Want to know the best Robert Ryan movies? How about the worst Robert Ryan movies? Curious about Robert Ryan’s box office grosses or which Robert Ryan movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Robert Ryan movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Robert Ryan (1909-1973) was an American who often played hardened cops and ruthless villains. His IMDb page shows 90 acting credits from 1940 to 1973. This page will rank 62 Robert Ryan movies. Movies will be ranked from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos, movies that grossed less than $1 million in rentals and movies that were not released in theaters in North America were not included in the rankings.
Drivel part of the page: This Robert Ryan page comes from a request by Brando90 and was seconded by Flora R. We were unable to find box office information on 7 of his movies. They were 1940’s Queen of the Mob, 1943’s Gangway for Tomorrow, 1954’s Alaska Seas, 1954’s About Mrs. Leslie, 1961’s The Candadians, 1965’s The Crooked Road and 1969’s Captain Nemo and the Underwater City. We will continue our search for those numbers.
Robert Ryan 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 Robert Ryan movies by co-stars of his movies
- Sort Robert Ryan movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Robert Ryan movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Robert Ryan 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 Robert Ryan movie received.
- Sort Robert Ryan 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.
| 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 | The Dirty Dozen (1967) | Lee Marvin & Charles Bronson |
51.00 | 454.4 | 703.90 | 5 | 86 | 04 / 01 | 98.9 | |
| 3 | Crossfire (1947) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Supp Actor Nom |
Robert Mitchum | 6.80 | 196.9 | 253.90 | 41 | 76 | 05 / 00 | 98.4 | |
| 4 | The Professionals (1966) | Burt Lancaster & Lee Marvin |
22.00 | 215.6 | 215.60 | 10 | 83 | 03 / 00 | 98.3 | |
| 5 | King of Kings (1961) | Jeffrey Hunter | 22.90 | 333.0 | 333.00 | 8 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 96.3 | |
| 6 | The Tall Men (1955) | Clark Gable & Jane Russell |
12.10 | 251.7 | 251.70 | 20 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 96.3 | |
| 6 | The Longest Day (1962) AA Best Picture Nom |
John Wayne & Richard Burton |
31.30 | 449.7 | 449.70 | 3 | 60 | 05 / 02 | 95.8 | |
| 7 | The Wild Bunch (1969) | William Holden & Warren Oates |
15.10 | 115.0 | 115.00 | 21 | 89 | 02 / 00 | 93.4 | |
| 8 | Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) | Spencer Tracy & Ernest Borgnine |
5.70 | 118.5 | 226.40 | 56 | 87 | 03 / 00 | 93.4 | |
| 9 | The Naked Spur (1953) | James Stewart | 6.80 | 122.5 | 122.50 | 38 | 84 | 01 / 00 | 92.4 | |
| 10 | North West Mounted Police (1940) | Gary Cooper & Directed by Cecil B. DeMille |
4.30 | 165.0 | 165.00 | 28 | 65 | 05 / 01 | 92.0 | |
| 11 | Flying Leathernecks (1951) | John Wayne | 7.40 | 160.2 | 243.30 | 22 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 91.5 | |
| 12 | Bombardier (1943) | Randolph Scott & Pat O'Brien |
5.30 | 192.0 | 234.60 | 51 | 58 | 01 / 00 | 91.3 | |
| 15 | Tender Comrade (1943) | Ginger Rogers | 5.50 | 197.8 | 272.30 | 49 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 90.2 | |
| 14 | God's Little Acre (1958) | Aldo Ray & Vic Morrow |
10.00 | 179.7 | 179.70 | 13 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 90.1 | |
| 14 | Behind The Rising Sun (1943) | J. Carrol Naish | 5.70 | 203.8 | 286.40 | 46 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 90.1 | |
| 16 | Battle of the Bulge (1965) | Henry Fonda & Charles Bronson |
13.80 | 145.7 | 145.70 | 17 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 88.8 | |
| 17 | The Sky's The Limit (1943) | Fred Astaire | 4.00 | 144.8 | 224.30 | 77 | 64 | 02 / 00 | 88.3 | |
| 18 | Caught (1949) | James Mason | 3.50 | 87.0 | 87.00 | 105 | 81 | 00 / 00 | 87.3 | |
| 19 | Marine Raiders (1944) | Pat O'Brien & Ruth Hussey |
4.30 | 145.1 | 173.30 | 79 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 85.4 | |
| 19 | Men in War (1957) | Aldo Ray | 4.30 | 82.5 | 82.50 | 57 | 76 | 00 / 00 | 84.8 | |
