The 10 Best Jack Lemmon Movies Ever Made

One of the older actors I love is a guy who made movies across eight decades and had us laughing for all of them. Even the headstone to his gravesite is a hilarious bit that makes you smile.

I am, of course, talking about Jack Lemmon.

The guy is an Oscar winner, and his legend feels untouchable, but he brought such an everyman quality to all of his roles that we still lean into all his performances today.

Today, I wanted to go over ten Jack Lemmon roles that I think are his personal best.

Let's dive in.

1. The Apartment (1960)

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• Director: Billy Wilder
• Writers: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond
• Cast: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston

Did you think there would be a different choice? This is probably one of my ten favorite movies of all time, and I think one of the ten best movies ever made. Lemmon plays C.C. "Bud" Baxter, a guy trying to work his way up the corporate ladder while also falling in love with the elevator girl.

It's just too bad she's in love with his boss.

Baxter's apartment is used by his bosses to bed women and cheat on their wives. We feel sorry for him because it feels like he's willing to do whatever it takes for that promotion, and we're rooting for him to see that it may not be worth it.

What makes this performance work so brilliantly is how Lemmon handles Billy Wilder’s dialogue and how much chemistry he has with Shirley MacLaine.

2. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

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• Director: James Foley
• Writer: David Mamet (based on his play)
• Cast: Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey

When we think about David Mamet’s dialogue, we usually picture actors spitting it out with confidence and bravado. But Lemmon uses it to be the saddest sack of the bumch, a washed-up guy who is suddenly in a shark tank and can't swim.

Lemmon's flop sweat feels real. We're worried about him finding success, but also even surviving. You're dejected alongside him as things fall apart, and you puff out your chest when they go well, too. It's a great performance because you can watch it a second time and still be surprised as to where it goes.

3. Some Like It Hot (1959)

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• Director: Billy Wilder
• Writers: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond
• Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Joe E. Brown

Absolutely in the conversation for the funniest movie ever made. We get that rapid-fire Wilder dialogue along with incredible performances from all our leads. There's this chaotic energy that makes a movie like this work, and the story never takes its foot off the gas through the very famous last frame.

Lemmon steals every scene he's in, acting against Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe in this sort of game of who can make us laugh the hardest. Lemmon is the master of the deadpan, and he takes even the most ridiculous things very seriously.

4. Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

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• Director: Blake Edwards
• Writer: JP Miller
• Cast: Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Charles Bickford

I think a lot of people missed this movie, so I wanted to put it on your radar. It's Lemmon doing a more serious role where he can showcase his dramatic chops. He plays Joe Clay, a PR guy who falls in love with a woman in his office and seems to be having a great life...

... until he spirals into alcoholism and tries to pull her down with him. Lemmon physicalizes the toll of booze on his body; he has tremors, manic energy, and those creepy drunken stares. It's not a happy movie, but it's got some incredible acting within it.

5. Grumpy Old Men (1993)

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• Director: Donald Petrie
• Writer: Mark Steven Johnson
• Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, Burgess Meredith

This movie is so darn funny. It's like 90 minutes of Lemmon and Matthau bickering and ice-fishing in Minnesota. You have a ton of slapstick antics, too, which feel kind of revolutionary for two guys in their 70s.

What makes Lemmon so great here is how he layers the comedy with loneliness. He misses his wife so much that it now feels like hate for his neighbor is what's keeping him alive. He gives the character a fragile dignity that honors him in a way that's both sensitive and hilarious.

6. The Out-of-Towners (1970)

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• Director: Arthur Hiller
• Writer: Neil Simon
• Cast: Jack Lemmon, Sandy Dennis, Sandy Baron

The first time I saw this movie, it blew me away. It's an incredible film about coming to a big city, daring for its time, and still holding up today. Lemmon plays George Kellerman, a guy from Ohio flying into New York City for a massive job interview that's going to change his life.

Then, scene by scene, we see everything in his life break apart, and everything goes wrong. It's like a stunning masterclass in comedy writing, where everything becomes an obstacle to my happiness.

Lemmon gradually loses his sanity in ways that will have you rolling on the floor.

7. My Fellow Americans (1996)

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• Director: Peter Segal
• Writers: E. Jack Kaplan, Richard Guay, Peter Tolan
• Cast: Jack Lemmon, James Garner, Dan Aykroyd, John Heard

I saw this for the first time like a month ago, and I was howling. funny movie about an absurd concept that kinda works perfectly. I was surprised this movie isn't more famous, to be honest.

When Walter Matthau had to step away due to health issues, they had James Garner step in. They are good together, but I think Mattahu is definitely missed.

Lemmon plays former President Russell Kramer, a cheap, vain Republican who has to team up with his bitter Democratic rival (Garner) to uncover a government conspiracy that's framing them both.

I think if Matthau stayed in, we would remember it more, but it still rocks.

8. The China Syndrome (1979)

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• Director: James Bridges
• Writers: Mike Gray, T.S. Cook, James Bridges
• Cast: Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas

This movie really holds up. If you want to learn more about tension, this is the place to find it. Lemmon plays Jack Godell, a nuclear power plant supervisor who stumbles upon a terrifying safety cover-up that might literally blow up in our faces.

Lemmon refuses to play Godell like a traditional hero. Instead, we get a guy worried about pissing off his obbes but also about all the people who live nearby who could be affected. It's this internal conflict that makes a ton of sense and feels real.

9. Mister Roberts (1955)

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• Director: John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy
• Writers: Frank S. Nugent, Joshua Logan
• Cast: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, Jack Lemmon

This movie got Lemmon a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and made him famous. He's holding his own next to Henry Fonda and James Cagney. Acting with them and proving he belongs in the big leagues.

He plays Ensign Pulver, a slacker trying to avoid his tyrannical captain at all costs, who gets thrust into the spotlight and has to change as a person. It's a classic character arc, but Lemmon does it with grace and elegance.

10. The Odd Couple (1968)

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• Director: Gene Saks
• Writer: Neil Simon
• Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, John Fiedler

You can’t talk about Jack Lemmon and leave out his work as Felix Ungar. Lemmon basically invented the blueprint for the neurotic, neat freak that people have been trying to copy over and over again, from Chandler on Friends to Alan on Two and A Half Men.

The reason his dynamic with Matthau works so ridiculously well is the commitment to the bit. Lemmon buys all the way in, and we do, too. He plays this off Matthau, and together, it's like a comedy tornado in every scene.

Summing It All Up

What Lemmon teaches us is the sheer power of vulnerability on screen. He was never afraid to look foolish if it served the story and if it got people to laugh. There was no ego up there, just a pure entertainer who knew how to work an audience. That's why he was cast in so many classic movies and why he's endured forever.

His grave stone says "Jack Lemmon In..." and I think that might be the best laugh of all time.

What are your favorite Jack Lemmon performances?

Let me know in the comments.