Want to know the best Howard Hawks movies? How about the worst Howard Hawks movies? Curious about Howard Hawks’ box office grosses or which Howard Hawks movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Howard Hawks 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.
I first discovered Howard Hawks when I was in high school. During a sick day, I was flipping through the channels when I stopped on 1938’s Bringing Up Baby. Bringing Up Baby starred Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn and was directed by Howard Hawks. I was so impressed with Bringing Up Baby, that I started to seek out more Cary Grant and Howard Hawks movies. I then discovered that Howard Hawks was responsible for many classic movies.
His IMDb page shows 52 directing credits from 1926-1970. This page will rank 35 Howard Hawks movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Some of his silent movies were not included in the rankings.
Howard Hawks 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 Howard Hawks movies by co-stars of his movies
- Sort Howard Hawks movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Howard Hawks movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Howard Hawks 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 Howard Hawks movie received.
- Sort Howard Hawks 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 Howard Hawks Table
- Twenty-three Howard Hawks movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 65.71% of his movies listed. Sergeant York (1941) was his biggest box office hit.
- An average Howard Hawks movie grosses $154.90 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 30 Howard Hawks movies are rated as good movies…or 85.71% of his movies. Rio Bravo (1959) is his highest rated movie while Red Line 7000 (1965) is his lowest rated movie.
- Eleven Howard Hawks movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 31.42% of his movies.
- Four Howard Hawks movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 11.42% of his movies.
- A “good movie” Ultimate Movie Rankings Score is 60.00. 31 Howard Hawks movies scored higher that average….or 88.57% of his movies. Sergeant York (1941) got the the highest UMR Score while Red Line 7000 (1965) got the lowest UMR Score.
Seven Possibly Interesting Facts About Howard Hawks
1. Howard Hawks only received one Oscar® nomination for Best Director (1941’s Sergeant York) but he was given an Honorary Oscar® in 1974. His good friend, John Wayne, presented Hawks the Oscar®.
2. Howard Hawks directed some very famous actors/actresses numerous times: John Wayne (5 times), Cary Grant (5 times), Gary Cooper (3 times), Marilyn Monroe (3 times), Walter Huston (3 times), Humphrey Bogart (2 times), Lauren Bacall (2 times) and Edward G. Robinson (2 times).
3. In 1996 Entertainment Weekly voted Howard Hawks as the 4th greatest director of all-time.
4. Howard Hawks was the co-director of The Outlaw.…the other director was Howard Hughes. In 1935 Hawks replaced another legendary director, William Wyler, during the making of Barbary Coast. The next year, Hawks was fired before completing Come and Get It.…the man who replaced him?…the same William Wyler.
5. Howard Hawks was married three times in his life. His first marriage to Athole Shearer produced his only son and only daughter. Athole Shearer was the sister to Oscar® winning actress Norma Shearer.
6. And now we get to the mystery of the movie The Thing From Another World. Howard Hawks is not listed as the director of the movie, but rumors have swirled for years that he directed the movie and gave credit to his longtime editor, Christian Nyby. Since I believe in the rumor, I have included the movie in this movie page.
7. Check out Howard Hawks‘ career compared to current and classic actors and directors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Steve Lensman’s Howard Hawks You Tube Video
If you do a comment….please ignore the email address and website section.
Great Movie Page! I’ve only seen 8 of his films, but I too have noticed that Howard Hawks has many films that are counted among the classics. In particular, I have often believed that Rio Bravo was his greatest contribution to film. Perhaps he believed it too, considering he remade it three times (or at least made similar movies). Few western characters endure in my mind as much as the daring John T for trouble (John Wayne), the sobering deputy (Dean Martin), the young kid that’s as fast with his wit as he is with his gun (Ricky Nelson), or the wiseckacken old-timer stumpy (Walter Brennan). Even Angie Dickinson had an unforgettable role as the troublesome girl with an eye for John T. My favorite by far, but then I’ve seen so few of Howard’s films, that could easily change.
Hey TB DeForge….he decided to make Rio Bravo because he really disliked High Noon….and Rio Bravo was his response to how to make a good movie….I think he did well with El Dorado…but Rio Lobo was pretty bad….and was a film that even Hawks did not like…it is a shame that it was his last film.
I agree with your memories of Rio Bravo….I have the same thoughts….when I was looking for pictures for the hub I found one with Wayne and Dickinson…I could not believe how young she looked in the photo….but that was 53 years ago. Thanks for the comment it is greatly appreciated.
One of the great Hollywood directors, excellent work Bruce.
Where to begin? Sergeant York number one on the charts, it was a massive success but not one of my faves. I prefer the films below that on the chart, especially Red River, Rio Bravo and The Big Sleep.
Hmmm was To Have and Have Not a bigger hit than The Big Sleep? Bogart as Philip Marlowe in The Big Sleep was one of his iconic roles.
