Want to know the best Van Heflin movies? How about the worst Van Heflin movies? Curious about Van Heflin box office grosses or which Van Heflin movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Van Heflin movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Van Heflin (1908-1971) was an American Oscar® winning actor. Between 1936 and 1971 Heflin has 66 acting credits on his IMDb page. This page will rank 50 Van Heflin movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. His television apperances, documentaries, shorts and movies not released in North American theaters were not included in the rankings. To do well in our rankings a movie has to succeed at the box office, get good reviews from critics, liked by movie audiences and receive either some Oscar® or Golden Globe® love. This page was requested by Peterson.
Van Heflin 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 Van Heflin movies by co-stars of his movies.
- Sort Van Heflin movies by actual domestic box office grosses
- Sort Van Heflin movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Van Heflin movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Van Heflin 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 Van Heflin movie received and how many Oscar® wins each movie won.
- Sort Van Heflin 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 button to make this page very interactive.
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Van Heflin Table
- Sixteen Van Heflin movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 32.00% of his movies listed. Airport (1970) was his biggest box office hit.
- An average Van Heflin movie grossed $103.90 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 32 Van Heflin movies are rated as good movies…or 64.00% of his movies. Shane (1953) is his highest rated movie while Cry of Battle (1963) is his lowest rated movie.
- Twelve Van Heflin movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 24.00% of his movies.
- Four Van Heflin movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 8.00% of his movies.
- An average Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 40.00. 25 Van Heflin movies scored higher than that average….or 50.00% of his movies. Shane (1953) got the the highest UMR Score while Cry of Battle (1963) got the lowest UMR Score.
Possibly Interesting Facts About Van Heflin
1. Emmett Evan Heflin, Jr. was born in Walters, Oklahoma 1908.
2. Van Heflin began his acting career on Broadway in the early 1930s. From there he signed RKO movie contract. He made his film debut in 1936’s A Woman Rebels with some actress named Katharine Hepburn.
3. Van Heflin was only nominated for one Oscar® in his career…..but he made it count as he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar® for 1941’s Johnny Eager.
4. Van Heflin served as a combat cameraman in the Ninth Air Force in Europe during World War 2.
5. Derek Sculthorpe’s book….Van Heflin A Life in Film is a must read for any Van Heflin fan.
6. Van Heflin was married twice and had three children.
7. Many movie buffs know John Dillinger was killed after watching Clark Gable’s Manhattan Melodrama (1934)…but how many know that Lee Harvey Oswald was captured as he was watching Van Heflin’s Cry of Battle (1963)….Cry of Battle was part of a double feature that Oswald was watching.
8. Check out Van Heflin‘s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
But Wait There Is More! Adjusted Worlwide Box Office Grosses on 20 Van Heflin Movies
- Act of Violence (1949) $60.30 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- Battle Cry (1955) $426.20 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- BF’s Daughter (1948) $105.40 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- East Side, West Side (1949) $138.70 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- Grand Central Murder (1942) $43.70 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- Greatest Story Ever Told, The (1965) $224.50 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- Green Dolphin Street (1947) $442.00 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- Johnny Eager (1941) $204.70 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- Kid Glove Killer (1942) $41.30 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- Madame Bovary (1949) $109.60 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- Possessed (1947) $183.80 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- Presenting Lily Mars (1943) $260.90 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- Santa Fe Trail (1940) $217.40 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- Seven Sweethearts (1942) $140.00 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- Shane (1953) $451.30 Tap Roots (1948) $178.70 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- Tennessee Johnson (1942) $56.30 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- Three Musketeers, The (1948) $466.70 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- Till The Clouds Roll By (1946) $439.00 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- Under Ten Flags (1960) $53.10 million in adjusted worldwide box office
- Woman Rebels, A (1936) $65.00 million in adjusted worldwide box office
Steve’s Van Heflin You Tube Video
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences. Golden Globe® is a registered trademark of the Hollywood Foreign Press.
Oh darn, for a second I thought Bruce had done a page on Dracula’s nemesis Van Helsing, but my hopes were dashed when I saw Abraham Van Hellfings picture. Some interesting actors have played Van Helsing in the past including Mel Brooks, Rutger Hauer, Christopher Plummer, Anthony Hopkins and… oh alright I’ve seen 12 of the 50 films listed, less than I expected.
Favorites include – Shane, 10 past 3 to Yuma, The Three Musketeers, Airport and The Greatest Story Ever Told (directed by George ‘Shane’ Stevens and not the most exciting version of the story but it does contain a stellar cast including Charlton Heston as John the Baptist in full ‘repent sinner!’ mode and John Wayne sans cowboy hat as The Centurion on Golgotha.
