AP Wire press photo – from eBay auction ebay (auction archive), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
By Geoff Carter
He is a Hollywood icon whose career stretches back to the early days of American International Pictures, where he appeared in the original version of Roger Corman’s Little Shop of Horrors. Cinematic milestones like Easy Rider, Tim Burton’s Batman, The Shining, or Chinatown would not have been the iconic masterpieces they are without his presence. Every moviegoer knows that wicked grin, that smooth-as-oil voice, that seething intensity, the incisive intelligence, and that sardonic manner. Everybody knows Jack Nicholson.
During the early part of his career, in films like Five Easy Pieces, Easy Rider, and Carnal Knowledge, Nicholson earned a reputation as Hollywood’s new anti-hero, an actor cut from the same mold as James Cagney, James Dean, or Marlon Brando (whom Nicholson idolized). After some early successes, he reportedly told his agent he wanted a variety of unusual roles that would help him stretch his skills as an actor, and he was true to his word. Nicholson has played every type of role—from comedies to romantic leads to anti-heroes to villains.
In Dennis McDougal’s biography, Nicholson stated, “I have that creative yearning. Much in the way Chagall flies figures into the air: once it becomes part of the conventional wisdom, it doesn’t seem particularly adventurous or weird or wild.”
His presence dominated the screen. As Randle P. McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Nicholson created a character whose verve and energy, rampant lack of respect for authority—along with his inherent decency—virtually takes over the screen. His refusal to accept social norms and rules eventually transforms the other inmates in the mental ward. His portrayal of Jake Gittes in Chinatown is that of a calculating and sometimes dangerous private detective, willing to push boundaries to get at the nastiest truths while still protecting his clients. Other roles, like the Joker in Batman or Jack Torrance in The Shining are almost tongue-in-cheek self-parodies.
As an actor, Nicholson has never been afraid to take risks. He has played an emotionally bankrupt pain-in-the-ass novelist with obsessive-compulsive disorder in the romantic comedy As Good as it Gets, which garnered him an Oscar nomination. In Ironweed, opposite Meryl Streep, he played Billy Phelan, an ex-ball player and homeless alcoholic racked with guilt for past crimes and the death of his child. In Easy Rider, his breakthrough role, Nicholson played George Hanson, an alcoholic lawyer whose disdain for societal norms and rules made him a counter-culture hero.
In short, there was nothing Nicholson couldn’t do and no character he couldn’t play. He’s so good I couldn’t stop at ten best pictures.
The Top Ten Films of Jack Nicholson—Plus One
Five Easy Pieces: In this critically acclaimed film, Nicholson plays Bobby Dupea, a seemingly normal blue-collar oil-rig worker who in actuality is an accomplished concert pianist from an upper-class family. When his sister, also a musician, informs him their father has had a stroke, Bobby decides to visit him at the family estate. After dropping his pregnant waitress girlfriend Rayette (Karen Black) at a motel, Bobby arrives at the family home where he meets his brother’s fiancée, Catherine (Susan Anspach). The two share an immediate attraction and end up sleeping together. After Catherine refuses to run away with him, Bobby makes a decision of his own. Nicholson’s Bobby is more subdued though no less cynical than the usual Nicholson persona. Notable for the restaurant scene in which a waitress refuses Bobby’s special order.
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Susan Anspach, Billy Green Bush, Lois Smith, Ralph Waite, and Toni Basil. Written by Bob Rafelson and Adrian Joyce. Directed by Bob Rafelson.
The Last Detail: Two Navy lifers, Billy “Badass” Buddusky (Nicholson) and Richard “Mule” Mulhall (Otis Young) are ordered to escort Larry Meadows (Randy Quaid), a young sailor, to prison where he has been sentenced to eight years for stealing forty dollars. Initially resentful at their orders, the two older men start to like the kid and eventually decide to show him a good time before dropping him off at the prison. They take him drinking—then drinking some more—ice-skating, to a party, a picnic, and finally to a brothel so he could lose his virginity. Nicholson is at his acerbic best as the blustery and hard-nosed Buddusky, whose concern for Meadows at the end is touching. Notable for the comic picnic scene in which the men try to start a fire and drink ice-cold beers in a snow-covered park.
