Directed by Sidney Lumet

After an active career on the stage and learning how to shoot quickly whilst filming hundreds of TV episodes, Lumet turned his hand to the 'Art' of moviemaking. With Henry Fonda leading an ensemble cast of twelve top drawer actors in this acclaimed piece of movie legend, based upon the play, filmed in a single room and subject to many parodies since. Nominated for three Academy Awards this debut as a Director reflected the quality of Sidney Lumet's apprenticeship within the profession. "Well, I'm not used to supposin'. I'm just a workin' man. My boss does all the supposin' - but I'll try one. Supposin' you talk us all out of this and, uh, the kid really did knife his father?"

Another movie based upon a stage production with Henry Fonda as the leading man, this film was less claustrophobic, albeit filmed entirely in New York. New Englander Eva Lovelace (Susan Strasberg) intends to make her mark on Broadway whatever the consequences. Whilst Katherine Hepburn had set the standard for this role in the 1933 film 'Morning Glory' based upon the same play, Mr Lumet's cast managed to exceed it, thus proving that Sidney was not a 'one trick pony'. "You're a hungry little girl - the theater's offering you a feast."

Another Ensemble cast with the story that starts upon a train travelling from Miami to New York City. Kay (Sophia Loren) and her friend Jane (Barbara Nichols) meet two paratroopers Red (Tab Hunter) and George (Jack Warden). Kay and Red form a relationship but she is surprised when he calls at her New York apartment. Will she give up her wealthy sponsor 'The Man' (George Sanders) for True Love with Red? "Being in love creeps up on you."

Based upon Tennessee Williams' play 'Orpheus Descending' this film takes place in the Deep South where guitar playing drifter Valentine "Snakeskin" Xavier (Marlon Brando) gets a job working for a Lady (Anna Magnani) and gets pursued by the unladylike Carol (Joanne Wooward). The usual Williams chemistry set starts bubbling with Xavier as the catalyst. "It's been said that a woman can burn a man down... I can burn a woman down."

This film is based upon Arthur Miller's play 'A View from the Bridge' and is a traditional tragedy brought up to date in 1950's New York. Eddie (Raf Vallone) and his wife Beatrice (Maureen Stapleton) look after his neice Catherine (Carol Lawrence). Eddie becomes jealous of illegal immigrant Rodolpho (Jean Sorel) who starts seeing Catherine and decides to inform the authorities. It ends horribly for all concerned and lessons should be learned from the stupidity of ego. "It is you that have killed my children."

Another film based upon a successful Broadway play with an excellent cast, Katharine Hepburn (Mary Tyrone) was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actress in a Leading Role, although Anne Bancroft won the Oscar in 1963 for the Miracle Worker. This film concentrates upon a day in the life of the troubled Tyrone family, another talented and powerful Ensemble that really gets the tale told. "This damned library of yours: Voltaire and Rousseau and Schopenhauer. And Ibsen... Atheists, fools and madmen! And your poet, this... "Baudelaire." And Swinburne, and Oscar Wilde. Whitman and Poe... Whoremongers and degenerates! When I've got three good sets of Shakespeare there you can read..."

This time the screenplay was adapted from the novel about the after effects of a man's suffering during the Holocaust in Europe in WWII. I will always remember the graphic scenes as Sol Nazerman (Rod Steiger) has flashbacks of his terrible experiences. Unfortunately he alienates himself from the community and even his own staff, resulting in a tragic climax to the movie. It was one of Steiger's favourite roles, he was nominated for the 1966 Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, losing to Lee Marvin in 'Cat Ballou'. "No, no, Miss Birchfield, I am not 'bitter'. No, that passed me by a million years ago. I'm a man of no anger. I have no desire for vengeance for what was done to me. I have escaped from the emotions. I am safe within myself. All I ask and want is peace and quiet."

I will always remember reading 'Fail-Safe' and then thinking that Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove was based on its premise. Then I saw this movie which made me realise how close to total extermination the Human Race had brought itself. It was nobody's fault, just a glitch in the system is a common excuse today when that 'Glitch' could still mean a tragedy beyond our comprehension. With Henry Fonda as the President who has to call the shots (literally) it paints a stark reality on this everyday story of Military folk. "They're good men, we've seen to that. If their orders are attack, the only way you're going to stop them is to shoot them down."

