I first discovered “Siskel and Ebert at the Movies” in 1978 when I used to go over my grandmother’s house for the weekend. Back then we only have 5 channels to choose from and their show was one of my original “must see” shows. Every week I would look forward to the discussions/disagreements between Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. A quick look at my bookcase shows that I have 11 Roger Ebert books in my house. From his three Great Movies books to his Movie Home Companion books to his annual Movie Yearbooks to his Your Movie Sucks book.
I was reading his 2013 Movie Yearbook just last night as I was about to go to bed. It will not be the same reading his work from now on but it is something I will continue to do for many more years. I was lucky enough to have two correspondences with Mr. Ebert over the years. The first was in either late 1979 or early 1980 when my grandmother sent the Siskel and Ebert show a letter saying how much her grandson was a fan of their show. We got back a letter thanking her and me for supporting their show and signed by Roger Ebert. One of my biggest regrets is the fact that over time I have lost that letter. My second correspondence was a few years ago I was working on my Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score formula. I sent an e-mail to his website (easily one of the best on the internet) and I got back an e-mail saying that my formula was interesting and wished me luck with it.
So, for the last few hours I have been thinking of what I could do to show my appreciation for his kindness and for all the pleasure he provided movie goers with his nearly 50 years of movie reviews. I grabbed his book Roger Ebert: The Great Movies (2002) from my bookcase and started ranking them using my UMR scoring system. Movies are ranked using box office results, critical reviews, award recognition and Roger Ebert’s opinion. I am happy to say that I have seen every single one of the movies in the following table and I can thank Roger Ebert for getting me to watch these movies.
Citizen Kane was easily one of Roger Ebert’s favorite movies. His Citizen Kane dvd commentary is a very pleasant way to spend an evening.
Roger Ebert Favorite Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Roger Ebert’s Favorite 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 Rogers Ebert’s Favorite Movies by the stars of his movies.
- Sort Roger Ebert’s Favorite Movies by actual domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost.
- Sort Roger Ebert’s Favorite Movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost.
- Sort Roger Ebert’s Favorite 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 of Roger Ebert’s Favorite Movies received.
- Sort Roger Ebert’s Favorite 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 |
| 2 | The Godfather (1972) AA Best Picture Win |
Marlon Brando & Al Pacino |
134.10 | 850.3 | 1,548.50 | 1 | 97 | 11 / 03 | 100.0 | |
| 1 | Lawrence of Arabia (1962) AA Best Picture Win |
Peter O'Toole & Omar Sharif |
41.50 | 595.9 | 595.90 | 1 | 94 | 10 / 07 | 100.0 | |
| 3 | Gone with the Wind (1939) AA Best Picture Win |
Vivien Leigh & Clark Gable |
56.60 | 2,179.1 | 3,842.80 | 1 | 92 | 13 / 08 | 100.0 | |
| 4 | Schindler's List (1993) AA Best Picture Win |
Liam Neeson & Ben Kingsley |
96.10 | 250.1 | 836.60 | 9 | 94 | 12 / 07 | 100.0 | |
| 5 | All About Eve (1950) AA Best Picture Win |
Anne Baxter & Bette Davis |
8.90 | 198.9 | 282.30 | 9 | 92 | 14 / 06 | 100.0 | |
| 5 | On the Waterfront (1954) AA Best Picture Win |
Marlon Brando & Karl Malden |
12.00 | 281.2 | 281.20 | 20 | 92 | 12 / 08 | 100.0 | |
| 6 | Casablanca (1942) AA Best Picture Win |
Humphrey Bogart & Ingrid Bergman |
11.80 | 440.2 | 807.80 | 5 | 95 | 08 / 03 | 100.0 | |
| 8 | The Silence of the Lambs (1991) AA Best Picture Win |
Anthony Hopkins & Jodie Foster |
130.70 | 334.8 | 698.40 | 4 | 91 | 07 / 05 | 99.9 | |
| 7 | The Apartment (1960) AA Best Picture Win |
Jack Lemmon & Shirley MacLaine |
