Lee Marvin's Top 10 Movies

Marvin is one of my all time favorite actors. His look and manner was a real confident man who didn't care what you thought of him. Was Steven Spielberg's first choice to play Quint in Jaws (1975). His Westerns and other Genres, it didn't matter! I’d watch anything he was in. He was one of a few actors that was able to move from a supporting actor to a lead, even an Oscar winner. We passed each other once in a hotel lobby I was working in. Even that glimpse was impressive. I thought today we could look at ten of his best movies.

[azohundred]

Lee Marvin could explode on screen and always kept you on edge. Point Blank and Cat Ballou showed two completely opposite spectrums of his acting. He could do comedy and he could do serious just as well as the other. And aside from being an action star, he had a legitimate presence and genuinely great acting skills. I highly recommend The Iceman Cometh (1973), where he leads an amazing cast alongside Robert Ryan, Fredric March, and Jeff Bridges. A tour de force performance from all of them, but especially Lee Marvin. One of the greats, without a doubt. Thanks for the highlight of his career best, Wrangler!

[joeturner]

My favorite Lee Marvin film was 'Emperor of the North (Pole)' 1973. Largely overlooked because just doesn't fit any particular genre. Death Hunt (1981) was great too.

Prime Cut (1972) featuring a young Sissy Spacek is just one of my guilty pleasures.

You may want to lay off the hotdogs.

And there was his TV Series M Squad (1957-1960) which was parodied with Police Squad TV Series and The Naked Gun Movies.

[kenkahre]

For me, one of his best was Monte Walshe. He was a tough guy, yet showing the sorrowing of being lost in a changing world.

[davethom]

When he was able to have time off, he flew to Cairns in northern Australia and fished for marlin weeks at a time, and mixed with locals at many Pubs.

[brianjones]

a couple of my fav`s are 1976`s "Shout at the Devil" in which both Marvin & Roger Moore give a couple of great performances( i once read in a film mag that at night mr moore would match mr marvin drink for drink, but in the morning where mr moore showed ready to work the same could not be said for mr marvin) , another is 1972`s Underrated Gangster Movie "Prime Cut" where both marvin & Gene Hackman give us there best ...

[ThomasGidley-kvuj]

Liked all his movies but Cat Ballou made me roll with laughter as a kid.

[davidbrown]

One of the most interesting Marvin performances was in the Twilight Zone episode Steel as a boxer. It is the closest he ever came to sympathetic.

[TheLonerSupreme]

Gorky Park (1983) deserves a mention. I also remember comments Lee Marvin said when being interviewed 1) Oliver Reed was the only person who drank him under the table. 2) When asked about giving up alcohol he said he gave up alcohol because he wound up in a jail cell and could not remember how he got there.

[waltergiles]

He had two expressions : mouth open - dumb and obnoxious, or mouth closed - serious and professional. Whatta Guy!!! I also glimpsed him in Cairns once years ago coming into port with a big marlin (I think) . Wow😳😮!!!

[romanclay]

HELL IN THE PACIFIC (1968)a two hander w/ Lee Marvin & Toshio Mifune.

[andrecampbell]

If Marvin was in the movie, I would watch it. He was a stand-alone actor.

[Kevin-wrum]

I have a theory that Marvin tuned down Jaws because of the Indianapolis war experience was so horriffic it followed him for the rest of his life. He smoked too much, drank too much and it was probably due to PTSD. And it killed him at age 62. And thanks for putting Attack on the list. Seriously underrated war movie.

[vbacs]

Two of my favorite films of his are the Hell in the Pacific (1968) and The Emperor of the North (1973). Both excellent 1 vs1 movies with fabulous co-stars, who were great match for him. He was also in an episode of The Virginian, in which he was so deliciously vile and powerful that he even outacted the great Lee J. Cobb. He could easily have won an Emmy for it.

[bravehome]

All fine films, but I'm surprised you left out the film which earned him his academy award (Cat Ballou). But as you say, this is just 10 of.... :)

[virginia]

I am sorry to hear Lee Marvin didn’t like The Dirty Dozen. It is my favorite of his movies! It may not have been realistic, but it was a great story!

[guyfaux]

Cat Ballou, with the dual roles as Silver-Nose Tim Strawn and Kid Shelleen. Tim was a send-up of the Liberty Valance kind of gunfighter, so both roles were comedic, albeit in different ways.

[jamesmatchett]

In Cat Ballou his is so outrageously funny. In Seven Men From Now he is so suggestive, bordering on insulting without saying anything directly. In The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance he plays one of the most memorable heavies ever. A man of many talents.

[dave-d-grunt]

If you went thru the things Marvin did in WWII, you would drink too. Semper Fi Marine. RIP

[JörgSchymick]

Moin, Canicule, Gorky Park, The Spikes Gang, Monte Walsh, Paint Your Wagon, The Killers, Donovan’s Reef, Ride Lonesome, Violent Saturday, Pete Kelly’s Blues and in the fantastic Ship of Fools - He and Scarlett !?! For me Paint your Wagon, The Big Heat and The Professionals. Regards from SH Germany! Jörg Schymick

[Pete-fdpg]

🤘 He was so intense in his many great roles, usually complemented by the other great actors acting along side him, that produced some of the real iconic movies that you've listed here. (Yes, both "Paint Your Wagon" & "The Great Scout And Cathouse Thursday" simply sucked). I really enjoyed "Cat Ballou" - at my first drive-in @ age 5, Lee's portrayal of bad guy Tim Strawn scared the s- - - - out of me. He won a best actor Oscar for this Western comedy, not really his genre. He would follow this up with "The Professionals", "The Dirty Dozen" & "Hell In The Pacific" . Totally a different wheelhouse, go figure.