Greatest Male Film Performances - On the Waterfront (1954) Discussion

[–] pocomarc 18 years ago

From the lists I see here, it appears nobody posting is over ten years old.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] marionnaut 18 years ago

All right:
Marlon Brando is the best actor I've ever seen!
He is amazing in ON THE WATERFRONT, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and GODFATHER PART 1.
In my opinion the rest of my list is the same class.
Robert De Niro of course in GODFATHER PART 2
Liam Neeson in SCHINDLERS LIST
Jack Nicholson in ONE FLEW OVER THE COCKOOS NEST and SHINING
Edward Norton in AMERICAN HISTORY X
I also thing Kevin Costners work in DANCES WITH WOLVES is amazing! First direction plus actor is really good!
Choi Min Sik in OLDBOY
Tom Hanks in Saving Privat Ryan
Sean Penn in MYSTIC RIVER
and Joaquin Phonix in WALK THE LINE as Jhonny Cash are good examples.
And FEMALE:
Julia Roberts in ERIN BROCKOVICH
Janet Leigh in PSYCHO
Audrey Tautou in The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain
Louise Fletcher as Nurse Mildred Ratched in ONE FLEW OVER THE COCKOOS NEST
Mia Farrow in ROSEMARYS BABY
Jodie Foster in SILENCE OF THE LAMPS

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[–] film-spartan333 18 years ago

jimmy stewart--mr. smith goes to washington
marlon brando--on the waterfront
jack lemmon--the apartment
peter o'toole--lawrence of arabia
gregory peck--to kill a mockingbird
marlon brando--the godfather
al pacino--the godfather part II
dusin hoffman--dog day afternoon
jack nicholsen--one flew over the cuckoos nest
robert de niro--taxi driver
dustin hoffman--rain man
tom cruise--born on the fourth of july
daniel day lewis--my left foot
tom hanks--forrest gump
nicolas cage--leaving las vegas
matt damon--good will hunting
kevin spacey--american beauty
bruce willis--12 monkeys
denzel washington--malcolm x
denzel washington--the hurricane
russel crowe--a beautiful mind
DANIEL DAY LEWIS--GANGS OF NEW YORK (one of my favorite characters ever)
sean penn--mystic river
and i have to agree that leo dicaprio is the next de niro especially when it comes to scorsese pics...he was amazing in blood diamond tho...

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[–] soundmedicine1 18 years ago

just to ADD to these lists, (glad people started mentioning some non-english actors)

Min-sik Choi - Oldboy (One of the best performances in the past 10 years, goes through every emotion a human can in one great movie, brilliant)

Bill Murray - Broken Flowers (Very underappreciated performance with so many nuances)

Jeffrey Wright - Broken Flowers,Shaft,Basquiat... (seriously one of THE best actors working today)

Adam Sandler - punch drunk love (almost didnt include this, but it is a superb,tragic performance)

Ulrich Muhe - Lives of others,Funny Games (Again, one of the best actors alive)

Benicio Del Toro - Traffic,FALILV,Usual Suspects (great actor)

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[–] bellcanti 18 years ago

Top Ten no particular order,

Brando On the waterfront
Brando The Godfather
Hoffman midnight Cowboy
Caine Alfie
Finney Saturday night and Sunday morning
Pacino The Godfather
Newman The Hustler
Bogart Casablanca
De Niro Raging Bull
Nicholson One Flew over the cuckoo's nest

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[–] PvtRolandBozz 18 years ago

Joe Pesci-With Honors

In the country of the blind, the one eyed man is king.

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[–] thelivster 18 years ago

i agree with most of them, if we're going for masculinity i'd put daniel day lewis for gangs of new york, one of the only times i get a little scared by an actor in character

Dignam: Pfft! What's the matter, smartass, you don't know any *beep* Shakespeare?

