10 Greatest Films of Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was born in 1916. It was while he was at Berkeley, in the pre-med program, that he began acting as a pastime. He grew to love it and moved to New York to work in theater. In 1944 he made his first films. He was nominated for an Oscar for his second film — The Keys of the Kingdom. He went on to receive four more Best Actor in a Leading Role nominations, finally winning in 1962 for To Kill a Mockingbird.
The American Film Institute’s ranking of film’s 100 Greatest Film Heroes ranks Peck’s character Atticus Finch, from To Kill a Mockingbird as the number one hero in all of film — above characters like James Bond, Indiana Jones, and Batman.
Throughout his career, Peck excelled at roles that called upon his natural dignity and decency (with one huge exception obvious in the list below). With his tall frame and chiseled features he projected a quiet strength. He was born to play the role of Atticus Finch. He was born to play many of the roles he played.
10. The Boys From Brazil (1978) — cast way outside character, Peck plays Dr. Josef Mengele, the infamous Nazi scientist that experimented on captives at Auschwitz. Mengele escaped war crimes prosecution by fleeing to South America. This film is an adaptation of Ira Levin’s science fiction story about Mengele trying to return a cloned Hitler to power. It’s a bizarre film.
“We were in a Biblical frame of mind on the twenty-third of May 1943, at the Berghof. He had denied himself children because he knew that no son could flourish in the shadow of so godlike a father! But when he heard what was theoretically possible, that I could create one day not his son, not even a carbon-copy but another original, he was thrilled by the idea! The right Hitler for the right future! A Hitler tailor-made for the 1980s, the 1990s, 2000!” — Josef Mengele
9. The Big Country (1958) — William Wyler directed this western about feuding ranch owners. Peck plays a sea captain that comes to one of those ranches to marry the daughter of the owner. He gets embroiled in the conflicts between the ranches and unfairly branded a coward. Peck is supported by a good cast including Jean Simmons, Caroll Baker, Burl Ives, and Charlton Heston.
“I’m not responsible for what people think, Pat, only for what I am.” — James McKay
8. The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) — Peck received his first Oscar nomination for this film based on the novel by A.J. Cronin. Peck plays a determined priest struggling to rebuild a mission in China. The film follows that priest’s struggles over a fifty year period.
“Dear Lord, let me have patience and forbearance where now I have anger. Give me humility, Lord; after all, it was only thy merciful goodness and thy divine providence that saved the boy… but they are ungrateful and You know it!” — Father Chisholm
7. On the Beach (1959) — an apocalyptic tale and criticism of nuclear weapons from director Stanley Kramer. The film costars Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, and Anthony Perkins.
The film is set largely in Australia, after World War III has destroyed the northern hemisphere. Gregory Peck plays a naval officer tasked with taking his submarine north to investigate a mysterious radio signal. The film also deals with the Australian populace facing their inevitable death as the radiation slowly moves south.
“Professor needs a drink.” — Dwight Towers
6. Cape Fear (1962) — A dark and violent story about a released criminal that decides to seek revenge on the attorney that sent him there. Peck plays the attorney, Sam Bowden, admirably, but Robert Mitchum steals every scene as the menacing, brutal, and disturbed criminal, Cady.
“You shocking degenerate. I’ve seen the worst — the dregs — but you… you are the lowest. Makes me sick to breathe the same air.” — Sam Bowden
5. Twelve O’Clock High (1949) — Gregory Peck plays the commander of a bombing unit during World War II. His character starts off poorly with the men but slowly wins them over as he begins to see them as men and not just chess pieces.
“He’s gonna bust wide open. And he’s gonna do it to himself, too. Why? Because he’s a first rate guy… ‘over-identification with his men’, I think that’s what they call it.” — Frank Savage
4. The Guns of Navarone (1961) — an exciting World War II action film directed by J. Lee Thompson and based on a novel by Alistair MacLean. The film costars Anthony Quinn and David Niven as part of a team of commandos assigned to destroy German guns on an island in the Aegean.
“You think you’ve been getting away with it all this time, standing by. Well, son… your bystanding days are over! You’re in it now, up to your neck! They told me that you’re a genius with explosives. Start proving it!” — Captain Mallory
3. Roman Holiday (1953) — directed by William Wyler, the film costars Audrey Hepburn as a princess out to see Rome on her own. Peck plays a reporter that finds the passed-out princess on a bench. Together they have an adventurous time in Rome. Audrey Hepburn won an Oscar for her performance.
It was while filming Roman Holiday in Italy, that Peck met Veronique Passani. They soon married and remained married until his death 48 years later.
“I haven’t worn a nightgown in years!” — Joe Bradley
2. The Yearling (1946) — directed by Clarence Brown, whom was coming off of the success of National Velvet, the film stars Peck and Jane Wyman with a strong performance by first-time actor Claude Jarman Jr. in the role of young Jody. It’s based on the novel by Marjorie Rawlings and is a coming of age story not just for Jody, but for his parents. It’s sweet and sad and well done.
“And Lord, give him a few red-birds and maybe a squirrel and a ‘coon and a ‘possum to keep him company, like he had here. All of us is somehow lonesome, and we know he’ll not be lonesome, do he have them little wild things around him, if it ain’t askin’ too much to put a few varmints in Heaven. Thy will be done. Amen.” — Penny Baxter
1. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) — Director Robert Mulligan is best known for directing coming of age stories, and the source novel by Harper Lee is a coming of age story — but the screen presence of Gregory Peck shifts the focus away from young Scout and Jem to their father, Atticus. The story does not suffer for it, however. Peck is at his best in this classic film about racism — a film that came out two years before the Civil Rights Act was signed.
To Kill a Mockingbird was the first film for an actor that should soon get a post on this blog — Robert Duvall — as the reclusive and mysterious Boo Radley.
“If you just learn a single trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” — Atticus Finch
Films that almost made this list include Spellbound, Duel in the Sun, The Omen, and Moby Dick.
What films would have made your list?
