Walter Matthau would’ve celebrated his 98th birthday on October 1, 2018. Born in 1920, the actor was a celebrated performer on both the stage and screen, known for his gruff, rumpled persona. In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 15 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Matthau turned to acting after serving in the United States Army Air Force during WWII. He became a frequent presence on the small screen with appearances in “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “Goodyear Playhouse,” and “The Du Pont Show of the Week” (which brought him an Emmy bid in 1963), to name a few. During this period he also appeared in several films, few of them comedies, including “A Face in the Crowd” (1957) and “Fail Safe” (1964).
At the same time, he gained increasing respect as a stage actor with Tony Award-winning performances in “A Shot in the Dark” (Featured Actor in a Play in 1962) and “The Odd Couple” (Actor in a Play in 1965). It was in the latter role of Oscar Madison, a slovenly, hedonistic sportswriter sharing an apartment with the fastidious Felix Unger (played onstage by Art Carney, onscreen by Jack Lemmon), that Matthau found the identity that would define him.
Matthau became a movie star with an Oscar-winning turn in Billy Wilder‘s “The Fortune Cookie” (Best Supporting Actor in 1966). In this dark comedy, he plays a shyster lawyer who convinces his brother-in-law (Lemmon) to feign a serious injury to cash in on an insurance claim.
It was the first of several films the comedic duo would make together (including Lemmon’s solo directorial outing “Kotch” and “JFK,” in which they didn’t share scenes). The success of “The Fortune Cookie” led to their reunion for the screen version of “The Odd Couple” (1968), followed by “The Front Page” (1974), “Buddy Buddy” (1981), “Grumpy Old Men” (1993), “The Grass Harp” (1995), “Grumpier Old Men” (1995), “Out to Sea” (1997), and “The Odd Couple II” (1997).
Matthau competed at the Oscars twice more as Best Actor (“Kotch” in 1971 and “The Sunshine Boys” in 1975). He won a Golden Globe for “The Sunshine Boys” and contended for “The Fortune Cookie,” “The Odd Couple,” “Kotch,” “Pete ‘n’ Tillie” (1972), “The Front Page” (1974), “Hopscotch” (1980), and “The First Day in October” (1981).
Tour our photo gallery of Matthau’s 15 greatest films, including a few comedic and dramatic gems that should’ve garnered Oscar attention.
15. KOTCH (1971)
In his lone directorial outing, Jack Lemmon provides his longtime friend and costar with one hell of a role. Matthau plays Joseph P. Kotcher, a friendly septuagenarian who runs away to avoid a nursing home. On the road he encounters a pregnant teenager (Deborah Winters) and assists in the birth of her child. The film brought Matthau an Oscar nomination as Best Actor, which he lost to Gene Hackman (“The French Connection”).
14. CALIFORNIA SUITE (1978)
The works of Neil Simon provided Matthau with many great sandboxes to play in throughout his career. A quasi-sequel to “Plaza Suite” (which he also appeared in), “California Suite” consists of four skits set at a luxurious Beverly Hills hotel. Matthau stars as a conservative businessman who must get a prostitute (Denise Galik) out of his room before his wife (Elaine May) arrives.
13. CACTUS FLOWER (1969)
In “Cactus Flower,” Matthau plays a dentist who pretends to be married so he can avoid commitment with his much-younger girlfriend (Supporting Actress-winner Goldie Hawn). When she attempts suicide, he pops the question, then recruits his shy nurse (Ingrid Bergman) to pose as his wife. But Bergman isn’t the wallflower she at first appears to be.
12. PETE ‘N’ TILLIE (1972)
“Pete ’n’ Tillie” finds Matthau’s wise-cracking Pete romancing reserved Tillie (Carol Burnett) in this charming comedy from Martin Ritt. Though they don’t immediately click, their friendship soon leads to marriage. Though the midway shift towards tearjerking doesn’t entirely work, the chemistry between the leads is compelling.
11. A NEW LEAF (1971)
This seriously dark comedy from writer-director-star Elaine May features Matthau as a playboy who has squandered his fortune and needs to find a new source of income. He decides to romance a rich wallflower (May) and takeover her finances by any means necessary… including murder. May, who reaped a Golden Globe nomination for her performance, was reportedly dissatisfied with the drastically shortened and re-cut version Paramount ultimately released, even trying to remove her name from the credits.
