Want to know the best Ben Johnson movies? How about the worst Ben Johnson movies? Curious about Ben Johnson box office grosses or which Ben Johnson movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Ben Johnson movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Ben Johnson (1918-1996) was an Oscar® winning American actor. Johnson was a stunt man, horse wrangler, and double for such stars as John Wayne, Gary Cooper and James Stewart. His break came when legendary director, John Ford, noticed him and gave him a part in an upcoming film, and eventually a star part in 1950’s Wagon Master. His IMDb page shows 105 acting credits from 1939 to 1996. In the table below, Ultimate Movie Rankings ranks 50 of his movies in 6 different sortable columns. Television roles, his early Paramount projects and many of his low budget movies were not included in the rankings on the table.
Ben Johnson Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Ben Johnson 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 Ben Johnson movies by co-stars of his movies.
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Sort Ben Johnson 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 Ben Johnson movie received.
Sort Ben Johnson 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 sort and search buttons to make this a very interactive table.
Possibly Interesting Facts About Ben Johnson
1. Ben Johnson Jr. was born in Foraker, Oklahoma, on the Osage Indian Reservation.
2. Ben Johnson’s film career began with the Howard Hughes film The Outlaw. Before filming began, Hughes bought some horses at the Oklahoma ranch that Johnson’s father managed, and hired Johnson to get the horses to northern Arizona (for The Outlaw’s location shooting), and then to take them on to Hollywood.
3. In 1953, Ben Johnson took a break from Hollywood to compete in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association . He became a Team Roping World Champion. Johnson was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1973
4. Since both Ben Johnson and his father were named “Ben”, the younger Johnson was known as “Son” at home. The road marker to the actor’s ranch near Shidler, Oklahoma declares it as Ben “Son” Johnson’s ranch.
5. Ben Johnson appeared with John Wayne in eight films: Tall in the Saddle (1944), 3 Godfathers (1948), Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Rio Grande (1950), The Undefeated (1969), Chisum (1970) and The Train Robbers (1973).
6. Ben Johnson initially turned down the role of Sam the Lion in The Last Picture Show (1971) when it was first offered to him by Peter Bogdanovich because he thought the script was “dirty”, and he did not approve of swearing and nudity in motion pictures. Bogdanovich appealed to John Ford, who got Johnson to change his mind as a favor to him. With the permission of Bogdanovich, Johnson rewrote his role with the offensive words removed. Johnson went on to win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar® for playing the role.
7. Ben Johnson was married one time. Johnson’s 1941 marriage to Carol Elaine Jones lasted until her death on March 27, 1994. They had no children. She was the daughter of noted Hollywood horse wrangler Clarence “Fat” Jones.
8. Ben Johnson appeared in four movies directed by Sam Peckinpah. He also starred in the first theatrical feature film directed by Steven Spielberg…1974’s The Sugarland Express.
9. Shrewd real estate investments made Ben Johnson worth an estimated $100 million.
10. Check out Ben Johnson’s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.
Ben Johnson had for my money two of the most dramatic confrontations in the history of movies with idols of mine: (1) the famous prolonged fist-fight with Ladd in 1953’s Shane (2) squaring-off to Brando in 1961’s One Eyed Jacks
Ben was one of the very first movie stars ever that I can recall watching. My young aunt used to take me to the movies when I was only 10 years old and the 4 movies which to this day I can remember her accompanying me to are Cooper’s 1936 The Plainsman; Flynn’s 1950 Kim; Ronald Reagan’s 1953 B western Law and Order [“The story of Frame Johnson the last of the great-shooting marshals!”] and Ben’s 1950 Wagon Master directed by John Ford.
Also around 1950 I went with my boyhood pals to see Mighty Joel Young and the teaming of Terry Moore/Ben Johnson is the earliest one that I can remember; and I became acquainted with Joel Young before I did his more famous pal Kong!
Other Johnson movies that I have enjoyed are: Red River/She Wore a Yellow Ribbon/Fort Defiance/Oklahoma/Cheyenne Autumn/Major Dundee/The Last Picture Show/Terror Train and Rebel in Town.
