Want to know the best Elisha Cook Jr. movies? How about the worst Elisha Cook Jr. movies? Curious about Elisha Cook Jr. box office grosses or which Elisha Cook Jr. movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Elisha Cook Jr. 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.
Elisha Cook Jr. (1903-1995) was an American actor. He often specialized in roles as “cowardly villains and neurotics”. He is perhaps best remembered for his portrayal of Wilmer in the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon. His IMDb page shows 219 acting credits between 1930 and 1988. This page will rank Elisha Cook Jr. movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television roles, shorts, cameos, uncredited roles, and movies that we unable to find box office grosses on were not included in the rankings.
Elisha Cook Jr. Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Elisha Cook Jr. 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 any way you want.
- Sort Elisha Cook Jr. movies by his co-stars
- Sort Elisha Cook Jr. movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost.
- Sort Elisha Cook Jr. movies by domestic yearly box office rank
- Sort Elisha Cook Jr. 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 Elisha Cook Jr. movie received.
- Sort Elisha Cook Jr. 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.
Possibly Interesting Facts About Elisha Cook Jr.
1. Elisha Vanslyck Cook Jr. was born in San Francisco, California in 1903.
2. Elisha Cook Jr. debuted on stage at age 14 and worked in vaudeville, stock companies and Broadway.
3. Elisha Cook Jr. received his nickname “Hollywood’s Lightest Heavy” from playing cowardly villains in his movies. His other nickname was “Cookie”.
4. Elisha Cook Jr. appeared in three Oscar® Best Picture nominees: Sergeant York (1941), The Maltese Falcon (1941) and Shane (1953).
5. Elisha Cook Jr. was almost 40 when he appeared in The Maltese Falcon. We always assumed he was signficantly younger.
Check out Elisha Cok Jr.’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. Emmy®, Tony® and Golden Globe® have also registered trademarks.
I have seen 26 Elisha Cook, Jr. movies, including 7 of the top 10.
The HIGHEST rated movie I have seen is Sergeant York.
The highest rated movie I have NOT seen is Rosemary’s Baby
The LOWEST rated movie I have seen is Welcome to Hard Times.
Favourite Elisha Cook, Jr. Movies:
The Maltese Falcon
The Big Sleep
The Killing
Shane
Ball of Fire
Love Crazy
I Wake Up Screaming
Tin Pan Alley
Don’t Bother to Knock
Phantom Lady
Dillinger
House on Haunted Hill
Stranger on the Third Floor
Up in Arms
Other Elisha Cook, Jr. Movies I Have Seen:
Sergeant York
One-Eyed Jacks
Trial
Pigskin Parade
Pat Garret and Billy the Kid
Baby Face Nelson
Thoroughbreds Don’t Cry
The Long Night
Tim Horn
St. Ives
The Great Bank Robbery
Welcome to Hard Times
Hey Flora, thanks for checking out and commenting on our Elisha Cook Jr. page. Tally count 26 for you, 14 for me and around 20 for Bob. I have seen 6 of your favorite Cook movies…they were the first 6 you listed. I have seen 3 of the other ones you have seen. Between your interview and this Cook page, I am getting an itch to re-watch The Maltese Falcon. Good stuff as always.
Elisha Cook Jr. has been gone from the Oracle of Bacon list for many years now. Back in 2000 he was # 219. These are the actors on the 2020 list he appeared with.
