Marlowe (1969)

Lee's Hollywood breakthrough — a small but electrifying role as a villain hired to intimidate Philip Marlowe (James Garner). In his key scene, Lee destroys an entire office in a 90-second whirlwind of destruction, then attempts a roundhouse kick that sends him off a balcony to his death. The moment was designed to humiliate him — but Bruce Lee somehow turned it into the most memorable scene in the film. Hollywood executives who saw it began calling.