Want to know the best James Coburn movies? How about the worst James Coburn movies? Curious about James Coburn box office grosses or which James Coburn movie picked up the most Oscar nominations? Need to know which James Coburn movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
One of my father’s all-time favorite movie scenes occurred in 1963’s The Great Escape. In that movie James Coburn (1928-2002) played an escaped POW during World War II who is hiding in plain sight at a French cafe. Since YouTube is so awesome I was able to locate and attach my dad’s favorite The Great Escape scene at the bottom of this page. This attached scene is why Coburn became one of my favorite actors. When I started writing these movie pages….Coburn was one of the first people I wrote down on a list of actors/actresses that I wanted to write about.
Since writing that original list, 4 and a half years have passed and I have written over 250 movie pages….yet I never did a Coburn movie page. But why? Although Coburn appeared in many classic movies….The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Charade, Our Man Flint and Duck You Sucker….he has also appeared in his fair share of clunkers. When going through his IMDb credits I counted over 20 movies (many turned out to be straight to VHS movies) that I had not even heard of before…. and I consider myself a James Coburn fan. So the other day when I was looking at my Michael Caine (another favorite of mine) page….I saw all of his clunkers ….and thought why am I holding the clunkers against Coburn and nobody else? At that point I decided to give Mr. Coburn some Ultimate Movie Rankings love. His IMDb page shows 174 acting credits from 1957-2002. This page will rank James Coburn movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television appearances, cameos, movies not released in North America and straight to home entertainment movies were not included in the rankings.
Mel Gibson and James Coburn in 1994’s Maverick
James Coburn Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
| Year | Movie (Year) | Rating | S |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Movie (Year) | Rating | S |
| 2001 | Monsters, Inc. (2001) |  |
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| 1963 | The Great Escape (1963) | |
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| 1963 | Charade (1963) | |
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| 1994 | Maverick (1994) |  |
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| 1966 | Our Man Flint (1966) | |
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| 1996 | The Nutty Professor (1996) | |
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| 1976 | Midway (1976) | |
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| 1964 | The Americanization of Emily (1964) | |
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| 1960 | The Magnificent Seven (1960) | |
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| 1996 | Eraser (1996) |  |
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| 1968 | Candy (1968) | |
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| 1999 | Payback (1999) | |
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| 1975 | Hard Times (1975) | |
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| 1967 | In Like Flint (1967) | |
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| 1975 | Bite the Bullet (1975) | |
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| 1973 | The Last of Sheila (1973) | |
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| 1973 | Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973) | |
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| 1971 | Duck You Sucker or A Fistful of Dynamite (1971) | |
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| 1959 | Ride Lonesome (1959) |  |
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| 1967 | The President's Analyst (1967) | |
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| 1962 | Hell is for Heroes (1962) | |
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| 1997 | Affliction (1997) AA Best Supp Actor Win |
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| 1965 | Major Dundee (1965) | |
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| 1965 | The Loved One (1965) | |
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| 1990 | Young Guns II (1990) | |
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| 1977 | Cross of Iron (1977) | |
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| 2002 | Snow Dogs (2002) | |
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| 1993 | Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993) |  |
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| 1976 | Sky Riders (1976) | |
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| 1966 | What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966) | |
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| 1959 | Face of a Fugitive (1959) | |
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| 1965 | A High Wind in Jamaica (1965) | |
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| 1967 | Waterhole #3 (1967) | |
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| 1973 | Harry in Your Pocket (1973) |  |
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| 1966 | Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966) | |
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| 1972 | The Carey Treatment (1972) | |
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| 1972 | The Honkers (1972) | |
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| 2002 | American Gun (2002) Film Festival Circuit Only |
 |
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| 1969 | Hard Contract (1969) | |
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| 2001 | The Man from Elysian Fields (2001) | |
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| 1980 | The Baltimore Bullet (1980) | |
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| 1974 | The Internecine Project (1974) |  |
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| 1976 | The Last Hard Men (1976) | |
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| 1981 | High Risk (1981) | |
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| 1963 | The Man from Galveston (1963) | |
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| 1985 | Martin's Day (1985) | |
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| 1970 | The Last of the Mobile Hot Shots (1970) | |
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| 1980 | Crossover/Mr. Patman (1980) Film Festival Circuit Only |
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| 1980 | Loving Couples (1980) | |
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| 1981 | Looker (1981) | |
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| 1968 | Duffy (1968) | |
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| 1979 | Goldengirl (1979) | |
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| 1991 | Hudson Hawk (1991) |  |
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| 1979 | Firepower (1979) | |
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| 1997 | Keys to Tulsa (1997) | |
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| 1993 | Deadfall (1993) | |
James Coburn 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 James Coburn movies by co-stars
- Sort James Coburn movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort James Coburn movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort James Coburn 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 James Coburn movie received and how many Oscar® wins each James Coburn movie won.
