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BEST GEORGE C. SCOTT MOVIES

“Anatomy of a Murder” (1959) Scott made an early screen mark as a sophisticated prosecutor opposing a smalltown lawyer (James Stewart) in the trial of a murder-charged Army lieutenant (Ben Gazzara) in director Otto Preminger’s first-rate drama.

“The Hustler” (1961) An excellent Scott portrays the nononsense new manager of a down-on-his-luck pool player (Paul Newman).

“Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” (1964) Scott had one of his most iconic roles in director Stanley Kubrick’s dark comedy, playing General Buck Turgidson, who’s initially oblivious to a fellow U.S. military official’s renegade plot against the Soviet Union.

“The Yellow Rolls-Royce” (1964) Though he disappears for a good-sized chunk of his segment in this multi-segment saga about various owners of the title vehicle, Scott is fun to watch as a mobster whose moll (Shirley MacLaine) finds a new love.

“Petulia” (1968) Scott plays an almost divorced physician who becomes the object of a newlywed’s (Julie Christie) relentless pursuit in director Richard Lester’s mature comedy.

“Patton” (1970) Earning him an Oscar for best actor (which he very famously refused), Scott found his signature role in the controversially independent-minded World War II general. The film leads a night of Scott films Tuesday, Sept. 21, on Turner Classic Movies.

“They Might Be Giants” (1971) Scott embraces a tricky role – a psychiatric patient who believes he’s the legendary fictional sleuth Sherlock Holmes – quite masterfully.

“The Hospital” (1971) Also a part of TCM’s Sept. 21 tribute to Scott, writer Paddy Chayefsky’s satire casts the actor as the professionally and personally desperate chief of staff at a New York medical facility.

“The Savage Is Loose” (1974) More impressive than the film itself – an island-survival story also starring the last of his four wives, Trish Van Devere – is the fact that Scott financed, directed and distributed the movie himself.

“Islands in the Stream” (1977) In this Ernest Hemingway story reuniting him with “Patton” director Franklin J. Schaffner, Scott is very affecting as a variation on the author, a loner writer about to be reunited with his estranged sons during a summertime visit in the Bahamas of the 1940s.

“Taps” (1981) Though he’s not in the film all that long, Scott’s image as a military-academy commander looms large over the entire picture.

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2021-09-17T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-17T07:00:00.0000000Z

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