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Otis Young, Clifton James, Randy Quaid, Carol Kane, Michael Moriarty, and Gilda Radner. Written by Robert Towne and directed by Hal Ashby.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: In this acclaimed psychological drama, Randle P. McMurphy (Nicholson) has opted to serve time for a minor offense in a mental hospital rather than do hard time at a prison farm. In the ward he is assigned to, run by the autocratic Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), he meets Billy Bibbit (Brad Dourif), Chief (Will Sampson), and assorted other maladjusted souls. While the other patients are cowed by Nurse Ratched’s demeaning punishments and petty rules, McMurphy—the consummate rebel—constantly defies her and breaks the rules, taking the inmates outside on a fishing trip, smuggling in women, and conspiring with The Chief to break out. On the night of their escape however, Ratched gets the last laugh. Notable for Nicholson’s performance as the manic, funny, and irrepressible anti-hero whose refusal to accept authority leads to his downfall. Notable for an outstanding supporting cast which includes some of the film industry’s most recognizable actors today.
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Brad Dourif, Will Sampson, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, and Scatman Crothers. Written by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman. Directed by Milos Forman.
The King of Marvin Gardens: In this underrated family drama, David Staebler (Nicholson) a depressed late-night talk show host is persuaded by his fast-talking con man brother Jason (Bruce Dern) to join him in a get-rich-quick scheme. David travels to Atlantic City where he meets his brother, his girlfriend Sally (Ellyn Burstyn) and Jessica (Julie Ann Robinson), Sally’s stepdaughter. Jason tells David he plans to open a casino in Hawaii but fails to get the necessary capital from a group of Japanese investors. Meanwhile, Sally is determined to enter Jessica in the Miss America Beauty Pageant, but when she realized that Jason is becoming romantically involved with Jessica, she snaps, burning her wardrobe and cutting off her hair. When Jason announces he and Jessica are leaving for Hawaii, things come to a head. In an unusual role, Nicholson plays a quiet, lonely, and subdued man who has become so jaded he expects nothing more from his life. Notable for the chemistry between Dern and Nicholson.
Starring Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Ellyn Burstyn, Julie Ann Robinson, Scatman Crothers, and Arnold Williams. Written by Jacob Brackman. Directed by Bob Rafelson.
Easy Rider: Dennis Hopper’s seminal cinematic vision of the sixties about two outsiders, Wyatt (Peter Fonda), and Billy (Hopper) who decide to experience the true America by riding their choppers across the South on their way to Mardi Gras. Along the way they meet George Hanson (Nicholson), a drunken small-town attorney who decides to accompany the boys on their trip to the Big Easy. Even in this small supporting part, Nicholson’s breakout, he displayed the singular offbeat persona and one-of-a-kind mannerisms which he later became his trademarks. Notable for its outstanding soundtrack, including many of the iconic hits of the counter-culture era.
Starring: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Toni Basil, Robert Walker, Jr., and Robert Ball. Written by Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda. Directed by Dennis Hopper.
Chinatown: Jake Gittes (Nicholson), a Los Angeles private detective specializing in tracking down unfaithful spouses, is duped into taking a case from a client who is not who she says he is. When the real Mrs. Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) shows up—and then her husband turns up dead—Gittes is determined to get to the bottom of the deception, find the murderer, and clear his name. Along the way, he uncovers a nefarious plot to manipulate and privatize the Los Angeles water supply and a very sinister type of dysfunctionality in the Mulwray family. Notable for John Houston’s portrayal of Noah Cross, one of the nastiest villains in cinematic history.
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Houston, Perry Lopez, Diane Ladd, and Roman Polanski. Written by Robert Towne. Directed by Roman Polanski.
The Departed: A convoluted crime thriller about an undercover informant Billy Costigan, Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), who has embedded himself into the highest circles of Irish mob boss Frank Costello’s (Nicholson) crew. Costigan becomes aware that someone inside the police department is feeding Costello information but is unable to determine the agent’s identity. In an elaborate game of cat and mouse—or rat—that stretches the nerves of both informants, each is able to barely stay one step ahead of the other. While this is a relatively small role for Nicholson, he shines as the sadistic, crazed, and brilliantly calculating Costello. Nicholson comes close to going over the top in the role, but—as always—he pulls it off. Notable for the chilling scene in which Costello’s crew catches up to Costigan’s boss, Captain Queenan (Martin Sheen).
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Jack Nicholson, and Vera Farmiga. Written by William Monahan and directed by Martin Scorsese.
