Posted on 04/09/2011 10:35:14 AM PDT by Borges
NEW YORK Sidney Lumet, the award-winning director of such acclaimed films as "Network," "Serpico," "Dog Day Afternoon" and "12 Angry Men," has died. He was 86.
Lumet's death was confirmed Saturday by Marc Kusnetz, who is the husband of Lumet's stepdaughter, Leslie Gimbel. He said Lumet died during the night and had suffered from lymphoma.
A Philadelphia native, Lumet moved to New York City as a child, and it became the location of choice for more than 30 of his films. Although he freely admitted to a lifelong love affair with the city, he often showed its grittier side.
Such dramas as "Prince of the City," "Q&A," "Night Falls on Manhattan" and "Serpico" looked at the hard lives and corruptibility of New York police officers. "Dog Day Afternoon" told the true-life story of two social misfits who set in motion a chain of disastrous events when they tried to rob a New York City bank on an oppressively hot summer afternoon.
"It's not an anti-L.A. thing," Lumet said of his New York favoritism in a 1997 interview. "I just don't like to live in a company town."
Although he didn't work in Los Angeles, the director maintained good relations with the Hollywood studios, partly because he finished his pictures under schedule and budget. His television beginnings had schooled him in working fast, and he rarely shot more than four takes of a scene.
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Thanks. I appreciate your thoughts.
I’m queuing up as many of your recommendations as I can on Netflix. They all look like they’re right in my wheelhouse, and I haven’t yet seen any of them. Thanks again.
Never heard of that one (The Offense starring Sean Connery). Sounds good.
The scenes with Connery and the late Ian Bannen are riveting.
Another one of the greats from Hollywoods best era of film making is gone. RIP Sidney Lumet.
There is clearly no one like him in Hollywood today. All we have now are anti-American crap, leftist agenda promotions, crappy remakes and old TV shows turned into lousy films.
Of course when made Network seemed far-fetched, but if you see network TV today, you’ll see that Chayefsky was a prophet.
It’s not that it was far fetched but that it was shrill and shrill, self-important.
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