James Mason Movies

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

James Mason (1909-1984) was an English actor who appeared in movies for over 50 years. His first appearance was in 1935’s Late Extra and his last appearance was 1985’s The Assisi Underground. James Mason appeared in many British quota quickie movies from 1935 to 1948. After appearing in over 25 of these low budget films, Mason started getting noticed for the movies The Wicked Lady, Odd Man Out and The Seventh Veil.The success of those movies got the attention of Hollywood.

In 1949 James Mason appeared in his first American film, Caught. Once his Hollywood career got started, he appeared in many classic movies like 1953’s Julius Caesar, 1954’s A Star Is Born, 1954’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and 1959’s North by Northwest. For a great movie page on James Mason’s North by Northwest check out this page from film historian, Steve Lensman… North by Northwest Illustrated Reference.

Highlights for Mason in the 1960s were 1962’s Lolita and 1966’s Georgy Girl. As he neared the end of his career he scored two more major hits in 1978’s Heaven Can Wait and 1982’s The Verdict. James Mason and his very distinguished voice earned 3 Oscar® nominations for acting over his career

His IMDb page shows 154 acting credits from 1935-1985. This page will rank James Mason movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and movies that were not released in North American theaters were not included in the rankings.

James Mason and Paul Newman in 1982's The Verdict.
James Mason and Paul Newman in 1982’s The Verdict.

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

James Mason 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 Mason movies by co-stars of his movies.
  • Sort James Mason movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort James Mason movies by domestic yearly box office rank
  • Sort James Mason movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each James Mason movie received.
  • Sort James Mason 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.
  • Use the search and sort buttons to make this a very interactive page.
Cary Grant and James Mason in 1959's North by Northwest
Cary Grant and James Mason in 1959’s North by Northwest

Possibly Interesting Facts About James Mason

1. James Mason had no formal acting training. He can thank the quota quickie era for getting his start in movies. This is the 3rd or 4th time I have mentioned the quota quickie era. So what is the quota quickie era?

2. The quota quickie era was a ten year Act in England that required English theaters to show a percentage of movies made in England. This need to have English made films helped create many English production companies that could generate many movies in a very short time on a low budget.

3. James Mason was nominated for 3 acting Oscars®. His three nominations were for 1954’s A Star Is Born, 1966’s Georgy Girl, and 1982’s The Verdict. James Mason also was nominated for 3 Golden Globes®. He won one Golden Globe® for A Star Is Born.

4. Here is one for you Flora….James Mason was a huge cat lover all of his life. In 1949 James Mason and his wife Pamela wrote the book, The Cats in Our Lives. His first cat’s name was Top Boy.

5. James Mason was married twice in his life. His first marriage was to Pamela Ostrer, from 1941 to 1964. They had two children, a son named Morgan and a daughter named Portland. His second marriage was to Clarissa Kaye from 1971 to his death in 1984.

6. James Mason was the father-in-law to Belinda Carlisle who is lead singer in the rock group The Go-Gos.

7. Roles James Mason either turned down or was seriously considered for:….The African Queen, Whose Afraid of Virginia Wolfe, The Paper Chase, The Bridge on the River Kwai and Doctor Zhivago.

8. James Mason was not the first choice for 1954’s A Star Is Born, which is probably his greatest performance. Mason got the part after Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, James Stewart, Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift all passed on the part.

9. James Mason was almost involved in three James Bond projects. (1 ) He was hired to play James Bond in a television version of From Russia With Love in 1958, but the it was never produced. (2) He was one of the many contenders to play Bond in Dr. No, but Sean Connery got the part. And (3) He was offered the role of Hugo Drax in 1979’s Moonraker but he turned down the part….too bad because I think he would have made a great Bond villian.

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

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62 thoughts on “James Mason Movies”

  2. Hello Bruce. I Love Your James Mason page. Another great actor who never gave a bad performance. I liked him in just about everything he did, even when he played villains. I was wondering if you could help me out with any information you might have on 1974’s “The Tamarind Seed” starring Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif and directed by Blake Edwards. In all my research I have found box office information on every Julie Andrews film except this one. I saw this film in a theater in 1974 after reading a good review in the Los Angeles Times newspaper . I was not disappointed. Thank for the great page on Mr. Mason.

    Reply

    1. Hey Lyle….glad you like my Mason page…..it was one of the ones I was dreading flipping as he has so many movies and so many movies that I not familiar with at all. It seems he had no middle ground….either a classic or a dud. As for The Tamarind Seed….seems it slipped through the variety yearly tables….but according to wiki via a Edwards book…..here are the stats I have…Box Office Rentals of 3.60 million….8.00 domestic gross……13.00 worldwide gross…..or 34.10 million in 2015 tickets sold and $56.00 million in worldwide gross. I would say my confidence level in these numbers is moderate…..hope that helps.

      Reply

  3. Mr. James Mason named hid daughter, Portland, after his neighbor, Mrs. Portland Allen, wife of the fabulous and fantastic comedian, Fred Allan.The Masons were not only the Allen’s neighbors, but also guests on “Mr. Allen’s” radio program.

    Reply

    1. Hey durango farrell….thanks for the information about his daughter, Portland. Very interesting information and a very nice tribute to the Allens

      Reply

  4. A few days ago I saw Pandora and the Flying Dutchman for the first time starring James and Ava Gardner in the title roles. It has been recently restored, including some footage which had been lost/cut since it aired in theatres. I am glad I didn’t see it until after it was restored. What a commanding presence he was. I couldn’t take my eyes off him, even when he wasn’t the person talking.

    Reply

    1. Hey Flora…that is cool that you saw Pandora and the Flying Dutchman….and even cooler that it has been restored…looking at its box office it is surprising that almost 60 years later it received that attention. I will have to check out the movie…as it is in his Top 25 according to Movie Score. Thanks for the update on your James Mason movie tally. I think since I wrote this hub I have seen only one new Mason movie and that was The Desert Fox. I still highly recommend The Last of Sheila….I think if you watch it, it will become one of your favorite Mason movies.

      Reply

  5. Cogerson – super interesting because I do not know a lot about him. I loved your commentary too., so much to know and I have only seen 2 of his movies. I saw Lolita and 20,000 Leagues. I didn’t even recognize his name but I did recognize the face!

    I will have to check out more of his work seeing he’s gotten great reviews. Thanks excellent!

    Reply

    1. Thanks for stopping by RealHousewife….the last part of his life he was a awesome supporting actor his prime leading actor days were years before we were born….he is most famous for his unbelievable voice. I appreciate the compliments and the visit

      Reply

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