Carnal Knowledge: A film that follows the sex lives of two college roommates from their freshmen year to middle age. Sandy (Art Garfunkel) is shy and sensitive, tending to idolize women while his roommate Jonathan Fuerst (Nicholson). Sandy meets Susan (Candice Bergen) and they begin dating. Jonathan and Sandy also begin secretly dating but break up. Jonathan then meets Bobbie (Ann Margaret), his physically ideal of a woman, but their relationship deteriorates when Jonathan refuses to commit. When Jonathan offers Bobbie to Sandy for sex, they realize she has swallowed a deadly amount of sleeping pills. Later in the film, as middle-aged men, both are divorced. In a chilling scene, Jonathan runs a slide show for Sandy of all the woman he has slept with. He has become a bitter woman-hater while Sandy is going out with a woman half his age. Jonathan has to turn to professional help to meet his needs. Nicholson is masterful in the scene when he discovers Bobbie has overdosed. His raging is both intense but somehow self-consciously powerless, as if he senses his fate. After a friend of mine saw this film, he said he didn’t want to have sex for a month.
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Art Garfunkel, Candice Bergen, Ann Margaret, Carol Kane, and Rita Moreno. Written by Jules Feiffer and directed by Mike Nichols.
Ironweed: During the 1930s, Francis Phelan (Nicholson) is a homeless bum, an ex-ballplayer and alcoholic who is wracked by guilt after he accidentally killed his infant son years ago. Unable to forgive himself, Francis punishes himself by reliving the memories of others whose deaths he has caused. He finally meets up with his lover and drinking buddy Helen (Meryl Streep) and his old buddy Rudy (Tom Waits) before deciding to go back home to try and reconcile things with his wife and children. Meanwhile, some locals have decided to violently drive the homeless off their streets, leaving Francis with less than nothing. Nicholson balances a fine line between sympathy and loathing for Phelan. We understand why he lives on the streets but Nicholson makes it just hard enough to like the guy.
Starrring: Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Tom Waits, Fred Gwynne, Caroll Baker, Michael O’Keefe, and Diane Venora. Written by William Kennedy. Directed by Hector Babenco.
The Witches of Eastwick: A supernatural comedy based on the John Updike novel. Three single women, Alexandra Medford (Cher), Jane Spofford (Susan Sarandon), and Sukie Ridgemont (Michelle Pfeiffer) who live in the small New England town of Eastwick meet weekly to discuss—among other things—the ideal man. By doing so—unaware they are witches—they call up the devil in the guise of Daryl Van Horne (Nicholson) who sets about seducing all three of them. Jealous at first, the women finally agree to share Daryl and move into his mansion. Their indiscretion causes them to become social outcasts and unknown to them, Daryl uses their magic to cause the death of Felicity (Veronica Cartwright), their nemesis. Horrified, the women try to split with Daryl but he is too powerful and so they realize they must use their own powers to run him out of their lives. Nicholson’s over-the-top performance as Van Horne is hilarious. Notable for the great ensemble acting.
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer, Veronica Cartwright, and Richard Jenkins. Written by Michael Cristofer and directed by George Miller.
The Shining: Would-be writer Jack Torrance (Nicholson) takes a job as winter caretaker of the mysterious Overlook Hotel, situated deep in the Rocky Mountains. Torrance packs up his wife Wendy (Shelly Duvall), his son precocious Danny (Danny Lloyd) and moves in. While his parents are being introduced to the place, Danny meets Halloran (Scatman Crothers), the hotel chef, who tells Danny he knows about his “shining” or telepathic abilities. When everyone leaves the family behind, mysterious things begin to happen, and Torrance finds himself being drawn into the world of the haunted hotel, which seems to have a malignant presence of its own. Twin girls appear—murdered—in a hallway, Lloyd, a cordial ghostly bartender, strikes up an acquaintance with Jack and then Danny—whom the hotel badly wants—goes to visit Room 217. One of the greatest horror movies of all times. Nicholson’s rendition of Jack Torrance as a weak man slowly seduced into insanity and acts of utter evil is wonderfully done. Notable for the scene between Jack and Wendy on the stairs with the baseball bat.
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelly Duvall, Scatman Crothers, Danny Lloyd, Barry Nelson, Phillip Stone, and Joe Turkel. Written by Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson from the novel by Stephen King. Directed by Stanley Kubrick.
Honorable Mention
Batman
Prizzi’s Honor
The Postman Always Rings Twice
As Good as It Gets
Terms of Endearment
Great movies all. I was surprised by the absence of A Few Good Men. Maybe my memory is playing tricks on me; it has happened before. I don’t know of any other actor who could say, “You can’t handle the truth…” just the way he did….
It was so hard to pick ten and the honorable mentions. I wanted to include some of his earlier stuff because I don’t think it gets enough exposure. I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I saw King of Marvin Gardens or The Last Detail. You’re right, though. He was great in A Few Good Men.