Notable movies Ii’ve missed include – Martha Ivers, Lily Mars, Woman’s World, Tap Roots and Possessed.
Looking at the Worldwide grosses – looks like The Three Musketeers was his biggest hit followed by Shane. Green Dolphin Street was huge too.
Another expert movie page, fascinating stats, facts and trivia, keep em coming. Vote Up!
1 STEVE You rarely miss the chance to take a backward swipe at our Supremo, this time for not producing a Van Helsing page. Actually in your listing of the fine actors who have played Van H I’m surprised that patriotism didn’t induce you to include one of the best portrayals of the Vampire hunter which was by ENGLISH actor Peter Cushing in the 1958 film entitled Dracula [aka House of Dracula] who was played by Peter’s pal Christopher Lee. The dots can be joined Dan-like by referring to the fact that in the 1970 movie Scream and Scream Again Chris and Peter joined in a horror trio with Vincent Price whose video by you I hope to have the pleasure in viewing later [so for now I don’t know whether you’ve included the Price/Cushing/Lee vehicle..
2 Christopher Lee claims in his biography that for playing Dracula in 1958 he was paid only £750 ** and Christopher also claims that the film grossed $25 million worldwide – worth about about $200 million in today’s.dollars. Peter and Christopher appeared in several films together and in the first few Peter was billed first whereas in later ones Chris got top billing – but I don’t want to become embroiled in another dispute about the significance of that!
3 By the way Bruce might become bored if we keep referring to him as the Supremo or the Maestro so for variety would it be in order if when as we are doing here we touch on topics concerning villains of the movies we call Bruce out Fuhrer?
**Dracula was a British film and of course they were noted for their stinginess to their actors at a time when Golden Holden, Liz Taylor and Mr Mumbles were being paid in the region on £1 million each.
Bob, Peter Cushing is by far my favorite actor to have played Van Helsing and probably the most well known, I was just listing some of the other actors who played the part.
I’ve read and own nearly every book on the Hammer Studios. It would be interesting if Bruce does a Hammer page some day but he likes to include box office grosses which are nearly impossible to find for British films.
[salutes]
Not sure he’d like to be called der fuhrer, how about El Comandante?
[goose-steps out of page]
STEVE
If there are grosses to be found El Comandante is sure to track them down ! However British films grosses in the US market were usually negligible in those days and Dracula was apparently a rare exception. I remember one columnist getting all excited because the Carry On comedy series of movies collectively up until that particular point had grossed £1 million which would hardly have interested US film makers.looking for millions in rentals for just one film.
Hey Bob….so far I have failed when it comes to Cushing grosses…I have tracked down two biographies on him….three books on Hammer films….and for that 20 year time period….I get a lot of “was successful”…..”did not do well”…..”was a huge hit”…..just never any numbers with it. Interesting about Carry On….it is all from which direction you are looking at something. 🙂
Hey Steve…..I have tried to do a page on Cushing….but you like wrote….I get to his days in England and the Hammer movies and hit a huge wall…..and without box office…..my entire system crumbles….one day one day…I would say Laurel and Hardy and Cushing are the two pages I have done lots of research on….but have come up empty handed.
Hey Bob….good stuff throughout this comment. I really enjoyed the Lee thought…..I think I prefer Supremo or Maestro more than your new suggestion. 🙂 Will have to finish the rest of the comments tomorrow.
Hey Steve….Van Johnson, Van Heflin, Van Helsing and Van Halen…..the first mega rock band…lol.
Thanks for the information on the Brits that have played Van Helsing. Tally count…Flora 21…Steve 12….Laurent 7…Cogerson 6…so Flora wins this round. I have somehow missed one of your top Heflin movies….The Three Musketeers…the rest I have seen and enjoyed. As for Wayne in Greatest Story Ever Told….it might only be one line….but it has become the most famous line in that movie.
Martha Ivers is considered to be one of the greatest film noir movies of all-time…seems that would have been seen by you……but don’t worry….you can still see it. As for some of those worldwide hits…he certainly some big ones. Glad you liked the stats, facts and trivia….the next subject will be a modern star….but heck even Richard Gere is almost 70 now.
Hello Bruce,
I’ve seen only 7 movies of the list. In France Van Heflin was never a big star. His biggest success were Shane with near 4 millions admissions, but french people liked very much Alan Ladd. And the Three Musketeers with more than 4 millions admissions.
My favorite, in addition to these two, is 3:10 to Yuma. I think is one of the best interpretations of Jonhson and Glenn Ford. I like very much this movie.
Do you still agree to send me last cards of Warner Ledger ?
