Jack Warden Movies
A former prizefighter, nightclub bouncer and lifeguard, Jack Warden took to the stage after serving as a paratrooper in World War II. Warden's first professional engagement was with the Margo Jones repertory troupe in 1947. He made both his Broadway and film debuts in 1951, spending the next few years specializing in blunt military types and short-tempered bullies. Among his most notable screen roles of the 1950s was the homicidally bigoted factory foreman in Edge of the City and the impatient Juror #7 in Twelve Angry Men (both 1957). He was Oscar-nominated for his portrayal of the cuckolded Lester in Warren Beatty's Shampoo (1975) and for his work as eternally flustered sports promoter Max Corkle in another Beatty vehicle, Heaven Can Wait (1978). He has also played the brusque, bluff President in Being There (1978); senile, gun-wielding judge Ray Ford in ...And Justice For All (1979); the twin auto dealers--one good, one bad--in Used Cars (1980); Paul Newman's combination leg-man and conscience in The Verdict (1982); shifty convenience store owner Big Ben in the two Problem Child films of the early 1990s; the not-so-dearly departed in Passed Away (1992); and Broadway high-roller Julian Marx in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994). Extensive though his stage and screen credits may be, Warden has been just as busy on television, winning an Emmy for his portrayal of George Halas in Brian's Song (1969) and playing such other historical personages as Cornelius Ryan (1981's A Private Battle) and Mark Twain (1984's Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues). Barely stopping for air, Jack Warden has also starred or co-starred on the weekly TV series Mister Peepers (1953-55), The Asphalt Jungle (1961), Wackiest Ship in the Army (1965), NYPD (1967-68), Jigsaw John (1975), The Bad News Bears (1979) and Crazy Like a Fox (1984-85); and, had the pilot episode sold, Jack Warden was to have been the star in a 1979 revival of Topper. Though this was not to be for Warden, the gruff actor's age and affectionately sour demeanor found him essaying frequent albiet minor feature roles through the new millennium. Remaining in the public eye withn appearances in While You Were Sleeping (1995), Ed (1996), Bullworth (1998) and The Replacements (2000), the former welterweight fighter remained as dependable as ever when it came to stepping in front of the lens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Gary Cooper stars in this broad naval farce, directed by Henry Hathaway and based upon a John W. Hazard New Yorker magazine story. Cooper plays Lieutenant John Harkness, a wet-behind-the ears naval lieutenant who is given command of his first ship. Unfortunately, not only is Harkness new to commanding a naval vessel, but the crew and his subordinate officers are also new at their jobs. Only two old deck hands know the score. And, while Harkness is trying to figure out naval protocol, he also has to deal with the contraption in the engine room, which turns out to be an elaborate steam engine that powers the ship. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Jane Greer, (more)
In this World War II drama, Richard Widmark plays Lt. Cmdr. John Lawrence, a strict navy commander assigned to replace the popular senior officer of a group of underwater demolition divers -- better known as frogmen. Lawrence tightens the discipline of this brave but fiercely independent group of underwater warriors, winning few friends in the process. The unpopular officer proves his worth in front of his men by neutralizing a live torpedo at the risk of his own life. The principal attraction of The Frogmen is its underwater photography, which would have been twice as effective in black-and-white. An intelligent, low-key wartime adventure, The Frogmen is weakened only by the excessive "Brooklynese" comedy of Harvey Lembeck. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Widmark, Dana Andrews, (more)
- 1951
Adapted by Samuel W. Taylor from his own novel, The Man with My Face is an acting tour de force for Barry Nelson. The star is cast as an accountant who returns home late one evening, only to discover that a look-alike has taken his place. So persuasive is the phony man that the real one is regarded as an impostor. Even his wife (Lynn Ailey) and business partner (John Harvey) seem to have fallen for the look-alike's subterfuge. Accused of bank robbery, the poor man must rely on his ex-sweetheart Mary (Carole Mathews) and her brother Walt (Jack Warden in his film debut) to help him clear himself and expose his "evil twin." The climax borrows a gimmick from an earlier "doppelganger" melodrama, The Black Room (1935). Man with My Face was filmed on location in Puerto Rico. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Nelson, Lynn Ainley, (more)
