Sidney Lumet

  • Sidney Lumet – Play of the Week: The Dybbuk (1960)

    1951-1960DramaSidney LumetTVUSA

    The Dybbuk is a made for TV film adaptation of a classic Jewish folktale. The story is about a young Jewish man, Sender (Theodore Bikel) who loves a young Jewish woman, Leah (Carol Lawrence) but her father arranges her marriage with another man. The grief of this causes Sender to die, but his spirit passes into the body of his beloved on her wedding day. Rabbi Azrael (Ludwig Donath), who serves as our narrator through the beginning of the film, is charged with the task of exercising Sender’s Dybbuk (sometimes defined as a malicious spirit or demon who possesses the living) from Leah’s body.Read More »

  • Sidney Lumet – That Kind of Woman (1959)

    Drama1951-1960ComedySidney LumetUSA

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    Red (Tab Hunter) meets and falls in love with Kay (Sophia Loren) even though he understands she’s a “kept woman”. It was intended to be Loren’s breakthrough American movie, but failed at the box office. “That Kind of Woman” stands up well thanks to a script by the then blacklisted Walter Bernstein, a strong supporting cast and good performances by Hunter and Loren in the prime of their youth.Read More »

  • Sidney Lumet – Fail-Safe (1964)

    1961-1970Sci-FiSidney LumetThrillerUSA

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    Synopsis
    When a military computer error deploys a squadron of SAC bombers to destroy Moscow, the American President (Fonda) tries to call them back. But their sophisticated fail-safe system prevents him from aborting the attack, so he must convince the Soviets not to retaliate. In desperation, the President offers to sacrifice an American city if his pilots succeed in their deadly mission over Moscow. A four-star techno-thriller that builds tension and suspense with every tick of the nuclear clock.
    Read More »

  • Sidney Lumet – Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1962)

    1961-1970ClassicsDramaSidney LumetUSA

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    Plot:
    Based on Eugene O’Neill’s autobiographical play, this magnificent screen adaptation was directed by the great Sidney Lumet and starred Katharine Hepburn, Ralph Richardson, Jason Robards and Dean Stockwell.Read More »

  • Sidney Lumet – The Verdict [+Commentary] (1982)

    1981-1990DramaSidney LumetUSA

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    A 1982 courtroom drama film which tells the story of a down-on-his-luck alcoholic lawyer who pushes a medical malpractice case in order to improve his own situation, but discovers along the way that he is doing the right thing. Since the lawsuit involves a woman in a persistent vegetative state, the movie is cast in the shadow of the Karen Ann Quinlan case. The movie stars Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden, James Mason, Milo O’Shea, and Lindsay Crouse.
    Directed by Sidney Lumet, the film was adapted by David Mamet from the novel by Barry Reed and is not a remake of the 1946 film of the same name.
    The Verdict garnered critical acclaim and box office success. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Actor in a Leading Role (Paul Newman), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (James Mason), Best Director (Sidney Lumet), Best Picture and Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (David Mamet).Read More »

  • Sidney Lumet – The Appointment (1969)

    1961-1970DramaSidney LumetUSA


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    synopsis
    Sidney Lumet directed this romantic melodrama involving deceit and marital secrets. The film takes place in Rome where lawyer Federico Fendi (Omar Sharif) falls in love with his colleague Renzo’s (Fausto Tozzi) fiancee Carla (Anouk Aimee). Renzo warns Federico that Carla is actually a high-priced call girl, but Federico refuses to believe it. Instead, Carla and Federico marry. After the wedding however, Federico notices that Carla has been making curious disappearances from her domestic home. Recalling Renzo’s warning, Federico begins the secretly follow her to find out the truth.Read More »

  • Sidney Lumet – Prince of the City (1981)

    1981-1990CrimeDramaSidney LumetUSA

    A New York City narcotics detective reluctantly agrees to cooperate with a special commission investigating police corruption, and soon realises he’s in over his head, and nobody can be trusted.Read More »

  • Sidney Lumet – The Fugitive Kind (1959)

    Drama1951-1960RomanceSidney LumetUSA

    Quote:
    Poignant and poetic, The Fugitive Kind is a challenging film that works more often than it doesn’t. Based on Tennessee Williams’ Orpheus Descending—a play that had been critically panned and did little business in its original Broadway run—this adaptation boasts terrific performances, atmospheric direction by Sidney Lumet (The Verdict), and excellent cinematography by Boris Kaufman (On the Waterfront).Read More »

  • Sidney Lumet – The Wiz (1978)

    1971-1980AdventureFantasySidney LumetUSA

    Sidney Lumet’s 1978 adaptation of Broadway’s all-black musical resembles
    Saturday Night Fever more than The Wizard of Oz.

    Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader wrote:
    Sidney Lumet’s 1978 adaptation of Broadway’s all-black musical resembles Saturday Night Fever more than The Wizard of Oz. There is the same dark disco lighting, the same romanticization of urban rubble. And the theme is no longer “There’s no place like home,” but a learning-to-love-yourself homily that might have been lifted from Werner Erhard. Still, it’s one of the more competent neomusicals of the period, if only because of Dede Allen’s punchy editing and Tony Walton’s cavernous sets. A lot to look at, little to contemplate, and nothing to hum. With Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, and a curiously restrained bit by Richard Pryor.Read More »

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