Sydney Greenstreet Movies

screen-shot-2012-11-17-at-1-33-39-amWant to know the best Sydney Greenstreet movies?  How about the worst Sidney Greenstreet movies?  Curious about Sydney Greenstreet box office grosses or which Sydney Greenstreet movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Sydney Greenstreet movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

Sydney Greenstreet (1879-1954) was a British-born American Oscar® nominated actor. His IMDb page shows 24 acting credits from 1941-1949. This page ranks 24 Sydney Greenstreet movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information.  This one of the few UMR pages that has every IMDb credit listed in the following table.  This page was suggested by Flora many moons ago….we always say better late than never.

Sydney Greenstreet and Humphrey Bogart in a movie you might know...1942's Casablanca
Sydney Greenstreet and Humphrey Bogart in a movie you might know…1942’s Casablanca

Sydney Greenstreet Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

Sydney Greenstreet 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 Sydney Greenstreet movies by co-stars of his movies
  • Sort Sydney Greenstreet movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Sydney Greenstreet movies by adjusted worldwide box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Sydney Greenstreet movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Sydney Greenstreet movie received.
  • Sort Sydney Greenstreet 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.

Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Sidney Greenstreet Table

  1. Fourteen Sidney Greenstreet movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark.  That is a percentage of 58.33% of his movies listed. Casablanca (1942) was his biggest box office hit.
  2. An average Sidney Greenstreet movie grossed $126.50 million in adjusted domestic box office gross.
  3. That translates to a career adjusted box office of $3.03 billion.
  4. Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter.  22 Sidney Greenstreet movies are rated as good movies…or 91.66% of his movies. Casablanca (1942) is his highest rated movie while It’s A Great Feeling (1949) is his lowest rated movie.
  5. Four Sidney Greenstreet movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 16.66% of his movies.
  6. One Sidney Greenstreet movie won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 4.16% of his movies.
  7. An average Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 40.00. 20 Sidney Greenstreet movies scored higher that average….or 83.33% of his movies.  Casablanca (1942) got the the highest UMR Score while Ruthless (1948) got the lowest UMR Score.

Getting to know Mr. Sydney Greenstreet

62-anosSydney Greenstreet was 62 when he appeared in his first film.  That film was 1941’s The Maltese Falcon.  Greenstreet earned his first and only Oscar nomination for that movie.  So I guess I still have a few years to become a famous actor.

Sydney Greenstreet started his movie career playing The Fat Man in 1941’s The Maltese Falcon and ended his movie career playing The DutchMan in 1950’s Malaya.

photoSydney Greenstreet appeared in 20 Warner Brothers movies, 2 MGM movies, 1 RKO movie and 1 Eagle Lion movie.  We were able to find worldwide box office grosses on 21 of his 24 movies.

Two of Sydney Greenstreet’s first 4 movies are considered all-time classics…..1941’s The Maltese Falcon and 1942’s Casablanca.  Seems he could have “mic dropped” after those two movies and he would still be remembered today.

Sydney Greenstreet acted in every majorShakespearean play and committed 12,000 lines of Shakepearean verse to memory.

sydney-greenstreet-peter-lorreSydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre appeared in 9 movies….pretty amazing when you realize Greenstreet only appeared in 24 movies.

If there was a Hall of Fame for supporting/character actors…without a doubt Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre would be proud members….joining Walter Brennan, Lionel Barrymore, Thelma Ritter, Barry Fitzgerald, George Sanders and the current Christopher Walken….just to name a few.

jabba-greenstreet

Sydney Greenstreet’s characters in The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca‘ were the inspiration for the Star Wars character Jabba The Hutt.

Check out Sydney Greensheet ‘s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

How well do you know your Sydney Greensheet movie quotes? Take this little quiz…answers at the bottom.  And yes his Casablanca and Maltese Falcon have two quotes each

Greenstreet Movie Quote Greenstreet Movie
"As the leader of all illegal activities, I am an influential and respected man."A. Malaya
" I don't want anything to happen to that baby. It will ruin my circulation. "B. Three Strangers
"You'd better let me do the talking. Probably the only thing standing between you and eternity is my vocabulary. "C. Maltese Falcon
"This may seem to you melodramatic, but indulge me, please, I like melodrama. "D. Casablanca
"With refugees alone we can make a fortune if you work with me through the black market. "E. The Mask of Dimitrios
"I couldn't be fonder of you if you were my own son. But, well, if you lose a son, it's possible to get another."F. The Conspirators
"Who me? I believe in what I can see... what I can get my hands on." G. Maltese Falcon
"You wanted to write a book. Send me a copy. I'll have lots of time to read it. "H. Conflict
"Now, sir. We'll talk, if you like. I'll tell you right out, I am a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk. "I. Casablanca
"Certainly, as a psychologist I can assure you a happy marriage is indeed a rare achievement. "J. Christmas In Connecticut

Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.