- 1952
Red Ball Express deals with the little-known activities of the U.S. Army Transportation Corps during WW II. It so happened that many of the Corps' most courageous drivers were black men, who otherwise would have been denied an opportunity for combat duty. Sidney Poitier plays Corporal Andrew Robinson, who resents his second-class-citizen status and chafes at the orders issued by his white commanding officer Lt. Chick Campbell (Jeff Chandler). Meanwhile, Campbell has his own cross to bear in the form of relentlessly hostile sergeant Ernest Kalek (Alex Nicol). All differences are conveniently forgotten in the climactic euphoria of providing ammunition for General Patton's tanks during the Allied push to Paris in 1944. Considered just another war picture in 1952, Red Ball Express has since taken on added stature by virtue of the presence of actor Sidney Poitier and director Budd Boetticher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Chandler, Alex Nicol, (more)
The scene is Schofield Army Barracks in Honolulu, in the languid days before the attack on Pearl Harbor, where James Jones' acclaimed war novel From Here to Eternity brought the aspirations and frustrations of several people sharply into focus. Sergeant Milt Warden (Burt Lancaster) enters into an affair with Karen (Deborah Kerr), the wife of his commanding officer. Private Robert E. Lee "Prew" Prewitt (Montgomery Clift) is a loner who lives by his own code of ethics and communicates better with his bugle than he does with words. Prew's best friend is wisecracking Maggio (Frank Sinatra, in an Oscar-winning performance that revived his flagging career), who has been targeted for persecution by sadistic stockade sergeant Fatso Judson (Ernest Borgnine). Rounding out the principals is Alma Lorene (Donna Reed), a "hostess" at the euphemistically named whorehouse The New Congress Club. All these melodramatic joys and sufferings are swept away by the Japanese attack on the morning of December 7. No words could do justice to the film's most famous scene: the nocturnal romantic rendezvous on the beach, with Burt Lancaster's and Deborah Kerr's bodies intertwining as the waves crash over them. If you're able to take your eyes off the principals for a moment or two, keep an eye out for George Reeves; his supporting role was shaved down when, during previews, audiences yelled "There's Superman!" and began to laugh. From Here to Eternity won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and supporting awards to Sinatra and Reed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, (more)
- 1957
Like his earlier Marty, Paddy Chayefsky's The Bachelor Party began life as a TV play. The film version centers around the impending wedding of thirtyish Arnold (Philip Abbott). As they gather for the traditional "wild" bachelor party, Arnold's married pals begin reflecting on their own lives. Most of what develops is seen through the eyes of Charlie Samson (Don Murray), a staid bookkeeper who intends to cut loose at Arnold's premarital bacchanale. The unexpected pathetic figure in the proceedings is Walter (E. G. Marshall), a self-described "swinger" who after a few drinks bursts out in a uncontrolled fit of self-loathing. Though by necessity their characters are secondary, the women in The Bachelor Party--including Nancy Marchand, Patricia Smith, and Karen Norris - also reveal their true natures in ways both mundane and profound. Particularly memorable is Carolyn Jones in a brilliant, Oscar-nominated turn as a "good time girl" with whom Charlie Samson briefly dallies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Murray, E.G. Marshall, (more)
- 1957
- NR
Edge of the City is a modern morality play, acted out in the railyards of New York. AWOL soldier John Cassavetes takes a job as a railroad worker, where he is taunted and bullied by supervisor Jack Warden, a union functionary appointed by the Mob. Cassavetes befriends his African-American co-worker Sydney Poitier, whose very presence enrages the bigoted Warden. Poitier dies in an "accident" arranged by Warden; Cassavetes knows the truth, but is frightened into silence by the corrupt union. Inspired by Poitier's widow to stand up for what is right, Cassavetes challenges Warden in a climactic one-on-one battle. Edge of the City was produced by David Susskind, who'd previously staged Robert Alan Aurthur's screenplay for television under its original title, A Man is Ten Feet Tall. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cassavetes, Sidney Poitier, (more)
