Roger Ebert on Kathryn Bernheimer’s book The 50 Greatest Jewish Movies….“Wonderful book! Great idea! Well done….Her selection is sound, and her insights are pointed and provocative.”.
Leonard Maltin on Kathryn Bernheimer’s book The 50 Greatest Jewish Movies….“A welcome addition to the movie bookshelf, this well-written volume places each of its films into a social and historical context, and serves as an ideal companion for viewing (and re-viewing) some of the greatest movies of all time.”
We agree with Ebert and Maltin 100%….this is a great book. It is such a great book, that we decided, an UltimateMovieRankings (UMR) page that ranked her 50 selected movies needed to put together. The following table is the end result.
Factors to consider while looking at our rankings. (1) Bernheimer wrote the book in 1998….so obviously any movie made after 1998 had no chance to make this table. (2) Bernheimer actually lists 51 movies in her book….as Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandment finished tied for 10th place. (3) All of her selected movies, with the exception of 1977’s Holocaust, played in North American theaters. Since our UMR score needs box office to calculate a score Holocaust was not added to the table….but her having two 10th rated movies allows us to still have 50 movies on the table. (4) Bernheimer actually ranks the 50 movies from 1st to 50th….her top movie is pretty surprising.
50 Greatest Jewish 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 50 Greatest Jewish movies by movie title and movie trailers.
- Sort 50 Greatest Jewish movies by co-stars of his movies.
- Sort 50 Greatest Jewish movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort 50 Greatest Jewish movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort 50 Greatest Jewish 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 50 Greatest Jewish movie received and how many Oscar® wins each 50 Greatest Jewish movie won.
- Sort 50 Greatest Jewish by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score 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 | Schindler's List (1993) AA Best Picture Win |
Liam Neeson & Directed by Steven Spielberg |
96.10 | 250.1 | 836.60 | 9 | 94 | 12 / 07 | 100.0 | |
| 2 | Ben-Hur (1959) AA Best Picture Win |
Charlton Heston | 58.80 | 1,056.7 | 2,725.00 | 1 | 91 | 12 / 11 | 100.0 | |
| 3 | Annie Hall (1977) AA Best Picture Win |
Woody Allen & Diane Keaton |
48.90 | 236.4 | 236.40 | 11 | 92 | 05 / 04 | 99.9 | |
| 4 | Driving Miss Daisy (1989) AA Best Picture Win |
Morgan Freeman & Jessica Tandy |
106.60 | 289.4 | 395.90 | 9 | 81 | 09 / 04 | 99.8 | |
| 5 | Chariots of Fire (1981) AA Best Picture Win |
Ian Holm & Ben Cross |
59.00 | 228.7 | 228.70 | 7 | 82 | 07 / 04 | 99.8 | |
| 6 | Oliver! (1968) AA Best Picture Win |
Ron Moody & Oliver Reed |
48.00 | 395.0 | 395.00 | 5 | 71 | 11 / 05 | 99.8 | |
| 7 | Gentleman's Agreement (1947) AA Best Picture Win |
Gregory Peck & John Garfield |
10.50 | 307.1 | 307.10 | 12 | 75 | 08 / 03 | 99.8 | |
| 8 | Cabaret (1972) AA Best Picture Nom |
