John Wayne Movies

Jump To John Wayne Links: 1. Box Office 2. Oscar Movies 3. Reviews 4. Trailers 5. Trivia 6. UMR Table

John Wayne made 88 movies before becoming a star in 1939’s Stagecoach. From Stagecoach to 1976’s The Shootist, Wayne made another 82 movies. That is a grand total of 170 movies in his career. John Wayne was the first movie star that I became aware of as a child. I still remember the shock of watching him die in The Alamo (my older brother had told me he was going to survive…he obviously lied to me). For nearly forty years, Wayne was one of the most popular stars making movies.

John Wayne’s IMDb page shows 180 acting credits from 1926-1976.  The following table only lists about half of John Wayne’s movies.  Cameos, television appearances, and almost all of his B westerns from the 1930s were not included in the rankings.  His remaining 94 movies are ranked by 6 different columns of sortable information.

Dean Martin, Walter Brennan & John Wayne in 1959's Rio Bravo
Dean Martin, Walter Brennan & John Wayne in 1959’s Rio Bravo

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

John Wayne 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.

  • If movie title is a blue, then there is a John Wayne movie trailer attached to the page link
  • Sort John Wayne movies by co-stars or in some cases directors
  • Sort John Wayne movies by adjusted box office grosses using current movie ticket cost
  • Sort John Wayne movies by box office rank in the year of release
  • Sort John Wayne movies by how the movie was 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 Wayne movie received.
  • Sort John Wayne 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 table very interactive.

Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above John Wayne Table

1.  51 John Wayne movies crossed the magical $100 million mark.  That is a percentage of 54.26% of his movies listed.  His top domestic box office hit was The Longest Day (1963).

2.  An average John Wayne movie grosses $124.30 million in adjusted box office gross.

3.  Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter.  55 John Wayne movies are rated as good movies…or 65.47% of his movies.  His highest rated movie is 1959’s Rio Bravo.  His lowest rated movie is The Conqueror (1956).

4.  24 John Wayne movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 28.23% of his movies.

5.  9 John Wayne movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 10.71% of his movies.

6.  A “good movie” Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 60.00 or higher.  61 John Wayne movies scored higher that average….or 71.76% of his movies.  True Grit (1969) got the highest UMR Score.  Brannigan (1975) got the lowest UMR Score.

Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences. Golden Globes® are the registered trademark and service mark of the Hollywood Foreign Press.

Jump To John Wayne Links: 1. Box Office 2. Oscar Movies 3. Reviews 4. Trailers 5. Trivia 6. UMR Table

If you do a comment….please ignore the email address and website section.

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285 thoughts on “John Wayne Movies”

    1. Hey David…..the beauty of this page…you can sort/rank his movies any way you want. If you use the sort button with the critic/audience column….The Searchers makes it up to number 4. With the Top 4 being very very close. It makes a great quartet of Wayne movies…The Searchers, Red River, Liberty Valence and Rio Bravo.

      Reply

  2. Hello Bruce.
    I’ve always been a John Wayne fan and I love many of his movies. I know a lot of people don’t think it’s as good or as great a film as his classic films such as The Quiet Man, The Searchers, Stagecoach, Rio Bravo, Red River or The Alamo, which are all favorites of mine but I myself rank it high in the top ten John Wayne films because it is one of the most enjoyable of his films and whenever it comes on television I can’t help watching it. My Wife who was not a John Wayne loved it and sat down and watched it with me whenever it came on television. And once when I asked her what movie she wanted to watch that particular night, she chose True Grit. Because like me she thought it was a wonderful film to escape into.

    Reply

    1. Hey Lyle….True Grit is a classic….granted I think it was a career Oscar win for Wayne…versus Wayne’s greatest screen performance. Glad your wife likes it too. Not thinking my wife has seen a single John Wayne movie. I tried to get her to watch The Quiet Man….but our DVD copy was a horrible transfer….I have since got a Blu-Ray version….but have not gotten her to watch it yet. I like the rest of your Wayne favorites too. I think the only one missing is El Dorado…then again….that is essential a remake of Rio Bravo. As always thanks for the visit and the comment.

      Reply

  3. You did a very nice job here! I can watch John Wayne movies over and over. My favorite is “The Undefeated” mainly because my great uncle Dub Taylor, had a nice part playing McCartney, the cook!

    Reply

    1. Hey Dom…..very cool that Dub Taylor…one of the greatest character actors of all-time is your great uncle. I remember his part in The Undefeated very well. Thanks for the compliment, the visit and the comment….all are greatly appreciated.

      Reply

  4. Not sure I agree with Cogersen rankings, but I sure had fun reading this page. Thanks for such a detailed page.

    Reply

    1. Well thanks for checking out my page Duke….well if you do not like rankings….you can sort his movies by the other columns…..my rankings has True Grit number one….his top box office hit was The Longest Day…..his top movie according to critics and audiences is Rio Bravo….and his movie that got the most Oscar love is a three way tie with The Alamo, The Quiet Man and Stagecoach. I appreciate the comment.

      Reply

  5. We could argue endlessly about rankings, and, everybody would be correct because we all have different criteria. I would give The Quiet Man a higher ranking because, except for the famous fight scene, it is a pure romance. Not a typical Wayne role. It is a beautiful film by any measure. For dramatic impact, cinematography and a powerful story, The Searchers is an undoubted classic. The final scene with Wayne framed in the doorway lingers in memory. Stagecoach set a new standard for western films, focusing on the characters and their relationships and stories rather than shoot-em-up action. True Grit was an excellent film, but I do not think that it comes close to any of these three.

    Reply

    1. Good point about rankings. Hopefully you like all the ways to sort the Wayne movies. If you want his biggest hits….you see The Longest Day, Reap the Wild Wind and The High and the Mighty. If you do not care about box office you can look at what critics and audiences think…..there you see Rio Bravo, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, and Red River at the top…..and when looking at award recognition…. True Grit, Stagecoach, The Quiet Man and The Alamo stand out. My ranking system is more a best statistically performing movie just a Best Movie. it just depends on what you want out of a movie. I agree True Grit is not as good as the movies you mentioned…..but it was the movie that got Wayne his Oscar….and that really helped in my rankings. Thanks for checking out my Wayne page.

      Reply

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