Ruth Gordon Movies

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

Ruth Gordon (1896-1995) was an Oscar® winning American actress and writer.  Overall she was nominated for 5 Oscars® in her career: three as a writer and two as an actress.  One of her most famous roles was playing Clint Eastwood’s mom in 1978’s Every Which Way But Loose and 1980’s Any Which Way You Can.  Her IMDb page shows 57 acting and writing credits from 1915 to 1987.  This page will rank Ruth Gordon movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information.  To do well in our overall rankings a movie has to do well at the box office, get good reviews by critics, be liked by audiences, and get some award recognition.

1968’s Rosemary’s Baby

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

1971’s Harold and Maude

Ruth Gordon 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 Ruth Gordon movies by her co-stars
  • Sort Ruth Gordon movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Ruth Gordon movies by yearly domestic box office rank.
  • Sort Ruth Gordon movies by 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 Ruth Gordon movie received.
  • Sort Ruth Gordon movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
1978’s Every Which Way But Loose

Best IMDb Trivia On Ruth Gordon

1. Ruth Gordon Jones was born in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1896.

2.  Ruth Gordon made her Broadway debut in 1917.  She appeared as Nibs (one of the Lost Boys) in a revival of Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up.

3.  Ruth Gordon and her second husband, writer Garson Kanin, collaborated on the screenplays for the Katharine Hepburn – Spencer Tracy films Adam’s Rib (1949) and Pat and Mike (1952).  The couple were close friends of Hepburn and Tracy, and incorporated elements of the actors’ real personalities in the films.

4.  Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin earned three Oscar® nominations for writing.  George Cukor directed all three movies.  The two mentioned in #3 and 1948’s A Double Life.

5. Ruth Gordon was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award in 1983.  This award is given for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry.[

Check out Ruth Gordon’s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

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24 thoughts on “Ruth Gordon Movies”

  1. Like most people not named Bob Roy I remember Ruth Gordon best as the nutty old lady in Every Which Way But Loose and it’s sequel. And as the creepy satanist in Rosemary’s Baby. Later on I discovered that she was also a talented screenwriter. Adam’s Rib is a favorite of mine.

    I’ve seen 8 of the 27 films on the chart, more than I thought. Favorite movies include- Rosemary’s Baby, Every Which Way You Can, Any Which Way But Loose, Adam’s Rib, Edge of Darkness, Action in the North Pacific.

    I’ve also seen Pat & Mike and The Big Bus.

    Looking at the box office chart Rosemary’s Baby was a huge hit in the late 60’s paving the way for The Exorcist and The Omen.

    Good stuff Bruce. Vote Up!

    Reply

    1. HI STEVE:

      Scoff if you wish but –

      1/When Every Which Way was released one Joel type hatchet-man critic wrote: “This is the kind of movie that was made for the lowest common denominator among audiences and tastes.”

      2/On this occasion at least one of the Big Guns has come round to my way of thinking about the two Every Which Way movies – see WH’s comments at 11PM yesterday on this site.

      Anyway I hope you have been having a relaxing time on your break and I look forward to you being back in normal action. Meanwhile continue to take extra care.

      Reply

      1. Aloha Bob, I do acknowledge that the two comedies are pretty low on Clint’s totem, but they do have a certain nostalgic value for me. I saw them both at the cinema as a kid and enjoyed them both, unlike Bruce I rarely turn my nose up at old favorites once I’d grown older. 🙂

        I suspect you enjoyed the classic Hollywood screwball comedies when you were a young man but found them rather tiresome when you’d grown old and put away those dreadful childish things, non? [wink]

        Reply

        1. HI STEVE: I certainly agree that everyone is entitled to enjoy and keep faith with his/her own nostalgia as it is only one’s own cherished memories that can trigger that off; and if the films concerned made you happy at the time that’s worth respecting because then as now you could live in the only the times that existed. A person’s tastes changing over the years if they do doesn’t negate the happiness that the old feelings once brought him/her.

          To be fair to The Work Horse also though he does stress that Clint being who he is we can forgive him any old films of his that no longer appeal to us. I agree with WH because [the wonderfully low key Charlie Bronson having sadly passed on] Clint is one of the few action heroes whose movies I can still watch on re-runs today.