Liza Minnelli | 61.40 | 389.1 | 389.10 | 5 | 85 | 10 / 08 | 99.7 | |
| 9 | The Great Dictator (1940) AA Best Picture Nom |
Charles Chaplin & Paulette Goddard |
10.00 | 385.0 | 385.00 | 4 | 90 | 05 / 00 | 99.5 | |
| 8 | The Ten Commandments (1956) AA Best Picture Nom |
Charlton Heston | 72.00 | 1,412.0 | 3,423.10 | 1 | 85 | 07 / 01 | 99.4 | |
| 9 | Fiddler on the Roof (1971) AA Best Picture Nom |
Topol & Leonard Frey |
90.90 | 593.9 | 593.90 | 2 | 81 | 08 / 03 | 99.4 | |
| 12 | Funny Girl (1968) AA Best Picture Nom |
Barbra Streisand & Directed by William Wyler |
52.40 | 430.8 | 430.80 | 3 | 82 | 08 / 01 | 99.3 | |
| 14 | Blazing Saddles (1974) | Gene Wilder & Mel Brooks |
118.10 | 680.8 | 680.80 | 1 | 81 | 03 / 00 | 98.1 | |
| 16 | Julia (1977) AA Best Picture Nom |
Jane Fonda & Meryl Streep |
35.30 | 170.6 | 170.60 | 26 | 71 | 11 / 03 | 97.4 | |
| 15 | Marathon Man (1976) | Dustin Hoffman & Laurence Olivier |
50.20 | 254.2 | 254.20 | 12 | 78 | 01 / 00 | 97.1 | |
| 15 | The Young Lions (1958) Uncredited Role |
Marlon Brando & Montgomery Clift |
12.80 | 230.0 | 230.00 | 8 | 74 | 03 / 00 | 96.7 | |
| 18 | Exodus (1960) | Paul Newman & Eva Marie Saint |
23.80 | 371.9 | 371.90 | 4 | 67 | 03 / 01 | 95.4 | |
| 20 | The Golem (1920) | Paul Wegener | 4.00 | 215.6 | 215.60 | 7 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 95.1 | |
| 21 | Bugsy (1991) AA Best Picture Nom |
Warren Beatty & Annette Bening |
49.10 | 125.8 | 125.80 | 24 | 76 | 10 / 02 | 95.0 | |
| 21 | Yentl (1983) | Barbra Streisand | 56.20 | 192.4 | 192.40 | 15 | 67 | 05 / 01 | 94.9 | |
| 19 | Goodbye, Columbus (1969) | Richard Benjamin & Ali MacGraw |
30.00 | 227.7 | 227.70 | 10 | 67 | 01 / 00 | 94.7 | |
| 22 | The Jazz Singer (1927) | Al Jolson | 6.90 | 230.9 | 230.90 | 3 | 67 | 01 / 00 | 94.5 | |
| 25 | Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986) | Richard Dreyfuss & Nick Nolte |
62.10 | 180.5 | 180.50 | 12 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 94.3 | |
| 23 | The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) AA Best Picture Nom |
Shelley Winters & Directed by George Stevens |
6.60 | 118.1 | 163.00 | 38 | 74 | 08 / 03 | 93.7 | |
| 26 | Dirty Dancing (1987) | Patrick Swayze | 63.40 | 174.9 | 588.50 | 12 | 71 | 00 / 00 | 93.4 | |
| 25 | Shine (1996) AA Best Picture Nom |
Geoffrey Rush | 35.90 | 87.5 | 87.50 | 41 | 83 | 07 / 01 | 92.6 | |
| 27 | Body and Soul (1947) | John Garfield | 3.80 | 110.2 | 110.20 | 91 | 84 | 03 / 01 | 92.1 | |
| 30 | The Pawnbroker (1964) | Rod Steiger | 7.10 | 81.9 | 81.90 | 41 | 83 | 01 / 00 | 87.8 | |
| 29 | Biloxi Blues (1988) | Mathew Broderick & Christopher Walken |
43.20 | 113.3 | 135.60 | 23 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 86.0 | |
| 29 | Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) | Alan Alda & Martin Landau |
18.30 | 49.6 | 49.60 | 58 | 87 | 03 / 00 | 85.9 | |
| 31 | Reversal of Fortune (1990) | Glenn Close & Jeremy Irons |
15.40 | 39.4 | 39.40 | 79 | 88 | 03 / 01 | 85.8 | |
