Golden Boy (1939)

Golden Boy (1939)

[5] William Holden's breakout performance was in this drama about a New York violinist who gets drawn into the boxing ring much to his father's dismay. His fighting takes him all the way to Madison Square Garden under the guidance of a…
Licorice Pizza (2021)

Licorice Pizza (2021)

[8] Hollywood often waters down characters and storylines to make them universally appealing. Filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson with Licorice Pizza, or David O. Russell with Joy and The Fighter, are challenging that notion with stories of tremendous specificity -- specificity of…
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)

[7] Jennifer Jones and William Holden star as a widowed Eurasian doctor and a married American news correspondent who fall in love despite cultural differences and wartime separations during China's communist revolution. Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing is one of the quintessential…
S.O.B. (1981)

S.O.B. (1981)

[6] Julie Andrews, William Holden, Richard Mulligan, Robert Preston, and Robert Webber star in Blake Edwards' (Breakfast at Tiffany's, Thoroughly Modern Millie) ensemble comedy about a film producer who goes suicidal after his latest G-rated family film turns out to be a…
Stalag 17 (1953)

Stalag 17 (1953)

[7] William Holden leads an ensemble cast in Billy Wilder's adaptation of Stalag 17. The film takes place entirely in a German prisoner-of-war barrack, where the captured Americans are beginning to suspect that Holden's pessimistic black marketeer character may be informing on…
The Towering Inferno (1974)

The Towering Inferno (1974)

[7] Steve McQueen and Paul Newman help rescue people trapped in a flaming highrise in Irwin Allen's disaster opus, The Towering Inferno. It is what it is -- we all at one time or another want to watch disaster unfold and this…
Network (1976)

Network (1976)

[10] A suicidal TV news anchorman strikes a nerve with the public, prompting his network to bastardize their news hour with his crackpot proselytizing. Before long, the network embraces pure tabloid sensationalism -- live assassinations and all. Network is now famous for…
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

[8]

A British colonel (Alec Guinness) leads his fellow POWs in constructing a bridge for their Japanese captors, unaware of the fact that allied forces, guided by a reluctant American (William Holden), have launched a covert mission to destroy it. David Lean’s film zips along remarkably well considering it’s nearly-three-hour running time. The film benefits from its exotic locale, Oscar-winning cinematography, and distinguished performances.