Great Casts

I think that of all the films I have seen in my life, Glengarry Glen Ross has hands-down the most impressive cast. I mean, Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alan Arkin, Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey, Jonathan Pryce, and Alec Baldwin in the same movie? Lemmon said it was the greatest ensemble he had ever been a part of. The IMDB reports, and I have read often elsewhere, that "During filming, members of the cast who weren't required to be on the set certain days would show up anyway to watch the other actors' performances."

A close contender on the distaff side is Michael Cacoyannis's underrated version of Euripides' play The Trojan Women, with Katherine Hepburn, Vanessa Redgrave, Irene Papas, and Genevieve Bujold all on fire. Pauline Kael memorably said, "The actresses come from different cultures, but they all bring intensity of life to the screen; that's what makes them stars. If a movie releases that intensity, [that's] what matters most."