John Heard Movies

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

Earlier today Cogerson son #2 called to tell me that John Heard had died.  After a little confusion about John Hurt or John Heard…..I finally realized who had passed away today.  Sad day indeed.  I have been aware of Mr. Heard’s career for over 30 years.  I think the first movie I remember him in was 1984’s C.H.U.D.. The fact that I have been telling people for years that C.H.U.D. stands for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers tells how that movie has been with me since 1984.  A few reports I read today, showed that he was not too fond of his Home Alone role…..so for him, we have set the default setting on critic/audience rating…..which pushes his Home Alone movies down the rankings.

His IMDb page shows 178 acting credits from 1975-2017. This page will rank 38 John Heard (1945-2017) movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. A quick check in our database showed 33 John Heard movies.  We scanned through his IMDb page and found 5 more major Heard releases.  Granted this 38 movies does not show every movie he ever made…..but we feel it covers all of his major releases.  Rest in peace Mr. Heard.

One of my favorite John Heard movies is 1980’s Cutter’s Way

John Heard 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 Heard movies by co-stars of his movies.
  • Sort John Heard movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort John Heard movies by by domestic yearly box office rank
  • Sort John Heard 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 John Heard movie received and how many Oscar® wins each John Heard movie won.
  • Sort John Heard 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.

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34 thoughts on “John Heard Movies”

  1. HI STEVE
    1 Am just passing the time waiting for Fast Eddie to take his cue if you get the pun!

    2 I thoroughly enjoyed and much preferred the 1982 version of Cat People but critics were so taken with the 1942 ‘classic’ version that they compared with it so unfavorably the 1982 loose remake that the 1982 director Paul Schrader said in an interview that he regretted choosing the same title for his remake.

    3 IMDB gives the earlier version a 74% rating and Schrader’s 1982 outing just a 61% which you will see from above is identical to the assessment awarded to it by that mean ole Work Horse, so I guess once more you and I stand alone in representing the Opposition on this one though if I may papraphrase Bickford’s statement to Chuck in Big Country “We’ve been alone before.”. I haven’t been able to ID any coverage that WH accorded to the 1942 film.

    4 The latter was of course a black and white B movie which in 2017 dollars was made for a miserly 2 million and grossed about $120 million worldwide in today’s money,.apparently enough to get the 1942 film classified as one of those movies/stars that “saved the studio [this time RKO] from bankruptcy” The 1982 version cost 31 million in 2017 dollars and you will see that the Work Horse APPARENTLY credits it with a domestic paltry 20 million in adjusted dollars though he’d maybe need to confirm that as he has headed both his stats columns as “actual”

    Reply

    1. Hi Bob, I prefer the remake too. It was sexier of course and I thought Kinski was effective as the mysterious cat girl. So glad she didn’t inherit her dad’s looks. 🙂

      Interesting comparison on their box office. Producer Val Lewton is a cult figure in horror cinema his ‘less is more’ approach to horror paid off, the films were cheap and very profitable for RKO in the 40s. Cat People was probably the best from that series. The Body Snatcher starring Karloff and Lugosi and I Walked With a Zombie are also highly rated.

      Eddie Felson tomorrow but can he fend off Hud Bannon and Luke Jackson? 🙂

      Adios amigos

      Reply

      1. HI STEVE

        1 Director Schrader would certainly agree with you about Kinski being sexy as they apparently had a romance during the making of the movie. Bo Derek was originally down for the Kinski part and one can’t help wondering if Bo HAD played the role would even Grinch Cogerson have given the film 10 our of 10. Get it?

        2 I doubt if either Bannon or Jackson will be as fast as Eddie but in turn Eddie will not be able to eat as many eggs as the latter. “Will everybody stop feeding off me!”

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        1. As a teenage….seeing Bo in the lead role Cat People role would have been nice….but Kinski really caught my eye when I saw her in Cat People…..so sexy! Cool Hand Luke should be a fun video. 🙂

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          1. Needless to say I prefer the original with Simone Simon, but for all those guys who “lusted” after Nasti in the 80’s, let me tell you that her recent appearances on german TV reveal a woman who seems very shy and leaves the impression of suffering from mental disorders. She has done some Talk shows recently without being able to talk, she always looked for some of the other guests to answering the questions directed at her, often bursting out into tears. On Dancing with the Stars she hardly ever talked, but got herself a young proffessional dancer for a well publicized short fling. Still, she came across as a weird lady. Sorry to say this, because Miss Kinski entered my life when we both were 16…she as the sensation in a TV thriller directed by Wolfgang Peterson, while I was an impressionable teenager watching the movie on a Sunday evening together with his parents.

          2. Hi Lupino, interesting post. Sad to hear of Nastassia Kinski’s mental problems. I had the LP to Paul Schrader’s Cat People stuck on my wall for years back in the 80s. Loved looking at her face on the cover, those cat like eyes!