On top of his prolific movie career Wikipedia credits Ben with 25 television presentations According to Celebrity Net Worth site Ben at his death in 1996 left behind a net worth equivalent to $3.32 million in 2020 dollars; and IMDB credits him with 11 acting awards and 1 nom. BEST POSTERS STEVE’s VIDEO
1/Terror Train
2/Red Dawn
3/The Hunter – sadly McQueen’s final film. It was not well received critically; but he said at the time that he was pleased with its modest commercial success against the run of disappointing box office for Hollywood overall that year.
4/The set for The Train Robbers
5/2 for Breakheart Pass
6/Chisum – superbly iconic showcasing arguably Old Hollywood’s most iconic star!
7/Set for Mighty Joel Young
8/2 for Major Dundee
9/Great 2nd one for Will Penny
10/Sugarland Express
11/the entire glossy set for The Getaway
12/again the whole set for Wagon Master
13/1st one for Rio Grande
14/two absolute crackers for She Wore a Yellow River
15/two absolutely splendid foreign language ones for Shane
16/another fine set this time for The Wild Bunch-Golden Holden’s penultimate box office success where he was the main and top-billed star the only other such one in his declining career being 1978’s rip-off Omen 2. He was 2nd billed in 1976’s Network and was overshadowed by Finch; and he pressed for top billing in Towering Inferno 1974 but McQueen and Newman would not wear that!
17/They Who Dare
18/My Heroes Have always been Action Men
19/Foreign Language one for Junior Bonner
20/2nd one for Bite the Bullet
21/One Eyed Jacks.
Because of the overall consistency of the fine visuals in Steve’s video it gives me pleasure to the tune of 98% – 2 views by me already. BEST STILLS/LOBBY CARDS [In fact all or nearly all of them – there were not seemingly as many as usual]
1/Train Robbers
2/Undefeated
3/Hang em High
4/Chisum
5/Mighty Joel Young
6/Dillinger
7/solo of Ben from I think Wagon Master
8/Rio Grande
9/2 for She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
10/The Last Picture Show
11/The Wild Bunch – I’m sulking it was rated above Shane by Steve
12/Ben and Laddie – let the fisticuffs begin!
13/Closing solo of a grizzled Ben
14/One Eyed Jacks
ADDITIONAL TRIVIA
Brando was 37 in Jacks but they still referred to him and addressed him as “The Kid!” THAT for you was the Old Hollywood where the likes of Astaire/Randy Scott/Joel McCrea tended to pick up ‘child-brides’; were still called “young man” even though in their later movies they were on the cusp of retirement; and their screen prospective fathers-in-law were often slightly younger than themselves.
THAT was the make-believe Hollywood where Dorian Leach was roughly the same age as his screen mother. I have often wondered if Archie for example was the 2nd Immaculate Conception.
In 1953’s western The Lone Hand Joel McCrea was 48; his bride [Perry Mason’s Barbara Hale] was about 30; Joel’s screen father-in-law Roy Roberts was 47; and they both looked about 60!
In 1955 ‘s Wichita Joel was almost 50; his ‘intended’ Psycho’s Vera Miles was about 25; and her screen father Walter Coy was in real life three years younger than McCrea. Talk about “poetic license”!
ASTAIRE [56] “She [24-year-old Leslie Caron] has nicknamed me her Daddy Long Legs.”
Friend LARRY KEATING “Daddy Sugar you mean!”
In 1964’s Father Goose the-now-33 Leslie was the romantic interest of 60-year-old Archibald Alec Leach. As I’ve said before: you couldn’t make it up – no wonder that aged 37 Brando could still pass as The Kid!
Hi Bob, thanks for the review, generous rating, info, trivia and quotes, much appreciated. Glad you liked the posters, stills and lobby cards.