I watched screwball classics Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday again at Xmas, fun movies.
Favourite Hawks western? Probably Rio Bravo but Red River and El Dorado are up there too.
Of the 35 films you have listed I’ve seen 25. All 10 from the box office chart and all 10 from the critics chart.
As for the debate over who really directed The Thing from Another World, both James Arness and Kenneth Tobey have said in interviews that Christian Nyby was the director on set. Maybe Hawks was whispering in his ears all through the shoot?
Hawks only nominated for one Oscar? Say it isn’t so!
A fascinating page packed with info Bruce, good work amigo
Hey Steve…good to see we agree on Sergeant York. Well you are the tally count winner in this round as your 25 to my 17 to Flora’s 14 takes the round…congrats.
I went ahead and gave Hawks the credit for The Thing…everything I have read says he did the directing while Christian Nyby got the desired directing credit. Hawks was a very loyal friend, and he and Nyby were great friends.
As for To Have and Have Not….it had the benefit the entire Bacall/Bogart falling in love in real life thing going for it….but they both were big hits….and I like both of them.
I watch all the westerns you mentioned almost every year….I feel El Dorado calling me now….lol.
Thanks for all the compliments and the visit…they are always greatly appreciated.
Bruce, thanks for the ‘shout out’, this is a perfect complement to my hub because yours really gets to the nitty gritty of what was (and what is still considered) popular in his canon. Seargent York is definitely his standout movie but he made so many good ones with great star performances – nice to see A Song Is Born taking over 100 million at the box office even though it’s a long way down the list. Hawks was such a versatile director – he needs more praise lavished on him – this is a good start! Voted up, etc,etc – another cracking page!
Hey Jools99…I was very happy to include your hub. I really think they go well together…..my hubs are basically statistic pages while you really give lots of detailed information on the movies you decided to highlight.
I actually do not like Sergeant York as much as some of his other classics…which is strange that it is most successful film….I like the Cary Grant double feature of Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday….plus it is hard to ignore Only Angels Have Wings….and then the two Bogart/Bacall movies rank higher in my book as well. But then again I love Red River, Rio Lobo and El Dorado….he has so many good movies….Sergeant York might not even crack my Top 15. Thanks for all the votes up….and maybe will some more people will discover Mr. Howard Hawks.
I have seen a couple of Hawks’ films and I think he is a very accomplished director. So I was surprised when you said he only got one Oscar nod. It just goes to show that the Academy isn’t always right. Interesting information once again.
Hey Alecia…yep he only got one nomination…one of his friends was 4 time Oscar winner John Ford…who told Hawks…”Hey I get the awards but you make the better movies”. Thanks for stopping by.
Too busy to comment in detail now, but I thought I would say that I think this is a great idea to compliment Jools’s page on Hawkes. I will say, though, that I have seen 14 of H.H.’s films from all throughout his ranking from a high of number 2 to a low of number 33. That is 40% of his films overall.
I will discuss exact titles, top ten lists, preferences, and wish-to-see-list later.
Hey Flora…thanks for the quick comment….I have seen 17 of his movies….I am surprised that you have only seen 14…..but then again you are only three behind my total.
You can look at the large number of westerns/war films not starring my favourite all-time actors for that. notice the genres and starring actors/actresses in the top ten films that I *have* seen.
Top Ten Box Office: I have seen 5 of them:
2,3,6,9, and 10.
Top ten critics: 6 of them. (we will ignore the controversy of The Thing being directed by another. We will just look at titles you have included.
I have seen these top ten critics:
#2,3,4, 7, 8 and 10
Top ten movie score:
I have seen only 4 of them:
2, 6, 7, 9
I have made no secret of the fact that I cannot stand john Wayne. That is a personal preference. I know plenty of people who disagree. I will put up with him depending upon his costar. I will watch him opposite Peck, Widmark, Montgomery, Douglas, or Stewart.
But let us look at the number of films I have seen that DO NOT star him.
There are 30 films listed here without John Wayne. None of the H.H. films I have seen have J.W. So if you look at it this way:
I have seen 14 of 30 films: 47% of H.H.’s films without The Duke.
Hey Flora…I had forgotten that you are not the biggest Duke fan….I think you would like El Dorado…as Robert Mitchum is outstanding in the movie…not to mention a very young James Caan….5 full years before Godfather fame.
We will let you slide with that 47% without the Duke being in the movie….lol. The beauty of his career is that he can offer so much more….the screwball comedy….the detective story….racing movies….dramas.
So which are your favorites of the 14 you have seen…if you read my comment to Steve you will see the ones I really enjoy almost on a yearly basis.
One of the things I found interesting…is the fact that he did not make to many movies from 1950 to 1977. But overall he had a legendary career. Thanks for your comments and the visit.