A Puerto Rican youth is on trial for murder, accused of knifing his father to death. The twelve jurors retire to the jury room, having been admonished that the defendant is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Eleven of the jurors vote for conviction, each for reasons of his own. The sole holdout is Juror #8, played by Henry Fonda. As Fonda persuades the weary jurors to re-examine the evidence, we learn the backstory of each man. Juror #3 (Lee J. Cobb), a bullying self-made man, has estranged himself from his own son. Juror #7 (Jack Warden) has an ingrained mistrust of foreigners; so, to a lesser extent, does Juror #6 (Edward Binns). Jurors #10 (Ed Begley) and #11 (George Voskovec), so certain of the infallibility of the Law, assume that if the boy was arrested, he must be guilty. Juror #4 (E.G. Marshall) is an advocate of dispassionate deductive reasoning. Juror #5 (Jack Klugman), like the defendant a product of "the streets," hopes that his guilty vote will distance himself from his past. Juror #12 (Robert Webber), an advertising man, doesn't understand anything that he can't package and market. And Jurors #1 (Martin Balsam), #2 (John Fiedler) and #9 (Joseph Sweeney), anxious not to make waves, "go with the flow." The excruciatingly hot day drags into an even hotter night; still, Fonda chips away at the guilty verdict, insisting that his fellow jurors bear in mind those words "reasonable doubt." A pet project of Henry Fonda's, Twelve Angry Men was his only foray into film production; the actor's partner in this venture was Reginald Rose, who wrote the 1954 television play on which the film was based. Carried over from the TV version was director Sidney Lumet, here making his feature-film debut. A flop when it first came out (surprisingly, since it cost almost nothing to make), Twelve Angry Men holds up beautifully when seen today. It was remade for television in 1997 by director William Friedkin with Jack Lemmon and George C. Scott. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, (more)
- 1958
James Garner stars as WWII hero Major William Darby in this characteristically gusty William Wellman combat film. Darby organizes a highly-trained group of rangers, to be deployed in behind-the-lines activities in Italy and Northern Africa. The first portion of the film details the training, with time out for a few comic and romantic interludes; the second part shows Darby's Rangers in full, ferocious action. In addition to Garner, Warner Bros. used Darby's Rangers to spotlight another of its TV stars, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes; Bill Wellman Jr. also shows up in the supporting role of Eli Clatworthy. The film was adapted from the book by Major James Altieri. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Garner, Etchika Choureau, (more)
The contrasting acting styles of Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster serve to increase the already high tension level of the WW2 drama Run Silent, Run Deep. Gable plays submarine commander "Rich" Richardson, who assumes command of the USS Nerka. Because his previous sub was sunk by the Japanese under highly suspect circumstances, Richardson inspires nothing but animosity from his new crew. Particularly hostile is executive officer Lt. Jim Bledsoe (Burt Lancaster), who'd assumed that he was next in line to command the Nerka. Obsessed with tracking down the Japanese destroyer that sank his old sub, Richardson drives his crew mercilessly, and even disobeys direct orders from his own higher-ups. The Nerka manages to blast the Japanese vessel out of the waters, but in so doing the sub is placed in dire peril in enemy waters. In his desperate efforts to save the Nerka, Richardson at long last wins the respect of Bledsoe and the rest of the crew. Featured in the cast of Run Silent, Run Deep are Burt Lancaster's old circus partner Nick Cravat, and, in his unbilled movie debut, Don Rickles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster, (more)
- 1959
In this filmed adaptation of William Faulkner's seminal work, Yul Brynner stars as Jason Compson, the oldest son of a once-proud Southern family rife with inner turmoil. His promiscuous sister, Caddy (Margaret Leighton), has suddenly rolled back into town with an illegitimate daughter called Quentin (Joanne Woodward) in tow. Finding no love in her own clan, Quentin opts for a relationship with Charlie Bush, an irresponsible circus worker played by Stuart Whitman. Meanwhile, Ben (Jack Warden), a mentally-handicapped uncle, is a never-ending source of embarrassment for all concerned. Directed by Martin Ritt, this was the first film to be made from The Sound and the Fury. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yul Brynner, Joanne Woodward, (more)
- 1959
