BEST SIDNEY LUMET MOVIES

“Serpico” (1973) A run of holidayseason hits for Lumet over several consecutive years began with the true story of an honest New York police detective (superbly played by Al Pacino) who risked his life by turning informant on corrupt peers.

“Murder on the Orient Express” (1974) Lumet’s wonderfully stylish version of the Agatha Christie mystery is – just as the ads promised – “the who’s who in the whodunit,” encompassing everyone from Albert Finney (as master sleuth Hercule Poirot) and Connery to Lauren Bacall and Oscar winner Ingrid Bergman.

“Dog Day Afternoon” (1975) Pacino and Lumet collaborated on another fact-based tale, the saga of a bank robbery gone extremely awry ... with surprises about the reason behind the attempted heist eventually emerging.

“Network” (1976) Fueled by Paddy Chayefsky’s take-no-prisoners script, the Lumet-directed indictment of the TVnews business (which time has made seem less like satire) was rewarded with Academy Awards for the writer and performers Peter Finch (posthumously), Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight.

“Prince of the City” (1981) Lumet revisited the theme of an honest cop turned whistleblower with this long but engrossing drama, another true story with marvelous acting by Treat Williams and a supporting cast including Jerry Orbach and Bob Balaban.

“The Verdict” (1982) Paul Newman gives arguably his career-high performance for Lumet as a downtrodden lawyer given a chance at personal and professional redemption by a case he decides to try rather than settle.