1 CHRISTOPHER LEE 1941 (1979)
11 ERNEST BORGNINE Emperor of the North Pole (1973)
31 ROBERT DUVALL The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972)
31 ROBERT DUVALL The Outfit (1973)
43 CHRISTOPHER LLOYD National Lampoon’s Movie Madness (1982)
52 NED BEATTY 1941 (1979)
57 HARRY DEAN STANTON Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
68 JOHN CARRADINE Danger: Love at Work (1937)
68 JOHN CARRADINE Submarine Patrol (1938)
84 BRUCE DERN Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
96 JACK PALANCE Shane (1953)
96 JACK PALANCE The Lonely Man (1957)
98 DAVID NIVEN Three Blind Mice (1938)
107 MICKEY ROONEY Baby Face Nelson (1957)
107 MICKEY ROONEY Platinum High School (1960)
107 MICKEY ROONEY Thoroughbreds Don’t Cry (1937)
114 JASON ROBARDS Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
126 HENRY FONDA The Long Night (1947)
126 HENRY FONDA Welcome to Hard Times (1967)
137 LAUREN BACALL The Big Sleep (1946)
138 FAYE DUNAWAY The Champ (1979)
140 MICKEY ROURKE 1941 (1979)
142 LANCE HENRIKSEN Emperor of the North Pole (1973)
143 JACK WARDEN The Champ (1979)
149 JEFF GOLDBLUM St. Ives (1976)
154 MARC LAWRENCE Blonde Alibi (1946)
154 MARC LAWRENCE Dillinger (1945)
154 MARC LAWRENCE Johnny Cool (1963)
158 SHELLEY WINTERS Behave Yourself! (1951)
158 SHELLEY WINTERS The Gangster (1947)
158 SHELLEY WINTERS The Great Gatsby (1949)
158 SHELLEY WINTERS Two Smart People (1946)
164 NICK NOLTE Electra Glide in Blue (1973)
165 JACQUELINE BISSET St. Ives (1976)
167 KRIS KRISTOFFERSON Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
170 JON VOIGHT The Champ (1979)
173 MAXIMILIAN SCHELL St. Ives (1976)
175 GEORGE SEGAL The Black Bird (1975)
193 KIRK DOUGLAS The Indian Fighter (1955)
205 MICHAEL GOUGH Black Zoo (1963)
207 JEFF COREY Joe Palooka, Champ (1946)
207 JEFF COREY The Gangster (1947)
223 JAMES COBURN Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
235 KEITH CARRADINE Emperor of the North Pole (1973)
241 GEOFFREY LEWIS Tom Horn (1980)
242 DAN AYKROYD 1941 (1979)
249 TREAT WILLIAMS 1941 (1979)
259 MIA FARROW Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
262 KEENAN WYNN Welcome to Hard Times (1967)
265 HENRY SILVA Johnny Cool (1963)
291 EDWARD HERRMANN Harry’s War (1981)
299 JOE DON BAKER The Outfit (1973)
315 CHARLES BRONSON Drum Beat (1954/I)
315 CHARLES BRONSON St. Ives (1976)
325 ANNE BANCROFT Don’t Bother to Knock (1952)
329 DIANE LANE National Lampoon’s Movie Madness (1982)
343 PETER BOYLE Hammett (1982)
346 GARY BUSEY Carny (1980)
352 TELLY SAVALAS Johnny Cool (1963)
361 DANNY HUSTON John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick (1989)
368 CESAR ROMERO A Gentleman at Heart (1942)
368 CESAR ROMERO He Married His Wife (1940)
368 CESAR ROMERO My Lucky Star (1938)
377 GLENN FORD Trial (1955)
392 KAREN BLACK The Outfit (1973)
393 OLYMPIA DUKAKIS National Lampoon’s Movie Madness (1982)
406 LIONEL STANDER 1941 (1979)
406 LIONEL STANDER The Black Bird (1975)
422 MARLON BRANDO One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
426 JODIE FOSTER Carny (1980)
439 CLIFF ROBERTSON The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972)
448 HARRIS YULIN St. Ives (1976)
449 MICHAEL MCKEAN 1941 (1979)
482 MICHAEL LERNER St. Ives (1976)
485 DICK MILLER 1941 (1979)
485 DICK MILLER National Lampoon’s Movie Madness (1982)
487 FRED WARD Carny (1980)