Again I remember reading the book about 'The Hill', a moving punishment for military offenders in a desert 'Glasshouse' during WWII, before seeing the film. It may not appear to be an ensemble play at first glance but it is and a very powerful one too. Just watching this film starring Sean Connery, Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen and Ian Hendry with Michael Redgrave as the Medical Officer, made me want to be a good soldier and stay on the 'straight and narrow'. Filmed very effectively in Black and White, this was Lumet's first of five movies with Connery. "We're all doing time. Even the screws."

It is back to New York for this story of College Graduates during the 1930s from the Play of the Book. Candice Bergen leads the core of talented female artists who raised some contraversial stones (for the 1960s) on subjects from lesbianism to contraception and free love to abortion. I believe that although it was placed in the 30s this film had messages for the young people of the 60s. It was beautifully filmed with some excellent cameo appearances throughout the plot. "I'm appalled by all this vulgar breeding."

Back to the UK with an excellent spy story based upon John le Carré's novel 'Call For The Dead'. Charles Dobbs (James Mason) is a British Intelligence Officer who is carrying out a routine investigation when evidence fails to match up. He calls in a favour from a retired policeman, Inspector Mendel (Harry Andrews) as he suspects a leak inside his department and then things really kick off. Dobbs get pressure from above to drop the case whilst he and Mendel walk further into jeopardy. Five BAFTA nominations, but no wins, unfortunately. "Why him? Why did you have to kill an old boy who wasn't even a threat to you?"

I have only ever seen this film on TV although I believe that a DVD release is now available. The film is from Wallace Markfield's novel 'To An Early Grave' and is full of Jewish humour as four intellectuals attempt to attend a friend's funeral (The belated Mr Bravreman) with comic results. Irony and sarcasm abound as the quaint quartet travel around New York City trying to arrive at the right cemetary in time to honour their late lamented pal. Norman Wisdom would have felt quite comfortable with this ensemble, who are constantly scene stealing with their witty comments. "That on the Day of Judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat you'll be called up. Either to everlasting life or to such a shaming there's no imagining how terrible."

An excellent Anglo/ American version of Chekov's 1896 classic play about people using each other. Lumet fills his characters with actors that he knows and trusts, Trigorin (James Mason), Arkadina (Simone Signoret), Sorin (Harry Andrews), Nina (Vanessa Redgrave) and Konstantin (David Warner). It is a difficult subject to present but I believe that Lumet caught the essence of Chekov's work in this splendid production. "Here I am talking to you, I'm all worked up, and still I can't forget for a minute that I've got a story to finish."

Italian lawyer Federico Fendi (Omar Sharif) believes that his new wife Carla (Anouk Aimée) is moonlighting as a highly paid prostitute in Rome. In this psychological drama based on the story by Antonio Leonviola, the plot ends in a disaster for all concerned. I have not seen this movie but I understand that the suits at MGM panicked and chopped up a perfectly good production because it did not have a Hollywood ending. If it is a Lumet film, it will not have a typical Hollywood ending chaps. Such tardy film executives should end their days serving at tables or selling second hand cars. "I will never do any harm." - Hippocrates. Should apply to Film Studios as well.

The screenplay by Gore Vidal is based on the Tennessee Williams play 'The Seven Descents of Myrtle'. Myrtle (Lynn Redgrave) and Jeb (James Coburn) are newlyweds who get married on a television show shortly after meeting. They return to Jeb's ancestral home, a decaying mansion occupied by his multiracial half-brother Chicken (Robert Hooks). Myrtle shuttles back and forth between the two men while all their sordid pasts unfold via a series of flashbacks. In the meantime the river is threatening to break its banks and flood everything. This film was made in New Orleans and St. Francisville, Louisiana and apparently it was released as 'Blood Kin' in Europe. Sorry that I have not seen it, not sure but I hope that you will comment.

