Want to know the best John Cassavetes movies? How about the worst John Cassavetes movies? Curious about John Cassavetes box office grosses or which John Cassavetes movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which John Cassavetes 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.
John Cassavetes (1929-1989) was an Oscar®-nominated American actor, film director, and screenwriter. Cassavetes was a pioneer of American independent cinema, writing and directing movies financed in part with income from his acting work. He starred in notable Hollywood films throughout the 1950s and 1960s, including Edge of the City (1957), The Dirty Dozen (1967), and Rosemary’s Baby (1968). His IMDb page shows 110 acting, writing, and directing credits from 1951 to 1986. This page will rank John Cassavetes movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos, uncredited roles, and movies that were not released in North American were not included in the rankings.
John Cassavetes 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
1968
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
1967
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
AA Best Supp Actor Nom
1974
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
AA Best Director Nom
1974
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
1978
The Fury (1978)
1976
Two-Minute Warning (1976)
1977
Heroes (1977)
1963
A Child Is Waiting (1963)
1968
Faces (1968)
1968
Faces (1968)
1977
Opening Night (1977)
1977
Opening Night (1977)
1964
The Killers (1964)
1970
Husbands (1970)
1957
Edge of the City (1957)
1981
Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981)
1969
If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969)
1976
Mikey and Nicky (1976)
1956
Crime in the Streets (1956)
1958
Saddle The Wind (1958)
1984
Love Streams (1984)
1980
Gloria (1980)
1958
Our Virgin Island (1958)
1976
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
1971
Minnie and Moskowitz (1971)
1982
Tempest (1982)
1958
Shadows (1958)
1961
Too Late Blues (1961)
1983
Marvin & Tige (1983)
1962
The Webster Boy (1962)
1969
Machine Gun McCain (1969)
1967
Devil's Angels (1967)
1978
Brass Target (1978)
1957
Affair in Havana (1957)
1981
The Incubus (1981)
1986
Big Trouble (1986)
1975
Capone (1975)
John Cassavetes 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 any way you want.
- Sort John Cassavetes movies by his co-stars
- Sort John Cassavetes movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort John Cassavetes movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort John Cassavetes 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 John Cassavetes movie received.
- Sort John Cassavetes movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR 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 | Rosemary's Baby (1968) | Mia Farrow & John Cassavetes |
42.90 | 352.7 | 352.70 | 8 | 89 | 02 / 01 | 99.0 | |
| 2 | The Dirty Dozen (1967) AA Best Supp Actor Nom |
Lee Marvin & Ernest Borgnine |
51.00 | 454.4 | 703.90 | 5 | 86 | 04 / 01 | 98.9 | |
| 3 | A Woman Under the Influence (1974) AA Best Director Nom |
Gena Rowlands & Directed by Cassavetes |
18.50 | 106.9 | 106.90 | 29 | 86 | 02 / 00 | 91.9 | |
| 4 | A Woman Under the Influence (1974) | Gena Rowlands & Peter Falk |
18.50 | 106.9 | 106.90 | 29 | 86 | 02 / 00 | 91.9 | |
| 7 | The Fury (1978) | Kirk Douglas & Directed by Brian De Palma |
27.10 | 124.6 | 124.60 | 23 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 87.4 | |
| 8 | Two-Minute Warning (1976) | Charlton Heston & Walter Pidgeon |
27.60 | 139.7 | 139.70 | 23 | 55 | 01 / 00 | 83.7 | |
| 8 | Heroes (1977) | Sally Field & Harrison Ford |
26.90 | 130.1 | 130.10 | 30 | 50 | 00 / 00 | 78.5 | |
| 9 | A Child Is Waiting (1963) | Burt Lancaster & Directed by Cassavetes |
2.50 | 31.2 | 31.20 | 79 | 81 | 00 / 00 | 78.5 | |
| 8 | Faces (1968) | Gena Rowlands & Directed by Cassavetes |
2.10 | 17.6 | 17.60 | 116 | 81 | 03 / 00 | 76.8 | |
| 9 | Faces (1968) | John Marley & Gena Rowlands |
2.10 | 17.6 | 17.60 | 116 | 81 | 03 / 00 | 76.8 | |
| 11 | Opening Night (1977) | Joan Blondell & Directed by Cassavetes |
1.20 | 6.0 | 6.00 | 130 | 85 | 00 / 00 | 74.6 | |
| 10 | Opening Night (1977) | Gena Rowlands & John Cassavetes |
1.20 | 6.0 | 6.00 | 130 | 85 | 00 / 00 | 74.6 | |
| 13 | The Killers (1964) | Lee Marvin & Angie Dickinson |
2.90 | 32.8 | 32.80 | 84 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 73.7 | |
| 15 | Husbands (1970) | Ben Gazzara & Directed by Cassavetes |
4.50 | 31.6 | 31.60 | 58 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 73.4 | |
| 15 | Edge of the City (1957) | John Cassavetes & Sidney Poitier |
2.20 | 42.9 | 42.90 | 108 | 71 | 00 / 00 | 72.8 | |
| 16 | Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981) | Richard Dreyfuss | 8.20 | 31.8 | 31.80 | 81 | 74 | 00 / 00 | 72.3 | |
| 19 | If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969) | Ben Gazzara & Ian McShane |
8.60 | 65.1 | 65.10 | 33 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 71.4 | |
| 17 | Mikey and Nicky (1976) | Peter Falk & Ned Beatty |
2.70 | 13.8 | 13.80 | 109 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 69.8 | |