- Sort James Coburn 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.
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Actual B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | B.O. Rank by Year | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | S |
| 1 | Monsters, Inc. (2001) | Billy Crystal & John Goodman |
278.90 | 532.1 | 1,052.80 | 3 | 88 | 04 / 01 | 99.0 | |
| 3 | The Great Escape (1963) | Steve McQueen & James Garner |
15.80 | 197.7 | 197.70 | 13 | 89 | 01 / 00 | 98.8 | |
| 2 | Charade (1963) | Cary Grant & Audrey Hepburn |
18.70 | 235.0 | 235.00 | 8 | 88 | 01 / 00 | 98.7 | |
| 4 | Maverick (1994) | Mel Gibson & James Garner |
101.60 | 268.5 | 483.60 | 12 | 71 | 01 / 00 | 95.6 | |
| 7 | Our Man Flint (1966) | Lee J. Cobb | 18.00 | 176.4 | 176.40 | 16 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 94.1 | |
| 5 | The Nutty Professor (1996) | Eddie Murphy | 128.80 | 314.2 | 668.10 | 8 | 63 | 01 / 01 | 94.0 | |
| 6 | Midway (1976) | Charlton Heston & Henry Fonda |
65.50 | 331.4 | 331.40 | 7 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 92.4 | |
| 9 | The Americanization of Emily (1964) | James Garner & Julie Andrews |
11.30 | 129.4 | 129.40 | 23 | 78 | 02 / 00 | 91.4 | |
| 10 | The Magnificent Seven (1960) | Steve McQueen & Charles Bronson |
6.40 | 100.4 | 546.80 | 44 | 85 | 01 / 00 | 90.5 | |
| 8 | Eraser (1996) | Arnold Schwarzenegger & James Caan |
101.30 | 247.1 | 590.90 | 14 | 52 | 01 / 00 | 89.9 | |
| 11 | Candy (1968) | Marlon Brando & Walter Matthau |
21.10 | 173.3 | 173.30 | 13 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 89.3 | |
| 12 | Payback (1999) | Mel Gibson | 81.50 | 173.7 | 344.30 | 25 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 89.0 | |
| 13 | Hard Times (1975) | Charles Bronson | 17.10 | 90.0 | 90.00 | 40 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 86.5 | |
| 14 | In Like Flint (1967) | Lee J. Cobb | 12.50 | 111.4 | 111.40 | 27 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 85.3 | |
| 15 | Bite the Bullet (1975) | Gene Hackman & Candice Bergen |
16.00 | 84.0 | 84.00 | 43 | 69 | 02 / 00 | 82.0 | |
| 16 | The Last of Sheila (1973) | James Mason & Richard Benjamin |
6.70 | 40.6 | 40.60 | 52 | 82 | 00 / 00 | 80.7 | |
| 18 | Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973) | Kris Kristofferson & Bob Dylan |
8.20 | 49.8 | 49.80 | 44 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 80.5 | |
| 17 | Duck You Sucker or A Fistful of Dynamite (1971) | Directed Sergio Leone | 6.10 | 39.6 | 39.60 | 55 | 81 | 00 / 00 | 80.2 | |
| 19 | Ride Lonesome (1959) | Randolph Scott | 2.70 | 48.8 | 48.80 | 87 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 79.8 | |
| 20 | The President's Analyst (1967) | Godfrey Cambridge & Will Geer |
6.10 | 54.6 | 54.60 | 44 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 79.3 | |
| 21 | Hell is for Heroes (1962) | Steve McQueen & Bob Newhart |
3.70 | 53.4 | 53.40 | 65 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 79.2 | |
| 22 | Affliction (1997) AA Best Supp Actor Win |
Nick Nolte & Willem Dafoe |
6.30 | 14.9 | 14.90 | 134 | 82 | 02 / 01 | 77.3 | |
| 23 | Major Dundee (1965) | Charlton Heston | 5.50 | 58.6 | 58.60 | 51 | 71 | 00 / 00 | 77.3 | |
| 24 | The Loved One (1965) | John Gielgud & Robert Morse |
5.40 | 57.1 | 57.10 | 53 | 71 | 00 / 00 | 76.8 | |
| 26 | Young Guns II (1990) | Emilio Estevez & Kiefer Sutherland |
44.10 | 112.5 | 112.50 | 29 | 48 | 01 / 00 | 71.6 | |
| 25 | Cross of Iron (1977) | James Mason | 4.10 | 19.7 | 19.70 | 89 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 71.5 | |
| 27 | Snow Dogs (2002) | Cuba Gooding Jr. | 81.20 | 150.9 | 150.90 | 32 | 36 | 00 / 00 | 71.3 | |
| 30 | Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993) | Whoopi Goldberg | 57.30 | 149.3 | 149.30 | 19 | 30 | 00 / 00 | 63.0 | |
| 28 | Sky Riders (1976) | Susannah York & Robert Culp |
5.30 | 26.6 | 26.60 | 81 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 60.1 | |
| 31 | What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966) | Directed by Blake Edwards | 6.50 | 63.7 | 63.70 | 42 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 57.1 | |
| 29 | Face of a Fugitive (1959) | Fred MacMurray | 2.10 | 38.5 | 38.50 | 106 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 56.4 | |
| 32 | A High Wind in Jamaica (1965) | Anthony Quinn & Deborah Baxter |
2.70 | 28.6 | 28.60 | 84 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 53.5 | |
| 33 | Waterhole #3 (1967) | Carroll O'Conner & Bruce Dern |
