James Caan Movies

James Caan in 1972's The Godfather
James Caan in 1972’s The Godfather

Want to know the best James Caan movies?  How about the worst James Caan movies?  Curious about James Caan’s box office grosses or which James Caan movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which James Caan movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

The other day I received a comment on my Al Pacino page talking about James Caan (1940-2022). After reading the comment it occurred to me that although James Caan was one of my favorite actors, I had yet to do a movie page on him. So this page was written to correct that horrible error I have been making for the last 10 months.

I think the first three movie stars I became aware of as a kid were, John Wayne, Michael Caine and James Caan. Four Caan movies from the 1970s really caught my attention as a kid…..Brian’s Song (one of the best television movies ever), The Godfather (I was not allowed to watch it….but all kids knew about the toll booth scene), Rollerball (I never really understood the movie as a kid, but it was a superbcool movie), and Freebie and the Bean (it seems this movie played on ABC’s Sunday night at the movies every 6 months).

As I got older I tried to watch as many of his movies that I could get my hands on….so far I have seen 45 of his movies. My favorite James Caan movies (not already mentioned) are A Bridge Too Far, Kiss Me Goodbye, Bottle Rocket and The Gambler (not the Kenny Rogers TV movie).

His IMDb page shows over 137 acting credits since 1961. This page will rank James Caan movies from Best to Worst in five different sortable columns of information.  Television appearances, shorts, cameos and straight to DVD movies were not included in the rankings.

James Caan and Barbra Streisand in 1975's Funny Lady
James Caan and Barbra Streisand in 1975’s Funny Lady

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


James Caan 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 by James Caan’s co-stars of his movies.
  • Sort James Caan movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost.
  • Sort James Caan movies by yearly box office rank
  • Sort James Caan movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or highis should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each James Caan movie received.
  • Sort James Caan 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.
James Caan in 1990's Misery
James Caan in 1990’s Misery

Possibly Interesting Facts About James Caan

1. 1971’s Brian’s Song was originally a made for television movie, but was such a popular hit on television that the producers actually released Brian’s Song to theaters…..it did perform well when people had to pay to watch the movie. James Caan received an Emmy® nomination for his role.

2. James Caan played football at Michigan State University back in 1956 before transferring to Hofstra University. Caan was also a rodeo performer for many years and has a black belt in karate.

3. During his long career, James Caan has only received one Oscar® nomination (The Godfather) but he has helped numerous actresses receive Oscar® nominations…Marsha Mason in 1973’s Cinderella Liberty and 1980’s Chapter Two, Bette Midler in 1991’s For The Boys, and Kathy Bates in her Oscar® winning performance in 1990’s Misery.

4. James Caan has received more love from the Golden Globe® people as he has received 4 Golden Globe® nominations. Those four movies are 1965’s The Glory Guys, 1972’s The Godfather, 1974’s The Gambler, and 1975’s Funny Lady …he has yet to win one.

5. James Caan has directed one movie in his career….1980’s Hide in Plain Sight…a forgotten gem of a movie that is based on a true story. In the movie Caan’s children go into the Witness Protection with their mom and stepfather….leaving the real father with no way to see or contact his children.

6. James Caan has been married four times. Those four marriages have given Caan a daughter named Tara, and four sons named Scott, Alexander, James, and Jacob. Caan is currently not married. His son Scott Caan is also an actor, he can be seen on the CBS show Hawaii Five-O as well as the Oceans Eleven trilogy.

7. During one of his divorces, James Caan moved into one of his good friend’s house….that friend was Hugh Hefner and the house was the Playboy Mansion.

8. James Caan has turned down some very famous roles….some of these roles include….Blade Runner, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Kramer vs Kramer, MASH, Star Wars, Superman, and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.

9. From 1982 to 1987 James Caan briefly retired from the movie business, during this time frame he coached a Little League baseball team, there was one incident where his team’s weakest player hit a home run that won a game. Caan claims this is one of the greatest moments of his life.

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

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73 thoughts on “James Caan Movies

  1. “Jonathan! Jonathan! Jonathan!”

    Which film anyone? Bet Bruce knows. 🙂

    It does seem odd that you’ve never done a hub on James Cann till now. I’m a big fan too. But you’ve seen far more of his films. I counted only 16. tsk tsk.

    On the box office chart I’ve seen 8 and on the critics chart I’ve seen 6.

    Favourites include The Godfather of course, Rollerball (surprised I haven’t done a hub on this yet), Freebie and the Bean (where’s the Blu-ray?) Misery and Eraser.

    Alien Nation is a guilty pleasure, a buddy cop movie with a twist.

    El Dorado is a classic John Wayne western with a very young Caan and also starring Hollywood great Robert Mitchum.

    I’ve never seen Elf, Funny Lady or Brians Song (I always avoid weepies if I can).