Quiz answers: 1: D or I    2: J     3: A    4: F    5: D or I     6: C or G    7: B     8: E   9: C or G   10: H

 

20 thoughts on “Sydney Greenstreet Movies

  1. Considering Sydney’s last film is in 1949 it’s amazing that he has an adult star at the time still on the top 1000 Oracle of Bacon Center of the Hollywood Universe list, that being;

    They Died with Their Boots on (1941) – 681 Anthony Quinn

    Here are the actors who appeared on the 2000 list and have fallen off and appeared with Syd.

    Across the Pacific (142) – 278 Keye Luke, 767 Philip Ahn, 924 Frank Wilcox
    Background to Danger (1943) – 410 George Raft
    Between Two Worlds (1944) – 273 George Coulouris
    Casablanca (1942) – 177 Marcel Dalio, 606 Alberto Morin
    Christmas in Connecticut (1945) – 169 John Dehner
    Conflict (1945) – 222 Bess Flowers, 783 James Flavin, 824 Frank Wilcox
    Devotion (1946) – 248 Arthur Kennedy, 962 Olivia De Havilland
    Flamingo Road (1949) – 783 James Flavin
    Hollywood Canteen (1944) – 169 John Dehner, 345 William Prince, 682 Ray Teal, 783 James Flavin, 918 Bette Davis
    It’s a Great Feeling (1949) – 222 Bess Flowers, 463 Edward G. Robinson
    Malaya (1949) – 344 James Stewart, 384 Gilbert Roland, 548 Valentina Cortese, 824 Frank Wilcox, 984 Peter Mamakos
    Passage to Marseilles (1944) – 671 Eduardo Cianelli
    Pillow to Post (1945) – 345 William Prince, 508 Robert Blake, 783 James Flavin
    Ruthless (1948) – 925 Raymond Burr
    That Way with Women (1947) – 100 Ian Wolfe
    The Conspirators (1944) – 222 Bess Flowers, 671 Eduardo Cianelli, 894 Philip Van Zandt
    The Hucksters (1947) – 43 Keenan Wynn, 186 Ava Gardner, 506 Douglas Fowley, 982 Billy Benedict
    The Maltese Falcon (1941) – 219 Elisha Cook Jr.
    The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) – 671 Eduardo Cianelli
    The Velvet Touch (1948) – 222 Bess Flowers, 783 James Flavin, 800 Martha Hyer, 868 Lex Barker, 926 Bill Erwin, 959 Leon Ames
    The Verdict (1946) – 100 Ian Wolfe, 273 George Coulouris
    They Died with Their Boots on (1941) – 248 Arthur Kennedy, 629 Walter Brooke, 682 Ray Teal, 824 Frank Wilcox, 962 Olivia De Havilland, 963 Frank Ferguson
    Three Strangers (1946) – 100 Ian Wolfe

    8 years, 24 films and most at Warner Brothers yet he appeared with at least 18 Oscar winners.

    Across the Pacific (1942) – Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor
    Between Two Worlds (1944) – Edmund Gwenn
    Casablanca (1942) – Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman
    Conflict (1945) – Humphrey Bogart
    Devotion (1946) – Olivia De Havilland
    Flamingo Road (1949) – Joan Crawford
    Hollywood Canteen (1944) – Bette Davis, Dorothy Malone, Humphrey Bogart, Jane Wyman, Joan Crawford
    It’s a Great Feeling (1949) – Gary Cooper, Jane Wyman, Joan Crawford, Patricia Neal
    Malaya (1949) – James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore, Spencer Tracy
    Passage to Marseilles (1944) – Humphrey Bogart
    The Hucksters (1947) – Clark Gable
    The Maltese Falcon (1941) – Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Walter Huston
    The Velvet Touch (1948) – Claire Trevor
    The Woman in White (1948) – Gig Young
    They Died with Their Boots on (1941) – Olivia De Havilland, Gig Young

    He even appeared in a film by the short lived Eagle-Lion pictures, Ruthless. They took over from PRC and merged with United Artists in 1951.