This is a 1970 American documentary film biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., presented in the form of newsreel footage and segments of recordings by Dr. King, framed by celebrity narrators. It was originally shown at theatres as a "one-time-only" event on 24 March 1970, and ran 3 hours and 5 minutes. The proceeds from the $5 admission price was donated to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Special Fund. It was later shown on US television, unedited and with limited interruption. This sounds like an epic production and worth a watch sometime.

Back to a movie I have seen. This story revolves around a robbery being planned by Duke Anderson (Sean Connery) and his girlfriend Ingrid (Dyan Cannon). This story would not be too outdated today except that now we accept surveillance as a normal part of our lives. Not so in 1971 when Duke suddenly finds that every move he has made has been recorded for posterity. Nonetheless it is a toss up as to which party are more embarrassed, the hapless crooks or the various agencies and police who failed to co-ordinate their activities. It is egg over everyone's faces in the big finale when the raid goes awry. "Some business guy steals a bank, he's a big success story. Face in all the magazines. Some other guy steals the magazine and he's busted."

Back to Britain for this story about Police brutality based upon the play 'This Story of Yours' by John Hopkins. Detective Sergeant Johnson (Sean Connery) kills a suspect (Ian Bannen) whilst questioning him during an investigation on a series of attacks upon children. The film deals with the pressures that affect Johnson in the course of his job and I can remember scenes from nearly forty years ago as if I had seen them yesterday. Lumet shot so efficiently that he completed the filming in one month at a cost of $1 Million. "But they're scum. I'm not like that at all."

Based upon the play of the same name by Robert Marasco this film is about the rivalry between two faculty members at St. Charles, an exclusive Roman Catholic boarding school for boys. Joseph Dobbs (Robert Preston) is an easy-going, well-liked English teacher, while Latin and Greek instructor Jerome Malley (James Mason) is feared and hated by his students. Paul Reis (Beau Bridges) is a former pupil who returns as a PE teacher and who unsuccessfully tries to mediate between the two antagonists. Again it has a strong ensemble with violence occurring amongst them, but not in an horrific manner. It is a subtle outbreak of mayhem that appears to inconvenience rather than shock this staid establishment.

Starring Al Pacino as Detective Frank Serpico who was a real New York cop that ended up giving up a lot of corrupt officers that had been on the 'take'. The film covers about twelve years of Serpico's service up until he gave evidence to the 'Knapp Commission'. The film is a 'Must See Movie' as Serpico is threatened and betrayed by his corrupt colleagues on the force. It was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Screenplay. "The reality is that we do not wash our own laundry - it just gets dirtier."

Based on Larry McMurtry's novel 'Leaving Cheyenne' this story is about Molly Taylor (Blythe Danner) and the two men that she keeps turning down. Apparently it was not one of Lumet's best films, possibly because it was set in Texas and not Manhatten. "A woman's love is like the morning dew: it's as apt to settle on a horse turd as a rose."

Ah! Back to an ensemble cast in a confined space and one of Agatha Christie's best mystery murders. I have often agreed with the comment that the train itself was a character in this period piece of Hercule Poirot's (Albert Finney) pinnacle of perplexion. You do not need to know the plot, just sit down for two hours and enjoy yourself. I am sure that you will pleased to learn that Ingrid Bergman won her third Academy Award for her performance in this movie. "Only by interrogating the other passengers could I hope to see the light, but when I began to question them, the light, as Macbeth would have said, thickened."

Inspired by P.F. Kluge's article "The Boys in the Bank", which tells a similar story of the robbery of a Brooklyn bank in 1972, the script by Frank Pierson of this exciting film, was the only winner out of six nominations for an Academy Award. Most of you know the plot already, Sonny (Al Pacino) and Sal (John Cazale) go to the Bank to make a withdrawal, of the armed variety. It starts to go wrong and before long the local police want to interview them and so the drama really kicks off. "What's he doing? Go back there man! He wants to kill me so bad he can taste it! Huh? ATTICA! ATTICA! ATTICA! ATTICA ATTICA! ATTICA! ATTICA! ATTICA! ATTICA! ATTICA!"

