Cliff Robertson Movies

Want to know the best Cliff Robertson movies?  How about the worst Cliff Robertson movies?  Curious about Cliff Robertson box office grosses or which Cliff Robertson movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Cliff Robertson movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place.

Cliff Robertson (1923-2011) was an Oscar® winning American actor.   His IMDb page shows 114 acting credits from 1943-2007.  In the table below, Ultimate Movie Rankings ranks 42 of his movies in 6 different sortable columns.  Television roles, shorts and uncredited roles were not included in the rankings.  This page was requested by Phil and Lyle.

Cliff Robertson in 1975’s Three Days of the Condor

Cliff Robertson Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

Cliff Robertson Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort Cliff Robertson movies by movie titles and trailers
  • Sort Cliff Robertson movies by co-stars of his movies.
  • Sort Cliff Robertson movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Cliff Robertson movies by yearly domestic box office rank
  • Sort Cliff Robertson movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations each Cliff Robertson movie received and how many Oscar® wins each Cliff Robertson movie won.
  • Sort Cliff Robertson movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.

Cliff Robertson as John F. Kennedy in 1963’s PT 109

Possibly Interesting Facts About Cliff Robertson

1.  Clifford Parker Robertson III was born in La Jolla, California in 1923.

2.  Cliff Robertson studied at the Actors Studio.   In the early 50s he worked steadily on television before making his film debut in 1955’s Picnic.

3.  Cliff Robertson was personally chosen by John F. Kennedy to portray a World War II US Navy Lieutenant Kennedy in 1963’s PT 109.

4.  Alfred Hitchcock considered Cliff Robertson for the role of Sam Loomis in 1960’s Psycho, but the role went to John Gavin.

5.  Cliff Robertson won the Best Actor Oscar® for his role in 1967’s Charly……he was unable to attend the ceremony.

6. The reason that Cliff Robertson was not at the Oscars® to receive his Best Actor award was because he was in the middle of filming the movie, Too Late the Hero (1970) in the Philippines. The director Robert Aldridge would not allow him to leave owing to budget constraints.

7. Cliff Robertson was responsible for unraveling a major studio fraud in the 1970s, which led to the downfall of powerful Columbia Pictures president David Begelman. The morality of Hollywood was such that it did more short-term harm to Robertson’s career than to Begelman’s, who soon after was hired to run MGM. The full story is told in David McClintick’s 1982 bestseller, “Indecent Exposure”.

8.  Cliff Robertson was married two times and had two children.

9.  Cliff Robertson was a well-known sailplane pilot, and was also the voice in the “Running On Empty” documentary video about the Barron Hilton Cup, a prestigious soaring competition.  He owned a number of vintage aircraft, including an original German Messerschmitt ME-108, which was on display at the Parker-O’Malley Air Museum (closed in 2009) in Ghent, New York.

10. Check out Cliff Robertson’s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

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18 thoughts on “Cliff Robertson Movies”

  1. Wow, “The Naked And The Dead” at #124—-I’d heard it did fairly well. Can you do pages on Aldo Ray and/or Raymond Massey,plus Raoul Walsh. I love this site.

    Reply

    1. Hey mark….we.made a major error with The Naked and the Dead…..it was indeed a more successful movie than we had posted. Apparently the RKO book reference we used for that movie source was talking about earnings back to RKO versus the rental or the gross number. RKO made the movie, but by the time it was released RKO was done distributing movies and sold the distrbution rights to The Naked and the Dead to Warner Brothers.

      We found that box office number years ago….but have never put the movie into a page until this Robertson page…..and when we saw a box office number listed we just happily went to the next Robertson movie….that is until your comment….which sent us back to the research well…..and right there, in not one, but two sources, we see The Naked and The Dead earned between 2.3 million (Warner Brothers ledgers) and 2.5 million (Variety) in rentals. Variety lists The Naked and the Dead as the 35th biggest grosser of 1958…while our database says it is the 37th biggest movie.

      But I admit….this long explanation makes me think about John Travolta’s Chilli Palmer talking to Gene Hackman’s Harry Zimm in Get Shorty.

      “Look at me. You’re trying to tell me you f*cked up without sounding stupid, and that’s hard to do.”

      Reply

      1. Wo, that’s quite a change in the box office of The Naked and the Dead, thanks for fixing that. Yesterday, I thought it had bombed at the box office, and today I see that it was a moderate hit. Not a great film, but it has some interesting moments.
        While you’re at it, are you also sure about the box office number for The Best Man? Somehow, I thought this one would have done a bit better as well.

        Reply

        1. Hey PhilHOF17……double checked The Best Man…..I see nothing to change our number…..good review % but did not really register at the box office. I of course will happy to change it, if better information comes out.

          Yep….really screwed up the box office total of The Naked and the Dead….I have gotten lazy using Wiki for research….many times they have the Variety rental numbers listed on their individual movie pages…..for Naked and the Dead….they have none listed…..once again…Chilli Palmer’s voice pops into my head…lol.

          “Look at me. You’re trying to tell me you f*cked up without sounding stupid, and that’s hard to do.”

          Reply

  2. Hi Bruce,
    Glad that you got rid of the Gremlin and managed to create a full-blown page on Cliff Robertson, good stuff!

    While he was not quite a major star, Robertson left behind a solid body of work both in films and television over a career that spanned over 50 years. You have highlighted some of the most important facts about this career, including his selection by John F Kennedy to play his younger self in PT 109, his Best Actor Academy Award for his outstanding performance as a mentally retarded man in Charly (a role he had previously played on TV), and his role in the so-called Hollywoodgate scandal in the late 1970s.

    Though he often played thoughtful heroes and charming leading men, I find Robertson was particularly effective playing somewhat troubled or deranged characters, villains and obsessive types. Of the 25 Cliff Robertson films I have seen, next to Charly, I find his best screen performance was as the hawkish, immoral political candidate opposite Henry Fonda in The Best Man. He had other memorable starring roles in Underworld USA, The Honey Pot, Too Late the Hero, JW Coop, The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid and Brian de Palma’s Obsession. In supporting roles, he was particularly effective as William Holden’s rival in Picnic, a CIA villain in Three Days of the Condor, Hugh Hefner in Star 80, and as Spiderman’s uncle, a role that brought him some renewed recognition at the end of his career.

    Thanks again for the page!

    Reply

    1. Hey PhilHOF17…..glad you like your requested Cliff Robertson UMR Page. A few of his movies did not make the page (no box office numbers)….but I feel we got all the main movies. Gotta admit I was clueless about Hollywoodgate until doing this page. It basically cost him 4 years of movies.

      Good mini-reviews on many of his movies. I have not seen too many of the movies you mentioned…but I did enjoy Picnic, Three Days of the Condor and his roles in the Spidey trilogy. I will have to check out The Best Man….sounds interesting. As for Too Late The Hero….just recently found that one in a thrift store and re-watched it for the first time in years….it is ok….though I liked the ending…..with one of the two main characters dying…..and not knowing which one….at least for awhile. Good feedback as always.

      Reply

      1. Thanks for the feedback Bruce. Yes, The Best Man is excellent political drama, worth checking out when you have the chance. Too Late the Hero is more of a personal favorite, it grew on me after repeated viewing. I like how the different characters relate and snap at each-other all the time, and some of the sharp dialogue by the British soldiers, such as when Michael Caine explains to Robertson why he’s jumping about like a frog with a bullet up his….;)

        Reply

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