501 RALPH BELLAMY Public Deb No. 1 (1940)
501 RALPH BELLAMY Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
502 RICHARD WIDMARK Don’t Bother to Knock (1952)
502 RICHARD WIDMARK National Lampoon’s Movie Madness (1982)
509 AKIM TAMIROFF The Gangster (1947)
509 AKIM TAMIROFF The Great Bank Robbery (1969)
510 JOHN IRELAND The Gangster (1947)
513 JIM BROWN El Condor (1970)
532 DUB TAYLOR 1941 (1979)
532 DUB TAYLOR Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
537 WOODY STRODE Winterhawk (1975)
549 VINCENT PRICE House on Haunted Hill (1959)
549 VINCENT PRICE The Haunted Palace (1963)
549 VINCENT PRICE The Long Night (1947)
577 ROBERT STACK 1941 (1979)
596 ROY KINNEAR Hammett (1982)
597 PAUL FIX Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
597 PAUL FIX Sleepytime Gal (1942)
597 PAUL FIX Two in a Crowd (1936)
597 PAUL FIX Welcome to Hard Times (1967)
626 BEN JOHNSON One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
626 BEN JOHNSON Shane (1953)
628 GEORGE SANDERS Love Is News (1937)
629 ROYAL DANO Electra Glide in Blue (1973)
629 ROYAL DANO Hammett (1982)
629 ROYAL DANO Messiah of Evil (1973)
629 ROYAL DANO The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972)
629 ROYAL DANO Welcome to Hard Times (1967)
660 LEE MARVIN Emperor of the North Pole (1973)
677 ANTHONY PERKINS The Lonely Man (1957)
717 SLIM PICKENS 1941 (1979)
717 SLIM PICKENS One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
717 SLIM PICKENS Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
717 SLIM PICKENS Tom Horn (1980)
719 WALTER MATTHAU The Indian Fighter (1955)
727 ROBERT RYAN Day of the Outlaw (1959)
727 ROBERT RYAN The Outfit (1973)
729 MATT CLARK Emperor of the North Pole (1973)
729 MATT CLARK Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
729 MATT CLARK The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972)
749 KATHLEEN FREEMAN Behave Yourself! (1951)
760 LEE VAN CLEEF Accused of Murder (1956)
760 LEE VAN CLEEF El Condor (1970)
760 LEE VAN CLEEF The Lonely Man (1957)
781 WARREN OATES 1941 (1979)
781 WARREN OATES Welcome to Hard Times (1967)
808 JOANNA CASSIDY The Outfit (1973)
814 PETER RIEGERT National Lampoon’s Movie Madness (1982)
825 NEHEMIAH PERSOFF Day of the Outlaw (1959)
828 JACK ELAM Baby Face Nelson (1957)
828 JACK ELAM Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
851 ALDO RAY Welcome to Hard Times (1967)
914 GLYNIS JOHNS Papa’s Delicate Condition (1963)
915 STERLING HAYDEN The Killing (1956)
915 STERLING HAYDEN Timberjack (1955)
926 PATRICK O’NEAL El Condor (1970)
934 RICHARD ANDERSON Johnny Cool (1963)
943 BERT REMSEN Carny (1980)
950 DAVID OGDEN-STEIRS HARRY’S WAR (1981)
952 BRIAN KEITH Chicago Confidential (1957)
971 ROBERT ENGLUND St. Ives (1976)
973 JOHN CANDY 1941 (1979)
975 RICHARD JAECKEL Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
975 RICHARD JAECKEL Platinum High School (1960)
975 RICHARD JAECKEL The Outfit (1973)
985 DONALD MOFFAT The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972)
993 FREDERIC FORREST Hammett (1982)
1000 FRED WILLARD NATIONAL LAMPOON’S MOVIE MADNESS (1982)
Elisha Cook Jr. appeared in Joe Palooka, Champ one of 11 films Monogram made about Joe. I’ve seen over 24,000 feature films and have never seen one of those. I’ve only seen 1 of 16 Jones Family pictures and have also never seen any of the Ralph Bellamy Ellery Queen films but I’m off topic.