| 21 | House of Bamboo (1955) | Robert Stack | 4.90 | 100.7 | 100.70 | 69 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 84.6 | |
| 22 | Clash by Night (1952) | Barbara Stanwyck & Marilyn Monroe |
4.20 | 81.7 | 81.70 | 84 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 84.3 | |
| 23 | The Set-Up (1949) | George Tobias | 2.30 | 57.5 | 84.30 | 135 | 81 | 00 / 00 | 83.2 | |
| 24 | The Iron Major (1943) | Pat O'Brien | 3.60 | 130.4 | 130.40 | 85 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 81.8 | |
| 24 | Billy Budd (1962) | Terence Stamp & Melvyn Douglas |
2.60 | 37.0 | 37.00 | 90 | 84 | 01 / 00 | 81.8 | |
| 25 | The Boy with Green Hair (1948) | Pat O'Brien & Dean Stockwell |
2.90 | 79.4 | 97.20 | 102 | 71 | 00 / 00 | 81.7 | |
| 27 | Act of Violence (1949) | Van Heflin & Directed by Fred Zinnemann |
2.00 | 49.0 | 78.60 | 146 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 79.9 | |
| 28 | On Dangerous Ground (1951) | Ida Lupino | 1.90 | 40.3 | 40.30 | 159 | 80 | 00 / 00 | 79.3 | |
| 29 | Ice Palace (1960) | Richard Burton | 4.70 | 73.7 | 73.70 | 56 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 79.1 | |
| 30 | The Racket (1951) | Robert Mitchum | 5.00 | 107.8 | 107.80 | 59 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 77.2 | |
| 31 | Return of the Bad Men (1948) | Randolph Scott | 4.50 | 120.6 | 120.60 | 80 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 77.1 | |
| 32 | Back From Eternity (1956) | Anita Ekberg & Rod Steiger |
4.30 | 84.0 | 84.00 | 71 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 76.7 | |
| 34 | Trail Street (1947) | Randolph Scott | 3.70 | 109.1 | 148.40 | 94 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 76.7 | |
| 33 | The Proud Ones (1956) | Virginia Mayo & Walter Brennan |
4.00 | 78.4 | 78.40 | 84 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 76.6 | |
| 35 | Day of the Outlaw (1959) | Burl Ives & Tina Louise |
2.40 | 42.4 | 42.40 | 97 | 74 | 00 / 00 | 75.7 | |
| 36 | Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) | Shelley Winters | 1.80 | 32.1 | 32.10 | 121 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 75.5 | |
| 37 | Inferno (1953) | Rhonda Fleming | 3.00 | 53.1 | 53.10 | 134 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 74.6 | |
| 38 | The Iceman Cometh (1973) | Lee Marvin & Jeff Bridges |
2.50 | 15.2 | 15.20 | 108 | 81 | 00 / 00 | 74.1 | |
| 39 | Berlin Express (1948) | Merle Oberon | 2.50 | 67.4 | 67.40 | 123 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 74.1 | |
| 40 | The Woman on the Beach (1947) | Joan Bennett | 2.50 | 72.1 | 72.10 | 127 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 71.6 | |
| 41 | Born To Be Bad (1950) | Joan Fontaine & Mel Ferrer |
2.70 | 61.0 | 91.40 | 116 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 71.1 | |
| 42 | The Secret Fury (1950) | Claudette Colbert | 2.40 | 54.5 | 83.40 | 125 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 70.4 | |
| 43 | Lawman (1971) | Burt Lancaster & Robert Duvall |
8.20 | 53.5 | 53.50 | 43 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 68.4 | |
| 44 | City Beneath The Sea (1953) | Anthony Quinn | 3.80 | 68.1 | 68.10 | 96 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 66.1 | |
| 45 | About Mrs. Leslie (1954) | Shirley Booth | 0.90 | 21.9 | 21.90 | 153 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 62.5 | |
| 48 | The Love Machine (1971) | Dyan Cannon | 13.90 | 91.1 | 91.10 | 23 | 48 | 00 / 00 | 62.3 | |
| 46 | Beware, My Lovely (1952) | Ida Lupino | 2.00 | 39.4 | 39.40 | 157 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 61.0 | |
| 48 | Her Twelve Men (1954) | Greer Garson | 2.30 | 54.7 | 94.90 | 112 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 59.9 | |
| 49 | Hour of the Gun (1967) | James Garner | 2.10 | 18.4 | 18.40 | 96 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 57.4 | |
| 50 | Anzio (1968) | Robert Mitchum | 4.00 | 32.9 | 32.90 | 75 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 56.8 | |
| 51 | Lonelyhearts (1958) | Montgomery Clift & Myrna Loy |
2.20 | 39.0 | 39.00 | 102 | 59 | 01 / 00 | 54.6 | |