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[–] jman178 18 years ago

Leo Dicaprio- Blood Diamond/The Departed/The Aviator/Catch Me if you can/What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Marlon Brando- On the waterfront/A Streetcar/The Godfather Part I/Mutiny on the Bounty/Apocalypse Now

Robert De Niro- Raging Bull/The Godfather Part II/Taxi Driver/The Deer Hunter/Mean Streets/Once Upon a time in america/Goodfellas

Al Pacino- The Godfather Saga/Serpico/Dog Day Afternoon/Scent of a Woman/Glengarry Glen Ross/Scarface

Johnny Depp- POTC series/Donnie Brasco/Blow/Sleepy Hollow/Finding Neverland/Ed Wood/Edward Scissorhands

Dustin Hoffman- Rain Man/Death of a salseman/Midnight Cowboy/Lenny/Krammmer vs Krammer/Wag the Dog

Jack Nicholson- One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest/Batman/The Departed/The Shining/Chinatown/Terms of Enderment

Joe Pesci- Home Alone/Home Alone 2:Lost in NY/Casino/Raging Bull/Goodfellas/My Cousin Vinny

Edward Norton- 25th Hour/American History X/Fight Club

Brad Pitt- Fight Club/Se7en/12 Monkeys/Oceans 11

Sam L. JAckson- Pulp Fiction/Jackie Brown

Toon Army All The Way!

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[–] dontreplyidoits 17 years ago

de niro-taxi driver...come on!!! THE BEST EVER!!!!
PACINO-GODFATHER'S
ONE THAT NEVER GETS MENTIONED UNDER "PERFORMANCES"
ANTHONY PERKINS -"PSYCHO" COME ON THIS WAS A GREAT PERFORMANCE .LIKE TOP 5 EVER.
SEAN PENN-DEAD MAN WALKING WAS BETTER THAN MYSTIC RIVER
SPACEY-BETTER IN USUAL SUSPECTS
SAMUEL L JACKSON- JUNGLE FEVER AS GATOR. HEY SPIKE WILL TELL YA THE INTERRACIAL DATING THING WAS JUST TO GET PEOPLE TOO SEE THE FLIC. THE CRACK PROBLEM IN TH EINNER CITIES WAS THE MORE IMPORTANT ASPECT TO HIM.
HANKS WAS WAY BETTER IN PHILADELPHIA THAN GUMP
PECK-YEAH GOOD PICK
JACK -YEAH GOOD PICK

ou can trouble me for a warm glass of SHUT THE HELL UP!!

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[–] thelivster 17 years ago

day lewis in there will be blood can be added

http://www.arresteddevelopment2009.com/

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[–] glucas812 16 years ago

absolutely agree. sean penn was way better in dead man walking than in mystic river.
and sean penn is way better than all of the actors mentioned above and below this.

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[–] pogostiks 18 years ago

Frank Sinatra - From Here To Eternity
Montgomery Cliff - also From Here to Eternity
Maximilian Schell - Judgement at Nuremberg
Richard Widmark , Spencer Tracy - also from Judgement at Nuremberg
Spencer Tracy - also from Judgement at Nuremberg
Burt Lancaster - From Here to Eternity AND Judgement at Nuremberg
Burt Lancaster - Birdman of Alcatraz
James Dean - East of Eden
Paul Newman - The Hustler
George C Scott - The Hustler; Patton
Leonardo DiCaprio - What's Eating Gilbert Grape

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[–] aciolino 18 years ago

Adam Sandler?

Were films invented in 1950??? Judging from the lists here, they were. (exceptions, "Bogart" noted)

Anybody ever hear of, Ronald Colman, (Random Harvest, Double Life, Tale of Two Cities) Frederic March, (Best Years of Our Lives), Laurence Olivier, Spencer Tracy, and on and on...

It continues to amaze me how popular culture before 1950 seems to have disappeared from our collective memories. I attribute this to the advent of MTV and the generations who were raised on it.

Adam Sandler?

By the way, not for anything...

Peter Sellars: "Dr. Strangelove"
Alec Guiness: "Tunes of Glory" (best screen performance all-time)
William Holden: "Sunset Boulevard"
Jose Ferrar: "Cyrano de Bergerac" or, "Moulin Rouge" ("there was another Moulin Rouge?!?!?!?!? Wow!")
Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend)

...and many others...

What role listed above could Spacey/Depp/Sandler even touch? It's laughable. Newman could have done a passable "Lost Weekend."

Adam Sandler?

Please shoot me.

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[–] jtcashflow 16 years ago

Its greatest performance, not greatest actor, that we are discussing old timer. You should realize there are a ton of one-hit wonder performances that are some of the best ever. Sometimes someone just "is" that character.

I think one of the top performances is Sean Penn in Mystic because he is Jimmy. I also believe retard Adam Sandler, is Barry Egan. Watch the movie before you jump to conclusions.