    1. Hey Dan….It took Anthony Quinn to be able to withstand all the years…and still keep Greenstreet attached to the current list. I see Bess Flowers made the 2000 list but no Arthur Tovey. It looks like Keenan Wynn was the big loser in the rankings….as he went from 42nd to off the charts.

      18 Oscar Winners in 24 movies is pretty impressive…probably one of the best percentages out there. As for Ruthless….it was one of the few that I could not find worldwide box office on. When I was looking up Ruthless in the Harrison Report…I noticed that they actually a decent amount of movie releases that year….too bad they did not make it.

      Thanks for checking out our Sydney page….and thanks for your contribution to the page.

  2. Nice. I like how you changed the last section up. Granted I did not know many of the quotes but I can easily picture him saying the line. The quote from Malaya and the fact that it stars Spencer and Stewart makes me very curious to see it. 62? There is hope for us all.

      1. Hey Helakoski…I will fix that….sorry we do not have an edit button that commenters can use….but maybe in the future we will.

    1. Hey Helakoski….yeah…I felt like doing something different….not sure if I like how it turned out…but it was different. Wow…I agree with you 100% about Malaya…..that quote and that cast and yet that is a movie that is never mentioned….I think it falls into the same category as Not As A Stranger…which was a big hit with a legendary cast (Sinatra, Marvin, Mitchum, de Havilland)….yet nobody ever talks about it.

  3. Hi Bruce,

    Well this changes everything! Mr. Greenstreet was arguably one of the most dynamic character actors of the century. I mean talk about screen presence. However, know that we are solidely implanted in character actor land I cannot leave this page without causing a stir. Donald Crisp, Charles Coburn, Richard Jaekal and Ward Bond….just to name a few. The first two are Oscar winners. Coburn began his prolific carreer at 60. Crisp was a prolific actor who directed, produced and became a Hollywood power broker able to make or break carreers. Between the four of them are possibly 300 film credits. They can be seen everywhere.

    Sorry Bruce…more collatoral damage.

    Marcel

    1. Hey Marcel….yep…I agree he was one of the great character actors….so yes…I agree this might open the floodgates for characters to start taking over UMR.com….lol. Donald Crisp is one of my favorites….love when he pops up in a classic movie….and as great as his movie career was…his away from the screen career was even more awesome. Coburn and Bond are two other great ones. I liked Jaekal….but he was not in the same class as the others….but he was still good…especially in Sometimes A Great Notion….the log scene is one I think about on a regular basis. Thanks for checking out our latest page.

  4. Sydney Greenstreet gets his movie page, nice. I didn’t do well on the movie quiz though I was only really familiar with quotes from Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. (sobs)

    Only 24 films? He started his movie career in his 60s! whoa!

    I’ve only seen 8 of those 24 films, my favorites are Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon and They Died With Their Slippers On.

    Good to see Casablanca top all the charts even the box office, not bad for a movie regarded as just another WB film on the production line at the time it was being made. Casablanca became one of the best loved and most quotable films in Hollywood history.

    A nice tribute to a great character actor. Facts, stats and I liked the quiz & trivia too. Voted Up!

    Another great (and large) character actor for future consideration – Laird Cregar – with even less films than Greenstreet, sadly Cregar died just five years after making his movie debut, aged 30.

    1. Hey Steve.
      1. Yep…I was looking through my “new” Warner Brothers ledger numbers…and noticed his movies popping up everywhere…so he seemed like a good subject….plus he had been on the request list for awhile….so maybe Flora will eventually check her request page out.
      2. Yep…62….so I have double digits years to get my acting career going.
      3. Tally count….8….mmmm….let’s see I am at….5….started off strong….5 of the first 6….and then nothing. My think our Top 3 match…not thinking that happens too often…lol.
      4. Casablanca is one of my highest rated movies in almost all categories….so far I have a Bogart, Bergman, Lorre and Greenstreet page….and a Henreid coming too.
      5. The quiz was a last second thought…I was reading the quote from Maltese Falcon…”Now, sir. We’ll talk, if you like. I’ll tell you right out, I am a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk. ” and I figure Bob would get a kick out of that…but I could not figure out how to get it into the page….so the trivia part..
      6. Yeah it would not take long to do a Laird Cregar page…I have seen a few of him movies…and he always seems “haunting” when he appears in his movies.
      As always thanks for the visit and the comment.

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