Martin Landau Movies

Want to know the best Martin Landau movies?  How about the worst Martin Landau movies?  Curious about Martin Landau box office grosses or which Martin Landau movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Martin Landau movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which ones got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

After a pretty hectic Sunday I sat down in front of the computer….and the very first website I looked at, informed me that Oscar® winning actor Martin Landau had passed away today.   All my life, no matter how many movies Landau made…..he has always been….”the guy from North by Northwest”.  That movie was one of my late dad’s all-time favorite movies.  That has always given me a connection to Mr. Landau. His passing is a reminder of my dad’s passing.  Luckily Eva Marie Saint is still around.

Another Landau memory I have involves Samuel L. Jackson.  Back in 1994, I was blown away by Pulp Fiction.  When it came time for the Oscars®….I was convinced Jackson was going to be the Best Supporting Actor winner.  When they announced that Landau was the winner, here is what I remember yelling at the television.  “They ripped off Jackson…this is a load of crap…those Academy idiot voters do not know what the hell they are doing!”  Well…..I admit…..that I held a grudge for a few years…and refused to watch Landau in Ed Wood.   After a few years, I finally watched Ed Wood. I quickly realized that Landau’s performance as Bela Lugosi was sensational.  After the movie ended….I told myself….well I guess those Academy voters are not so dumb after all.

His IMDb page shows 177 acting credits from 1953-2018. This page will rank 31 Martin Landau (1928-2017) movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. This was all of the movies in our database….so we know 31 movies does not represent his entire movie career.

Martin Landau in 1988’s Tucker: The Man and His Dream

Martin Landau Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort Martin Landau movies by co-stars of his movies.
  • Sort Martin Landau movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Martin Landau movies by by domestic yearly box office rank
  • Sort Martin Landau movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations each Martin Landau movie received and how many Oscar® wins each Martin Landau movie won.
  • Sort Martin Landau movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
  • Use the search and sort button to make this page very interactive.

29 thoughts on “Martin Landau Movies

  1. So, it’s time to say goodbye to another companion of my youth. Mission Impossible as well as Space: 1999 were a vital part of family entertainment at home- though, with only one TV set, my Dad detested Sci Fi TV shows that collided with his sports. In all fairness to Mr. Landau’s talents, as a very young man I was much more interested in his leading lady and once wife Barbra Bain. Still, I recognized him immediately when I spotted him in movies like North by Northwest or The Gazebo, or even uncredited much later in the opening sequence of Sleepy Hollow. His performance as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood was outstanding, and I’ve seen him giving some great ones since. Of the above listed, I have seen 10 movies.
    Thank you for reminding us of Mr. Landau on this day.

  2. I am so sad to hear that Martin Landau died. I am a big fan of the TV series Mission Impossible.

    I have seen 9 Martin Landau movies.

    North By Northwest is one of my favourite movies of all time. TCM will be airing it at 10:30pm Eastern/ 7:30pm Pacific on Wednesday July 26th as part of their July TCM Spotlight 50 Years of Hitchcock. I have lost track of the number of times I have seen this film.

    Other favourites of mine are The Gazebo, Pork Chop Hill, They Call Me Mr. Tibbs and Ed Wood.

    The other Martin Landau films I have seen are:

    Cleopatra
    Navada Smith
    Hallelujah Trail
    The Majestic
    The Greatest Story EVer Told

    Rest in Peace Mr. Landau

    1. Hey Flora….thanks for checking out our Landau tribute page. I have fixed your comment per your request. Your 9 Landau movies watched is behind me and Steve’s totals. But impressive especially considering the bulk of his movies were after 1976. I have seen Pork Chop Hill…but like other of his movies can not remember his part in that one. Ed Wood has one of his best performances. Some how I have managed not to see The Greatest Story Ever Told…..besides John Wayne’s brief cameo. Rest in peace Mr. Landau.

  3. Cogerson

    Sad to hear of his passing. What jumps out in his career for me is North by Northwest, and his turn as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood. And a lot of TV. The role that pops to mind from TV is a guest appearance as a crazed gangster on the old The Untouchables, represented in a murder trial by crooked mouthpiece Jack Klugman. He gives Klugman a “Get me off, lawyer, or your law career and life are over,” incentive to do his best in court.

