Remember a guy who barely gets any credit? He couldβve been the first true action star, though that label feels too small for an actor of his caliber. I'm not discounting my favorites like Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen, or Marvin Gaye. They were great actorsβespecially Marvin Gayeβbut this heavyweight Iβm talking about is a pure acting titan. Burt Lancaster β
He practically pioneered the action genre with films like:
The Train,
Criss Cross,
Brute Force, and
The Killers (his debut). Those last three are
noir classics, but they feature some brilliantly directed action sequences. For his first one,
The Train, he worked with the legendary director
John Frankenheimer, with whom he also made two other masterpieces:
Seven Days in May and
Birdman of Alcatraz. I can't recall if there were others, but those three are top-tier.
The man shows up in every single frame.
Sweet Smell of Success stands as one of the finest noir films ever madeβmaybe even the best. Tony Curtis delivered a career-defining performance there.
