Top Ten Performances of Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson, aka, Emanuel Goldenberg, was one of the greatest character actors who ever graced the Silver Screen. His career spanned nearly five decades and his acting range consisted of characters from many occupations, eras and walks of life. For this list, any performance, albeit a lead role to a minor role, these are his best. Note, this list doesn't contain all of his best roles.
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- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsEdward G. RobinsonDouglas Fairbanks Jr.Glenda FarrellA small-time criminal moves to a big city to seek bigger fortune.Robinson as Nico helped usher in the gangster genre. This performance is his best by far!
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsEdward G. RobinsonBette DavisHumphrey BogartFight promoter Nick Donati grooms a bellhop as a future champ, but has second thoughts when the 'kid' falls for his sister.Robinson co-starring with Bette Davis is a match made in heaven.
- DirectorJohn FarrowStarsEdward G. RobinsonGail RussellJohn LundAfter phony stage mentalist Triton mysteriously acquires supernatural powers of precognition, he becomes frightened and abandons his act to live in anonymity.One of Robinson's lesser known films and one of the few he ever made within the genre of the supernatural. His character's pathos and how he handles his psychic ability makes you forget Robinson's tough guy roles.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsEdward G. RobinsonJoan BennettDan DuryeaA man in mid-life crisis befriends a young woman, though her fiancé persuades her to con him out of the fortune they mistakenly assume he possesses.Another tortured soul narrative for Robinson. This film now has a cult following. To see Robinson slowly descend to degradation is must-see!
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsFred MacMurrayBarbara StanwyckEdward G. RobinsonA Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.One of my favorite performances because Robinson is the straight guy while Fred MacMurry is the poor sap who's willing to commit murder for a dame. Robinson playing against type is always worth watching.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesEdward G. RobinsonLoretta YoungAn investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi.Like his role in Double Indemnity, Robinson plays a man of the law. To see him root out Nazi evil is worth seeing.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsEdward G. RobinsonEdna BestEddie AlbertStarting with a small flock of carrier pigeons, nineteenth-century entrepreneur Julius Reuter turns his small company into Europe's most respected news wire service.In his career, Robinson didn't do many period pieces but when he did, he shined in them. Here, he's playing the founder of Reuters News Service.
- DirectorAnatole LitvakStarsEdward G. RobinsonHumphrey BogartClaire TrevorA brilliant Park Avenue doctor becomes a criminal in order to do research into the criminal mind.This is one of the few times Robinson would play a medical doctor.
- DirectorAlexander HallStarsEdward G. RobinsonBarbara O'NeilJohn BealLaw professor John Lindsay is asked by a civic leader to become a special prosecutor to go after the racketeers in town.This little-known film is very entertaining. Its the first time Robinson appears in a mobster film and he's not playing a mobster but a law professor! Watch him fight the mob with his fists!
- DirectorFritz LangStarsEdward G. RobinsonJoan BennettRaymond MasseyWhen a conservative middle aged professor engages in a relationship with a femme fatale, he's plunged into a nightmarish world of blackmail and murder.This film noir has developed a cult following over the years. Many have compared it to Scarlet Street but this film and Robinson's performance stand on their own.