Discounting the pilot "Where Is Everybody?", "The Lonely" was the first Twilight Zone episode to be produced, though not the first to be shown. Jack Warden stars as futuristic convicted murderer James Corry, who has been sentenced to life imprisonment on a lonely asteroid. Out of compassion for Corry, Captain Allenby (John Dehner), leader of the supply ship that makes biannual stopovers at the asteroid, presents the prisoner with a "companion" -- a beautiful female android named Alicia (Jean Marsh). Future Mary Tyler Moore Show regular Ted Knight appears unbilled as a hostile crew member. Blessed with a poignant Bernard Herrmann musical score (which incorporates the first-season Twilight Zone theme music), "The Lonely" originally aired November 13, 1959. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Warden, John Dehner, (more)
- 1959
That Kind of Woman stars Sophia Loren as an Italian girl, Kay, who enjoys a brief wartime romance with American paratrooper Red (Tab Hunter). But Kay is already the property of a suave millionaire (George Sanders) known only as "The Man." When next we see her, Kay is living Hollywood's concept of the life of a kept woman: luxurious apartment, limitless wardrobe, and an ever-so-slightly repentant facial expression. When Red reenters her life, she forsakes her wanton lifestyle -- only to lose her newfound love to enemy bullets. Essentially a remake of the World War I war-horse The Shopworn Angel, That Kind of Woman relies solely on Sophia Loren for its emotional punch; Tab Hunter is, after all, Tab Hunter. Watch for fleeting appearances by John Fiedler as a GI and Bea Arthur as a WAC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, Tab Hunter, (more)
- 1959
Unscrupulous trader Mike Wilson (Jack Warden molests two Paiute Indian women, then manages to place the blame on Adam Cartwright. This incident, added to others sparked by Wilson, mushrooms into a full-scale war between the Paiutes and the California Militia. In the thick of the hostilities, the Indians take Adam hostage. Also appearing are Anthony Caruso as Chief Winnemuca and Mike Forrest as the Chief's son. First telecast October 3, 1959, "The Paiute War" was written by Gene L. Coon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
- 1960
Nehemiah Persoff, who appeared in the premiere Untouchables episode as mob accountant Jake "Greasy Thumb" Guzik, returns to the series in the role of crooked gambler Johnny Fortunato. Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) is reunited with his former school chum Frank Barber (Jack Warden), now the owner of the Chicago Sports Palace--and one of many entrepreneurs forced to pay tribute to Fortunato. A series of violent incidents convince Ness that Barber and his girlfriend Chickie (Madlyn Rhue) are in desperate need of police protection. What Elliot doesn't know is that old buddy Frank is setting him up as a dupe in an elaborate scheme to blackmail Fortunato and his flunkeys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Wake Me When It's Over is a zany service comedy in which Ernie Kovacs plays the latest in his long line of military captains. Kovacs and his men are stationed at a dead-end Japanese island. World War II vet Dick Shawn, redrafted through a clerical error, arrives on the island and decides to liven things up. Using the materials at hand, he supervises the building of a hotel, using the island girls as the staff. The military brass investigate when it's obvious than the servicemen are having too much fun on the island. Kovacs would love to have Shawn stay, and says so at Shawn's court-martial, but the reluctant draftee is mustered out of the service as accidentally as he'd been brought back in. Ernie Kovacs and Dick Shawn work so well together in Wake Me When It's Over that one can only feel an intensified loss over the early deaths of these two comic masters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ernie Kovacs, Margo Moore, (more)
- 1960
Lloyd Nolan appears in this episode as the first of several actors who would portray notorious mob boss George "Bugs" Moran on The Untouchables (later Morans included Robert Wilke and Harry Morgan). To sway the outcome of a truckers-union election, Bugs kidnaps the son of union leader Larry Halloran (Jack Warden). When Halloran goes to the Untouchables for help, he is told that kidnapping is not yet a federal offense. Even so, the Feds have a plan to trap Moran: let Bugs win the election, the better to give him enough rope to hang himself. With Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) on assignment in Washington, the plan is overseen by his stalwart colleague Martin Flaherty (Jerry Paris). This episode was originally listed in TV Guide as "The Velvet Touch". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