3.10 | 27.8 | 27.80 | 73 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 50.8 | |
| 34 | Harry in Your Pocket (1973) | Michael Sarrazin & Walter Pidgeon |
4.50 | 27.7 | 27.70 | 69 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 47.8 | |
| 35 | Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966) | Aldo Ray & Harrison Ford |
2.20 | 22.0 | 22.00 | 92 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 47.1 | |
| 36 | The Carey Treatment (1972) | Jennifer O'Neill & Pat Hingle |
3.00 | 19.2 | 19.20 | 89 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 46.6 | |
| 37 | The Honkers (1972) | Slim Pickens & Anne Archer |
2.40 | 15.4 | 15.40 | 112 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 42.0 | |
| 38 | American Gun (2002) Film Festival Circuit Only |
Virginia Madsen | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 373 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 36.5 | |
| 39 | Hard Contract (1969) | Lee Remick & Burgess Meredith |
2.00 | 15.2 | 15.20 | 99 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 33.7 | |
| 38 | The Man from Elysian Fields (2001) | Andy Garcia & Mick Jagger |
1.40 | 2.7 | 2.70 | 184 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 32.5 | |
| 40 | The Baltimore Bullet (1980) | Omar Sharif | 2.00 | 8.2 | 8.20 | 140 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 30.0 | |
| 41 | The Internecine Project (1974) | Lee Grant & Harry Andrews |
1.80 | 10.5 | 10.50 | 112 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 28.6 | |
| 43 | The Last Hard Men (1976) | Charlton Heston | 2.40 | 12.3 | 12.30 | 113 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 28.6 | |
| 42 | High Risk (1981) | James Brolin & Anthony Quinn |
2.20 | 8.5 | 8.50 | 113 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 28.2 | |
| 44 | The Man from Galveston (1963) | Jeffrey Hunter & Edward Andrews |
1.70 | 21.5 | 21.50 | 100 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 24.9 | |
| 45 | Martin's Day (1985) | Richard Harris | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 213 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 22.6 | |
| 48 | The Last of the Mobile Hot Shots (1970) | Lynn Redgrave & Kevin Hooks |
1.50 | 10.5 | 10.50 | 125 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 22.2 | |
| 47 | Crossover/Mr. Patman (1980) Film Festival Circuit Only |
Directed by John Guillermin | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 198 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 16.6 | |
| 50 | Loving Couples (1980) | Shirley MacLaine & Susan Sarandon |
3.50 | 14.5 | 14.50 | 121 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 14.5 | |
| 50 | Looker (1981) | Albert Finney | 5.10 | 19.9 | 19.90 | 94 | 45 | 00 / 00 | 14.0 | |
| 52 | Duffy (1968) | James Mason | 2.90 | 23.5 | 23.50 | 101 | 43 | 00 / 00 | 13.1 | |
| 53 | Goldengirl (1979) | Leslie Caron | 1.20 | 5.4 | 5.40 | 136 | 46 | 00 / 00 | 10.6 | |
| 54 | Hudson Hawk (1991) | Bruce Willis | 17.20 | 44.1 | 86.40 | 68 | 31 | 00 / 00 | 7.6 | |
| 55 | Firepower (1979) | Sophia Loren | 2.40 | 10.2 | 10.20 | 110 | 40 | 00 / 00 | 6.3 | |
| 56 | Keys to Tulsa (1997) | James Spader & Eric Stoltz |
0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 260 | 31 | 00 / 00 | 1.0 | |
| 57 | Deadfall (1993) | Michael Biehn & Nicolas Cage |
0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 270 | 19 | 00 / 00 | 0.1 |
James Coburn Adjusted World Wide Box Office Grosses
| Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | World-Wide Box Office Adjusted (mil) | S |
|---|---|---|---|
| Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | World-Wide Box Office Adjusted (mil) | S |
| Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) | Ben Affleck & Henry Cavill |
1,088.30 | |
| Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (2016) | Eddie Redmayne & Colin Farrell |
1,014.50 | |
| Suicide Squad (2016) | Will Smith & Jared Leto |
929.20 | |
| Justice League (2017) | Ben Affleck & Henry Cavill |
790.70 | |
| Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) | Eddie Redmayne & Johnny Depp |
773.10 | |
| Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022) | Eddie Redmayne & Jude Law |
414.40 | |
| The Flash (2023) | Michael Keaton & Ben Affleck |
268.00 | |
| Trainwreck (2015) | Amy Schumer & Bill Hader |
180.00 | |
| The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) | Logan Lerman & Emma Watson |
45.20 | |
| City Island (2009) | Andy Garcia & Julianna Margulies |
11.30 | |
| We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011) | Tilda Swinton & John C. Reilly |