          That’s largely because he has a dry sense of humor and if it is a bit crude at times it isn’t in your face like say Adam Sandler’s; and also Clint is a much better actor than most of the action hero squad are in my opinion; and of course many of the movies that he has directed DO HAVE some intellectual content. Thankfully Clyde wasn’t in too many Eastwood movies!

          I can also take Arnie because he is often self-depreciating and at times he conveys for me an innocent sense of humor in his movies. Willis too I still find entertaining enough because I think that he is a much better actor than he’s often given credit for and I feel he has a more dynamic personality than say The Rock or Vin Diesel. If Willis used the F word a bit less often he might even have been one of my very top faves like The Duke and Mumbles are.

          Sadly every time that I have tried to watch Stallone these days I couldn’t escape the impression that I was viewing another episode of The Mummy Returns franchise. One film critic whose column I used to read reckoned that any up and coming performer who wants to continually improve as an ACTOR should keep judging his own progress against two sets of standards. One set was at the top end of the spectrum where DeNiro and Pacino set fine examples; and the other was at the bottom of the scale where that critic claimed the likes of Sylvester Stallone and Jean Claude Van Damme showed everyone how NOT to act.

          Reply

          3. Hey Bob….great breakdown of your action heroes. You will happy to know….one of the readers of this website….though he never comments….is a writer who is working on a Charles Bronson book. Based on his Lee Marvin book….it should be a good one when it arrives…which is coming soon. Good stuff.

    2. Hey Steve…thanks for checking out our Ruth Gordon page. She was on two of my lists…Oscar winners and Joel subjects. Tally count. Cogerson 12, Flora 11 and you 8. I have seen 4 of your favorites…I have not seen Edge of Darkness or Action in the North Atlantic. I have fond memories of her two Clint movies….but I find them difficult to watch these days…..as I guess I have become the old man yelling at kids to stay off the lawn…lol. I agree…Rosemary’s Baby success probably got the wheels turning for The Exorcist and The Omen to get made. Good stuff as always.

      Reply

  2. I have seen 11 Ruth Gordon movies.

    The HIGHEST rated movie I have seen is Adam’s Rib.

    The highest rated movie I have NOT seen is Rosemary’s Baby.

    The LOWEST rated movie I have seen is The Actress which I consider better than the rating it got.

    Favourite Ruth Gordon Movies:

    Adam’s Rib
    Action in the North Atlantic
    A Double Life
    Edge of Darkness
    Dr. Erlich’s Magic Bullet
    Two-Faced Woman
    Inside Daisy Clover

    Other Ruth Gordon Movies I Have Seen:

    Pat and Mike
    Every Which Way But Loose
    The Marrying Kind
    The Actress

    Gordon had a wonderful guest-starring role as a murderer on Columbo.

    Harold and Maude is on my to-see list.

    Reply

    1. Hey Flora….thanks for the thoughts on Ruth Gordon. I have seen 12 of her movies….must during her George Burns type late career surge….though it should be noted she did it first….so maybe George Burns was doing the Ruth Gordon instead. I have seen of your favorites. Surprised Pat and Mike did not make your favorites list. I am sure Bob will appreciate the Columbo shout out. As for Harold and Maude, I liked that one more the first time, versus the second time I saw it. I will curious of your thoughts we you see it. As always good stuff.

      Reply

  3. Hello,
    The only films I know of Ruth Gordon is ‘Harold and Maude ‘a very big succes in France and I saw in France at its open and really I loved it.
    I don’t remember her in Rosemary baby but it is so long time and not at all in Two Faced Woman….the only scene in this film I remenber is Constance Bennet before to leave her bedroom screaming with rage in front of a mirror ….so funny…
    Harold and Maude was so popular that it was starting after in Paris at the theater with greats actresses like Madeleine Renaud and Danielle Darrieux and every time it was big succes and I think it was the same in America.
    To day I feel so sad, no movies on the screen no box office….it is terrible
    Hope finish well and fast….
    Have a good day
    Pierre

    Reply

    1. Hey Pierre. Great to hear from you. I hope you are doing well in these difficult time. When the Coronavirus was in Europe and not here in the States….I thought of all the Europe regulars like yourself. Great information on Harold and Maude being such a big success in France. Not thinking I would have guessed that at all. Interestin about Harold and Maude’s connection with Madeleine Renaud and Danielle Darrieux. Don’t worry movies will make a dramatic comeback….just going to take some time. Stay safe and healthy.

