Director Sidney Lumet died this morning in New York City of lymphoma. He was 86. A great director and New Yorker.

Lumet’s films were a splendid balance of entertainment and social commentary. While comfortable in any genre, from comedy to drama, Lumet’s focus was always trained on the human element in his films. He could thrill you, make you laugh and think all at the same time. Many of his films are iconic examinations of modern life, its values, morals and absurdities. Among them are classics like The Pawnbroker, Fail-Safe, Network, Dog Day Afternoon, 12 Angry Men and Serpico.

One of Lumet’s many talents was knowing which writers to work with. In Paddy Chayefsky he found a collaborator that would result in one of the blackest comedies of the 1970s, Network . The film’s famous catch phrase “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” is as resonant and relevant today as it was when it was first uttered in 1976.

Sidney Lumet was a man of deep moral conviction and commitment who saw movies not as a distraction from life but as an illumination of it.

While the goal of all movies is to entertain,” Mr. Lumet once wrote, “the kind of film in which I believe goes one step further. It compels the spectator to examine one facet or another of his own conscience. It stimulates thought and sets the mental juices flowing.”

Social issues set his own mental juices flowing, and his best films not only probed the consequences of prejudice, corruption and betrayal, but also celebrated individual acts of courage.

The first clip is from Network and features Peter Finch and the rant heard around the world. Prophetic.

Clips two and three are from Dog Day Afternoon and include Al Pacino’s exhilarating “Attica, Attica” scene. Clip three has a commentary by Lumet.