8.20 | |
| The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015) | Billy Crudup | 0.90 | |
| After School (2008) | Addison Timlin | 0.20 |
Possibly Interesting Facts About James Coburn
1. James Harrison Coburn III was born on August 31, 1928 in Laurel, Nebraska. Coburn was raised in California. 2. James Coburn’s rise to stardom…Cliff Notes style. While in the Army he narrated Army training films. Studied acting at Los Angeles City College. Made stage debut in Billy Budd. Selected for a Remington Products razor television commercial. Starting getting television role work in 1957. First movie role was in 1959’s Ride Lonesome. From 1960 to 1965 appeared in supporting roles in many popular movies. In 1966, Coburn became a genuine star following the release of Our Man Flint. In 1967, he was voted the twelfth biggest star in Hollywood. 3. Even though James Coburn was one of The Magnificent Seven (1960)….he only had 11 lines in the entire movie. Coburn was a big fan of Seven Samurai (1954) and his favorite role in that film was the character that he ended up playing in the Americanized version. 4. In 1979, James Coburn started suffering from severe rheumatoid arthritis, which left him debilitated at times. In 1998, a holistic healer started him on a dietary supplement, which resulted in a drastic improvement in his condition. This is why he has so few IMDb credits in the 1980s. 5. James Coburn received 1 Oscar® and 0 Golden Globe® nominations…..but he made that 1 nomination count as he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar® for 1997’s Affliction. 6. James Coburn’s passions in life included martial arts, card playing and enjoying fine Cuban cigars! Coburn and Steve McQueen were a pallbearers at the funeral of Bruce Lee. 7. James Coburn starred in 3 Sam Peckinpah directed movies. 1965’s Major Dundee, 1973’s Pat Garret & Billy The Kid and 1977’s The Cross of Iron. 8. James Coburn was married twice; first to Beverly Kelly from 1959 to 1979..they had two children, James Coburn IV and Lisa Coburn. James Coburn IV is a sound mixer with over 40 IMDb credits. His second marriage was to actress Paula O’Hara from 1993 until his death in 2002. 9. James Coburn was offered the role in Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars….but he turned it down. That was good news for Clint Eastwood. Later Coburn would make a Sergio Leone western…1971’s Duck You Sucker…which is also known as A Fistful of Dynamite. 10. James Coburn’s last acting role was on the HBO series….Arli$$. The name of the episode was The Immortal….seems like a fitting way for Coburn to end his acting career. Check out James Coburn’s movie career compared to current and classic stars on our Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time page. Another page worth checking out is this James Coburn Movie Posters page written by Steve Lensman. Lots of great art work on Coburn’s movies.
One of my dad’s all-time favorite movie scenes.
For comments….all you need is a name and a comment….please ignore the rest.
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James Coburn is the # 38 most connectible actor of the 1970’s.
Watched Duck You Sucker. One of my favorite westerns. So I feel it is rated too low here and at Steiger’s report. Lately I have been coming here after watching a movie. Good website.
Hey Kleening….Duck You Sucker is a good western….but in my mind….compared to Leone’s other westerns it does not crack my Top 3 when looking at his movies…The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Once Upon A Time In Mexico and Fistful of Dollars top Duck You Sucker and A Few More Dollars in my book. But if you want to see Duck You Sucker ranked higher….sort by critic/audience score….and you will see it in 7th place….which is pretty good. Thanks for the nice words about our website…glad you come here to see when you watch a movie…..spread the word….lol.
HI BRUCE
1 Thanks for the link to your Coburn hub page. Three things particularly interested me the first being how you like me zoned in on James’ persona as a “tough guy” and the second was we two making the comparison between James and Bronson/Marvin.
2 The 3rd thing was how in the interim the grosses for the more modern movies like Maverick and the Nutty professor had moved hardly at all whereas the stats for the older ones like Charade and Midway increased massively. The latter’s jump from around $186 million to approx $260 million should please Steve as that was a Chuck movie.