In this crime drama, Jack Warden stars as a police detective who makes it his business to track down wrongdoers who have been able to escape punishment. Vera Miles also appears as a secretary employed by a corrupt attorney; she teams up with Warden to bring her boss and his clients to justice. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Warden, Robert Douglas, (more)
- 1960
This episode was based on an earlier Rod Serling TV play, in which a losing baseball team was saved by a 70-year-old pitcher. In the Twilight Zone version of this yarn, the old man was transformed into a muscular robot named Casey (Robert Sorrell), who comes to the rescue of the cellar-dwelling ball club skippered by Mouth McGarry. Winning game after game, Casey ultimately comes acropper when he suddenly develops human emotions -- and an unwillingness to see anyone lose a ball game! When first filmed in mid-1959, "The Mighty Casey" starred Paul Douglas as Mouth McGarry. Unfortunately, Douglas was in the last stages of the devastating illness that would kill him, and the producers were uncomfortable with his appearance on the screen. After Douglas' death, the episode was refilmed with Jack Warden as McGarry, with Alvin Ganzer taking over the directorial reins from Robert Parrish. "The Mighty Casey" finally aired June 17, 1960, as the next-to-last Twilight Zone of the 1959-60 season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Warden, Robert Sorrells, (more)
- 1961
Beating the U.S. Army to the punch by nearly six years, Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) goes after a criminal gang with links to the Nazi party. Otto Frick (Jack Warden), a racketeer in charge of several travelling carnivals which are distributing narcotics throughout the country, enters into an unholy partnership with the Hitler government. The Nazis agree to supply narcotics for free--on the condition that Frick drum up membership for the German-American Bund, in anticipation of a huge pro-Hitler rally at Madison Square Garden. Meanwhile, Frick's cohort Hans Eberhardt (Richard Jaeckel) is seduced into double-crossing his partner by Hedda Messlinger (Erika Peters), the sexy "niece" of a suave Nazi contact man (Francis Lederer). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Essentially a chase film from beginning to end, this standard adventure yarn by director Ronald Neame is set in "Zahrain," a barely-disguised Middle Eastern nation. Sharif (Yul Brynner) is a rebel who has taken up arms against the country's corrupt government and the forces of Western imperialism. Now he and a small party of supporters (one a kidnapped woman about to become a supporter) take off across the desert with soldiers in hot pursuit. As the group flees through untamed country, there are brief moments of respite but no immediate escape in sight. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yul Brynner, Sal Mineo, (more)
John Ford's last film to deal with World War II, Donovan's Reef is an alternately comical and sentimental look back on the fighting Navy men from that war, and how and where -- in Ford's eyes, and Frank Nugent and James Edward Grant's script -- they should have ended up. Michael "Guns" Donovan (John Wayne), Thomas "Boats" Gilhooley (Lee Marvin), and Dr. William Dedham (Jack Warden), a trio of navy veterans who fought on the Pacific island of Haleakalowa during the war, now live on the island. Donovan and Gilhooley, biding time and enjoying themselves, engage in rough-house hijinks among themselves, and are both part of the doctor's extended family, enjoying the good will of the islanders for whom they fought during the war. While Dedham is away on a call to a neighboring island, his grown daughter, Amelia (Elizabeth Allen), from his first marriage, whom he has never seen, announces that she is arriving from Boston to determine Dedham's fitness of character to inherit the majority shares in the family shipping business. Donovan contrives to present Dedham's three Polynesian children, whom the doctor had with the island's hereditary princess, as his own, and also squires Amelia around the island in her father's absence. In the process, the cold Bostonian woman discovers a whole world -- of passion, joy, heroism, and a life among men and women whose lives have been about something other than making money -- that she's never known. She also understands all of the good that her father has accomplished away from Boston, even though it entailed abandoning her. Sparks and even a few fists fly between Donovan and Amelia (and between Donovan and several other characters), in the usual Ford rough-house manner, before their eventual reconciliation and a romantic clinch at the end, in this sweet, sentimental comedy-drama. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Lee Marvin, (more)
