Birthday of Sidney Lumet

On June 25, 1924 in Philadelphia, in the family of Baruch Lumet and Eugenia Wermus, Jewish theater actors who emigrated from Poland, the son of Sidney was born.

Sidney Lumet at the receiving of the honorary Oscar. February 27, 2005.

Being born into an artistic family, Sidney, one might say, was “doomed” to connect his life with theatrical activities. And so it happened. Already at the age of 4, he took part in a radio show, and from the age of five he played on the professional stage in the Jewish Art Theater. At 11, he played his first role in the short film "Papirossen", and at 15, he played the first and only role in the feature film "...One Third of a Nation...". (Except for the episodic appearance in the frame in the image of a political pundit in the film "The Manchurian Candidate" 2004).

12 Angry Men. 1957. Movie's Rating - 10,388; 24th Rank in the Golden Thousand.

After completing his military service from 1942 to 1946 in India and Burma, Lumet began directing on radio and television. He produced many TV movies, TV series, and TV shows that were very popular with the audience. Finally, in 1957, Sidney Lumet made his debut as a feature film Director. His film "12 Angry Men" was released.

The Pawnbroker. 1964. Movie's Rating - 7,981; 727th Rank in the Golden Thousand.

During his half-century career as a Director of feature films, Sidney Lumet has directed 44 films. This is in addition to working on television. 5 of these films were included in the Golden Thousand including "12 Angry Men", "Network", "Dog Day Afternoon", "The Pawnbroker", "The Hill". Based on this indicator, Sidney Lumet is included in the list of the 100 best Directors of world cinema, compiled by FilmGourmand.

The Hill. 1965. Movie's Rating - 7,910; 836th Rank in the Golden Thousand.

Today, on the birthday day of Sidney Lumet I want to remind fans of this great Director an excerpt from the obituary written by the guru of American film criticism Roger Ebert:

"Sidney Lumet was one of the finest craftsmen and warmest humanitarians among all film directors. He was not only a great artist but a much-loved man....Although he was not as widely known to the general public as directors like Scorsese, Spielberg, Eastwood and Spike Lee, his films were at the center of our collective memories....Although he was nominated four times as best director, he never won an Academy award until his honorary Oscar; that may have been partly because he was not part of the Hollywood community but preferred a milieu he understood inside-out."

Dog Day Afternoon. 1975. Movie's Rating - 8,358; 394th Rank in the Golden Thousand.

On the birthday of the great director, I want to remind the fans of his work the frames from his best films included in the Golden Thousand.

Network. 1976. Movie's Rating - 8,657; 266th Rank in the Golden Thousand.

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