Elisha appeared with 43 Oscar winners in films.
ANNE BANCROFT Don’t Bother to Knock (1952)
BEN JOHNSON One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
BEN JOHNSON Shane (1953)
BURL IVES Day of the Outlaw (1959)
CLAIRE TREVOR Born to Kill (1947)
CLAUDETTE COLBERT Honor Among Lovers (1931)
CLIFF ROBERTSON The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972)
DAVID NIVEN Three Blind Mice (1938)
DON AMECHE Love Is News (1937)
DOROTHY MALONE Flaxy Martin (1949)
DOROTHY MALONE The Big Sleep (1946)
ERNEST BORGNINE Emperor of the North Pole (1973)
FAY BAINTER DARK WATERS (1944)
FAYE DUNAWAY The Champ (1979)
FREDRIC MARCH Honor Among Lovers (1931)
GARY COOPER Ball of Fire (1941)
GARY COOPER Sergeant York (1941)
GEORGE SANDERS Love Is News (1937)
GERALDINE PAGE Harry’s War (1981)
GIG YOUNG Sergeant York (1941)
GINGER ROGERS Honor Among Lovers (1931)
HENRY FONDA The Long Night (1947)
HENRY FONDA Welcome to Hard Times (1967)
HUMPHREY BOGART The Big Sleep (1946)
HUMPHREY BOGART The Maltese Falcon (1941)
JACK PALANCE Shane (1953)
JACK PALANCE The Lonely Man (1957)
JAMES COBURN Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
JANE DARWELL Love Is News (1937)
JANE DARWELL Three Blind Mice (1938)
JANE DARWELL Wife, Doctor and Nurse (1937)
JASON ROBARDS Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
JODIE FOSTER Carny (1980)
JON VOIGHT The Champ (1979)
KARL MALDEN One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
KATY JURADO One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
KATY JURADO Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
KATY JURADO Trial (1955)
LEE MARVIN Emperor of the North Pole (1973)
LORETTA YOUNG Love Is News (1937)
LORETTA YOUNG Three Blind Mice (1938)
LORETTA YOUNG Wife, Doctor and Nurse (1937)
MARLON BRANDO One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
MARY ASTOR The Maltese Falcon (1941)
MAXIMILIAN SCHELL St. Ives (1976)
OLYMPIA DUKAKIS National Lampoon’s Movie Madness (1982)
ROBERT DUVALL The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972)
ROBERT DUVALL The Outfit (1973)
RUTH GORDON ROSEMARY’S BABY (1968)
SHELLEY WINTERS Behave Yourself! (1951)
SHELLEY WINTERS The Gangster (1947)
SHELLEY WINTERS The Great Gatsby (1949)
SHELLEY WINTERS Two Smart People (1946)
THOMAS MITCHELL DARK WATERS (1944)
VAN HEFLIN Shane (1953)
WALTER BRENNAN Blood on the Moon (1948)
WALTER BRENNAN Sergeant York (1941)
WALTER HUSTON The Maltese Falcon (1941)
WALTER MATTHAU The Indian Fighter (1955)
WARNER BAXTER Wife, Doctor and Nurse (1937)
Hey Dan. Thanks for these impressive trivia filled lists. Cook might not be on the Oracle 1000 anymore, but his first list is still very impressive. Lots of Oracle co-stars with multiple movies with Elisha. Royal Dano’s 6 movies with him, tops the list. Though it should be noted that many had 4 movies with him. As for the second list….43 is impressive, but smaller than I would have guessed. I would have thought he would have at 50….a long career with so many movies. I saw that Joe Palooka,Champ was the first in a series. I guess those movies cost almost nothing to make, because the first one was not too big of a hit. Maybe they were like the Mr. Moto movies – modest box office – but very profitable because they cost so little. Good stuff as always.