      Reply

  4. I am quite an admirer of Clint Eastwood and love the Dirty Harry films and many of his others such as Tightrope and especially In the Line of Fire. However I have never even tried to watch Every Which Way but Loose and Any Which Way you Can both of which were enormously popular and apparently contain some of Ruth’s best work as Clint’s Mother. My memory of Ruth’s acting career is thus confined to two just films – but WHAT a pair!

    1/her iconic and chilling performance as Minnie Castevet in 1968’ Rosemary’s Baby.

    2/her delicious tongue-and-cheek ‘cute elderly lady’ performance which disguised a hidden ruthlessness as the guest villainess in 1977’s TV movie Try and Catch Me that was part of the Columbo television detective series. With gusto Ruth joins Peter Falk in playing Columbo’s usual cat-and-mouse game with his resident suspect. Wonderful stuff! And rated 82% by IMDB

    In physical appearance Ruth always reminds me of Rhea Perlman [of Cheers fame and the real life wife of Danny DeVito]. Rhea was born half a century after Ruth but they were both diminutive with each standing at precisely 5 ft but with large screen personalities; and in their later years both had ‘lived-in’ faces that were effective like those of screen males such as Lee Marvin and Bogie and Jason Robards Junior.

    IMDB credits Ruth with 6 awards overall and 16 noms and the Celebrity Net Worth site opines that her net worth on her death in 1995 was the equivalent of $18 million in today’s money.

    Reply

    1. Hey Bob. I love Clint. I loved the Gordon/Eastwood movies back in the day…..but they are horrible. Clint is a stalker in the movies….only because it is Clint do we forgive him….if was filmed today…they would probably boycott the movie. As for your two performances you remember the best…..the Academy agrees with you on her role in Rosemary’s Baby…as they gave her the Oscar for it. And Flora backs you up on her role on Columbo. Interesting thoughts on how she reminds you have Rhea Perlman…I can see that. Thanks for the award and net worth information. Good stuff.

      Reply

      1. HI BIG BOY: Thanks for the two-part feedback to my own posts. Your interesting trivia comments got me thinking so here are some of my own comments/further comments on the matters concerned.

        THE ACTRESS
        The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Black-and-White Costume Design. Tracy won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor in a Drama and was nominated for a BAFTA as Best Foreign Actor. Simmons was named Best Actress by the National Board of Review, and Ruth Gordon’s screenplay was nominated Best Written American Comedy by the Writers Guild of America, despite being far more dramatic. Before signing Jean Simmons as Ruth Gordon in The Actress MGM’s preference was Debbie Reynolds.

        CATCH 22:
        I found it so-so entertainment but W o BOB greatly admires it and [an avid reader] she also a great fan of Joseph Heller’s classic book. In the seventies the Joel-types within the movies intelligentsia designated Alan Arkin who was the star of Catch 22 as one of the 4 Greatest Actors of All Time along with Olivier/Brando/and Paul Scofield.

        Elizabeth Taylor lost her temper with a television presenter who was insensitive enough to suggest to her in an interview that Scofield was a better role model for serious acting students than her own then husband Burton. Nowadays Paul and Alan are rarely mentioned; though Arkin did surface in 2017’s Going in Style with our Sir Maurice and my Morg; and as Scofield though largely stage orientated made 25 films he might be worth considering for a Cogerson page.

        REAR WINDOW:
        Ross Bagdasarian may not have been a leading film actor but he certainly rubbed shoulders with the Greats. Not only was he as you reveal a bit player in my Jimmy’s Rear Window but in his pre Alvin days in the 1950s he supported a number of my other top idols in small roles and/or uncredited cameos – see filmography Part 2.

        It is somewhat ironic now to think of Ross in those small roles because those tight-wads who ruled Hollywood in those days paid him buttons for his services compared with the likes of Chuck or Mumbles; but when Ross sadly died prematurely aged 52 in 1972 he had an net worth of $51 million dollars according to Celeb Net Worth site and the Forbes Rich List; and as the saying goes “it runs in the family” because reportedly Ross Jr who is a film and record producer and a singer and voice artist has a personal current worth of $15 million net from his own professional earnings. Ross Jr worked alongside his father by helping him edit material during his father’s tenure of the Alvin franchise.

