BEST KIRK DOUGLAS MOVIES
“Champion” (1949): Douglas fought his way into stardom, quite literally, with this gritty portrait of a boxer with a tumultuous private life.
“Detective Story” (1951): The gritty approach of this melodrama gives Douglas an ideal framework for his portrayal of a policeman surprisingly connected to a certain case. “The Bad and the Beautiful”
(1952): Hardly a glossy picture of the entertainment world, this drama casts Douglas as a producer with – appropriately in his case – a lot of enemies. Turner Classic Movies presents the film Tuesday, June 27, during the last night of its “Hollywoodland” salute to showbiz stories.
“20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” (1954): The Jules Verne literary classic became a classic Disney movie, with Douglas’ Ned Land up against James Mason’s Captain Nemo as well as the ocean elements.
“Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” (1957): Great friends off-screen, Douglas and Burt Lancaster invest their camaraderie into their portrayals of Old West legends Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp.
“Spartacus” (1960): Douglas reteamed with Kubrick on this epic about a slave who went up against the Roman Empire … much as Douglas, also a producer here, went up against Hollywood’s establishment by insisting that blacklisted Dalton Trumbo get name credit for his script here.
“Lonely Are the Brave” (1962): Some of Douglas’ best work is in this Western, about a contemporary cowboy determined to maintain the practices of the old frontier despite considerable opposition.
“Seven Days in May” (1964): An intended military coup and political coup puts two career soldiers (Douglas and Lancaster, reunited) on opposing sides, with extreme tension, in a Rod Serling screenplay.
“The Way West” (1967): Sharing starring billing with Robert Mitchum and Richard Widmark, Douglas is effective as one of a wagon train’s leaders.
“The War Wagon” (1967): Douglas and John Wayne pour on the star power in this wonderfully traditional Western about the plot to rob an armored stagecoach.
“The Fury” (1978): John Farris’ novel yielded this intriguing thriller, with Douglas as a former CIA agent whose son (Andrew Stevens) has psychic abilities that are being exploited.
“The Final Countdown” (1980): A clever script and solid cast do much for this time-jumping adventure, with Douglas as the captain of a modern aircraft carrier that could change the course of World War II.