| 19 | Crime in the Streets (1956) | Sal Mineo | 3.40 | 67.2 | 67.20 | 100 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 66.5 | |
| 20 | Saddle The Wind (1958) | Robert Taylor & Julie London |
2.90 | 51.6 | 106.80 | 72 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 65.9 | |
| 20 | Love Streams (1984) | Gena Rowlands & Directed by Cassavetes |
0.20 | 0.5 | 0.50 | 184 | 79 | 00 / 00 | 65.6 | |
| 22 | Gloria (1980) | Gena Rowlands & Directed by Cassavetes |
3.50 | 14.3 | 14.30 | 123 | 72 | 01 / 00 | 63.9 | |
| 25 | Our Virgin Island (1958) | Sidney Poitier | 2.30 | 41.1 | 41.10 | 99 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 62.8 | |
| 24 | The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) | Ben Gazzara & Directed by Cassavetes |
0.70 | 3.6 | 3.60 | 145 | 76 | 00 / 00 | 62.8 | |
| 25 | Minnie and Moskowitz (1971) | Gena Rowlands & Directed by Cassavetes |
0.70 | 4.5 | 4.50 | 170 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 61.9 | |
| 27 | Tempest (1982) | Gena Rowlands | 5.00 | 18.4 | 18.40 | 96 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 57.4 | |
| 28 | Shadows (1958) | Ben Carruthers & Directed by Cassavetes |
0.60 | 10.3 | 10.30 | 160 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 56.5 | |
| 29 | Too Late Blues (1961) | Bobby Darin & Directed by Cassavetes |
1.30 | 18.8 | 18.80 | 112 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 44.0 | |
| 30 | Marvin & Tige (1983) | Billy Dee Williams | 0.10 | 0.2 | 0.20 | 169 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 40.2 | |
| 31 | The Webster Boy (1962) | Richard O'Sullivan | 0.10 | 2.1 | 2.10 | 143 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 37.0 | |
| 31 | Machine Gun McCain (1969) | Peter Falk | 1.30 | 9.8 | 9.80 | 128 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 33.0 | |
| 33 | Devil's Angels (1967) | Beverly Adams | 4.40 | 39.0 | 39.00 | 56 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 27.8 | |
| 34 | Brass Target (1978) | Sophia Loren | 5.60 | 25.6 | 25.60 | 82 | 48 | 00 / 00 | 22.7 | |
| 34 | Affair in Havana (1957) | Raymond Burr | 0.60 | 10.9 | 10.90 | 187 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 22.3 | |
| 36 | The Incubus (1981) | John Ireland | 1.20 | 4.5 | 4.50 | 134 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 17.3 | |
| 37 | Big Trouble (1986) | Alan Arkin & Directed by Cassavetes |
0.10 | 0.3 | 0.30 | 213 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 10.0 | |
| 37 | Capone (1975) | Ben Gazzara & Sylvester Stallone |
2.00 | 10.5 | 10.50 | 114 | 32 | 00 / 00 | 2.1 |
Check out John Cassavetes‘s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
i saw 4 including top 2. 10 and favorite the dirty dozen. 9 rosemary’s baby. hidden gem edge of the city. i love poitier. the racial tension was palpable, very timely, warden did very well. i liked the effort in a woman under the influence(directorial). the acting was inspired but too dark for my taste or to recommend.
Much later in 1972 I also thoroughly enjoyed John’s guest villain turn in an episode of the TV series Columbo called Etude in Black. Recently Flora reminded Columbo buffs such as Phil and I that Myrna Loy played Al Leach’s – sorry Cassavetes’ – mother-in-law in that one.
Cassavetes was passionate about a wide range of music from jazz to classical to rock. “I like all music. It makes you feel like living. Silence is death,” he said. For the soundtrack of Shadows Cassavetes worked with jazz composer and musician Charles Mingus and Shafi Hadi to provide the score. Mingus’s friend Diane Dorr-Dorynek described Cassavetes’s approach to film-making in jazz terms:
“The script formed the skeleton around which the actors might change or ad lib lines according to their response to the situation at the moment, so that each performance was slightly different. A jazz musician works in this way, using a given musical skeleton and creating out of it, building a musical whole related to a particular moment by listening to and interacting with his fellow musicians. Jazz musicians working with actors could conceivably provide audiences with some of the most moving and alive theatre they have ever experienced.”
Estimates of John’s net worth at time of death vary from $1-5 million; and IMDB credits him with 12 artistic awards /23 noms of one kind or another. As most -around 60% -were earned back in the pre-Stallone days when formal accolades were harder to come by than they are today that’s a respectable haul especially for a largely supporting actor/independent filmmaker.
Anyway for my money John had such integrity in movies as both an actor and a technician that I would place him at the TOP of the list of those moviemakers outside the acknowledged Legends who most deserve a Cogerson page
so this new page is HIGHLY “Voted Up!”
As said ReaGAN BOWED OUT WITH tHE kILLERS AND DURING ITS SHOOTING jfk WAS ASSASSINATED.
Hey Bob….Cassavetes directed that episode of Columbo as well. Good information on his other interests, his awards and his net worth. I remember watching him in The Tempest as a pre-teen….I did not understand the movie at all….but his performance was impressive. Glad you liked this selection….his wife is coming soon….as we get to the end of the Joel project. Good stuff as always.