Martin Balsam
Martin Henry Balsam (November 4, 1919 – February 13, 1996) was an American character actor. He is best known for a number of film roles, including detective Milton Arbogast in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), Arnold Burns in A Thousand Clowns (1965), which earned him the... Read full bio →
Featured Characters
Roles you can spot in Whatthemovie snapshots
Cape Fear
1991
Il silenzio dei prosciutti
Rookie FBI agent Jo Dee Foster has been assigned to work on the case of the Psycho Killer, a psycho killer who has psycho-killed over 120 people. But to learn more about his target, he's forced to meet Dr. Animal Cannibal Pizza, a famous doctor turned cannibal who ate pizzas with human body parts.
La classe américaine
Following the death of the world classiest man, George Abitbol, three journalists investigate to try to understand his last words: "Monde de merde!" La Classe Américaine is a montage of scenes taken from the Warner Bros. catalog and dubbed to fit the narration.
The Sands of Time
Three nuns are caught up in the midst of Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.
Cape Fear
Due occhi diabolici
A duo of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations about a greedy wife's attempt to embezzle her dying husband's fortune, and a sleazy reporter's adoption of a strange black cat.
The Delta Force
A 707 aircraft jetliner, en route from Athens to Rome and then to New York City, is hijacked by Lebanese terrorists, who demand that the pilot take them to Beirut. What the terrorists don't realize is that an elite team of commandos have been called in to eliminate all terrorists on the jetliner.
St. Elmo's Fire
A Group of friends, just out of college, struggle with adulthood. Their main problem is that they're all self-centered and obnoxious.
Death Wish 3
Architect/vigilante Paul Kersey arrives back in New York City and is forcibly recruited by a crooked police chief to fight street crime caused by a large gang terrorizing the neighborhoods.
The Salamander
An Italian policeman investigates a series of murders involving people in prominent positions. Left behind at each murder scene is a drawing of a salamander. The policeman begins to suspect these murders are linked to a plot to seize control of the government.
Gardenia il giustiziere della mala (Gardenia)
In the city of Rome lives Gardenia, a respected exponent of Roman organized crime.
Cuba
A British mercenary arrives in pre-Revolution Cuba to help train the corrupt General Batista's army against Castro's guerrillas while he also romances a former lover now married to an unscrupulous plantation owner.
Rainbow
The early life and struggles of Judy Garland (portrayed by Andrea McArdle), and of the film star's trials as a youngster in dealing with the Movie Studio system that held her back while her mother was forever pushing her to excel.
Occhi dalle stelle
A photographer and his model are on a photo shoot in a forest when they get the feeling they are being watched. The feeling becomes so strong that they decide to cut their session short and leave. Later, when they develop the photos they took, they discover what looks like alien creatures in the background.
The Sentinel
As a young girl, Alison Parker attempted suicide after being traumatized by her father's sexual exploits. Now an elite fashion model, she moves to a Brooklyn Heights apartment building where she encounters a number of bizarre, eccentric tenants and attempts to uncover the building's sinister secret.
Silver Bears
Financial wizard "Doc" Fletcher acquires a Swiss bank and a silver mine - alleged to be worth a billion dollars. As rivals close in from all sides, Doc must fight a complex struggle to keep hold of both the bank and the mine.
Diamanti sporchi di sangue
A man is arrested and condemned to five years in jail for robbery. After serving his term, he is out for revenge on the gang members he considers were to blame for his arrest. The prize for this deadly fight is a large cache of diamonds.
Contract on Cherry Street
After his partner is killed, NYC detective Frank Hovannes and his organized-crime squad go against the mob, despite strong objections from his superiors and the legal departmental restrictions that hinder him.
Two-Minute Warning
Raid on Entebbe
True story of a daring Israeli commando assault on the Entebbe Airport in Uganda to free hostages of a terrorist hijacking.
Pronto ad uccidere
An undercover cop goes to jail to infiltrate a gang and uses his assignment to get revenge.
Con la rabbia agli occhi
A retired hitman decides to take one last job to avenge the murder of his brother by a mafia gang. An eager would-be mobster helps him.
All the President's Men
All the President’s Men is a political thriller from director Alan J. Pakula based on the Watergate scandal and starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman.
Corruzione al palazzo di giustizia
During an inquest, an ambitious judge finds out that a lot of high-rank politicians are corrupt to the core.
Cipolla Colt
Onion Jack (Franco Nero) has bought a piece of land on which to settle, but the property is still in possession of the orphans of the original owner and is coveted by the local oil baron.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
In New York, armed men hijack a subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers. Even if it's paid, how could they get away?
Murder on the Orient Express
In 1935, when his train is stopped by deep snow, detective Hercule Poirot is called on to solve a murder that occurred in his car the night before.
The Stone Killer
A Los Angeles detective is sent to New York where he must solve a case involving an old Sicilian Mafia family feud.
Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams
Rita, a middle aged New York City homemaker, finds herself in an emotional crisis which forces her to re-examine her life, as well as her relationships with her mother, her eye doctor husband, her alienated daughter and estranged son.
