Burt Lancaster Had Nine Perfect Movies According To Rotten Tomatoes

Burt Lancaster could be just about anything you needed him to be — except small. He was not towering at 6'1", but he sure made it look that way on screen. Whether smiling or glowering, good natured or pure evil, there was a formidable bearing to Lancaster. But he did not lumber. God no, he was as graceful as a circus acrobat because, well, he was one. How dare a man so sturdy be so damn limber. And golden. And beautiful.

Lancaster's acting career was as remarkable as his absurdly perfect physicality. He made his motion picture debut in a stone-cold classic, and was one of the most popular movie stars on the planet for well over a decade. Lancaster worked too frequently to not slip up on occasion, but he generally exhibited great taste, particularly as a producer. His partnership with Harold Hecht (and later James Hill) yielded three Best Picture nominees and one winner in 1955's "Marty." It was rarely a bad time with Lancaster. To an extent, he seemed simply blessed. We were certainly blessed to have him.

For modern evidence of Lancaster's mastery over all things cinema, you need look no further than the man's film-by-film performance at Rotten Tomatoes. His less-than-sterling efforts are obviously there (including Lancaster's directorial debut, "The Kentuckian," his lowest rated movie on the site at 14% fresh), but the greatness stands out. How great was Lancaster in Rotten Tomatoes terms? He has a stunning nine films with a perfect 100% fresh rating. Are they all really that good? Let's dive in and take a look!

That aforementioned stone-cold classic was Robert Siodmak's 1946 film noir classic "The Killers," based on Ernest Hemingway's short story and mean as a starving mutt. Lancaster stars as Pete Lund aka Ole "The Swede" Anderson, a palooka whose boxing career was kiboshed by a broken hand. It's not a spoiler (unless you're looking to go in cold; if so, bail now) to reveal that the Swede is murdered in the opening moments of the film. To explain how everything goes down twisted would be to spoil one of cinema's most durable noir yarns (it was remade by Don Siegel in 1964, and riffed on by Steven Soderbergh in 1995), so take that 100% seriously and enjoy the murk.

On a much lighter note, Jacques Tourneur's "The Flame and the Arrow" and Siodmak's "The Crimson Pirate" are two of the most rollicking swashbucklers to ever swing from a ship's mast. This is Lancaster at his most acrobatic, tumbling and sword fighting with an elan unseen since the heyday of Douglas Elton Fairbanks. These movies are a grin from start to finish, which is not necessarily true of 1950's "Vengeance Valley." Directed by the steady Richard Thorpe, it's nothing more than a formula Western elevated by Lancaster's robust presence and a nifty heel turn by Robert Walker; there are only five reviews at Rotten Tomatoes, so the sample size is a tad unreliable. If you're using this article to make a Lancaster watchlist, I'd highly recommend skipping "Vengeance Valley" in favor of "Sweet Smell of Success."

Yes, "Sweet Smell of Success," the black-hearted masterpiece about the misshaping of public perception, is somehow not rated 100% at Rotten Tomatoes. But these five Lancaster bangers are!

The submarine movie is about as dad of a genre as you can get, so it stands to reason that there may not be a daddier dad movie than Robert Wise's "Run Silent, Run Deep." Dig this cast: Lancaster, Clark Gable, Jack Warden, Sir Don Rickles ... drop the depth charges, batten the hatches, and brace for one insanely tense Pacific Ocean adventure that takes place at the height of World War II. For a different kind of wet, there's Frank and Eleanor Perry's adaptation of John Cheever's short story "The Swimmer," in which a fiftysomething Lancaster flaunts his still chiseled physique as he endeavors to swim back home by way of his neighbors' many swimming pools. Sound bizarre? It is, but the overly literal metaphor winds up making for haunting viewing. I once saw this film watched in rapt silence by a New Beverly Cinema audience one night, then nearly laughed off the screen the next. It's not for everyone, but pay Lancaster some respect, give yourself over to this hypnotic film and don't snicker.

Robert Aldrich's "Ulzana's Raid" is ostensibly a revisionist Western, but it's really a trenchant commentary on the Vietnam War (and combat in general). By contrast, Louis Malle's "Atlantic City" is a quiet romantic drama set against one of the most depressing stretches of land in the United States. Written by the great playwright John Guare ("Six Degrees of Separation"), it's a film of small surprises and a lovely ending. Speaking of lovely endings, it's hard to top the finale of Bill Forsyth's "Local Hero," a whimsical comedy about a junior oil executive (Peter Riegert) who, at the urging of his boss (Lancaster), travels to the Scottish Highlands to buy a village out from under its eccentric populace. It's a singular, gorgeous, unforgettable movie – in essence, it encompasses everything that made Lancaster so darn special.