Want to know the best John Ford movies? How about the worst John Ford movies? Curious about John Ford box office grosses or which John Ford movie picked up the most Oscar nominations? Need to know which John Ford 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.
This John Ford (1894-1973) movie page comes from a request by Chris. Ford was an American film director, writer, producer and occasional actor. His career spanned more than 50 years. Ford’s films and personality were held in high regard by his colleagues, who have named him as one of the greatest directors of all time. When looking at adjusted domestic box office grosses, Ford’s movies, grossed almost $5 billion in box office dollars. His movies received 75 Oscar® nominations and won 20 Oscars®….including 1942’s How Green Was My Valley which won the Best Picture Oscar®.
His IMDb page shows 145 acting credits f rom 1917-1976. This page will rank 57 John Ford movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Shorts, documentaries and almost all of his silent films are not included in the rankings. We have ranked every John Ford movie from 1932 to 1966 as well as a few that we could find box office information from 1924-1931. Sadly reporting box office information back then was not a priority for movie studios ….and even sadder is that nearly all of his silent films, like the box office information, are lost forever.
John Ford 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 John Ford movies by co-stars of his movies.
- Sort John Ford movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort John Ford movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort John Ford 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 many Oscar® wins each John Ford movie received and
- Sort John Ford 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 button to make this page very interactive. For example type “Wayne” in the search box and up pop the 14 movies that John Wayne made with Ford.
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above John Ford Table
- Twenty-seven John Ford movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 47.36% of his movies listed. How the West Was Won (1963) was his biggest box office ht when looking at adjusted domestic box office gross.
- An average John Ford movie grosses $118.90 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 49 of John Ford’ movies are rated as good movies…or 85.64% of their movies. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) is his highest rated movie while Up the River (1930) was his lowest rated movie.
- Twenty John Ford movie received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 35.08% of his movies.
- Eight John Ford movie won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 14.03% of his movies.
- A “good movie” Ultimate Movie Ranking (UMR) Score is 60. 45 John Ford movies scored higher than that average….or 78.94% of his movies. How Green Was My Valley (1941) got the the highest UMR Score while Up the River (1930) got the lowest UMR Score.
Possibly Interesting Facts About John Ford
1. John Martin “Jack” Feeney was born in Cape Elizabeth, Maine on February 1st, 1894. Ford followed his older brother, Francis, to Hollywood and adopted Jack Ford as his professional name.
2. In 1915, John Ford appeared uncredited in D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation. He appeared as a Klansman who lifts up one side of his hood so he can see clearly. The Birth of a Nation was the first ever blockbuster movie.
3. John Ford directed 62 shorts and silent movies from 1917 to 1929. He became one of the first pioneer directors of sound films. He shot Fox Studio’s first song sung on screen. He directed Fox’s first “talkie” short. His first full length talkie was 1929’s Black Watch.
4. In 1928 John Ford started using an unknown extra in his films. That unknown extra was John Wayne. Ford and Wayne would make movies together for the next 35 years. Their movies together earned over $1.4 billion in adjusted box office grosses and received 24 Oscar® nominations. That is one of the best actor/director combos of all-time.
5. John Ford received 5 Best Director Oscar® nominations. He won a record 4 times…..1935’s The Informer, 1940’s The Grapes of Wrath, 1941’s How Green Was My Valley and 1952’s The Quiet Man. The only time he was nominated but did win was for 1939’s Stagecoach. Ford also two more Oscars® for his war time documentaries.
6. John Ford directed 10 different actors in Oscar®-nominated performances: Victor McLaglen, Thomas Mitchell, Edna May Oliver, Jane Darwell, Henry Fonda, Donald Crisp, Sara Allgood, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Jack Lemmon. McLaglen, Mitchell, Darwell, Crisp and Lemmon won a Oscar® for one of their roles in one of Fords movies.
7. Entertainment Weekly named John Ford as the third greatest director of all-time. Alfred Hitchcock was first and Orson Welles was second. Welles considered Ford to be the best director of all time.
8. John Ford was married one time. He married Mary Ford in 1920 and they stayed married until his death in 1973. They had two children.
9. John Ford cast the great character actor, Ward Bond, in 26 movies that Ford directed.
10. “So long, ya bastard” was the last line of 1966’s 7 Women. 7 Women was the last movie Ford directed…..so that is how John Ford’s incredible career ended.
Check out John Ford’s movie career compared to current and classic stars on our Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time page. Another great read on John Ford is Print The Legend: The Life of John Ford by Scott Eyman. When I got stuck finding box office information on Ford’s films…this was an excellent resource to get outstuck….highly recommend it.
Steve Lensman’s John Ford Updated You Tube Trailer
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.
Regarding you having updated your Ford page – I have seen 28 movies that Ford directed. I don’t think I have seen any new to me movies since you first published it.
Hey Flora….I am right there with you….I have seen no new John Ford movies since I first published this page earlier this year…thanks for checking up the upgrade.
1 John Ford is famous for his westerns but he made movies in a variety of genres and they were often interlaced with comedy turns; and in the 1952 The Quiet Man which was set in Ireland the comedy was much to the forefront.
