Want to know the best John Williams movies? How about the worst John Williams movies? Curious about John Williams box office grosses or which John Williams movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which John Williams movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
John Williams (1932-) is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning over six decades, Williams has composed some of the most popular and recognizable film scores in cinematic history, including Jaws, the Star Wars series, Superman, the Indiana Jones series, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, and the first three Harry Potter films. Williams has been associated with director Steven Spielberg since 1974, composing music for the majority of his feature films.
His IMDb page shows 146 composing credits from 1956 to 2018. This page will rank 105 John Williams movies. Movies will be ranked from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts and documentaries were not included in the rankings. Since it is his music that has made him famous…we figured we should include a You Tube video that can be listened to while you check out his massive and incredible movie career.
John Williams 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 John Williams movies by co-stars of his movies
- Sort John Williams movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort John Williams movies by yearly domestic box office rank or trivia
- Sort John Williams 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 John Williams movie received.
- Sort John Williams 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.
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above John Williams Table
- Fifty-three John Williams movie crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 50.96% of his movies listed. Star Wars (1977) is his biggest box office hit.
- An average John Williams movie grosses $214.90 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 75 of John Williams’s movies are rated as good movies…or 72.11% of his movies. Schindler’s List (1993) is his highest rated movie while Daddy-O (1958) is his lowest rated movie.
- Fifty-six John Williams movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 53.84% of his movies.
- Twenty-two John Williams movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 21.55% of his movies.
- An good Ultimate Movie Ranking (UMR) Score is 60.00. 75 John Williams movie scored higher that average….or 72.11% of his movies. Schindler’s List (1993) got the the highest UMR Score while Stanley & Iris (1990) got the lowest UMR Score.
Possibly Interesting Facts About John Williams
1. John Towner Williams was born on February 8, 1932 in Floral Park, New York.
2. John Williams has received 50 Oscar® nominations in his career….he has won 5 Oscars®.
3. John Williams has composed the music for all but two of Steven Spielberg‘s feature films: Those movies were 2015’s Bridge of Spies and 1985’s The Color Purple.
4. John Williams composed the music for Alfred Hitchcock’s last film….1975’s Family Plot.
5. John Williams was the conductor of the Boston Pops for 12 years.
6. In 2005, John Williams’ scores for 1977’s Star Wars, 1975’s Jaws and 1982’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial were respectively ranked #1, #6, and #14 on the AFI’s list of the Top 25 Film Scores in the past 100 years.
7. John Williams was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts on February 25, 2010 at the White House in Washington D.C. for his services and contributions to music.
8. John Williams has been married two times. He has three children.
9. John Williams career movie totals: When looking at adjusted domestic box office grosses, his movies have grossed $22.36 BILLION. They have received 213 Oscar® nominations…..winning 44 Oscars®.
10. When looking at Box Office Mojo’s Top 200 Adjusted All-Time Box Office Hits list…John Williams has 18 movies in their Top 100….and 4 of their Top 11 movies…..just incredible.
Check out John Williams‘s career compared to other UMR subjects. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
This page was a request from Steve Lensman. Steve has a wonderful page on my favorite John Willliams movie….1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark. Follow this link to get there.
If you do a comment….please ignore the email address and website section.
Dan:
Yes, I heard about Robert Conrad dying too. Conrad’s death and Osron Bean’s death are true.
Never knew much about Orson Bean. My wife thought he was a panelist on game shows.
John Williams has died at the age of 80. Few details have been revealed. RIP.
Hey Flora…are we talking about John Williams the composer? Today is his 88th birthday. It would be a strange day if he passed on February 8th as well.
I hope it’s not true Flora. I’ve looked around but don’t see anything on Williams.
Mom heard the news on News 1130 radio station that the composer of Star Wars died. That is a Vancouver radio station. Latest news is that this is a matter of celebrity death hoax as was often the case of Peter Fonda before he actually died. As for the age, that was a typo. Glad it is not true.
Me too….as is WoC.
I put it in and came up with John Williams dying on the New York Times site, but that turned out to be from 1983 about a character actor with that name who was 80. I remember that John Williams advertising a classical music collection on TV in the 70’s. He also had a fairly big role in Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief.
I do see Robert Conrad from the TV series Wild Wild West died today at 84 of heart failure.
Yes, I heard about Robert Conrad dying too. Conrad’s death and Osron Bean’s death are true.
The character actor John Williams is perhaps remembered best for playing the policeman in Dial M for Murder
You wanted Alfred Newman and here he is. Al only scored films for 78 Oscar winners, but he has more credits then the other composers. Al has 207 instances shall we say.