| 31 | A Majority of One (1961) | Rosalind Russell & Alec Guinness |
7.10 | 104.1 | 104.10 | 29 | 70 | 01 / 00 | 85.5 | |
| 34 | The Front (1976) | Woody Allen & Zero Mostel |
15.10 | 76.6 | 76.60 | 44 | 74 | 01 / 00 | 83.3 | |
| 33 | Broadway Danny Rose (1984) | Woody Allen & Mia Farrow |
10.60 | 34.0 | 34.00 | 75 | 86 | 02 / 00 | 82.7 | |
| 35 | Marjorie Morningstar (1958) | Gene Kelly & Natalie Wood |
7.50 | 134.6 | 134.60 | 29 | 54 | 01 / 00 | 82.4 | |
| 36 | The Last Angry Man (1959) | Paul Muni | 4.80 | 86.0 | 86.00 | 53 | 65 | 02 / 00 | 80.5 | |
| 37 | Shoah (1985) | Simon Srebnik & Documentary |
0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 212 | 89 | 00 / 00 | 76.7 | |
| 38 | Homicide (1991) | Joe Mantegna & William H. Macy |
3.00 | 7.6 | 7.60 | 137 | 83 | 00 / 00 | 73.3 | |
| 41 | The Big Fix (1978) | Richard Dreyfuss | 15.50 | 71.4 | 71.40 | 46 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 71.7 | |
| 39 | Au Revoir les Enfants (1987) | Gaspard Manesse & Raphael Fejtö |
4.50 | 12.5 | 12.50 | 109 | 77 | 02 / 00 | 70.1 | |
| 43 | Crossing Delancey (1988) | Peter Riegert & Amy Irving |
16.30 | 42.7 | 42.70 | 60 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 70.0 | |
| 40 | Europa Europa (1990) | Solomon Perel | 5.60 | 14.2 | 14.20 | 117 | 77 | 01 / 00 | 69.7 | |
| 43 | Madame Rosa (1977) | Simone Signoret | 5.40 | 25.9 | 25.90 | 84 | 71 | 01 / 01 | 69.0 | |
| 44 | The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974) | Richard Dreyfuss & Jack Warden |
5.20 | 29.7 | 29.70 | 63 | 71 | 01 / 00 | 69.0 | |
| 45 | Enemies: A Love Story (1989) | Anjelica Huston & Lena Olin |
7.80 | 21.1 | 21.10 | 93 | 68 | 03 / 00 | 62.8 | |
| 46 | The Chosen (1981) | Rod Steiger & Maximilian Schell |
1.00 | 3.8 | 3.80 | 140 | 74 | 00 / 00 | 60.6 | |
| 46 | The Revolt of Job (1983) | Hédi Temessy | 0.70 | 2.2 | 2.20 | 141 | 74 | 01 / 00 | 60.5 | |
| 48 | The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick (1988) | Saul Rubinek | 0.30 | 0.8 | 0.80 | 227 | 71 | 00 / 00 | 52.9 | |
| 49 | Daniel (1983) | Daniel Stern & Directed by Sidney Lumet |
0.70 | 2.4 | 2.40 | 140 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 44.8 | |
| 50 | Almonds and Raisins (1984) | Celia Adler & Documentary |
0.50 | 1.6 | 1.60 | 169 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 34.2 |
Kathryn Bernheimer is the founding director of the Boulder Jewish Film Festival.
You can buy her book…..New, Used or As A Collectible.
https://www.amazon.com/50-Greatest-Jewish-Movies-Critics/dp/1559724579
(Visited 1 times)
“Too Jewish.” Hedley Lamarr’s response to Taggart’s suggestion that they kill every first born male child in Rock Ridge.
I’ve seen 18 Jewish films out of 50. Favorites include – Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments, Bugsy, Blazing Saddles, Marathon Man and Oliver!
Top rated I haven’t seen include Shoah, Funny Girl and Fiddler on the Roof.
Ben-Hur ties with Schindler’s List at the top of the UMR chart with a perfect 100% score. I’m not a fan of Spielberg’s movie but I am a fan of Wyler’s.