2 The film’s Irish setting made it especially popular in Ireland and Belfast’s main city centre cinema retained it for a massive 7 weeks whereas films were usually held for just 1 week in city centre before they moved out into the suburbs.
3 There is a pub in County Mayo Ireland that has become a tourist attraction because inside is a large photo of Ford, Duke Wayne, Barry Fitzgerald and Victor McLaglen sitting outside the pub during filming in that village.
4 McLaglen was a Ford stalwart who was in 7 Ford/Wayne films but Bogart in arguing that the Oscars were sometimes farcical used as an example Victor winning in 1929 for Ford’s The Informer, Bogie describing McLaglen as “a man who could not act his way out of a wet paper bag.”
5 John Wayne was once asked what he thought it was that made him stand out in westerns among many other successful stars of that genre and he immediately answered “John Ford.”. However to some extent it cuts both ways because when movie goers are asked what they think of when Ford’s name is mentioned they usually retort westerns and then often add “And John Wayne,”
Hey Bob…..thanks for checking out our John Ford update.
1. I agree he made many types of movies…but the westerns gave him the most fame. Here is a great trivia fact….he won the most Best Director Oscars ever….4…..yet none were for a western. He actually was only nominated one time for a western….1939’s Stagecoach…..he lost to guy that did some little movie called Gone With The Wind.
2. The Quiet Man is easily my favorite Ford movie….I was so glad when it came out on BluRay….as my regular DVD was horrible…it was like watching a best up old VHS tape.
3. I can see that movie being successful in Belfast…and that bar sounds like a great place to visit.
4. I think Victor could act….though when I saw his Oscar winning performance in the Informer…..gotta admit I was not impresses with his acting skills. He is much more impressive in The Quiet Man.
5. Sounds like Bogart and Victor might have had some issues with each other.
6. The Johns will forever be linked together….I have always found it weird that Wayne only lived a few years longer than Ford……as it always seems Ford was so much older than Wayne.
As always thanks for sharing your thoughts on John Ford.
MORNIN BRUCE [Hope mouth feeling better]
1 You surprised me with Ford’s limited Western/Oscar success but as you have well articulated he won in all other respects ; and in fact Orson Welles was once asked to name the 3 Greatest Directors and answered “John Ford, John Ford, and John Ford.” !
2 Does it surprise you that Bogie was often close to getting his lights punched out when you see how outspoken he was? As I have said before he pushed Golden to the point where he had to hide from Bill to avoid fisticuffs.
3 Bette Davis was another one who apparently couldn’t keep her mouth shut and she caused ill-feeling in the 70s by saying publicly that Greg Peck “couldn’t act” whilst rubbing it in by praising “the gifted Mr Brando” though she was later forced to retract the Peck criticism.. Greg is one of my idols,and I don’t take personally criticism of my faves [or I’d have fallen out with you and Steve long ago !] and Davis is entitled to her own opinions; but why did people like Bogie and she have this compulsion to publicly insult their fellow artists who were doing them no harm?
4 The underlying beef between Golden and Bogie was apparently political but the only serious disagreement that the Duke and John Ford had was it seems over politics and they agreed like Jimmy and Hank to leave politics out of all future discussions.
5 Duke was very much a supporter of the Un-American Activities Committee whereas Ford felt its activities were going too far and hurting innocent people and because of that Ford took on the mighty DeMille.
6 Apparently Cecil and a group of his sympathisers wanted fired Joe Mankiewicz President of the Director’s Guild as Joe was considered “politically dangerous”; and at a Guild meeting John Ford made a long speech in which he savaged Cecil and the others so that THEY were forced to resign their positions.
7 For me if Welles had been asked to name an artist who had done great things away from the screen he could again truthfully have answered John Ford because at that time it took great courage to take the stance that john did especially against the likes of DeMille.
8 Interesting what you say about Ford/Duke age difference because Duke’s nicknames for Ford by which he would address John in private were “Coach” or “Pappy” so clearly Duke saw Ford as a kind of a father-figure
9 Ford has done so much that I could write pages about him so I’ll leave it there but as always I’ve enjoyed our exchanges on another all time Great because to paraphrase Sydney Greenstreet to Bogie in The Maltese Falcon “I’m a man who likes chatting to a man who likes to chat and by gad Sir you CAN chat so chat to me again some more .”
BOB
Hey Bob.
1. I like that comment from Welles on Ford.
2. Seems all of these guys with bad off screen reps…..have something in common….they liked alcohol ….and they liked it a lot. Seems alcohol got Bogart into lots of bad situations.
3. Ah….the Great Bette…..her outstanding career…gives her lots of lead way when it comes to comments….as well as giving out Oscars…lol.
4. I imagine political views caused more than one Hollywood friendship to end…especially during the peak of the McCarthey era.
5. I agree it was a big stand for Ford to take…..but I think his Hollywood clout had to make it a little easier…though he still needs some kudos.
6. Great stuff on Mr. Ford….thanks for sharing.
I agree with your Kasper Gutman comment…lol.