This was one of the few times Shane was bumped off the top spot on one of my videos, maybe the only time. What was no.1 on director George Steven’s video? Hang on… it’s Shane! In second place, Giant. On composer Victor Young’s video it’s…. Shane again, no.2 was The Quiet Man. [Bob smiles]
Shane would have been no.2 on Alan Ladd’s video if I had included Citizen Kane in which he had a small role as a reporter popping up in the last few minutes. Wait a second lets see Jean Arthur’s video… oooh Shane is no. 2 [Bob gasps] no.1 is a Jimmy Stewart movie, something to do with Washington
Van Heflin’s no.2 movie is another classic western – 3:10 to Yuma.
Jack Palance’s no.2 movie is another great western – The Professionals.
Five films scored 10 out of 10 in Ben Johnson’s filmography –
The Wild Bunch
Shane
The Last Picture Show
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Rio Grande
One film scored 9 – Will Penny. There were several 8s including The Getaway, Wagon Master and One Eyed Jacks.
The Last Picture Show tops both IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes charts.
“When I left Oklahoma, I wasn’t even sure which direction Hollywood was, but I could ride a horse pretty good. I had no formal education to speak of. I was a cowboy from the time I hit the ground. I knew if a cow weighed 1,000 pounds and bought $10 a hundred, I knew how much that was. But I was fortunate because people accepted my character. I ran my life a certain way. I didn’t hobnob with the elites because I didn’t do drugs and I didn’t drink a lot of whiskey . . . oh, I might take a drink now and then, but you know what I mean.”
“After I won that old Oscar, everybody thought I knew something. I didn’t know any more than I did before I won it, but they thought I did.”
HI STEVE: A sound and very comprehensive feedback as always – much appreciated by me. If you don’t mind my saying so I think you are too balanced and logical. If we could juggle time-warps and Welles could make Kane today with Willis in that tiny Ladd [no pun intended!] role
Welles would be virtually ignored on this site and The Work Horse would plaster Mr Gimme More’s connection with it all over the site [in the way that WH over-promotes The Thin Woman’s connection with movies where she doesn’t really count].
You mention Ben leaving his birthplace Oklahoma. Thank goodness to read about some other state: I’m sick hearing about Virginia! Ben’s role in in the classic movie musical Oklahoma was that of a wrangler and stuntman and officially uncredited. However in my part one post yesterday I listed it as a have-seen Johnson movie; why should Willis and Thins have ALL the advantages?
MEANINGLESS TRIVIA: I watched that movie in a cinema in Gloucester the night Labour under Harold Wilson won the 1966 election.
I mentioned in my previous posts how in Old Hollywood it was par for the course for ageing male stars such as Al Leach and Joel McCrea to team up with much younger females as their leading ladies/love interest a prime example being the 56-year-old Astaire paired off with the 24-year-old Leslie Caron. Still in the movie they “live happily ever-after”! Here’s what Wikipedia says.
“Wealthy American Jervis Pendleton III (Fred Astaire) has a chance encounter at a French orphanage with a cheerful 18-year-old resident, Julie Andre (Leslie Caron). He anonymously pays for her education at a New England college. She writes letters to her mysterious benefactor regularly, but he never writes back. Her nickname for him, Daddy Long Legs, is taken from the description of him given to Andre by some of her fellow orphans who see his shadow as he leaves their building. Several years later, he visits her at school, still concealing his identity. Despite their large age difference, they fall in love.”
You will see that the plot’s even worse than the real-life situation: in the latter there are ‘just’ 32 years between Fred and Leslie whereas in the movie if we recognise that Fred was actually 56 the gap between him and teenager Caron [at the start of the movie] is a whopping 38 years. Where does the Hollywood fantasy of the “aged charmer” [as the older Archie was often described in the fan magazines] recede and the “dirty old man” enter the picture?
When [according to Axl Rose] Warren Beatty stole Rose’s young girlfriend from Axl the Guns n Roses icon “outed” Warren as a D.O.M. who preyed on young girls by writing and releasing a song to that effect.
Pina Pellicer who acted with Ben Johnson and Brando in One Eyed Jacks was 10 years younger than Marlon and therefore 27 in that movie. Sadly she never reached even the 37 that he was when they acted together as 3 years later she committed suicide at the age of 30. The trigger-factor was officially put down as depression. Look after yourself and stay safe.
