rarely makes anymore (except, of course, for the 2017 Kenneth Branagh remake). Albert Finney stars in this adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic whodunnit as Hercule Poirot, an eccentric detective called upon to investigate a murder aboard a train car stuck in deep snow. Costume and production designer Tony Walton lovingly recreates every detail of the mid 1930s, while Lumet and the A-list cast keep things sprightly and fun. Ingrid Bergman won the Oscar as Best Supporting Actress playing a shy Swedish maid who’s among the suspects. Lumet competed at the DGA and BAFTA, but was snubbed by the Academy.
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6. THE PAWNBROKER (1965)
Image Credit: Landau-Unger/Kobal/Shutterstock Directed by Sidney Lumet. Screenplay by Morton S. Fine and David Friedkin, based on the novel by Edward Lewis Wallant. Starring Rod Steiger, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Brock Peters, Jamie Sanchez, Thelma Oliver.
“The Pawnbroker” was one of the first Hollywood films to deal with the atrocities of the Holocaust, and it still contains an electric jolt that shocks and moves us in equal measure. (It was also one of the first American movies to contain nudity, which caused further controversy.) Rod Steiger is mesmerizing as Sol Nazerman, a Jewish pawnshop owner whose life was destroyed during Hitler’s rise. Now living in East Harlem, he’s still scarred by his time in a concentration camp, during which his children died and his wife was raped by Nazis. Lumet uses expressionistic flashbacks to draw parallels between the past and present, placing us squarely in his lead character’s damaged psyche. Steiger earned an Oscar nomination as Best Actor, while Lumet competed at the DGA for his efforts.
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5. SERPICO (1973)
Image Credit: Paramount/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Sidney Lumet. Written by Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler, based on the book by Peter Maas. Starring Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire, Tony Roberts, Allan Rich, Albert Henderson, M. Emmet Walsh.
The one honest man against the rigged system storyline was almost its own genre in the 1970s, and no film better exemplified that mentality than “Serpico.” Inspired by a true story, it casts Al Pacino as Frank Serpico, a New York City detective who blows the whistle on the rampant corruption within the force, only to have his fellow officers turn their backs on him. Filled with the kind of gritty, street-smart naturalism that permeated throughout Lumet’s best work, this is that rare crowd pleaser with a razor-sharp edge. Pacino won the Golden Globe as Best Film Drama Actor for his nuanced performance and competed at the Oscars. Lumet contended at the DGA and BAFTA, yet was overlooked by the Academy.
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4. THE VERDICT (1982)
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Sidney Lumet. Screenplay by David Mamet, based on the novel by Barry Reed. Starring Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden, James Mason, Milo O’Shea, Lindsay Crouse.
It’s a character we’ve seen a thousand times: the once great professional whose life has been ravaged by alcoholism, desperately trying to pull himself together in a last-ditch effort at redemption. Yet in “The Verdict,” Paul Newman brings a nuance and vulnerability to the archetypal role that feels almost revolutionary. He plays Frank Galvin, a drunken Boston lawyer who takes on a medical malpractice suit against a powerful Catholic hospital. Rather than settling, he pulls his act together and fights for the kind of justice he still believes in. Directed with restraint by Lumet from a dynamite David Mamet script, the film packs a seismic emotional jolt, thanks in large part to Newman’s towering performance. Lumet, Newman and Mamet all earned Oscar bids for their efforts, while the film contended in Best Picture.
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3. DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975)
Image Credit: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Sidney Lumet. Written by Frank Pierson, based on the article “The Boys in the Bank” by P. F. Kluge and Thomas Moore. Starring Al Pacino, John Cazale, James Broderick, Charles Durning, Lance Henriksen, Chris Sarandon, Penelope Allen, Carol Kane.
“Dog Day Afternoon” is the kind of movie that could easily spin off into unintentional farce: based on a true story, it revolves around a first-time crook (Al Pacino) who attempts to rob a bank to pay for his lover’s (Chris Sarandon) sex-change operation. Yet Lumet grounds the sensationalistic material with documentary realism, even when spectators and news cameras turn a hostage situation into a three-ring circus. Pacino brings great passion and sympathy to the role of Sonny, a man who’s too kind and considerate to be a criminal. Frank Pierson won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, while the film competed for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Pacino), Best Supporting Actor (Sarandon) and Best Film Editing.
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2. 12 ANGRY MEN (1957)
Image Credit: United Artists/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Sidney Lumet. Screenplay by Reginald Rose, based on his teleplay. Starring Henry Fonda, Martin Balsam, Ed Begley, Edward Binns, Lee J. Cobb, John Fiedler, Jack Klugman, E. G. Marshall, Joseph Sweeney, George Voskovec, Jack Warden, Robert Webber.
Of all the heroes Henry Fonda played throughout his career, perhaps none was braver than the quiet, steadfast Juror #8 from “12 Angry Men.” Set within the confines of a single room (save for its opening and closing segments), it concerns 11 nameless jurors who are convinced that a young man is guilty of murder, and the one holdout who convinces them to consider his fate a little more carefully. Lumet is incredibly assured in his feature debut, using camera lens and lighting to create tension within the room. He’s aided by some mesmerizing performances, particularly Fonda as an ordinary man standing up to racial bigotry and judicial prejudice to save an innocent man. The film earned Oscar nominations in Best Picture (for Fonda), Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay (For Reginald Rose, who adapted his own teleplay).
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1. NETWORK (1976)
Image Credit: United Artists/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Sidney Lumet. Written by Paddy Chayefsky. Starring Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall, Wesley Addy, Ned Beatty, Beatrice Straight.
More than 40 years later, anchorman Howard Beale’s (Peter Finch) tirade about being mad as hell and not taking it anymore feels more relevant than ever. Written by Paddy Chayefsky as if looking through a crystal ball, “Network” imagines what would happen if a television channel exploited its newsman’s mental breakdown for ratings. William Holden is Max Schumacher, the veteran news producer who watches his division crumble, and Faye Dunaway is the craven programming executive who exploits Beale and takes Schumacher for her lover. Lumet handles this absurd premise with a subtlety that makes it all the more nightmarishly realistic. The film won 4 Oscars (Chayefsky, Finch, Dunaway, and Beatrice Straight as Holden’s wife) and reaped six more nominations, including Best Picture. Lumet competed in Best Director, winning the Golden Globe for his efforts.
Loving Molly…
Well, among the greatest are: Network, The Hill, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Before the Devil Knows Your Dead, The Pawnbroker, Daniel, and Twelve Angry Men.
The Morning After remains a favorite of mine.
Ditto The Morning After – Aside from the who done it / who cares aspect of the film Jane Fonda in that movie is so fantastic and the relationship between her and Jeff Bridges is remarkable, it’s a beautiful film about two tossed away people finding each other.
Sidney Lumet never made a bad movie. Certainly Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, 12 Angry men, Network, The Pawnbroker, Murder on the Orient Express are timeless classics. However The Fugitive Kind, That Kind of Woman and Find Me Guilty are certainly some of his finest work less seldom seen.
His only good film was “Equus”.