19.00 | 296.8 | 296.80 | 8 | 87 | 10 / 05 | 99.9 | |
| 10 | Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) AA Best Picture Nom |
Alec Guinness & Harrison Ford |
398.00 | 1,924.0 | 3,443.80 | 1 | 94 | 10 / 06 | 99.8 | |
| 11 | Network (1976) AA Best Picture Nom |
William Holden & Faye Dunaway |
42.20 | 213.5 | 213.50 | 13 | 91 | 10 / 04 | 99.7 | |
| 10 | Pulp Fiction (1994) AA Best Picture Nom |
Bruce Willis & Samuel L. Jackson |
107.90 | 285.2 | 565.20 | 10 | 94 | 07 / 01 | 99.7 | |
| 11 | Double Indemnity (1944) AA Best Picture Nom |
Barbara Stanwyck & Edward G. Robinson |
8.40 | 282.4 | 282.40 | 21 | 94 | 07 / 00 | 99.7 | |
| 14 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) AA Best Picture Nom |
Henry Thomas & Drew Barrymore |
416.70 | 1,527.9 | 2,839.80 | 1 | 87 | 09 / 04 | 99.7 | |
| 14 | The Wizard of Oz (1939) AA Best Picture Nom |
Judy Garland & Frank Morgan |
9.80 | 377.0 | 526.20 | 2 | 91 | 06 / 02 | 99.6 | |
| 15 | It's a Wonderful Life (1946) AA Best Picture Nom |
James Stewart & Lionel Barrymore |
8.90 | 274.7 | 274.70 | 27 | 94 | 05 / 00 | 99.6 | |
| 16 | Apocalypse Now (1979) AA Best Picture Nom |
Marlon Brando & Martin Sheen |
99.90 | 429.0 | 903.70 | 3 | 88 | 08 / 02 | 99.6 | |
| 18 | Bonnie and Clyde (1967) AA Best Picture Nom |
Warren Beatty & Gene Hackman |
57.00 | 507.8 | 507.80 | 3 | 87 | 10 / 02 | 99.6 | |
| 19 | Some Like It Hot (1959) | Jack Lemmon & Tony Curtis |
23.20 | 417.2 | 417.20 | 5 | 93 | 06 / 01 | 99.5 | |
| 20 | Chinatown (1974) AA Best Picture Nom |
Jack Nicholson & Faye Dunaway |
29.20 | 168.3 | 168.30 | 17 | 94 | 11 / 01 | 99.5 | |
| 20 | Psycho (1960) | Janet Leigh & Anthony Perkins |
29.40 | 459.3 | 740.50 | 3 | 94 | 04 / 00 | 99.3 | |
| 21 | 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) | Keir Dullea & Directed by Stanley Kubrick |
56.90 | 468.4 | 468.40 | 1 | 92 | 04 / 01 | 99.3 | |
| 22 | Singin' in the Rain (1952) | Gene Kelly & Debbie Reynolds |
12.40 | 242.4 | 371.30 | 6 | 93 | 02 / 00 | 99.1 | |
| 23 | Pinocchio (1940) | Disney Animated Movies | 18.90 | 726.5 | 899.70 | 2 | 90 | 02 / 02 | 99.1 | |
| 25 | Sunset Blvd. (1950) AA Best Picture Nom |
William Holden & Gloria Swanson |
6.70 | 150.8 | 150.80 | 24 | 90 | 11 / 03 | 99.0 | |
| 27 | Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) AA Best Picture Nom |
Peter Sellers & George C. Scott |
14.30 | 163.8 | 163.80 | 11 | 94 | 04 / 00 | 99.0 | |
| 25 | Notorious (1946) | Cary Grant & Ingrid Bergman |
13.10 | 403.7 | 595.20 | 8 | 90 | 02 / 00 | 99.0 | |
| 29 | JFK (1991) AA Best Picture Nom |
Kevin Costner & John Candy |
70.40 | 180.3 | 526.00 | 17 | 81 | 08 / 02 | 98.9 | |
| 27 | The Big Sleep (1946) | Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall |
8.10 | 249.7 | 405.20 | 32 | 89 | 00 / 00 | 98.7 | |
| 28 | City Lights (1931) | Charles Chaplin | 9.90 | 505.7 | 505.70 | 1 | 88 | 00 / 00 | 98.7 | |
| 29 | Swing Time (1936) | Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers |
5.40 | 233.4 | 376.30 | 12 | 85 | 02 / 01 | 98.6 | |
| 32 | The Third Man (1949) | Orson Welles & Joseph Cotten |
7.20 | 181.1 | 181.10 | 24 | 90 | 03 / 01 | 98.6 | |
| 35 | A Hard Day's Night (1964) | The Beatles | 16.20 | 185.3 | 185.30 | 9 | 89 | 02 / 00 | 98.5 | |
| 33 | The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) | Elsa Lanchester & Boris Karloff |
5.70 | 256.7 | 256.70 | 2 | 85 | 01 / 00 | 98.4 | |
| 34 | My Darling Clementine (1946) | Henry Fonda & Walter Brennan |
7.40 | 228.9 | 228.90 | 43 | 85 | 00 / 00 | 98.3 | |
| 36 | Red River (1948) | John Wayne & Montgomery Clift |
11.80 | 317.4 | 317.40 | 1 | 83 | 02 / 00 | 98.3 | |
| 37 | Taxi Driver (1976) AA Best Picture Nom |
Robert DeNiro & Jodie Foster |
27.30 | 138.2 | 138.20 | 25 | 94 | 04 / 00 | 98.1 | |
| 38 | Citizen Kane (1941) AA Best Picture Nom |
Orson Welles & Joseph Cotten |
3.20 | 123.0 | 160.20 | 76 | 93 | 09 / 01 | 98.1 | |
| 39 | Manhattan (1979) | Woody Allen & Diane Keaton |
39.90 | 171.6 | 171.60 | 22 | 91 | 02 / 00 | 98.1 | |