For me personally his greatest roles were as the hot-tempered firebrand Stonewall Torrey in Shane [“Leave him be for now. We can get HIM to draw anytime!”] and the cuckolded husband in The Killing. However as he always seemed to be popping up in movies I enjoyed him in many other roles as well and here are a selection of those others in some of which he appeared in support of my own top fave leading performers:
Sgt York
Don’t Bother to Knock – Widmark/Monroe
Maltese Falcon
Drumbeat – Laddie
I the Jury – from a Mickey Spillane novel.
Trial – Charlie Bill Stuart
Rose Myrna’s Baby
Great Gatsby – Ladd again
The Big Sleep
One Eyed Jacks – Brando
Thunder over the Plains – Randy Scott
I Wake Up Screaming [aka Hot Spot – Mature/Grable
Hammett
Hellzapoppin – with the comedy team Cogerson overlooked in his Greatest Duos page: Olsen and Johnson
In my perception Elisha was undoubtedly one of the pillars of great American supporting and character acting throughout his career and was particularly the type of back-up for the big stars that was so essential in Hollywood’s early decades of the last century. Therefore I welcome this new page with a “Vote Up!”
Hey Bob….I think you and Joel are thinking alike with regards to Cook’s status as one of “great American supporting and character actors.” Looks like he worked with lots of your favorites. I wonder if Alan Ladd liked Cook being around on his sets…..if only because Cook was small as well. Shane and The Killing, along with The Maltese Falcon are my Top 3 Elisha Cook movies. Maybe one day soon I will revisit that Greatest Duo page. Seems I have discovered lots of teams that I ignore the first time. Good stuff.
Although his stock in trade on the screen was ‘little guys’ and pushovers/cuckolds [“You’ll take your slaps and like them!” – Bogie to Cook in Maltese Falcon] Elisha seemed to be quite an independent character in real life and possibly a ladies’ man. He was married 3 times and even married one of his brides twice. Just like the jury’s still out on this site about whether Sir Maurice Micklewhite was caught by the camera serving tea in Morning Departure there are many sources that suggest Cook had no kids; and yet his Army record apparently states that he had “wives and dependents” – ie secret children.
[The heated argument that Bruce started on this site about Sir Maurice’s potential Morning Departure role has now caught fire also in my amateur Movie Buffs’ Club. Whether true or false legends tend to snowball with everybody wanting in on the act. At my Buffs meeting last night one guy claimed to have spotted Sir M running around with a tray in 1956’s Teahouse of the August Moon].
According to John Huston who directed Cook in Maltese Falcon Elisha in and around his marriages at times “lived alone up in the High Sierra and tied flies and caught golden trout between films. When he was wanted in Hollywood they sent word up to his mountain cabin by courier. He would come down, do a picture and then withdraw again to his retreat.” [I wonder if he ever built any fences around his cabin.]
According to Celebrity net worth site at the time of his death Elisha had a net worth which was assessed last year at 2.5 million in 2019 dollars. Cook appeared on a wide variety of American television series from the early 1950s to the late 1980s and [for whatever it is worth!] Wikipedia lists 24 of them in Cook’s filmography.
Hey Bob. Funny comment about your Movie Buff Club. Sadly I got an e-mail alert that my purchase of Operation Disaster has been postponed. I guess there was a run on that movie, and now they do seem to have a copy to ship. Interesting about Cook and his retreat…as busy as he was…they must have known exactly how to reach him. Thanks for the information on his networth and his vast television career. WoC and I tore down 40 feet of wooden fence and put up 40 feet of wooden fence this weekend. Hectic weekend….but glad that is off the honey do list. Good stuff as always.
HI BRUCE: Thanks for the feedback. Glad you got your fence renewed. I am reminded of the scene in the TV series The Virginian where our hero fixes at the ranch of Judge Garth [Le J Cobb] a fence that cattle rustlers have damaged – but did you manage to catch any golden trout?