ALICE BRADY Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
ANNE BANCROFT Tonight We Sing (1953)
ANNE BAXTER A Royal Scandal (1945)
ANNE BAXTER All About Eve (1950)
ANNE BAXTER Sunday Dinner for a Soldier (1944)
ANNE BAXTER The Pied Piper (1942)
ANNE BAXTER The Purple Heart (1944)
ANNE BAXTER The Razor’s Edge (1946)
ANNE BAXTER The Walls of Jericho (1948)
ANNE BAXTER Yellow Sky (1948)
ANNE BAXTER You’re My Everything (1949)
ANTHONY QUINN Blood and Sand (1941)
ANTHONY QUINN The Black Swan (1942)
BARRY FITZGERALD How Green Was My Valley (1941)
BETTE DAVIS All About Eve (1950)
BING CROSBY Reaching for the Moon (1931)
BRODERICK CRAWFORD Beau Geste (1939)
BRODERICK CRAWFORD The Real Glory (1939)
BRODERICK CRAWFORD Woman Chases Man (1937)
BURT LANCASTER Airport (1970)
CELESTE HOLM A Letter to Three Wives (1949)
CELESTE HOLM All About Eve (1950)
CELESTE HOLM Chicken Every Sunday (1949)
CELESTE HOLM Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)
CELESTE HOLM The Snake Pit (1948)
CHARLES COBURN A Royal Scandal (1945)
CHARLES COBURN Heaven Can Wait (1943)
CHARLES COBURN Wilson (1944)
CHARLES LAUGHTON Les misérables (1935)
CHARLES LAUGHTON O’Henry’s Full House (1952/I)
CHARLES LAUGHTON The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
CHARLES LAUGHTON They Knew What They Wanted (1940)
CHARLTON HESTON The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
CLAIRE TREVOR Dead End (1937)
CLARK GABLE The Call of the Wild (1935)
CLAUDETTE COLBERT Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
CLAUDETTE COLBERT I Cover the Waterfront (1933)
DAVID NIVEN Barbary Coast (1935)
DAVID NIVEN Beloved Enemy (1936)
DAVID NIVEN Dodsworth (1936)
DAVID NIVEN The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
DAVID NIVEN The Real Glory (1939)
DAVID NIVEN Wuthering Heights (1939)
DEAN JAGGER Brigham Young (1940)
DEAN JAGGER Firecreek (1968)
DEAN JAGGER The Robe (1953)
DEAN JAGGER Twelve O’Clock High (1949)
DON AMECHE Clive of India (1935)
DON AMECHE Girl Trouble (1942)
DON AMECHE Heaven Can Wait (1943)
DON AMECHE Ramona (1936)
DON AMECHE That Night in Rio (1941)
DONALD CRISP BELOVED ENEMY (1936)
DONALD CRISP HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (1941)
DONALD CRISP WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939)
EDMOND O’BRIEN The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
EDMUND GWENN For Heaven’s Sake (1950)
EDMUND GWENN Foreign Correspondent (1940)
EDMUND GWENN The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)
ETHEL BARRYMORE Pinky (1949)
FREDRIC MARCH Les misérables (1935)
FREDRIC MARCH The Affairs of Cellini (1934)
FREDRIC MARCH The Dark Angel (1935)
FREDRIC MARCH Trade Winds (1938)
FREDRIC MARCH We Live Again (1934)
GALE SONDERGAARD THE BLUE BIRD (1940)
GALE SONDERGAARD THE MARK OF ZORRO (1940)
GARY COOPER Ball of Fire (1941)
GARY COOPER Beau Geste (1939)
GARY COOPER The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
GARY COOPER The Real Glory (1939)
GARY COOPER The Wedding Night (1935)
GEORGE ARLISS Cardinal Richelieu (1935)
GEORGE ARLISS The House of Rothschild (1934)
GEORGE ARLISS The Last Gentleman (1934)
GEORGE KENNEDY Airport (1970)
GEORGE SANDERS All About Eve (1950)
GEORGE SANDERS Foreign Correspondent (1940)
GEORGE SANDERS Slave Ship (1937)
GEORGE SANDERS Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942)
GEORGE SANDERS The Black Swan (1942)
GINGER ROGERS Roxie Hart (1942)
GRACE KELLY Fourteen Hours (1951)
GREGORY PECK David and Bathsheba (1951)
GREGORY PECK Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)
GREGORY PECK How the West Was Won (1962)
GREGORY PECK The Gunfighter (1950)
GREGORY PECK The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)
GREGORY PECK Twelve O’Clock High (1949)
GREGORY PECK Yellow Sky (1948)
HATTIE MCDANIEL MARGIE (1946)
HELEN HAYES Airport (1970)
HELEN HAYES Anastasia (1956)
HELEN HAYES Arrowsmith (1931)
HENRY FONDA Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
HENRY FONDA Firecreek (1968)
HENRY FONDA How the West Was Won (1962)
HENRY FONDA The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
HENRY FONDA Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
HUMPHREY BOGART Dead End (1937)
INGRID BERGMAN Anastasia (1956)
JACK PALANCE Panic in the Streets (1950)
JAMES CAGNEY What Price Glory (1952)
JAMES DUNN A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
JAMES STEWART Call Northside 777 (1948)
JAMES STEWART Firecreek (1968)