An odd choice for a UMR page but you are the boss, we just follow. Vote Up!
Hey Steve
1. Tally count: Cogerson 31, Flora 22, PhilHOF17 21 and Steve 18.
2. Like the Lamaar quote…..anytime a Blazing Saddle quote makes a comment is a good day.
3. Both Charlton Heston movies made your favorites? Shocked…never saw it coming….lol.
4. If you liked Ben hur…then maybe you might like Wyler’s Mrs. Miniver and Best Years of Our Lives movies….both are Best Picture Oscar winning movies.
5. Seems that now a days…..when I read a book like this one….my brain goes to how many of these movies are already in the UMR database….after counting 41 of these movies that were in the database …the next thought is….do an UMR page on the subject…and thus we end up like pages like Kathryn Bernheimer’s Top 50 Jewish Movies.
Good feedback as always.
Bruce, you can do a similar sort of page on Danny Peary’s Cult Movies books, but all the stats might be hard to find for some of those films.
Interesting mix of films, and while for some I’m not aware of a clear Jewish connection, I have seen 22 of these films, with my favourites being Schindler’s List, Annie Hall, Ben-Hur, Crimes and Misdemeanours, Gentlemen’s Agreement, Au revoir les enfants, The Ten Commandments and The Great Dictator. Less well known but also interesting was The Chosen, with a strong performance from Rod Steiger as an ultra-strict rabbi. A important omission in my view is Life is Beautiful.
Hey PhilHOF17…tally count….Cogerson 31, Flora 22, PhilHOF17 21 and Steve 18. Your favorites are all good movies…..it is funny you mentioned The Chosen….that was her choice for the Best Jewish movie…..good old Rod Steiger’s performance was one of the reason for that choice. Life is Beautiful was made in 1997…but was not released in the North America until 1999 after the book was published…that might explain why it did not make the list. It is one of my all-time favorite movies. I reached out to her on Facebook….but currently she has not reached back out. Good feedback as always.
Love the Top 20. Lots of oscar winning best picture winners, blockbusters and classics. The bottom 30 are not as impressive. I will have to share this members of my family.
Hey Helakoski…glad you liked the page….and thanks for sharing it with your family. I agree the Top 20 is pretty impressive for sure. Good stuff as always.
Interesting UMR page, I like that UMR covers all different types of subjects. I have never heard of this book before. Blazing Saddles is a surprise selection for sure. I know Mel Brooks is Jewish. This makes me ask what was the criteria to make Ms. Bernheimer’s Top 50. I wonder if Keeping Up With The Steins would have made the list if it would have been made before 1998? I love that movie with Garry Marshall very funny in a supporting role. Thanks for an eye opening page.
Hey Taylor…..thanks for the input. Blazing Saddles. Her criteria revolved around her personal preferences and trying to match movies with audiences. Blazing Saddles had a Jewish sidekck (Gene Wilder), the Yiddish speaking Indians, a Jewish director, Mel Brooks. I liked Keeping Up With The Steins as well. Glad you liked this page.
I have seen 22 of these Jewish movies.
The highest rated film I have seen is Ben-Hur at Number 2.
The highest rated film I have NOT seen is Annie Hall. I cannot stand the director and I avoid his films.
The lowest rated film I have seen is The Last Angry Man.
MY Favourite Jewish movies from this book are:
Funny Girl
Cabaret
Driving Miss Daisy
Oliver!
Gentlemen’s Agreement
Fiddler on the Roof
The Great Dictator
Dirty Dancing
Hey Flora….thanks for checking out this new page. I have seen 31 of these movies…including the Top 19. My first miss is #20 Yentl…..which I have seen parts of….but never watched from beginning to end. I have seen all of your favorite movies….with The Great Dictator and Driving Miss Daisy being in my group of favorites. Annie Hall is Woody’s masterpiece……but I realize a huge group of people did not like before his recent scandal….and even more are in that group of people. Good feedback as always.