Hey Bob…good feedback on Steve’s posters and the movie career of Ben Johnson. I always enjoyed when good ole Ben appeared in movies. Bob taking a shot at Myrna Loy…..well…how about a video that shows Gielgud taking a shot at Brando?….https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up-7hSCpiO8
This was a good idea for a page. I had relatives that worked on the Johnson ranches. Both Sr. and Jr. had huge ranches. My relatives said Ben Johnson was an awesome down to earth fella. I always enjoyed his movies. Favorites would be The Wild Bunch, Hunter and Hang Em’ High.
Hey SteinHoF16….that is awesome to hear that Ben Johnson was a good guy away from the big screen. Sadly, that is not always the case. I loved The Wild Bunch and Hang Em High….while I enjoyed The Hunter…which is bittersweet since it was McQueen’s last movie. Good feedback.
I saw 21 including top 9. no 10s. no favorites. lots of 9s: last picture show, wild bunch , shane, the getaway, she wore a yellow ribbon. hidden gem is red dawn an 8
In addition to being an actor and stuntman, Ben Johnson was a true cowboy, both in real life and in films. And looking at this list, one can see he has appeared mostly in westerns, including several classic ones. After a number of bit parts, Johnson’s career seemed promising when he was cast in several John Ford westerns in the late 40s and early 50s, but following a spat with Ford, he seemed to gradually drop into lesser roles coupled with TV work until 1969’s The Wild Bunch, which gave him a big career boost at the age 50.
I’ve seen 14 films on the list (not much compared to the competition!), and next to The Wild Bunch, my favorites are Rio Grande, Shane, The Getaway, Junior Bonner, Will Penny and Breakheart Pass – though I have yet to see two of highest rated films, The Last Picture Show and 3 Godfathers, which are both on my list of films to see.
HI PHIL
Good take on Ben’s career – excellent really.
I suppose we movie buff purists can often make the mistake of regarding as a RELATIVE failure in terms of stardom someone who isn’t a recognised Legend like Wayne, Gable or Olivier. However-
1/Great supporting actors [occasional leading men] like Ben are too the bedrock of the movie industry in their own way and probably many of the accredited classics would not have been as rich without the Johnsons of the industry and their wonderful performances.
2/Ben’s reported net worth at death in 1996 was $100 million approximately, which according to the US Bureau of Labor Stats has the purchasing power of $160 million in 2019 dollars.
I’m sure that anyone worth $160 million today would regard himself/herself as one of the foremost successes in life!
Anyway I always loved the guy and for me Ben’s presence in movies was always one of those that helped create the magical atmosphere that I found in movie houses as I was growing up. Mighty Joel Young in 1949, in which Ben did have the male lead was one of the very first movies that I ever saw in my entire life and I will always remember it most nostalgically.
Hey Bob….very cool. Who would have guessed that one of Johnson’s few leading roles would have been one of your first ever movies seen and remembered.
HI BRICE
I appreciate the response.
I actually recall -in 1950 or 1951 – locating for the 1st time the cinema in which Mighty Joel Young was showing and which became one of my fave haunts throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
It was the biggest cinema I had ever seen up until then and I gazed upon it in wonder and awe.
Alas! it was flattened in the 1970s and a telephone exchange stands in its place.
Take care and I hope you are enjoying your weekend.
Good stuff Bob. My childhood theater was called The Plaza. It had 3 screens the opening movie got the roughly 100 seater….while the older movies got the 75 seater. Grand total of about 250 seats for the whole theater. This are rough estimates on my part…makes me wonder what the actual numbers were….as like your theater….it is no longer in existence. It is now a parking lot of a grocery store. But…I saw so many movies there….from the release of Dick Van Dyke’s Never a Dull Moment…which should have been called Always A Dull Moment to my first R rated movie that I got in myself…it was either the early Tom Cruise flick Endless Love or William Hurt plays a sucker in Body Heat to movies in the mid 1990s when I took my kids. Good stuff…as always.