| 53 | Horizons West (1952) | Rock Hudson & Raymond Burr |
2.10 | 41.1 | 41.10 | 149 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 54.2 | |
| 52 | The Outfit (1973) | Robert Duvall | 1.90 | 11.6 | 11.60 | 123 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 52.4 | |
| 54 | Escape to Burma (1955) | Barbara Stanwyck | 2.50 | 51.7 | 51.70 | 121 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 49.9 | |
| 55 | Best of the Badmen (1951) | Claire Trevor & Walter Brennan |
3.00 | 64.7 | 101.60 | 122 | 46 | 00 / 00 | 44.4 | |
| 56 | I Married a Communist/Woman On Pier 13 (1949) | Laraine Day | 1.90 | 47.0 | 47.00 | 149 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 42.0 | |
| 57 | A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die (1967) | Alex Cord | 2.10 | 18.9 | 18.90 | 93 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 39.0 | |
| 60 | The Busy Body (1967) | Richard Pryor | 1.60 | 13.9 | 13.90 | 115 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 32.6 | |
| 60 | Golden Gloves (1940) | Jeanne Cagney | 0.30 | 12.2 | 12.20 | 219 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 32.4 | |
| 61 | The Secret Agents (1965) | Henry Fonda | 0.80 | 8.6 | 8.60 | 139 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 26.6 | |
| 62 | Executive Action (1973) | Burt Lancaster | 2.20 | 13.2 | 13.20 | 118 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 22.7 | |
| 63 | Custer of the West (1967) | Robert Shaw | 1.60 | 14.5 | 14.50 | 113 | 46 | 00 / 00 | 13.9 | |
| 64 | Lolly-Madonna XXX (1973) | Jeff Bridges | 1.00 | 6.0 | 6.00 | 149 | 48 | 00 / 00 | 12.3 |
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Robert Ryan Table
- Sixteen Robert Ryan movie crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 25.80% of his movies listed. The Longest Day (1962) was his biggest box office hit.
- An average Robert Ryan movie grosses $79.80 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 39 of Robert Ryan’s movies are rated as good movies…or 62.90% of his movies. The Wild Bunch (1969) is his highest rated movie while Best of the Badmen (1951) is his lowest rated movie.
- Twelve Robert Ryan movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 19.35% of his movies.
- Three Robert Ryan movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 4.83% of his movies.
- An good Ultimate Movie Ranking (UMR) Score is 40.00. 32 Robert Ryan movie scored higher that average….or 51.61% of his movies. The Longest Day (1962) got the the highest UMR Score while Lolly-Madonna XXX (1973) got the lowest UMR Score.
Possibly Interesting Facts About Robert Ryan
- Robert Bushnell Ryan was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1909.
2. While attending Dartmouth College Robert Ryan was on the boxing team and posted a 5-0 (3 knockouts) record.
3. Robert Ryan’s pre-movie making jobs included: sandhog, seaman, sewer builder, salesman, miner, cowboy, bodyguard-chauffeur to a mobster, photographer’s model, laborer and paving supervisor’.
4. In 1947, Robert Ryan, received his one and only Oscar® nomination. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for 1947’s Crossfire.
5. Robert Ryan’s film work often ran counter to the political causes he embraced. Ryan was a pacifist and tirelessly supported civil rights issues. He starred in war movies, westerns, and violent thrillers and played a racists many times.
6. Robert Ryan was considered for Stephen Boyd’s role as Messala in 1959’s Ben-Hur.
7. Robert Ryan’s career adjusted domestic box office total is $4.94 BILLION!
8. Robert Ryan was married one time. He had three children.
9. Robert Ryan worked with John Wayne twice. When working on 1951’s The Flying Leathernecks they got along great…..years later when the worked on The Longest Day they got along horribly.
10. Check out Robert Ryan‘s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
If you do a comment….please ignore the email address and website section.
Hi, Bruce.
I watched Men in War earlier tonight for the first time. It was an excellent film about foot soldiers with Robert Ryan in the starring role and Aldo ray second billed.