    Some good trivia there, somehow I can’t imagine Caan as Han Solo or Superman. 🙂

    1. Hey Steve….better late than never…although I think I have to hand in my James Caan fan card for waiting this long to give the man a hub….as for your quote….pretty easy one but I will be quiet.

      Well I am 9 for 10 with Top Ten box office hits…and 10 for 10 for Top Ten critics….only Funny Lady has escaped me so far. I like all the favorites you mentioned…have you seen Bottle Rocket? that is a low budget gem….while his The Dark Backward(#56) is one of the strangest movies I have ever seen….Judd Nelson plays a horrible standup comic that grows a third arm in his back…Caan plays his doctor…it also stars Wayne Newton, Rob Lowe, Billy Bob Thornton, Bill Paxson and Laura Flynn-Boyle.

      I like Alien Nation as well, I remember seeing that one in the theater…I did not watch a single episode of the series though…Elf is an actually pretty funny….we can thank the success of Elf for all of these Will Farrell movies. And it is the perfect season to watch Elf. And finally I think he was much closer to playing Superman than he was to playing Han Solo…..thanks for the comments and checking out my Caan movie page…and by the way I think Rollerball would make an interesting Illustrated Reference poster page.

  2. Unlike one of your other favourite actors mentioned at the beginning of this page, I have seen several of his top ten box office hits. n critics hits, a bit violent or about football and depressing.

    However, I haven’t seen much more than those films on that top ten list. Really.

    Top Ten Box Office:

    I have seen half of these: #2,3,5,6, and 8

    Top Ten Critics List:

    I have seen only 2 of these -#8 and 9.

    Top ten Movie Score list:

    Same as the box office list: 50% of them. I have seen #2,3,4,7 and 8.

    Overall:

    I have seen 6 of this films or 11%. The other one I have seen is Mickey Blue Eyes that was playing on the plane to Athens when Mom and I went to Greece.

    This is the order I would put the six I have seen in:

    Elf-one of TINY number of recent Christmas films I enjoy-it might be because this is actually original matierial

    A Bridge Too Far–star-studded

    Dick Tracy-silly and light

    Mickey Blue Eyes-light entertainment but fun

    Silent Movie-funny, but as with many of Brooks comedies, a bit rude

    Funny Lady-not nearly as good as Funny Girl

    1. Hey Flora…thanks for checking out my James Caan movie page….6 is probably where I would have guessed…he does have some movies made before you were born that are worth checking out….his performance in the Gambler is awesome and it still plays well today…and Rain People…which is where Caan and Francis Ford Coppola first it it off….you also get a very young Robert Duvall and an outstanding performance by Shirley Knight. Of course some time in the future you need to watch The Godfather..but I know why you have not seen that one…and the last one I would recommend is 1982’s Kiss Me Goodbye…which is a comedy that also stars Sally Field and Jeff Bridges…granted it has been years since I saw that movie.

      I think you will be happy with a decision I made about future movie pages….I was looking at AFI’s Top 25 stars of all-time…and I concluded I needed a hub on all 50 stars they listed(they did a Top 25 for actor and actress)…to date I have 14 of the 25 actors and only 4 of the top 25 actresses….so I will be going right down the list….first up #6 Fred Astaire and #2 Bette Davis.

  3. I have only seen him in a couple of things, I think. He seems interesting but it’s obvious he never got the kind of leading man attention he deserved. That’s an interesting point you bring up about Brian’s Song. I think the TV movie is making a comeback. TNT’s starting mystery Tuesday nights with flicks based on famous mystery novels.

    1. Hey Alecia ….I have such fond memories of the movies of the week….because back then it was the only time you got the chance to watch some of the older classic movies….James Bond movies were very popular….as well as the Disney movie of the week….I still remember how excited my mom was when Gone With The Wind had it’s network broadcast…and now she has it on dvd and does not ever watch it.

      As for the current movies of the week…everything goes in cycles…so I am sure they will be around for awhile.

  4. Sounds like he is kind of an unsung hero:). Especially for the ladies! I admit I do not know much about this actor. I think his name is ubiquitous though – I just didn’t really know what mo ies he played in. Great page…I’ll have to check a few of his movies out.

    1. Hey RealHousewife…his peak was easily the four or five years after the Godfather made him a star….but he was unable to maintain that stardom…and pretty much over the last twenty years he has been a supporting actor…although he was the star of the show Las Vegas for 4 or 5 years. I think the movies listed in the Top 20 of the Movie Score table are worth checking out. You should avoid the ones near the bottom…I am fan of his…but those movies are horrible. Thanks for stopping by

  5. James Cann is a good actor. I just recently saw Hide in Plain Sight once again on TV. I watch his son Scott on Hawaii Five-O on TV – looks like his dad. Plus James Cann was on one of the episcodes. Good personal information. Thanks.

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