            The first time I encountered Miss Kinski was at the cinema watching the Hammer horror To the Devil a Daughter in 1976, she was only 15 and even then was walking around starkers in one scene.

          3. Hey Lupino…..that is sad news indeed about her current situation. That might explain why she only has one movie in the last 11 years. She is the same age as my older brother….so in my mind she is still in her peak. Thanks again for this information.

          4. Hey Steve….the saying….”the apple does not fall far from the tree” might fit well here. Her dad was having some issue as well…..talk about an intense man….I think Klaus Kinski might be the best example of intense ever!

          5. Hey Steve and Bruce,

            Nastassja had not been visible on german TV for a long time before the talk show and Dancing with the stars, so I really don’t know if she has been this “strange” for long- but it seems to me that a bit of mental “Strangeness” runs in the family. The first TV interview I’ve mentioned must have been an awful situation for her, but after all she accepted the invitation knowing what was to come. Her sister Pola, who had a decent career as an actress in Germany herself, had just published a book in which she admitted that father Klaus had sexually abused her frequently as a child. Nastassja, whithout doubting her older sisters accusations, couldn’t do anything else but repeat, drenchend in tears that she never knew and clinging to the other guests for confirmation- but how could they confirm her story when hardly knowing her? Dancing with the Stars was some time later, when the scandal was largely forgotten by the public. It was then that she really came across as almost too shy to open her mouth in front of the camera, speaking in an almost childlike whisper when she did, her gaze always out of focus, mostly directed at the floor. It was almost surreal,with Nasti always playing with a strain of hair or seemingly chewing on it at the corner of her mouth, and much talked about in the german media. I always felt that the fling with the male dancer was a staged attempt to show that she was, inspite of what she showed oncamera. a normal human being, able to attract the affection of a much younger man.

      2. Hey Steve….having seen both Cat People movies….I think the original is better….but for return viewings give me the Heard remake. Profit margins for some of the movies you mentioned:

        I Walked With A Zombie….earned $496,000 on a budget of $156,000 for a 116% profit margin
        Cat People earned $535,000 on a budget of $147,000 for a 124% profit margin
        The Body Snatcher earned $547,000 on a budget of $221,000 for a 53% profit margin

        *Source RKO ledgers

        Looking for to Fast Eddie.

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          2. Hey Lupino….it almost sounds like you are describing a car wreck….the kind you do not want to see…but can’t stop looking. Hopefully things will get better for her. Thanks for the info.

    2. Hey Bob

      Some stats from the RKO ledgers.

      I Walked With A Zombie….earned $496,000 on a budget of $156,000 for a 116% profit margin
      Cat People earned $535,000 on a budget of $147,000 for a 124% profit margin
      The Body Snatcher earned $547,000 on a budget of $221,000 for a 53% profit margin

      I have fixed that column error on the John Heard page….thanks for the catch on that error.

      Reply

      1. Thanks for the clarification Bruce. With the range and size of the commitments that it seems to me you undertake non-stop I am always amazed that you don’t make more minor errors like this than you do, though I sometimes worry about your hitting burnout. The poet Matthew Arnold who wrote about the escapism of our friend the Scholar Gypsy and who complained about the ambitious classes in the developing industrial communities of his day risking that affliction by tackling so much diversity urged them to slow down and pursue
        just –

        “One aim, one business, one desire.”

        Reply

        1. BRUCE

          Further to my 2.55 post where I expressed concern about you striving to cover all bases to the point where you might reach burnout I thought you may like to see the full text of the passages where Matthew Arnold unilaterally addresses the Scholar Gipsy in his absence and compliments him on turning his back on the world of diversity and ambition.

          —No, no, thou hast not felt the lapse of hours!
          For what wears out the life of mortal men?
          ‘Tis that from change to change their being rolls;
          ‘Tis that repeated shocks, again, again,
          Exhaust the energy of strongest souls
          And numb the elastic powers.
          Till having used our nerves with bliss and teen,
          And tired upon a thousand schemes our wit,
          To the just-pausing Genius we remit
          Our worn-out life, and are—what we have been.

          Thou hast not lived, why should’st thou perish, so?
          Thou hadst one aim, one business, one desire;
          Else wert thou long since number’d with the dead!
          Else hadst thou spent, like other men, thy fire!
          The generations of thy peers are fled,
          And we ourselves shall go;
          But thou possessest an immortal lot,
          And we imagine thee exempt from age
          And living as thou liv’st on Glanvil’s page,
          Because thou hadst—what we, alas! have not.