    1. Hey John…..thanks for checking out our Landau tribute. Sad day indeed. North by Northwest and Ed Wood are two of my favorite Landau movies as well. Hmmmm….I will have to see that performance on The Untouchables. Good quote.

  4. First horror movie legend George Romero dies and than shortly after I find that Martin Landau has died too. What a black day for movie fans. RIP George and Martin.

    I watched a few episodes of 1970s sci-fi series Space 1999 on blu-ray a few weeks ago, they have not dated well (unlike Star Trek). Landau was the lead actor along with his then wife Barbara Bain, they were on Mission Impossible together a few years earlier.

    I’ve seen 16 of the 31 films on the chart. Favorites include – North by Northwest (one of my all time favorites), Cleopatra, Nevada Smith, The X Files, Frankenweenie, and Ed Wood.

    Top rated films I haven’t seen – Crimes & Misdemeanors and Remember.

    Landau was the first actor to win an Oscar for playing another actor (Bela Lugosi), in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood (1994). Cate Blanchett won her first Oscar for playing Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator (2004).

    A nice tribute to a great actor Bruce. Vote Up!

    1. Hey Steve
      1. Thanks for checking out my Landau tribute. I thought about doing the same for Romero…but other than Dawn of the Dead….not a huge fan of his movies. Granted he put zombies on the map.
      2. I think his television career was just as impressive as his movie career…..though I have not watched to many of his shows in the past.
      3. I have seen 21 of the 31 movies…..though I do admit I do not remember all of his parts in the movie….like Meteor….he was in that one?
      4. I would highly recommend Remember…..he and Christopher Plummer are very good in the movie….and it has a good story. I thought Crimes and Misdemeanors was good……but his performance is excellent.
      5. Interesting trivia about him being the first to win an Oscar for playing an actor….I did not know that at all.
      Good stuff.

  5. HI BRUCE 1 When they were both young Martin and Vincent Price reminded me of each other slightly with their tall stooped frames, smooth features and fine vocal delivery – no mumbling from those two boys Steve! Landau was of course never a box office star but he produced a fine body of work over the years which in my view has richly earned him this Cogerson page.

    2 For me his stand-out performances were (1) with Grant in the 1959 N by NW (2) as Bela Lugosi in Depp’s Ed Wood, 1994 (3) with Jim Carrey in the probably now forgotten The Majestic in 2001 which examined blacklisting during the McCarthy era. I also enjoyed Landau in a 1973 episode of the TV detective series Columbo in which Martin played identical murderous twins who cleverly used their look-alike appearance for the one who physically committed the murder to be given an alibi by the other.

    3 . As you mention for Ed Wood he won Best Supporting Actor and he also won a Golden Globe for the same. Indeed way back in 1966 he won a Golden Globe as Best Male TELEVISION Actor and as he was also successful in theatre he can claim great artistic success in multi mediums. He TAUGHT acting as well and two of his pupils were Nicholson and Anjelica Huston. He claimed that in early Hollywood his closest friend was James Dean and apparently Martin attended the same class as McQueen at the Actors’ Studio. Landau’s personal screen idol was Chaplin

    4 Anyway Bruce nice touch for you to mark Martin’s sad passing with this comprehensive and well-written profile. I couldn’t help chuckling at your story about refusing to watch Martin for a time because he dished Samuel L for the Supporting Oscar. Given how personal you seem to have taken the latter it struck me as highly ironic that you would even dream that I would want to buy a book by Joel Hirschhorn. That reminds me of the old cliche “Don’t do what I do – do what I say” !! If I did heed you I cannot see myself saying if I may paraphrase you “That guy Joel isn’t so dumb after all!”

    1. Hey Bob
      1. I can see the Price/Landau resemblance. His career had some peaks and valleys. I remember him being in a Gilligan’s Island movie and thought….wow his career is struggling.
      2. I also enjoyed The Majestic….Landau outshines Carrey in that movie.
      3. Yep…lots of current actors have given Landau’s acting classes major credit for their successes. McQueen and Landau in the same class…I bet that would have been a fun for class for sure.
      4. Glad you like my Jackson/Landau/Oscar story…maybe you and Joel can be friends after all….lol.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.