# What's your favorite Walter Matthau performance? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-walter-matthau-performance/540632 "2010-05-24T23:09:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-walter-matthau-performance/540632/21 "2010-05-25T01:51:44Z")
I picked Charade. He’s a great villain. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-walter-matthau-performance/540632/22 "2010-05-25T02:06:40Z")
I don’t know a number of those roles, but of the ones I know I love his performance in _The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3_. Outstanding. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-walter-matthau-performance/540632/23 "2010-05-25T02:14:41Z")
> [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](#): > > Also I love when he’s in the club, setting up the charter flight: “Oh, and my name’s not Murdison.” “Didn’t think it was, Mr. Murdison.” “Oh, and you can drop the accent. Terrible.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-walter-matthau-performance/540632/24 "2010-05-25T02:22:02Z")
Charade. If only for his drawn-out pronunciation of “Missus Leeambert.” Also want to give him props for Senator Russell Long in JFK. “That dawg don’t hunt.” ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-walter-matthau-performance/540632/25 "2010-05-25T02:28:05Z")
_Taking of Pelham 1-2-3_ for me, but I love pretty much everything about that flick. After that, _Charley Varrick_ and _The Fortune Cookie_. Somehow I’ve never gotten around to seeing some of his best-known roles, such as _Kotch_ and _The odd Couple_. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-walter-matthau-performance/540632/26 "2010-05-25T11:49:50Z")
> [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](#): > > Only voting for one, I voted for Hopscotch. It’s a bit dated, but I like it a lot. Many good lines…when Kendig and the charter pilot land in Bermuda, she says, “You remind me of my father.” He says, “That’s always been my problem.” So many more. > > Charley Varrick and Pelham 123 are also two of my favorites. We see a slightly different Matthau in those performances. > > Crap, now that I think about it, it’s hard to see a really bad Matthau movie. Sure, some were better than others; not all of them were a 10, but Matthau made some damned fine pictures. He’ll always be one of my absolute favorites. I have yet to see _The Odd Couple_ so I couldn’t just ditto these comments, but the summary is as I would have put it. _Charley Varrick_ and the work of Joe Don Baker elevate it to the top pick for me. I would also add _The Laughing Policeman_ to my list if we had more than one vote. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-walter-matthau-performance/540632/27 "2010-05-25T12:01:06Z")
Other- Casey’s Shadow. I’m a sucker for a good horse movie anyway, and that’s one of my favorites. He was great in it! ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-walter-matthau-performance/540632/28 "2010-05-25T12:22:11Z")
> [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](#): > > Only voting for one, I voted for Hopscotch. It’s a bit dated, but I like it a lot. Many good lines…when Kendig and the charter pilot land in Bermuda, she says, “You remind me of my father.” He says, “That’s always been my problem.” So many more. He had that effect on [a lot of people](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11213732&postcount=4). ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-walter-matthau-performance/540632/29 "2010-05-25T12:48:52Z")
Another vote for Charley Varrick. [Buddy, Buddy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082111/) was good, too. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-walter-matthau-performance/540632/30 "2010-05-25T13:08:43Z")
I’m not a huge Matthau fan, but I enjoy his movies. Truly, I’d have to say _The Bad News Bears_ is the one I’m most familiar with, but I went with Other so I can mention a truly unsung movie: [_The Survivors_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086397/), with Matthau, Robin Williams and Jerry Reed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-walter-matthau-performance/540632.md?page=1)