With a career that spans the better part of 80 years in the movie industry, the amazingly talented Eva Marie Saint has done it all!
Here we are looking at ten of the very best roles/movies that this icon of the silver screen has been a part of.
On The Waterfront (1954)
Edie Doyle
There was no better place to start than with 1954’s On The Waterfront. Now, what makes this such a key role for Eva Marie Saint is two things, first of all, this was her very first theatrical movie. That alone is a great bit of trivia, but she also won an Oscar for The Best Supporting Actress! Not many actors can say that they won an Academy Award with their very first movie. She is also a key character as it is the murder of Edie’s brother by a crime boss that is the backbone for this exciting thriller.
North by Northwest (1959)
Eve Kendall
If you do not recognize the title North by Northwest, when you find out it is the movie with the iconic scene of Cary Grant being chased by a crop duster! However, we are here for Eva Marie Saint, and in this Alfred Hitchcock crime thriller, she plays the role of Eve Kendall.
This is such a great performance and she keeps you and Cary Grant guessing the whole time if you can really trust her and if she is who she claims to be! This is awesome stuff and there is a good reason why so many people say it is the best Hitchcock movie and Eva Marie Saint is a huge reason for that!
Raintree County (1957)
Nell Gaither
What is so great about Eva Marie Saint’s performance in the 1957 Raintree County is that she manages to break your heart with her performance and also makes you feel happy and good by the end of the movie. Part romance movie, part Western. Nell Gaither is happy with her high school sweetheart, John Shawnessy.
That is until he breaks her heart by falling for a Southern Belle. However, John’s ideal life is not what he expected it to be and before long, he finds himself in the arms of his beloved Nell once again. This is a movie that has a very powerful and iconic ending!
Exodus (1960)
Kitty Fremont
Exodus is a fantastic drama movie about the State of Israel and the trouble between the Jewish and Arab states as it is formed. This movie actually has a stacked cast, but it is Eva Maire Saint who steals the show here.
Her performance as Kitty Fremont who ends up at a camp with lots of Jewish people who are still trying to find a home after the Second World War is a very powerful performance. Just be warned, you will need a big box of tissues to get through the final act of this movie!
The Stalking Moon (1968)
Sarah Carver
One of the best Eva Marie Saint movies is most certainly the epic, The Stalking Moon from 1968! US Soldiers come across a group of Apache and amongst them is a white woman called Sarah who has a half Native American son.
Sarah begs Gregory Peck’s Sam Verner to take them with him and he agrees. Little did he know that the boy’s father was a fearsome Apache Warrior known as Salvaje who would stop at nothing to get his son back!
This is a great movie as you can really feel the fear that Sarah has for Salvaje taking her son!
The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966)
Elspeth Whittaker
Now this is a fun movie! The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming is a 1966 comedy and here Eva Marie Saint plays the role of wife and mother, Elspeth Whittaker.
The Whittaker family are having a pretty normal day until a Russian submarine group shows up at their house after getting the sub stuck just off the shore of this little New England village.
Rumors start to spread about a Russian invasion as more and more mishaps happen!
Grand Prix (1966)
Louise Frederickson
For many, 1966’s Grand Prix is still the greatest Formula 1 movie ever made! The movie follows four F1 drivers over the course of the season, but as well as the action on the race courses. The movie also looks at their private lives and that is where Eva Marie Saint comes in.
She plays the role of Lousie Fredrickson who is a reporter and she eventually has a steamy affair with Jean-Pierre Sarti who is a world champion and who currently races for Ferrari! Even if you do not love the sport, this is still a fantastic movie.
All Fall Down (1962)
Echo O’Brien
The thing with All Fall Down is that yes Eva Marie Sait is amazing in her role as Echo O’Brien, but this is a movie that is packed with great performances. Warren Beatty, Karl Malden, and Angela Lansbury are all incredible.
Echo is a young woman who falls for the bad boy that is Warren Beatty’s Berry-Berry.
However, Berry-Berry’s younger brother also has a thing for her! This whole relationship is a mess and one that ultimately ends in heartbreak and tragedy. This is one of those movies where the acting is so good, that it is impossible not to get swept up in it.
A Hatful of Rain (1957)
Celia Pope
1957 was a big year for Eva Marie Saint as in addition to Raintree County, she also delivered a fantastic performance in A Hatful of Rain. Celia Pope is a lovely woman who is married to Johnny who is a war hero, but his war heroics have left him addicted to morphine and it is taking over his life.
Celia is also pregnant with his child, but despite the best efforts from Johnny’s brother, he just cannot kick this habit and he now has drug dealers after him for money. This is a brutal movie about the devastating effects of addiction and Eva Maria Saint honestly deserved an award for her heartbreaking performance here.
Superman Returns (2006)
Martha Kent
Ok, this may seem like a surprise entry on a list of the 10 best Eva Marie Saint movies, but this shows that this amazing actress was still going strong in the 00s. Superman Returns was a huge deal before it was released and it is so awesome that Eva Marie Saint got the chance to play the iconic role of Martha Kent.
It may not have been a huge part, but she had fantastic chemistry with Brandon Routh and you could tell that she was a good and calming presence in his life.
It was nearly impossible to narrow this down to just 10 movies, but these truly are ten of the best Eva Marie Saint movies! Try and have some fun by putting together your own list and then have even more fun by watching them all!
Eva Marie Saint was ranked at the 257th place of contemporary actresses by YouGov.