Hey Laurent….tally count…Flora 21…Steve 12….Laurent 7…Cogerson 6. Good information on Shane and Three Musketeers in France….both were his biggest box office hits. As for the last index cards….I have two cards in a file that I will send you….WoC however does not have it where the rental number shows….the third card has a lot of duplicate box office numbers. I will send you the file I currently have….as soon as I send this comment. Thanks for the visit.
Hey Laurent….just sent that e-mail….should be there when you wake up….sorry for the delay.
Thank you Bruce. I received it.
Glad you got it….sorry the number moved down from my original 90 plus…..seems I wrote down the same movie more than a few times…..wasted valuable time doing that…lol. I will get WoC to get the rentals numbers to you as well.
1 Van Heflin was in many major films so the overall adjusted gross for his 50 listed movies comes to almost $5.2 billion but as in the case of Anthony Quinn the total gross to an extent flatters Van’s status as he was very often a supporting actor throughout his career as in for example The Three Musketeers and Airport. Indeed MGM’s declared strategy for his career development in his early days was to give him lead roles in B movies such as Kid Glove Killer and Grand Central Murder and supporting parts in more prestigious productions such as The Three Musketeers and Johnny Eager.
2 However he was a most brilliant performer and was such a well respected supporting actor that although he rarely had top billing in major productions he was often given equal billing to the big stars if not to Lana Turner in Green Dolphin Street or Garland in Presenting Lily Mars then certainly to, Cooper and Rita Hayworth in They Came to Cordura and Ladd and Jean Arthur in Shane. Ironically he was the star and had top billing in his 2nd highest grosser in the table above, Battle Cry. There is evidence that he got on very well at a personal level with the big stars such as Gable and Cooper..
3 Van was another exponent of the underplaying school of acting and rarely if ever raised his voice to portray emotion and anybody who is interested in his technique in the latter respect should watch the hotel the hotel scenes in 3.10 to Yuma (1957) and they will witness two great actors Van Heflin and Glenn Ford skillfully playing out almost endless scenes of tension with economy of effort. This new page is a worthy tribute to a great character actor and sometimes leading man of yesteryear as in the mid career action B movies South of Algiers [aka The Golden Mask], Tanganyika, Wings of the Hawk and Tomahawk.
POSTSCRIPT TO MY VAN HEFLIN POST I very much admired the promotional posed miniature still of Van, Jean Arthur and Ladd in Shane.
Hey Bob….I actually had a hard time finding a good Heflin Shane picture….so I am glad to hear my efforts paid off…thank you.
Hey Bob.
1. I agree with your thinking on Van Heflin. I have a few books that break down a star’s career…and two of them do not list him in the book.
2. In some ways Mark “Hulk” Ruffalo seems like a modern day Heflin…..both were involved in some major hits…but many of their roles have been supporting ones in those blockbusters.
3. Good information on Heflin’s billing….and good to know he got along with the greats like Gable, Cooper and Ladd.
4. I will have to pay attention to those final scenes in 3:10 To Yuma….I have seen the original once…and the remake with Bale and Crowe many many times.
5. Good description of Van Heflin in last point.
🙂
Love this actor. His classic are of course classics, but I love some of his lesser known movies. Movies like Count Three and Play, Patterns, Gunman’s Walk and The Tempest. Of those The Tempest is easily my favorite. That was about the Cossack rengade Emelyan Pugachov who thought he was the real Tzar Nicholas. Stellar performances. I have seen almost all of these movies.
Hey VanFan…you sound like a serious Van Fan. Gotta admit I had not heard of Count Three and Play, Patterns, Gunman’s Walk and The Tempest before doing this page…but your comment has me interested in seeing them now. Thanks for a great comment and for finding our Heflin page.
Glad to see you have done a page on Van Heflin finally.
I have seen 21 Van Heflin movies.
The highest ranked film I have seen is Shane at number 1.
The Feminine Touch is the lowest ranked film I have seen.
The highest ranked film I have not seen is Presenting Lily Mars at number 8.
My favourite Van heflin movies are:
3:10 to Yuma
Shane
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Possessed
The Three Musketeers
Hey Flora.
1. Glad you like this selection…I know have both Vans done….Van Johnson and Van Heflin.
2. 21 is way more than my small number of 6…..so looking at the tally counts on other comments…Flora 21…Steve 12….Laurent 7…..and me 6….though reading Van Fan’s comment I am thinking he might have us all beat.
3. I have seen 4 of your Top 5 Heflin movies…with The Three Musketeers escaping me…..I have liked all four movies…with Possessed being the weakest of those 4 movies….but it is still really good.
4. I not too familiar with either The Feminine Touch or Presenting Lily Mars…so I have no idea if Lily Mars is rated to high…as it has a spot in the Top 10.
Good to hear from you….and greatly appreciate your comment and visit.