        Reply

        1. ROSS BAGDASARIAN – FILMOGRAPHY
          The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) as Spectator (uncredited) – STEWART/HESTON

          Viva Zapata! (1952) as Officer (uncredited) – BRANDO

          The Stars Are Singing (1953) as Song Promoter (uncredited)

          Destination Gobi (1953) as Paul Sabatello – WIDMARK

          The Girls of Pleasure Island (1953) as Marine (uncredited)

          Stalag 17 (1953) as Singing Prisoner of War (uncredited) – GOLDEN HOLDEN

          Alaska Seas (1954) as Joe, Jim’s crewman

          Rear Window (1954) as Songwriter/pianist – STEWART/HITCH

          Kismet (1955) as Fevvol (uncredited)

          Hot Blood (1956) as Gas Station Attendant (uncredited) – JANE RUSSELL

          The Proud and Profane (1956) as Louie – GOLDEN HOLDEN

          Three Violent People (1956) as Asuncion Ortega – CHUCK again.

          The Devil’s Hairpin (1957) as Tani Ritter

          The Deep Six (1958) as Pvt. Aaron Slobodjian – LADDIE

          NOTE: Ladd’s Deep Six was Ross’s final feature film appearance as that year Alvin happened – Ross didn’t need The Greats after that!

          Reply

  5. Ruth started her acting career with uncredited roles in 3 silent movies in 1915 when she was just 19 and then did not make another movie until 1940 where Bruce’s tables above duly catch up with her. She was clearly a person of diverse talents because on top of her writing and big screen acting careers she appeared in 33 Broadway productions from 1915 until 1976 and 18 television presentations between 1950 and 1984.

    I notice from Bruce’s tables above that Ruth has a writing credit for 1953’s The Actress but did not appear in it. It was actually based on a stage play written by Ruth herself called “Years Ago” and whilst I personally have always liked the movie it has the distinction of being the only Spencer Tracy film after he achieved major stardom in the late 1930s to appear on the 2nd half of a double bill at least here in the United Kingdom. Released in the States in Sept 53 The Actress surfaced over here in early 1954 on an MGM double bill with 1954’s The Long Long Trailer starring husband and wife team Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

    The Actress was real-life autobiographical with Jean Simmons as the young Ruth Gordon. The 53 year old Tracy who usually acted his age on screen and in fact aged quite badly in reality did an “Al Leach” on us in The Actress by taking as his wife the 34 year old Teresa Wright who was fresh from being Brando’s wife in HIS debut film The Men [aka Battle Stripe]. Teresa would in fact have been more suitable as the 24 year old Jean Simmons’ big sister rather than her mother in The Actress. Unfortunately The Work Horse’s $27.3 million US adjusted gross and his 57% review rating in the tables above accurately represent Years Ago/The Actress’ status and success on the big screen.

    Reply

    1. Hey Bob….thanks for all the great information on Ruth Gordon. I agree with you about her diverse talents. Growing up she was always the “old lady in the Clint ape movies”. As I got older I started to appreciate her other roles. Interesting information about The Actress. So Tracy had that one on the second billing….it happens to even the great ones. Jean Simmons playing Ruth Gordon….now that is some good trivia. Good stuff as always.

      Speaking of trivia….discovered some nuggets recently….when I re-watched Rear Window and Catch-22. (1) The piano player in Rear Window is the guy that created Alvin and the Chipmonks. (2) In Catch-22…there is a scene with Bob Newhart making up the rules to visit him…during that scene….the picture on the wall keeps changing…from Roosevelt to Churchill to Stalin. I had never noticed that. (3) I was listening to the dvd commentary of Catch-22 with the late Mike Nichols and Oscar winning director Steven Soderbergh. When it got to the scene in #2….Nichols was talking about how the changing photo was just them messing around….it had no meaning. When Soderbergh realized that the photo had changed….he was shocked. He had seen the movie dozens of times, had supervised the digital transfer of the movie…but until Nichols mentioned it, Soderbergh had never noticed the changing photos. It is one of the best moments I have heard on a DVD commentary.

      Reply

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