| 39 | Dracula (1931) | Bela Lugosi | 4.20 | 214.9 | 214.90 | 8 | 83 | 00 / 00 | 98.0 | |
| 43 | Vertigo (1958) | James Stewart & Kim Novak |
9.10 | 164.3 | 164.30 | 19 | 91 | 02 / 00 | 97.7 | |
| 41 | Written on the Wind (1956) | Rock Hudson & Lauren Bacall |
12.60 | 246.4 | 246.40 | 17 | 78 | 03 / 01 | 97.7 | |
| 43 | The Lady Eve (1941) | Barbara Stanwyck & Henry Fonda |
4.50 | 173.9 | 173.90 | 36 | 87 | 01 / 00 | 97.4 | |
| 43 | The Maltese Falcon (1941) AA Best Picture Nom |
Sydney Greenstreet & Humphrey Bogart |
3.40 | 132.5 | 232.50 | 68 | 91 | 03 / 00 | 97.1 | |
| 44 | Raging Bull (1980) AA Best Picture Nom |
Robert DeNiro & Joe Pesci |
23.50 | 97.5 | 97.50 | 33 | 94 | 08 / 02 | 96.7 | |
| 47 | Nashville (1975) AA Best Picture Nom |
Lily Tomlin & Ronee Blakley |
26.50 | 139.3 | 139.30 | 24 | 76 | 05 / 01 | 94.6 | |
| 46 | Sweet Smell of Success (1957) | Burt Lancaster & Tony Curtis |
6.40 | 123.7 | 123.70 | 36 | 92 | 00 / 00 | 94.6 | |
| 49 | The Wild Bunch (1969) | William Holden & Warren Oates |
15.10 | 115.0 | 115.00 | 21 | 89 | 02 / 00 | 93.4 | |
| 48 | The Shawshank Redemption (1994) AA Best Picture Nom |
Morgan Freeman & Tim Robbins |
28.30 | 74.9 | 74.90 | 51 | 90 | 07 / 00 | 92.9 | |
| 50 | Fargo (1996) AA Best Picture Nom |
William H. Macy & Frances McDormand |
24.60 | 60.0 | 147.80 | 66 | 91 | 07 / 02 | 92.5 | |
| 51 | Do the Right Thing (1989) | Danny Aiello & Samuel L. Jackson |
27.50 | 74.8 | 101.30 | 41 | 91 | 02 / 00 | 90.0 | |
| 52 | Body Heat (1981) | Kathleen Turner & William Hurt |
24.10 | 93.3 | 93.30 | 36 | 86 | 00 / 00 | 89.6 | |
| 53 | Seven Samurai (1954) | Toshirô Mifune | 1.90 | 43.5 | 43.50 | 126 | 95 | 02 / 00 | 88.0 | |
| 54 | McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) | Julie Christie & Warren Beatty |
12.40 | 81.2 | 81.20 | 25 | 81 | 01 / 00 | 87.0 | |
| 55 | Days of Heaven (1978) | Richard Gere & Sam Shepard |
3.30 | 15.4 | 15.40 | 93 | 90 | 04 / 01 | 83.2 | |
| 56 | The Night of the Hunter (1955) | Robert Mitchum & Charles Laughton |
0.90 | 17.8 | 17.80 | 181 | 93 | 00 / 00 | 83.0 |
The movies listed in the above table came from Roger Ebert The Great Movies which was published in 2002 by Broadway Books. Roger Ebert’s last published words on his blog on Tuesday, April 2nd 2013 were…..”I’ll see you at the movies,” hopefully the next time you watch some of these great movies you will think of Mr. Roger Ebert. Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences. If you do a comment….please ignore the email address and website section.
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I can not believe it has been 3 years already since he passes. I miss him too. Enjoy your vacation.
Hi, Bruce.
This is one of the pages I’ve been meaning to read and leave a comment. I paid attention to his reviews where I usually ignore critics. Regarding his list of favourite movies, I have seen 40 of them.
Great tribute
I managed to delete part of my comment before I posted it. I was talking about Ebert and his fellow critics of his era versus today’s critics being trustworthy.
Flora
Interesting point. He took some criticism when Disney bought his newspaper company…they were saying that might influence his reviews since it was done by his bosses. I think he did a good and fair job of Disney movies.
Hey Flora. He was without a doubt (along with Siskel) the first movie critic I became aware of. I watched his movie..Life Itself….it was good….but depressing to see him during the end of his life. I miss reading new reviews from him. I am perfect when it comes to the tally count. Though there were a few movies in his book that I used that did not make the page and have not been seen by me. Thanks for the compliment.
Hey BERN1960. Yep he was one of my favorites for years….thanks for stopping by.
I actually got know the man a little from my days in Chicago. Overall he was a fine man and I will miss him. Thumbs up to this tribute.
Hey Thompson….that is very cool. Thanks for the thumbs up on my tribute to him