And yes, the old time performances are amazing, and quite entertaining, but they are also usually much less down to earth

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[–] kp01706 17 years ago

http://www.listology.com/content_show.cfm/content_id.23334/Movies

has some actresses too

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[–] DowntownBrown557 17 years ago

Marlon Brando - The Godfather
Marlon Brando - On the Waterfront
Al Pacino - Dog Day Afternoon
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Robert De Niro - Raging Bull
Robert De Niro - Taxi Driver
Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Peter Finch - Network
Edward Norton - American History X
Ralph Fiennes - Schindler's List

"Mr. Treehorn...treats objects...like women, man..." - The Dude

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[–] wizeass993 17 years ago

DENZEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in MALCOLM X.....why are some of u so ignorant? IT is a masterful performance...ofcourse alogn with Brando in Waterfront, Godfather, Streetcar, Last Tango...Pacino in Godfather 1, 2 and even 3, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, And Justice For All, Scent of a Woman...DeNiro in Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, GF II.....NICHOLSON in CUCKOOS NEST, Chinatown......Hopkins as Lecter....Hoffman in RAIN MAN....

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[–] todietotruth 17 years ago

Let's not forget James Dean in either (you choose) East of Eden (another Kazan film) or Rebel Without A Cause.

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[–] monkdude1984 17 years ago

Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot, Gangs of New York and There Will Be Blood are among my favorites.

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[–] runneryogafreak 17 years ago

1. Daniel Day-Lewis: There Will Be Blood
2. Robert DeNiro: Raging Bull
3. Marlon Brando: On the Waterfront
4. Leonardo DiCaprio: The Aviator
5. Marlon Brando: A Streetcar Named Desire
6. Robert DeNiro: Taxi Driver
7. Daniel Day-Lewis: Gangs of New York
8. Marlon Brando: The Godfather
9. Kevin Spacey: American Beauty
10. Leonardo DiCaprio: The Basketball Diaries

"You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me?" Taxi Driver

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[–] wizeass993 17 years ago

Put Brando back where he needs to be on top...On the waterfrotn kicks DDL's ass anyday...so does Godfather......And Denzel's Malcolm X beats anything from DDL...its true...

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[–] monkdude1984 17 years ago

Why so much DDL hate wizeass993? I can see you not liking a certain performance of his, but bashing everything he does? Denzel and Brando are great, but DDL is at the top in my opinion.

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[–] georgebushandfootball 17 years ago

1.Al Pacino "The Godfather Part 2"
2.Marlon Brando "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "On The Waterfront"
3.Robert DeNiro "Raging Bull"
4.Jack Nicholson "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
5.Daniel Day-Lewis "Gangs of New York and "There Will Be Blood"
6.Heath Ledger "Brokeback Mountain"
7.Edward Norton "American History X"
8.Tom Hanks "Forrest Gump" and "Cast Away"
9.Russell Crowe "Gladiator
10.Leonardo DiCaprio "Blood Diamond"

Sorry for the ties.

Has anything you've done made your life better?

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[–] newblood97 16 years ago

Finally someone references the basketball diaries thats by far leo's best performance

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[–] Moon_and_New_York_City 16 years ago

For my list, I narrowed it down to just those who have won the Oscar for "Best Actor".... for the record, I should add I reviewed the list on wikipidea before compiling this top five... and even though I have seen most if not almost all of these performances (George Arliss, anyone?!?), most of my choices are from the more recent years, even though I can still appreciate the work of say, Clark Gable in "It Happened One Night" or James Stewart in "The Philadelphia Story", I just wouldn't consider their performances "great", no matter how much I like those two films!

OK, enough with the preamble... give me the drum roll and here are my top five "Best Actor" winner performances:

5. Sean Penn, "Mystic River"

4. Anthony Hopkins, "Silence of the Lambs"

3. Jack Nicholson, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

2. Marlon Brando, "On the Waterfront"

1. Robert DeNiro, "Raging Bull"

And whenever I do a narrow list like this, I immediately regret those I left off. So my Honorable Mentions here go to:

Alec Guinness, "Bridge on the River Kwai"
George C. Scott, "Patton"
Marlon Brando, "The Godfather"
F. Murray Abraham, "Amadeus"
Tom Hanks, "Forrest Gump"

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