HI AGAIN BRUCE
1 Thanks for your usual considered response.
2….I agree with your astute observation about the alcohol-fuelled Mr Bogart and in fact with reference to your comment about Tracy becoming nasty by the time Stewart worked with him in Malaya (1949) Spence was of course no stranger to the substance by that stage. Still they say that alcohol bring out only what’s there in the first place..
3 Kasper had almost better one-liners than Bogie in Falcon.as for example when Bogie says to him that they have to give the police SOMEONE as a fall guy and suggests the “Gunsel” (Elisha Cook Jr); and when Gutman agrees Bogie says “I thought you said he was like a son to you.” to which Kasper replies “I can always get another son but not another Maltese Falcon!”
4 Some critics have suggested that Kasper Gutman was the inspiration for the Max character who was Bud’s swan song in The Score (2001) but it’s so long since I’ve seen that one that I’m not sure.
5 Again I would agree with your observation about politics and friendships and indeed even before McCarthy political divisions in Hollywood caused a lot of friction; and in his autobiography Eddie Robinson described how when he was making Barbary Coast way back in 1935 stars with Democratic leanings would not sit at the same tables in studio canteens as those of Republican persuasion and vice versa.
6 However thank goodness WE can enjoy all stars for their artistic and box office achievements without concerning ourselves with personal matters such as political ideology and that’s part of the reason your site provides great escapism for me.
BOB
Hey Bob
1. No problem….responding to the comments is one of the best parts of this website.
2. Good point that the alcohol multiplying the bad stuff in Tracy. My grandmother said he was a really nice guy when they were encountering him on a regular basis when he was supporting their fruit stand.
3. Greenstreet made one of the best villains ever in The Maltese Falcon…interesting about him, Brando and The Score.
4. I agree on your final two points.
🙂
4.
When John Ford started his speech at the Director’s Guild meeting he said “My name’s John ford and I make western”. He who had already received three Oscars for best director. This shows how much he was humble, considering himself as a simple artisan. While many others saw him as one of the greatest.
Hey Laurent….great comment on John Ford….with 4 Best Director Oscars…not a single director….EVER…..can say they did better….even Spielberg is only half way there….and his career is coming near the end. Thanks for the thoughts on John Ford.
Update on My Darling Clementine. Was reading one of my earlier comments about this film in regards to this director about how Victor mature did not seem sick enough to me to be dying of TB. Still think this. But, that has nothing to do with the other performances in the movie.
I think my favourite film about that OK Corral fight is Gunfight at the OK Coral.
For a person who would not consider herself a fan of westerns growing up, I think about 75% of the films I watch now are either westerns or war films. Weird.
How many John Ford films are made with Henry Fonda vs. his best friend James Stewart?
Ford made 16 with Wayne (pretty sure that is right), 7 with Fonda, 4 with Stewart….5 with O’Hara….and a ton with his regulars like Ward Bond, Harry Carey Sr & Jr.
Thanks. I think the most Ford movie I’ve seen with any one actor is Ward Bond.
Thanks for commenting on my John Ford video, Bruce. I’ve started encroaching on your field of expertise I hope you don’t mind. Ranking and rating the classics. You’re doing pages while I’m doing video. Mine is more visual while yours is a more detailed analysis.
Our ratings are different though, in my response to your comment I ask which of the top 5 would you knock out to add The Quiet Man, I suggested Liberty Valance, the most recent one. On checking your John Ford page I see you have Liberty Valance listed right at the top of the critics chart, The Searchers is no.2. The Quiet Man is in the same position I have it, no.6.
On the UMR chart The Searchers barely made it in to the top 10 and The Quiet Man is at no.4.
You’ve also got How the West Was Won up there, I decided not to include it in my top 30 it wouldn’t be fair to knock out Donovan’s Reef and include 10 minutes of Ford in a mega-western.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI7CG2qM_SM
Hi, yes I finally was able to sign in and comment after watching it three times and trying to comment. I have seen 23 of the films in the video.
Thanks for commenting on the video Flora, I’ve seen 21 of the 30 on there. According to my first post on this page I’ve seen 24 John Ford films so there are 3 more on Bruce’s list I’ve seen but didn’t include in my 30. I still haven’t seen How Green is my Valley [Flora gasps in horror] or is it ‘Was my Valley’? ‘This Valley?’ okay got it… How Green is This Valley. [cue thumbs up from Flora]
Yes, well How Green Was My Valley is not a happy film.
Hey Steve….I think our two pages go very well together. My stats and your music and pictures.
Yes we have some differences in our rankings…but overall they are pretty close. On your video I would bump My Darling Clementine and on this page…I would bump Stagecoach….but they are all great movies.
I can understand your logic about HTWWW…..it sits in 24th place on this table when sorting by critic/audience rating.
Thanks for the comment and the visit…..and once again…good job on your latest video.
Oh, Peter Fonda would NOT like to read you comment about wanting to bump My darling Clementine from the video. I know you have not yet done a page on Peter, but you have done one on his father and his sister, and My darling Clementine is one of his favourite films of his father’s career.