Hope you get your copy of Morning Departure soon. It is still a ‘win’ for you if Sir M is in it because I’m sure many Micklewhite fans would kill to have the privilege of seeing Sir Maurice in his first screen appearance.
However we may well be in the Elvis Zone where many wishful-thinking Micklewhite idolaters like to feel that they are experiencing sightings of him in new places. As you know fans of the officially deceased Elvis thought they spotted him for example in a loin cloth in a jungle tree house or going over Niagara in a canoe. In 1997’s Red Corner starring Richard Gere I though I saw Laddie and The Duke lurking in shadowy Chinese doorways [like Harry Lime in the 3rd Man] keeping an eye on the Commies.
Conversely though if you’re right – I’m NEVER dogmatic – and if Sir M is not in Morning D it’s actually lose/lose for BOTH you and me. I mean if Wiki/IMDB and so many other sites have included it that places a big question mark over their general reliability; so where do we go to in future for our trivia?
We might well feel like those runners in Forrest Gump who were devastated when he stopped leading them and who stood in the middle of the road in a demoralised bunch shaking their heads and asking “What do we do now?” In a similar situation shrewd and artful politicians like your Donald and our Boris might feel it best to PRETEND Sir M was in Morning D. As Labour’s Harold Wilson when Brit Prime Minister once said when asked to tell the truth about his own shortcomings: “I’M not going to blow the whistle on myself!”
HI again BIG BOY: As always you jog my memory. I hadn’t though about Olsen and Johnson in years; yet aged 11 one week in 1952 I went to see Hellzapoppin two nights in a row at our local ‘flea pit’ though I doubt if that movie would appeal to me now. With your painful and comprehensive research you sure have a gift for dragging long-forgotten Classic era movies back into the spotlight and putting a gross against them – well done!
So you and I are agreed on 3 of Elisha’s best 4 performances. We both agree on Shane and The Killing; you have Maltese Falcon as a third; and it is my own 4th fave Cook performance. My own 3rd is Rosemyrna’s Baby.
If I recall correctly Jack Wilson was able to goad Elisha’s Torrey into drawing by referring to Robert E Lee as “trash”. I can understand that as I am sure that any viewer of this site could get you to “draw” if the called Al Leach or Joel trash – or if they kept insisting that Sir M once played a non-speaking teaboy in movies!
By the way however the Morning D [I refuse to call it Operation Disaster] debate turns out YOU have already had a small victory. Every time I quote a fact that I have previously mentioned I re-check to ensure that it is still valid. On previous occasions when I chided you about Mr Gimme More not being credited with Split on IMDB/Wiki that was true at those points in time.
However on checking out the situation today I see that both sites DO NOW give Brucie credit for his non- appearance in that movie in their sites’ presentation of his filmography AND in their cast lists for the movie.
I’ve mentioned to you previously that I think that other moderators are keeping a close eye on your site [and probably other sites as well] and that they make adjustments to their own sites if new information on Cogerson or elsewhere warrants that. It could be that the Wiki/IMDB people have seen the current Morning D/Split exchanges between us and your arguments in support of Split have been more convincing than mine. If so I congratulate you – “kindest friend/noblest foe” that’s me!
Thanks Bob…we got 40 feet of fence done in about 48 hours…it was a very busy weekend. Wiki has 1000s and 1000s of editors…so you might be correct…maybe one of them is an UMR reader.
Hey Bob…glad to jog your memory.
Hi Mr. Cogerson,
Great UMR page.
I think item # 5 under facts maybe in error. You are talking about George Brent.
Should be revised or removed.
Thx
Mike
Hey Mike….George Brent’s rude barging into poor Elisha’s page has been fixed. I knew I found 5 things on Cook….just forgot how to count…and then failed to notice I left Brent’s 5th fact. Thanks as always for the catch.