10. GRUMPY OLD MEN (1993)
Matthau and Jack Lemmon collaborated on 11 different films, some brilliant (“The Odd Couple”), some not so much (“The Odd Couple II”). “Grumpy Old Men” falls somewhere in-between, a genially agreeable comedy that would be totally forgettable were it not for these two legends. They play John (Lemmon) and Max (Matthau), neighbors whose lifelong feud intensifies when an attractive woman (Ann-Margret) moves in across the street.
9. THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (1974)
“The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” is one of those brilliant meat and potatoes thrillers that’s so good at entertaining us it’s easy to overlook how much skill it’s constructed with. Robert Shaw stars as a violent criminal who hijacks a subway train and demands a $1 million ransom for the passengers. It’s up to a grouchy New York Transit Authority police lieutenant (Matthau) to stop him.
8. FAIL SAFE (1964)
This nail-biter from Sidney Lumet imagines a nightmare scenario in which the U.S. government must scramble when American planes are mistakenly sent to Moscow for a nuclear attack. The all-star cast includes Henry Fonda as the concerned President and Matthau as a professor advising the Department of Defense. “Fail Safe” had the misfortune of coming out months after “Dr. Strangelove” lampooned a similar situation, causing it to bomb (at the box office, that is).
7. A FACE IN THE CROWD (1957)
Fans of “The Andy Griffith Show” may be shocked to see the good-hearted sheriff of Mayberry playing such a dastardly character in his film debut. In “A Face in the Crowd,” Griffith is electrifying as Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes, an Arkansas drifter who becomes a media sensation when he’s discovered by a radio producer (Patricia Neal) looking for authentic voices. Matthau plays Mel Miller, a staff writer for the show who becomes increasingly aware that Rhodes isn’t the homespun man of the people he claims to be.
6. CHARADE (1963)
In “Charade,” Audrey Hepburn plays an American widow in Paris evading three crooks (James Coburn, George Kennedy, and Ned Glass) who want a fortune stolen by her murdered husband. It’s up to a handsome stranger (Cary Grant) and a C.I.A. agent (Matthau) to save her. But who can she really trust? Director Stanley Donen creates a delicate blend of romance, suspense, and dark humor to stand alongside Hitchcock’s best.
5. HOPSCOTCH (1980)
Matthau has one of his best starring roles in Ronald Neame’s satirical spy thriller. He plays Miles Kendig, a clever CIA agent confined to a desk who decides to get back at his boss (Ned Beatty) by publishing a explosive tell-all memoir. Of course, that’s easier said than done, and Kendig has the time of his life evading his former employers throughout Europe with the help of an old girlfriend (Glenda Jackson).
4. THE SUNSHINE BOYS (1975)
Matthau reaped his third and final Oscar nomination (this time in the lead category) for yet another Neil Simon adaptation. It centers on two curmudgeonly vaudeville stars (Matthau and Supporting Actor-winner George Burns) who reunite after decades apart for a TV special, only to find out they still can’t stand each other. Director Herbert Ross does little to “open up” the story for the screen, instead allowing the chemistry between his two stars to carry the film.
3. THE BAD NEWS BEARS (1976)
The role of Morris Buttermaker — a cigar-chomping, beer-guzzling ex-ball player coaching a little league team — fits Matthau like a well-worn catcher’s mitt. While the appeal of watching children spew four-letter words has been lost in the age of “South Park,” this underdog sports comedy retains its entertainment value thanks to its star and the “ringers” he brings in to help the talentless tots: tomboy Tatum O’Neal and delinquent Jackie Earle Haley.
2. THE FORTUNE COOKIE (1966)
Matthau won the Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor for Billy Wilder’s biting social satire. He plays “Whiplash” Willie Gingrich, an ambulance-chasing attorney who convinces his brother-in-law (Jack Lemmon), a TV news cameraman, to exaggerate an on-the-job injury for insurance purposes. This was the first of 11 films Matthau and Lemmon made together (including Lemmon’s solo directorial outing, “Kotch”), and it’s clear from the get-go why this odd couple belonged together: one’s fastidiousness contrasts beautifully with the other’s scruffiness.
1. THE ODD COUPLE (1968)
Laurel had Hardy, Abbott had Costello, and Matthau had Lemmon. Much like Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison, the characters they play in Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple,” these two are perfectly suited to bounce off each other: Lemmon tidy and neurotic, Matthau slobbish and mischievous. It’s a dynamic that served them well in multiple outings, none better than in this 1968 film about a pair of divorced men with opposing views on housekeeping and lifestyle sharing an apartment.