This is more like it, nominated for Ten Academy Awards, winner of Four. Peter Finch (posthumous - the first actor to do so) for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Faye Dunaway for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Beatrice Straight for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Paddy Chayefsky for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. It is a satire about a fictitious Broadcating Network which fires its News anchor man Howard Beale (Peter Finch). Mr. Beale is not the average employee however and his performance on camera starts to increase his ratings.....How will it all end? "But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: "I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" "

Back to Britain with a cast headed by Richard Burton as psychiatrist, Martin Dysart, who is involved in an investigation into the savage blinding of six horses with a metal spike in a stable in Hampshire, England. Whilst interviewing the lad responsible (Peter Firth) Dysart has to confront some demons of his own. Based on Peter Shaffer's play of the same name the plot is heavy going but worth hanging in there if you are a serious film fan. Nominated for Three Academy Awards, won none. "I only know that he was my little Alan - and then the devil came."

This movie was adapted from the Broadway show of the same name and is an African-American version of the classic childrens story by L. Frank Baum. Dorothy (Diana Ross) is a 24 year old schoolteacher from Harlem who gets lost in a snowstorm and has adventures with a Scarecrow (Michael Jackson), a Tinman (Nipsey Russell) and a Lion (Ted Ross). It was a critical and commercial failure in the cinemas at the time but has made a comeback over the years as children's entertainment with a certain adult appeal. It received Four Academy Award nominations but no Awards. Evilene the Witch (Threatening to burn Toto) "Would you like sauerkraut or mustard, my dear, on your hot dog?"

This is a RomCom with attitude as Bones Burton (Ali MacGraw) a upwardly mobile television producer tires of her married boyfriend Max Herschel (Alan King) who apart from being her Boss, will not commit to her. Bones starts dating playwright Steven Routledge (Peter Weller) but Max is not one to give in without a fight. Max's secretary Stella Liberti is played by the wonderful Myrna Loy in her last motion picture appearance. "Marriage, it's the quintessential deal... just tell me what you want."

This movie is a crime drama about an NYPD officer who chooses to expose police corruption for idealistic reasons. Daniel Ciello (Treat Williams) was based on a real Narcotics Detective, Robert Leuci from Robert Daley's book of the same name. This was Jerry Orbach's career changing role, leaving the stage for the screen and he is great at stealing scenes. 'Prince of the City' was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, but lost to 'On Golden Pond'. "You got your mind made up to try me? Go ahead and try me. But not for a lousy 400 dollars. At least get me for assault."

Deathtrap is a 1982 thriller film based on Ira Levin's play of the same name about a playwright, Sidney Bruhl (Michael Caine) with writers' block. One of his students, Clifford Anderson (Christopher Reeves) has a worthy script and accepts Sidney's invitation to discuss it. The acting is great and brave but I shall leave it to the audience to make up their mind about the plot, which is clever but in my opinion somewhat contrived. "Darling, though I might be capable of killing Clifford Anderson, I am not up to the criminal behavior of a Broadway producer."

This film was adapted by David Mamet from the novel by Barry Reed and deals with a down and out Lawyer. Frank Galvin (Paul Newman) has been given an easy case by his ex-partner (Jack Warden) but decides not to settle out of court in the usual manner. What follows is a tense courtroom drama which was nominated for Five Academy Awards. "You know you guys are all the same. You don't care who gets hurt. You're a bunch of whores. You'd do anything for a dollar. You got no loyalty... No nothing... You're a bunch of whores."

This film was adapted by E. L. Doctorow from his novel The Book of Daniel and is the fictionalized story of Daniel Isaacson (Timothy Hutton) whose parents were executed as Soviet spies. Daniel becomes involved in the antiwar protest movement at College and decides that his parents were wrongfully convicted. It is a thought provoking piece of artwork concerning those who are martyred for their cause. The execution scenes were filmed in the former death chamber at Sing Sing Prison utilizing the electric chair that once sat there.

This is a comedy-drama picture about a dying mother, Estelle Rolfe (Anne Bancroft) who wants to meet the elusive film star Greta Garbo before she passes on. Her son Gilbert Rolfe (Ron Silver) is tasked with making his mother's last wish come true and in doing so changes his whole lifestyle to accomodate the task. The plot moves slowly towards a satisfying climax but the moral has nothing to do with Garbo but with how we treat each other in life. "If your head's in the toilet, don't blow bubbles."