JAMES STEWART How the West Was Won (1962)
JANE DARWELL Brigham Young (1940)
JANE DARWELL Ramona (1936)
JANE DARWELL Slave Ship (1937)
JANE DARWELL Sunday Dinner for a Soldier (1944)
JANE DARWELL The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
JANE DARWELL The Rains Came (1939)
JENNIFER JONES Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
JENNIFER JONES The Song of Bernadette (1943)
JESSICA TANDY Dragonwyck (1946)
JOAN CRAWFORD Rain (1932)
JOAN CRAWFORD The Best of Everything (1959)
JOAN FONTAINE A Certain Smile (1958)
JOAN FONTAINE Gunga Din (1939)
JOAN FONTAINE This Above All (1942)
JOHN WAYNE How the West Was Won (1962)
JOHN WAYNE The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
JOSE FERRER The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
JOSEPH SCHILDKRAUT SLAVE SHIP (1937)
JOSEPH SCHILDKRAUT THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK (1959)
JOSEPH SCHILDKRAUT THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (1965)
JOSEPH SCHILDKRAUT THE RAINS CAME (1939)
KARL MALDEN How the West Was Won (1962)
KARL MALDEN Nevada Smith (1966)
KARL MALDEN The Gunfighter (1950)
KARL MALDEN They Knew What They Wanted (1940)
LAURENCE OLIVIER Wuthering Heights (1939)
LIONEL BARRYMORE Down to the Sea in Ships (1949)
LORETTA YOUNG Born to Be Bad (1934)
LORETTA YOUNG Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1934)
LORETTA YOUNG Clive of India (1935)
LORETTA YOUNG Mother Is a Freshman (1949)
LORETTA YOUNG Ramona (1936)
LORETTA YOUNG The Call of the Wild (1935)
LORETTA YOUNG The Devil to Pay! (1930)
LORETTA YOUNG The House of Rothschild (1934)
MARTIN LANDAU The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
MARY ASTOR Brigham Young (1940)
MARY ASTOR Dodsworth (1936)
MARY ASTOR The Hurricane (1937)
MARY ASTOR The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
MARY PICKFORD Kiki (1931)
MARY PICKFORD Secrets (1933)
MAUREEN STAPLETON Airport (1970)
MELVYN DOUGLAS Tonight or Never (1931)
OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND The Snake Pit (1948)
PAUL LUKAS Dodsworth (1936)
PAUL MUNI Hudson’s Bay (1941)
PETER USTINOV The Egyptian (1954)
RAY MILLAND Beau Geste (1939)
ROBERT DONAT The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)
RONALD COLMAN Arrowsmith (1931)
RONALD COLMAN Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1934)
RONALD COLMAN Clive of India (1935)
RONALD COLMAN Cynara (1932)
RONALD COLMAN The Devil to Pay! (1930)
RONALD COLMAN The Masquerader (1933)
RONALD COLMAN The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
RONALD COLMAN The Unholy Garden (1931)
SHELLEY WINTERS Cry of the City (1948)
SHELLEY WINTERS The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
SHELLEY WINTERS The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
SIDNEY POITIER No Way Out (1950)
SIDNEY POITIER The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
SPENCER TRACY How the West Was Won (1962)
SPENCER TRACY Looking for Trouble (1934)
SPENCER TRACY Sky Devils (1932)
SUSAN HAYWARD Beau Geste (1939)
SUSAN HAYWARD David and Bathsheba (1951)
SUSAN HAYWARD The President’s Lady (1953)
SUSAN HAYWARD With a Song in My Heart (1952)
THOMAS MITCHELL THE BLACK SWAN (1942)
THOMAS MITCHELL THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1939)
THOMAS MITCHELL THE HURRICANE (1937)
THOMAS MITCHELL THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM (1944)
THOMAS MITCHELL THIS ABOVE ALL (1942)
THOMAS MITCHELL TRADE WINDS (1938)
THOMAS MITCHELL WILSON (1944)
VAN HEFLIN Airport (1970)
VAN HEFLIN The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
VICTOR MCLAGLEN Gunga Din (1939)
VICTOR MCLAGLEN Wee Willie Winkie (1937)
WALLACE BEERY Slave Ship (1937)
WALLACE BEERY The Bowery (1933)
WALLACE BEERY The Mighty Barnum (1934)
WALTER BRENNAN Barbary Coast (1935)
WALTER BRENNAN Centennial Summer (1946)
WALTER BRENNAN Come and Get It (1936)
WALTER BRENNAN How the West Was Won (1962)
WALTER BRENNAN The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
WALTER BRENNAN The Wedding Night (1935)
WALTER BRENNAN These Three (1936)
WALTER BRENNAN They Shall Have Music (1939)
WALTER HUSTON Dodsworth (1936)
WALTER HUSTON Dragonwyck (1946)
WALTER HUSTON Rain (1932)
WARNER BAXTER Earthbound (1940)
WARNER BAXTER Slave Ship (1937)
WILLIAM HOLDEN Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
WILLIAM HOLDEN The Counterfeit Traitor (1962)
YUL BRYNNER Anastasia (1956)