The Taking of Pelham 123
Walter Matthau is widely recognized as one of the most gifted eccentric actors in the history of Hollywood . After five years spent honing his craft on the pocket-sized screen , Matthau made his feature of speech film debut in a 1955 Western entitledThe Kentuckian . A decade later he come through an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in the 1966 release ofThe Fortune Cookie .
Matthau would score an extra two Oscar nomination over the course of his calling , one for his function inKotchin 1971 and another forSunshine Boysin 1976 . every bit adept at funniness and drama , here are Walter Matthau ’s 10 best movies , according to Rotten Tomatoes .
Lonely Are The Brave (1962) 93%
Despite its middling corner - agency success , Kirk Douglaspublicly stated prior to sink aside to say thatLonely Are The Bravewas his deary of his movies .
write byDalton Trumbo , the cinema trail a disaffected and independent - tending cowboy named Jack Burns ( Douglas ) , who gets locked in prison house for running afoul of the law . Upon a avant-garde escapism , Burns retreats to the mountains with his beloved horse while in red-hot pursuit by curt Sheriff Morey Johnson ( Matthau ) .
Charade (1963) 94%
In Stanley Donen ’s romanticistic route caperCharade , Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn become tangled in a earth - trotting shiver - ride of double crossings and sneaky back - stabbings .
When Regina Lampert ’s ( Hepburn ) thieving husband unload all in beside a train , a trio of outlaw think she has the recent wad of money he steal . Broke and alone , Regina goes on the run , where she meets dashing Peter Joshua ( Grant ) . As the two evade a slew of pursuers across Europe , C.I.A. operator Hamilton Bartholomew ( Matthau ) turns out to be someone far different than he claims to be .
The Fortune Cookie (1966) 96%
Matthau gain a Best corroborate Oscar Award for his first put up role in Billy Wilder’sThe Fortune Cookie . The picture show marks the first screen collaboration between Matthau and Jack Lemmon .
Story - wise , the picture show roll around Harry Hinkle ( Lemmon ) , a cameraman who is accidentally injure while film a football game game . While unconscious , Harry ’s corrupt lawyer of a blood brother - in - legal philosophy , Willy Gingrich ( Matthau ) , file a causa by exaggerating Harry ’s injury . When Harry arrive to , he object to the artifice but continues to feign the combat injury to win the solace of his ex - wife .
The Bad News Bears (1976) 97%
As the curmudgeonly Coach Morris Buttermaker , Matthau molds a team of misfit and unathletic underachiever into a squad of winners in the Hellenic sport comedyThe Bad News Bears .
When Buttermaker is n’t cleanse kitty or pledge himself into a stupor , he train a California piffling league team visit The Bears . With only a star pitcherful ( Tatum O’Neal ) and house - run hitting bad boy ( Watchmen ’s Jackie Earle Haley ) to establish his team around , Buttermaker teach victorious lessons on and off the field to a squad of talentless players .
The Life And Times Of Hank Greenberg (2000) 97%
Prior to his dying in 2000 at the eld of 79 , Matthau participate in a infotainment lionise the first Jewish Major League Baseball player , Hank Greenberg .
As a talented first baseman , Greenberg launch the Detroit Tigers to national prominence during the thirties . But his team succeeder did not arrive without a personal toll . The documentary features several of Greenberg ’s friends , family , fans , and former teammate to discuss the climate of bigoted antisemitism Greenberg front while breaking into the MLB .
The Stingiest Man In Town (1978) 100%
As the interpreter of Ebenezer Scrooge in the minute - long animated filmThe Stingiest Man in Town , Matthau help to subvert the Charles Dickens ' classicA Christmas Carol .
Told from the linear perspective of B.A.H. Humbug ( Tom Bosley ) , the story occupy Scrooge ’s grouchy refusal to join his nephew ’s Christmas gala and facilitate the impoverished . Once he spoils the Christmas spirit , Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former business fellow , Jacob Marley ( Theodore Bikel ) , as well as a trio of ghosts who serve him to see the lunacy of his ways .
King Creole (1958) 100%
In 1958 Matthau star opposite Elvis Presley ink Creole , a melodic drollery romp directed byCasablanca ’s Michael Curtiz .
Elvis play Danny Fisher , a high - school dropout who takes a job as a balladeer in the King Creole nightclub to help his beginner ’s dire financial situation . Fisher ’s main conflict come in the contour of Maxie Fields ( Matthau ) , a seedy crook who wants the vocaliser to do at his own rival gin reefer . As Fisher merge with Field ’s ma’am , his world comes crumbling down all around him .
The Odd Couple (1968) 100%
The Odd Couplefollows macho sportswriter Oscar Madison ( Matthau ) and effeminate housemaker Felix Ungar ( Lemmon ) , who can not stand to exist together in hustle New York City . The more time they spend together , the more they argue like an older matrimonial couple .
A New Leaf (1971) 100%
In Elaine Mays ' twice Golden Globe - make read-only storage - comA New Leaf , the comedienne costars opposite Matthau in a story of a neglect marriage for money .
Henry Graham ( Matthau ) is an affluent New York man-about-town who , upon discover of his dwindle down finances , resorts to a gold - digging plot to keep up his munificent lifestyle . Graham get hold a rich bachelorette name Henrietta ( May ) that he contrive to get hitched with , but when his program backfire , he considers remove the womanhood for her money instead .
The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three (1974) 100%
Matthau headlines a top - tier supporting players in Joseph Sargent’sThe Taking of Pelham One Two Three , a train - heist picture that was remade by Tony Scott and Denzel Washington in 2009 .
Costarring Robert Shaw , Martin Balsam , James Broderick , Hector Elizondo , and Jerry Stiller , the film bear on a gang of unrelated stealer in disguise who hijack an NYC subway and agree the passengers as a hostage for a high ransom money fee . Matthau plays Lt . Garber , the chief officer assigned to the vitrine .
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