          For early didst thou leave the world, with powers
          Fresh, undiverted to the world without,
          Firm to their mark, not spent on other things;
          Free from the sick fatigue, the languid doubt,
          Which much to have tried, in much been baffled, brings.
          O life unlike to ours!
          Who fluctuate idly without term or scope,
          Of whom each strives, nor knows for what he strives,
          And each half lives a hundred different lives;
          Who wait like thee, but not, like thee, in hope.

          Reply

          1. Hey Bob….thanks for sharing this poem….as it adds some class to the website. Your interest in music and literature seem to be close to your movie interest….which I find very impressive….you are a well round person…though confused about M. Loy….lol.

        2. Hey Bob….thanks for the kind words….nice quote from Matthew Arnold. As for burnout….some days it happens….but normally something like a new movie or a fresh idea will pop into my head and end the burnout. This is a fun hobby….and relatively inexpensive….though the more traffic I get the more expensive the website gets….which is the Catch-22 of UMR.com.

          Reply

          1. BRUCE
            1 I suppose contrary to Matthew Arnold’s own philosophy everybody has his/her own goals and priorities. Roger Federer for example says that he will never consider himself as being in the frame for consideration as greatest tennis player of all time until he has “won every grand slam for the next 20 years!”

            2 Accordingly I suppose that making the odd trivial mistake that Steve delights in pointing out to you is a price well worth paying for your enjoyment in continuously feeding the various aspects of this wide-ranging site. As for me I’m selfish in wanting you NOT to slacken off and whilst I enjoy the banter with you I suppose that I would have a slight conscience if my snide spoof remarks about Joel or Myrna gave you a heart-attack.

  2. 1 John Heard was one of those stars who had been around for some time without ever “breaking through” but who had nonetheless entertained us with a run of solid performances.

    2 I most liked him as Goldie Hawn’s murderous husband in the 1991 thriller Deceived in which, making it clear it is necessary for him to kill Goldie, he emphasises to to her the wonderful OCD line “I always do what comes next, whatever it takes and no matter now difficult.”

    3 It is nice to see the appearance of this comprehensive profile to mark John’s sad passing

    Reply

    1. Hey Bob….thanks for checking out my Heard tribute. He had a good but not great career. A leading man in the late 1970s and early 1980s….he spent the last thirty years behind a solid supporting actor. I liked him in Deceived as well….but it has been ages since I saw that one. Good quote…..appreciate your feedback.

      Reply

  3. John Heard died, totally did not expect this. Sad news.

    He was the hero of Cat People (1982), a film I’ve watched many times since the VHS days of the 1980s I have the soundtrack by Giorgio Moroder on CD, listened to it hundreds of times. Plus the poster to the film featuring Nastassia Kinski has been my internet avatar for nearly two decades.

    I’ve seen 16 of the 38 films listed. I enjoyed ‘In the Line of Fire’ I have it on blu-ray, wasn’t that impressed by Big, Home Alone was funny the first time I saw it, not so funny the second time. It’s been ages since I saw Gene Hackman in The Package. After Hours might be worth another look. Awakenings I saw once and that was enough.

    Looking at the box office the first Home Alone was a massive hit, wow. I remember following the box office results of 1990, it looked like Ghost would be the easy winner that year but Home Alone opened in december and eventually surpassed it. Ghost was the biggest hit within that year but Home Alone was highest grossing 1990 movie. Does anyone still watch these movies? Bruce? 🙂

    A nice tribute to John Heard. RIP.

    Reply

    1. Hey Steve
      1. Thanks for checking out my tribute page….I always debate doing a page on somebody that just passed…..but I guess all movie websites do a page on a recently departed actor or actress. I had decided not to do one….when I saw Box Office Mojo, Rotten Tomatoes, Deadline and others had….plus I already had 35 of these movies in the database. So in the end…he got a UMR page.
      2. I have seen 28 of the 38 movies….but have to say numerous movies that I have seen, I find it hard to remember his roles in the movie. Betrayed, The Milagro Beanfield War and The Chumscrubber come to mind….seen them….but can’t remember his role at all.
      3. Cat People and C.H.U.D. were movies in heavy rotation on cable/HBO during the mid 1980s….both bring a smile to my face when I think about them.
      4. The Home Alone movies are watched every Christmas in my house…..I know Heard would cringe if he read this…..but I was telling my 10 year old that John Heard died….I got no response…..but when I explained further….and said…Kevin’s dad in Home Alone died in real life….I got a response.
      5. Heck almost every article I read said….Home Alone’s John Heard died…..so many movies and that is the one that will be forever associated with him.
      6. I love After Hours….but he is barely in the movie…maybe three quick scenes.
      Good feedback as always.

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    1. Hey Timothy….I agree with you 100%….he was indeed a nicely understated actor….he will be missed.

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    1. Hey Ron….I agree he was very good in Cutter’s Way….not too mention Chilly Scenes of Winter….that was a good time period for him. RIP John Heard

      Reply

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