Il consigliori
When the godson of San Francisco's crime lord asks permission to leave "the business," Don Antonio agrees, but reluctantly. Such behavior by either one is a violation of the code, and a bloody mob war breaks out.
Imputazione di omicidio per uno studente
During a clash between demonstrating laborers, a policeman and a student are both killed. In charge of the case are a magistrate and two commissioners.
The Anderson Tapes
A career criminal goes for one last big score... but are the police on to him?
Confessione di un commissario di polizia al procuratore della repubblica
A police captain arranges the release of a criminally insane prisoner, who soon winds up dead. When the District Attorney takes on the case, he uncovers corruption in the department and vows to take down the man who's responsible.
Tora! Tora! Tora!
In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora!
Little Big Man
Jack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Indians and fighting with General Custer.
Catch-22
A bombardier in World War II tries desperately to escape the insanity of the war. However, sometimes insanity is the only sane way cope with a crazy situation. Catch-22 is a parody of a "military mentality" and of a bureaucratic society in general.
The Good Guys and the Bad Guys
An aging lawman and an aging outlaw join forces when their respective positions in society are usurped by a younger, but incompetent Marshal, and a younger, but vicious gang leader.
Me, Natalie
Since she was a child, Natalie Miller has always thought she was an ugly ducking. Despite her mother's encouragement that she will grow up to be pretty, Natalie has never believed it will happen. She runs away to Greenwich Village to find herself and discovers a vibrant bohemian counterculture.
Hombre
John Russell, disdained by his "respectable" fellow stagecoach passengers because he was raised by Indians, becomes their only hope for survival when they are set upon by outlaws.
Caccia alla volpe
The Fox (Peter Sellers) a criminal mastermind pretends to be a director making a film in order to smuggle in to Italy a stolen gold shipment.
The Bedford Incident
During a routine patrol, a reporter is given permission to interview a hardened cold-war warrior and captain of the American destroyer USS Bedford. The reporter gets more than he bargained for when the Bedford discovers a Soviet sub and the captain begins a relentless pursuit, pushing his crew to breaking point.
Harlow
Hollywood drama loosely based on the life of film actress Jean Harlow, with Carroll Baker in the title role. One of two feature film biographies, both released in 1965 and both with the same title, about the '30s platinum blonde movie star.
A Thousand Clowns
Twelve-year-old Nick lives with his Uncle Murray, a Mr.Micawber-like Dickensian character who keeps hoping something won't turn up. What turns up is a social worker, who falls in love with Murray and a bit in love with Nick.
The Carpetbaggers
Jonas Cord is a disagreeable young tycoon who's building planes, directing films, and catting around on the corporate make in 1930s Hollywood.
Seven Days in May
An aide discovers his general's Pentagon plot and tells the president.
Cape Fear
A lawyer's family is stalked by a man he once helped put in jail.
Breakfast at Tiffany's
fortune hunter Holly Golightly finds herself captivated by aspiring writer Paul Varjak, who's moved into her building on a wealthy woman's dime. As romance blooms between Paul and Holly, Doc Golightly shows up on the scene, revealing Holly's past.
Tutti a casa
Everybody Go Home (Italian: Tutti a casa) is a 1960 Italian film directed by Luigi Comencini. It features an international cast including the U.S. actors Martin Balsam, Alex Nicol and the Franco-Italian Serge Reggiani. Nino Manfredi was rejected for the starring role because Alberto Sordi wanted it.
Psycho
Psycho is one of the most famous masterpieces from Hitchcock and for it’s time was unparalleled in it’s horror effect. A chilling score sets the pace for an introverted killer and a mystery thriller case of multiple dimensions. The credits for the film directed by Saul Bass were revolutionary for their time.
Al Capone
In this unusually accurate biography, small-time hood Al Capone comes to Chicago at the dawn of Prohibition to be the bodyguard of racketeer Johnny Torrio. Capone's rise in Chicago gangdom is followed through murder, extortion, and political fraud.
Marjorie Morningstar
While working as a counselor at a summer camp, college-student Marjorie Morgenstern falls for 32-year-old Noel Airman, a would-be dramatist working at a nearby summer theater.
12 Angry Men
12 Angry Men is the 1957 film debut for director Sidney Lumet. An interpretion from a Broadway show, this film is about 12 jurors who must decide whether an 18-year-old is guilty of killing his father.
On the Waterfront
On the Waterfront is a social criticism gangster film from director Elia Kazan, about an ex-boxer, who is part of the corruption of the trade unions for the men working on the waterfront in New York. A film about mob violence that won eight Academy Awards.
Winged Victory
Pinky Scariano, Allan Ross, and Frankie Davis all join the Army Air Forces with hopes of becoming pilots. In training, they meet and become pals with Bobby Grills and Irving Miller, and the five struggle through the rigid training and grueling tests involved in becoming pilots. Not all of them succeed, and tragedy awaits for some.