The Best 30 Films of Rod Steiger.
Versatile actor, Rod Steiger, created several of the most indelible screen characterizations in movie history. From
Brando's sad, anxious older brother in On the Waterfront, to the morose, tormented holocaust survivor in The Pawnbroker, to the Southern Police Chief in In the Heat of the Night, Steiger always gave full throttle fearless performances. His acting in the great Doctor Zhivago was flawless, and my personal favorite. His acting was always excellent and always elevated the films in which he appeared. Here are 30 of his very best.
Brando's sad, anxious older brother in On the Waterfront, to the morose, tormented holocaust survivor in The Pawnbroker, to the Southern Police Chief in In the Heat of the Night, Steiger always gave full throttle fearless performances. His acting in the great Doctor Zhivago was flawless, and my personal favorite. His acting was always excellent and always elevated the films in which he appeared. Here are 30 of his very best.
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- DirectorDavid LeanStarsOmar SharifJulie ChristieGeraldine ChaplinThe life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during World War I and then the October Revolution.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsSidney PoitierRod SteigerWarren OatesA black Philadelphia police detective is mistakenly suspected of a local murder while passing through a racially hostile Mississippi town, and after being cleared is reluctantly asked by the police chief to investigate the case.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsMarlon BrandoKarl MaldenLee J. CobbAn ex-prize fighter turned New Jersey longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses, including his older brother, as he starts to connect with the grieving sister of one of the syndicate's victims.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsRod SteigerGeraldine FitzgeraldBrock PetersA Jewish pawnbroker, victim of Nazi persecution, loses all faith in his fellow man until he realizes too late the tragedy of his actions.
- DirectorRichard WilsonStarsRod SteigerMartin BalsamFay SpainA chronicle of the rise and fall of Chicago crime boss Al Capone during the Prohibition era.
- DirectorJack SmightStarsRod SteigerLee RemickGeorge SegalA crafty serial killer plays a game of cat-and-mouse with a harried police detective trying to track him down.
- DirectorDelmer DavesStarsGlenn FordErnest BorgnineRod SteigerA new foreman rejects the sexual advances of a frustrated rancher's wife, which leads to conflicts that could get him killed.
- DirectorMark RobsonStarsHumphrey BogartRod SteigerJan SterlingAn ex-sportswriter is hired by a shady fight promoter to promote his latest find, an unknown but easily exploitable rising star from Argentina.
- DirectorJohn FlynnStarsRod SteigerJohn Phillip LawLudmila MikaëlA story of a brilliant master sergeant with a great career behind him and transferred to yet another post, his attraction to a younger man eventually overrides him, to a point where his latent homosexuality, finally emerges.
- DirectorArthur HillerStarsRod SteigerValerie PerrineJohn MarleyOne of comedies true originals - the master of wit and good, mean fun, the curmudgeonly, and very original, the legendary W.C. Fields' is wonderfully portrayed by Rod Steiger in this off-beat biopic.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsSylvester StalloneRod SteigerPeter BoyleA rebellious Cleveland warehouse worker rises through the ranks of a trucking industry union to become union president but his organized crime links cause his eventual downfall.
- DirectorGuy GreenStarsMaria SchellStuart WhitmanRod SteigerA man who served prison time for intent to molest a child tries to build a new life with the help of a sympathetic psychiatrist.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsGary CooperCharles BickfordRalph BellamyA dramatization of the American general and his court martial for publically complaining about High Command's dismissal and neglect of the aerial fighting forces.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsEdward G. RobinsonRod SteigerJoan CollinsA motley crew of professional thieves plans the robbery of a Monte Carlo casino vault.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsGordon MacRaeGloria GrahameGene NelsonIn Oklahoma, several farmers, cowboys and a traveling salesman compete for the romantic favors of various local ladies.
- DirectorJohn FarrowStarsRobert RyanAnita EkbergRod SteigerAfter a commercial plane crash lands in a South American jungle, the passengers and pilots must patch up the engines and escape the cannibal-infested area.
- DirectorKen AnnakinAndrew MartonGerd OswaldStarsJohn WayneRobert RyanRichard BurtonThe events of D-Day, told on a grand scale from both the Allied and German points of view.
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsRobert MorseJonathan WintersAnjanette ComerSatire on the funeral business, in which a young British poet goes to work at a Hollywood cemetery.
- DirectorJeremy KaganStarsMaximilian SchellRod SteigerRobby BensonIn 1944, in Brooklyn, two Jewish kids become friends. One is from a very conservative family, and the other is more liberal. The issues of importance of tradition, parental expectations and the formation of Israel cause constant friction.
- DirectorJack SmightStarsRod SteigerClaire BloomRobert DrivasIn 1930s, a psychotic drifter who's after the mystery woman who covered his whole body in illustrations that foresee distant future shows three of them (The Veldt, The Long Rain and The Last Night of the World) to a mesmerized traveler.
- DirectorAndrew L. StoneStarsJames MasonRod SteigerInger StevensDuped by former Army pal Paul Hoplin into building a time-bomb, New York shop owner Jim Molner and his family become hostages of Hoplin who uses bomb-threats to extort money from airlines.
- StarsPhilip CasnoffOlympia DukakisJoe SantosAn extensive biopic of one of the most famous entertainers of the 20th century - Frank Sinatra. The only thing that could engage the public more than his songs and films was his sometimes controversial private life.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsDenzel WashingtonVicellous ShannonDeborah Kara UngerThe story of Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
- DirectorPat O'ConnorStarsKevin KlineMary Elizabeth MastrantonioSusan SarandonTwo years after being forced out of NYPD, quirky Nick is rehired by the mayor to catch a serial killer after the 11th murder of a woman.
- DirectorSergey BondarchukStarsRod SteigerChristopher PlummerOrson WellesFacing the decline of everything he has worked to obtain, conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte and his army confront the British at the Battle of Waterloo.
- DirectorFrancesco RosiStarsGian Maria VolontèVincent GardeniaSilverio BlasiBiopic of Mafia boss Lucky Luciano, covering his life from 1946 to 1962 with occasional flashbacks.
- DirectorPeter HyamsStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerGabriel ByrneRobin TunneyAt the end of the century, Satan visits New York in search of a bride. It's up to an ex-cop who now runs an elite security outfit to stop him.
- DirectorKiefer SutherlandStarsKiefer SutherlandKim DickensVincent GalloA group of crooks, an ex con, his friend and a gun crazy gangster plan a drug heist, but not everything goes as planned.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsJack NicholsonPierce BrosnanSarah Jessica ParkerEarth is invaded by Martians with unbeatable weapons and a cruel sense of humor.
- DirectorNicolas GessnerStarsJulian SandsStacey DashEd LauterA British attorney on vacation in Tennessee is blamed for a local murder.