Pretty soon you will be at 50 on your Robert Ryan tally count. Glad you liked Men in War…sounds like you are discovering so excellent Ryan movies. Well…Columbofan, Gregory Peck Fan and Flora are always welcome on this website. Thanks for the updates and mini-reviews.
I’m having lots of fun going through all my Robert Ryan movies on TCM. I’m getting a lot of movie viewing done during this month. Hmmm. Wonder where “Columbofan is” – Ha. Everybody knows that is me. Or if they don’t – they aren’t paying attention.
Hello Bruce.
Thanks for doing a page on Robert Ryan. I’ve seen many of his films and i consider Ryan a great and underrated actor. Good or bad guy he was always good. I think his best performance was in “On Dangerous Ground” (1951). He steals every scene he is in in 1971’s “Lawman”. My favorites are “The Professionals”, “The Naked Spur”, “Bad Day at Black Rock”, “On Dangerous Ground”, “The Wild Bunch” and “Crossfire”. I see one thing that needs corrected on this Page though. 1958’s “God’s Little Acre” should be ranked higher as it made $3.5m in domestic rentals. Robert Ryan is quite funny in “God’s Little Acre” as well. The Only time I remember him being funny. Thank’s for another great page Bruce.
Hey Lyle. Robert Ryan seems to be one of those actors that is always good even though the movies might not be that way. I have not seen On Dangerous Ground….but I will try and track that one down. I have seen many of your other favorite Ryan movies….with The Wild Bunch (he gives the best performance in the movie), Bad Day at Black Rock and Crossfire. I saw Crossfire in 2014 for the first time and it made my Top 10 List for that movie. My letterboxd.com review. http://letterboxd.com/cogerson/film/crossfire/
Mmmmm. I will go back and try to figure out what went wrong with God’s Little Acre…that would really jump God’s Little Acre up in box office and rankings….back to the books for further research.
You were 100% correct….my only guess is I left out an extra 0……as I had the rental number at 350,000 versus 3,500,000. That really moved up God’s Little Acre…in both box office and overall rank….now it is a Top 10 Box Office Hit for Ryan. Impressive catch…you know your stuff….to be able to identify that amongst so many movies in this page is truly impressive. So do you have any information on 1954’s About Mrs. Leslie…it is one of the missing movies that I really want to include here. Thanks again on the catch.
Robert Ryan, good actor. Hmm whats the first film that comes to mind when I think of Ryan? – The Wild Bunch… and The Professionals.
Let’s see I’ve seen 24 of the 62 films you’ve listed, maybe more I can’t remember. Favorites include – The Professionals, The Wild Bunch, Bad Day at Black Rock, King of Kings (he played John the Baptist), The Longest Day, Battle of the Bulge and The Dirty Dozen.
He has been in a lot of westerns and war movies. I’ve seen 9 of the top 10 on the UMR chart, can’t remember if Ive seen Bombardier. And the top 7 on the critics chart, was Billy Budd critically praised? I’ve seen it a couple of times, I wasn’t very impressed.
Movies I’ve missed include The Iceman Cometh, Clash By Night and The Set-Up.
Robert Ryan as Messala in Ben-Hur? Nah they made the right choice, Stephen Boyd was perfect in the role.
Another winner Bruce. Voted Up!
Hey Steve.
1. Well the two movies that popped into your head…were ranked very well.
2. Tally counts and the country the contestants represent: Flora/Canada 35…Steve/England 24….Laurent/France 12…..me/USA 10
3. Billy Bud got great reviews….and made a star out of Stamp…did not do well at the box office.
4. Of the movies you have missed….I also want to see The Set-Up.
5. So you agree that Boyd was the right choice for Messala…it would have been somewhat different Ryan had gotten that part.
6. Of your favorites….I like them too….though I have not seen King of Kings yet.
As always..thanks for stopping by and commenting.
The Set-Up was one of Ryan’s personal favourites.
I need to watch that one. Him playing a boxer was great casting.
Hello Bruc,
I love Robert Ryan, but I realize that I have not seen many of his films. With “Day of the outlaw”(very good western), that I saw yesterday this is 12 only. Still a very good choice.
Hey Laurent….I was surprised that my tally count was low as well. In our tally contest….standing on the top podium spot is Flora as “Oh Canada” plays….with Steve wearing his silver medal….you your bronze medal….and me wondering what went wrong….lol. I want to see Day of the Outlaw….even more now knowing you enjoyed it. Thanks for stopping by.