HI Bob and Bruce,
Nice additional feedback on Ben Johnson and long-distanced memories of movie theatres that don’t exist any-more.
I had not realized Johnson had played some major roles in his younger days until I noticed him in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. It’s interesting how Sam Penckinpah and Sergio Leone helped to revive or boost the career of a number of character actors.
Hey PhilHoF17…..good comment. I think everybody has a theater like that….and sadly they are all almost gone. I remember a trip I took when I was 10…I traveled with my grandmother to Portland, Oregon. One day we walked to a movie theater….it seems we walked forever….but eventually got to this massive theater….complete with balconies, a stage and a massive screen. It was amazing. It probably could seat 800 people. That day there were only about 20 of us in the theater. The movie? A Bridge Too Far. No way that movie theater is still there. Thanks for the return visit.
Hey Bruce (or should I say…second son :)), That sounds like quite a theatre. I don’t recall being in one that big, but I also saw A Bridge Too Far in some theatre when it came out. I was 12 at the time and I admit that I got a little bored, but I later grew to appreciate the film.
Hey Phil….I can see a12 year old getting bored during A Bridge Too Far. It is a very long movie and back then I am sure I did not know all the stars. Yep, I am the forgotten second kid….lol.
Hey PhilHoF17. Good feedback as always. His part in Last Picture Show is small but very memorable. His role in Three Godfathers is a supporting one…but is a good but different John Wayne movie….I would recommend both movies.
He might be the most authentic cowboy to ever appear in movies. I can imagine his early “stunts” were activities he did on a regular basis growing up on a ranch of a rodeo star. Of your favorite Ben Johnson movies…I am right there with you on Will Penny, The Wild Bunch and The Getaway. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your Johnson movie thoughts.
Ben Johnson, one of John Ford’s stock company of actors and stuntmen, before eventually becoming a respectable character actor.
I’ve seen 25 of the 50 films on the chart, favorites include – Mighty Joseph Young, Shane, The Wild Punch, General Dundee, William Penny, The Getaway, He Wore a Pink Ribbon, Rio Grande, Hang em High, Breakfast Pass, The Train Rubbers and John Chisum.
I watched The Last Picture Show for the first time a few years ago, good film, good actors but not a favorite. One of the few films made in B/W during the 1970s. Audiences must have groaned when it looked like it wasn’t going to switch to color any time soon.
Good stuff as always Bruce. Vote Up!
“What am I, chopped liver?”
🙂
Hey Lastman…..I did not see your comment. My most humble “I am sorry”. As for your question “What am I, chopped liver?” you my friend are A Japanese Kobe Beef Steak served with a bottle of Screaming Eagle Cabernet 1992 and topped off with a Frrrozen Haute Chocolate Ice Cream Sundae for dessert. Cost of this dinner….about $525,200. $500,000 for the wine, $25,000 for the dessert and $200 for a one pound steak. The tip for this dinner would be about $80,000….which I will take care off as well.
Hey Steve.
1. Somehow…I missed your comment. Sorry about that.
2. Tally count….the original three…..Flora, you and me are all pretty close….as you lead the way with 25, I am right behind you with 24 and she is at 21. PhilHoF17 is sitting at 14.
3. I would have guessed that Ray H.’s Mighty Joe Young would be amongst your favorite Ben Johnson movies. Seen all of your favorites….and liked all of them.
4. I wonder how many people co-starred with Clint Eastwood and John Wayne in a western….I think the number might be pretty low. Other than Johnson…I can not think of anybody. Eastwood’s spaghetti western cast members probably made few American movies…while Wayne’s stable of friends and actors probably spent the last 10 years of Wayne’s life making his movies.
5. I am sure Eastwood worked with lots of Wayne co-stars on his television show Rawhide….but that does not count in my book.
6. The Last Picture Show is a good movie….but I agree….it does not beg to be re-watched. Great performances throughout the movie…and Jeff Bridges looks like a baby in that one.
7. Last Picture Show looks amazing in black and white……probably one of Peter Bognadvvdcxh’s best director decisions.
Good feedback as always.