ESSENTIAL VIEWING
GREAT FILM ACTING ... in no particular order compiled by John Gallagher

Bold=especially recommended!

Directed by John Cassavetes*

• *FACES 1968 Gena Rowlands

• *HUSBANDS 1970 Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk, John Cassavetes *

• MINNIE AND MOSKOWITZ 1971 Gena Rowlands, Seymour Cassel

• *A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE 1975 Gena Rowlands

• *KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE 1976 Ben Gazzara

• *OPENING NIGHT 1977 Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazzara, John Cassavetes

• *GLORIA 1980 Gena Rowlands

• *LOVE STREAMS 1984 Gena Rowlands, Seymour Cassel, John C

• ON THE WATERFRONT 1954 d. Elia Kazan w/Brando, Saint, Steiger

• A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE 1951 d. Kazan w/Brando, V Leigh

• SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS 1961 d. Kazan w/Natalie Wood, W Beatty

• LA STRADA 1954 d. F Fellini w/Guilietta Massina, Anthony Quinn

• NIGHTS OF CABIRIA 1957 d. Federico Fellini w/Giulietta Massina

• ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS 1961 d. Luchino Visconti w/Delon

• SEVEN BEAUTIES 1976 d. Lina Wertmuller w/Giancarlo Giannini

• LEON/THE PROFESSIONAL 1994 d.Besson w/Reno,Portman,Oldman

• MARGARET 2011 d. Kenneth Lonergan w/Anna Paquin, Matt Damon

• THE SEARCHERS 1956 d. John Ford w/John Wayne, Natalie Wood

• ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA 1983 d. Sergio Leone w/Robert DeNiro, Elizabeth McGovern, James Woods

• MALCOLM X 1991 d. Spike Lee w/Denzel Washington

• ROOM 2015 d. Lenny Abrahamson w/Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay

• A BRONX TALE 1993 d. Robt DeNiro w/Chazz Palminteri, R DeNiro

• CHINATOWN ‘74 d. Roman Polanski w/Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway

• THE LAST DETAIL 1973 d. Hal Ashby w/Jack Nicholson

• BEING THERE 1979 d. Hal Ashby w/Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine

• GLORY 1989 d. Ed Zwick w/ Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman

• THE SAND PEBBLES 1966 d. Robert Wise w/Steve McQueen

• 20th CENTURY 1934 d. Howard Hawks w/J Barrymore, C Lombard

• ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS ’39 d. Howard Hawks w/Cary Grant

• HIS GIRL FRIDAY ’40 d. Howard Hawks w/Cary Grant, Roz Russell

• RIO BRAVO ’58 d. H Hawks w/John Wayne, Dean Martin

• NOTORIOUS 1946 d. A Hitchcock w/Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman

• TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE ’48 d. John Huston w/H. Bogart

• PULP FICTION ’94 d. Q.Tarantino w/John Travolta, Sam Jackson, etc.

• THE HOURS ’02 d. SDaldry w/Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, JMoore

• HILARY AND JACKIE 1999 w/Emily Watson, Rachel Griffiths

• ALL ABOUT EVE 1950 w/Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Marilyn Monroe

• HEAVENLY CREATURES 1997 w/Kate Winslet, Melanie Linskey

• WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE 1996 w/Heather Matarazzo

• LOLITA 1961 d. Stanley Kubrick w/James Mason, Sue Lyon

• EYES WIDE SHUT 1999 d. Kubrick w/Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman

• A PLACE IN THE SUN 1951 d. Geo Stevens w/LizTaylor, Monty Clift

• YOU CAN COUNT ON ME 2000 d. Lonergan w/Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo

• THE APARTMENT ‘60 d. Billy Wilder w/Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine

• TWO WOMEN d. Vittorio DeSica w/Sophia Loren

• DAYS OF WINE & ROSES ’62 d.Blake Edwards w/JLemmon, Lee Remick

• LAWRENCE OF ARABIA ’62 d. David Lean w/Peter O’Toole

• THE LION IN WINTER ’68 d. Anthony Harvey w/PO’Toole, K.Hepburn

• MIDNIGHT COWBOY 1969 d. John Schlesinger w/Dustin Hoffman

• RAIN MAN 1989 d, Barry Levinson w/Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise

• THE LAST PICTURE SHOW 1971 d. P Bogdanovich w/Jeff Bridges

• DOG DAY AFTERNOON 1975 d. Sidney Lumet w/Al Pacino, John Cazale

• ONE FLEW OVER CUCKOO’S NEST 1975 d. M. Forman w/Jack Nicholson

• TAXI DRIVER 1976 d. Martin Scorsese w/Robt DeNiro

• NEW YORK NEW YORK 1977 d. Scorsese w/DeNiro, Liza Minnelli

• RAGING BULL 1980 d. Scorsese w/DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty

• KING OF COMEDY 1982 d. Scorsese w/DeNiro, Jerry Lewis

• GOODFELLAS 1989 d. Scorsese w/DeNiro, Pesci, Lorraine Bracco

• THE DEER HUNTER 1978 d. M. Cimino w/DeNiro, Meryl Streep

• REMAINS OF THE DAY 1994 d. J. Ivory w/A. Hopkins, E Thompson

• THE GRAPES OF WRATH 1940 d. John Ford w/Henry Fonda

• STAGE DOOR 1937 d. Gregory LaCava w/Katharine Hepburn

• THE OX BOW INCIDENT 1943 d. William Wellman w/Henry Fonda

• TALES OF ORDINARY MADNESS 1977 d. Marco Ferreri w/Gazzara

• HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY ‘41 d. John Ford w/Roddy McDowell

• THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES ’46 d. Wm Wyler w/Fredric March

• INHERIT THE WIND ’60 d. S. Kramer w/Spencer Tracy, Fredric March

• EDWARD SCISSORHANDS 1990 d. Tim Burton w/Johnny Depp

• WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE ’94 d. L.Halstrom w/Depp &DiCaprio

• THIS BOYS’S LIFE 1992 d. Michael Caton-Jones w/DeNiro & DiCaprio

• SALVADOR 1985 d. Oliver Stone w/James Woods

• GODFATHER I & II ’71-74 d. Coppola w/Pacino, DeNiro, Brando

• SUNSET BLVD 1950 d. Billy Wilder w/Wm Holden, Gloria Swanson

• FROM HERE TO ETERNITY 1953 d. F. Zinnemann w/Monty Clift, Sinatra

• SOME CAME RUNNING ’59 d. VMinnelli w/Sinatra, Dino, S MacLaine

• HAPPINESS ’99 d. Solondz w/PS Hoffman, Ben Gazzara, LF Boyle

• HUD 1963 d. Martin Ritt w/Paul Newman, Patricia Neal

• HENRY V (both the 1944 Olivier version and the 1989 Branagh version)

• OTHELLO 1966 d. Stuart Byrge w/Laurence Olivier