The Naked Gun: Leslie Nielsen’s 10 Best Movies, According To IMDb

The world of entertainment suffered a massive blow with the passing of Leslie Nielsen on November 28, 2010. The 84-year-old funnyman who provided laughter to audiences for years through his series of spoof movies had been a Hollywood fixture since beginning his career on television in 1950. Over the course of six decades, Nielsen tallied over 250 big and small-screen credits.

Of course, Nielsen became the go-to guy for comedic lampooning, a trend he began with the 1980 classic Airplane! But even decades before the breakout hit, Nielsen worked as a dramatic actor in several movie and TV projects.

10 Nuts (1987) 6.6

Martin Ritt’s 1987 thriller Nuts stars Barbara Streisand as an upscale escort who, upon being accused of murdering a john, would rather stand trial than allow to be defended as mentally insane. The film marks Nielsen’s final non-comedic performance.

Scripted by Tom Topor from his own stageplay, the unruly Claudia (Streisand) murders a client in self-defense. When booked for murder, her parents encourage an insanity plea to avoid jail time. Determined to clear her name, Claudia successfully defends herself, despite her negative public image.

9 Creepshow (1982) 6.9

Coming off the success of Airplane and Prom Night, Nielsen was a perfect choice to play Richard Vickers in Stephen King and George Romero’s anthological horror-comedy Creepshow.

The film traces five ghoulish tales of the comedically macabre. Nielsen stars in the third episode, “Something to Tide You Over,” in which he plays a ruthless killer who lures his wife and her lover to the beach before burying them neck-down in the sand as high-tide rolls in. When the couple reanimates as seaweed-covered zombies, they exact bloody revenge on Vickers.

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8 The Naked Gun 2.5: The Smell Of Fear (1991) 6.9

It’s an understatement to say that Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun franchise is Nielsen’s most famous and successful role of all. Directed by Airplane writer David Zucker, The Smell of Fear continues the comedic exploits of the bumbling cop with a heart of gold.

This time out, Drebin is tasked with thwarting the evil plot to replace a scientist who favors renewable energy instead of nuclear power. With help from his friends from the original film, Drebin can only be successful if he’s able to get out of his own way.

7 Tammy And The Bachelor (1957) 7.0

Nielsen starred opposite Debbie Reynolds in the old-fashioned romance Tammy and Bachelor, a film that earned an Oscar nod for Best Original Song. Nielsen plays an airplane pilot who survives a harrowing crash before meeting the love of his life.

Upon crashing near the Mississippi swampland, Tammy (Reynolds) and her grandfather John race to rescue the pilot, Peter Brent (Nielsen). They nurse him back to health and Peter returns to his hometown. However, when John is arrested for moonshining, Peter takes Tammy into his home and begins to fall in love with her.

6 Ransom! (1956) 7.0

Neilsen landed a plum role in the hardboiled film noir Ransom!, which also marked his big-screen debut. The film was remade by Ron Howard and Mel Gibson in 1996.

Glenn Ford and Donna Reed star as a pair of parents whose child is kidnapped and held for a $500,000 ransom. With the help of newsman Charlie Telfer (Nielsen) interested in the case, the parents forgo the ransom payment and use the cash to help fund an effort to identify the kidnappers and bring them to justice.

5 The Poseidon Adventure (1972) 7.1

Nielsen joined the mega star-studded ensemble of the epic disaster film, The Poseidon Adventure, which also featured the likes of Gene Hackman, Shelley Winters, Ernest Borgnine, Roddy McDowall, and many more.

The plot of the film concerns a sunken cruise ship hit by a 90-foot tidal wave on New Year’s Eve and the nine surviving passengers who must do all they can to evade the ship before they too lose their lives. With the boat capsized and flipped upside down, the survivors navigate the perilous parts of the ship.

4 Music Within (2007) 7.3

Music Within tells the inspiring true story of Richard Pimentel (Ron Livingston), an aspiring public speaker who is told to live a full life before he can achieve his calling. After losing his hearing in the Vietnam War, Richard returns home to find one obstacle after another.

Due to his near-deafness, Richard is told he’ll never be a professional public speaker. Determined to prove everyone wrong, Richard finds help from his wife and child, other close friends with similar afflictions, as well as Bill Austin (Nielsen), a revolutionary hearing-aid manufacturer.

3 Forbidden Planet (1956) 7.6

One of Nielsen’s most famous non-comedic spoof films belongs to the classic 50s sci-fi movie Forbidden Planet. Set in the 23rd-century, Nielsen plays Commander Adams, captain of a spaceship ordered to investigate the radio silence on a distant planet.

Upon arrival, Adams and his crew find two survivors named Dr. Morbius and his daughter Altaira. As Adams and Altaira strike up a romance, the planet is besieged by a monstrous creature that killed the planet’s previous inhabitants. Dr. Morbius harbors a dark secret that implicates his involvement, while the iconic Robby the Robot roves the planet.

2 The Naked Gun (1988) 7.6

With an equivalent 76/100 Metascore, The Naked Gun unsurprisingly ranks near the top of Nielsen’s 60-year filmography. The film not only became a critical and commercial hit, but it also solidified Nielsen’s standing as the preeminent parody-film performer.

Lieutenant Frank Drebin is a monumentally dim and incompetent police officer in Los Angeles, who is given the assignment to thwart an assassination attempt of Queen Elizabeth II. As he falls in love with secretary Jane (Priscilla Presley), Drebin leans on his partner Ed (George Kennedy) to bring down the evil rich villain, Vincent Van Ludwig (Ricardo Montalban).

1 Airplane! (1980) 7.7

Without Airplane!, there may never have been a Naked Gun series to celebrate. Considering this and the estimated $80 million in net profit the film earned, along with rave reviews, it makes sense that it ranks as the best movie Nielsen ever made.

Directed by Jim Abrahams and the Zucker Brothers, the film is centered around a commercial airliner that is suddenly besot with food poisoning. With the pilot incapacitated, disgraced fighter pilot Ted Striker overtakes the controls and attempts to safely fly the plane. Nielsen plays Dr. Rumrack, the one who discovers the fishy cause of the food poisoning.

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