José Ferrer Movies

Want to know the best José Ferrer movies?  How about the worst José Ferrer movies?  Curious about José Ferrer box office grosses or which José Ferrer movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which José Ferrer 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.

José Ferrer (1912-1992) was an Oscar® winning Puerto Rican actor and film director. He was the first Puerto Rican-born actor, as well as the first Hispanic actor, to win an Academy Award®.  He won the Best Actor Oscar for 1950’s Cyrano de Bergerac.  His IMDb page shows 121 acting credits from 1948 to 1992.   This page will rank José Ferrer movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos, uncredited roles and movies that were not released in North American were not included in the rankings.

Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)

José Ferrer Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

1954’s The Caine Mutiny

José Ferrer 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 José Ferrer movies by his co-stars
  • Sort José Ferrer movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort José Ferrer movies by yearly domestic box office rank
  • Sort José Ferrer 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 José Ferrer movie received.
  • Sort José Ferrer movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
1952’s Moulin Rouge

The Best José Ferrer Trivia On IMDb

1. José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1912.

2.  José Ferrer is the uncle of George Clooney.

3.  José Ferrer is nine of only nine actors to have won both the Tony® and the Oscar® for the same role on stage and film. The others are Yul Brynner (The King and I (1956)), Rex Harrison (My Fair Lady (1964)), Viola Davis (Fences (2016),, Anne Bancroft (The Miracle Worker (1962)), Joel Grey (Cabaret (1972)), Paul Scofield (A Man for All Seasons (1966)), Shirley Booth (Come Back, Little Sheba (1952)) and Jack Albertson (The Subject Was Roses (1968)).

4. José Ferrer was a talented pianist in his childhood, he maintained a lifelong passion for music, in later years performing as an opera singer at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Beverly Hills Opera.

5. José Ferrer appeared in three Oscar® Best Picture nominees: Moulin Rouge (1952), The Caine Mutiny (1954) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962), with the last being the only winner.

Check out José Ferrer’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. Golden Globes® are the registered trademark and service mark of the Hollywood Foreign Press. Emmy® is a registered trademark.

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28 thoughts on “José Ferrer Movies”

  1. Thank you for the articles one of the most unappreciated actors and film stars. He was the first Latino (he was Puerto Rican) to win an Academy Award. He had an impressive theater background. He inspired thousands of Latino performers to become actors and within the Latino community he was always highly respected.
    Unfortunately, beginning in the 1960s, when he should have been getting the cream of the crop roles, he was reduced to being a featured actor in obscure films. He was definitely the victim of ethnic and age discrimination in the film industry. There were exceptions to his roles in the 1960s like Lawrence of Arabia and Ship of Fools. However, his work is a testament to his talent and that nobody had take away.
    By the way, would it be possible to mention that I have written two books, one on Latino actors and the other on American Indian Images?
    Thank you.

    Reply

    1. Hey Frank….thanks for the nice words on our Jose Ferrer page. I agree 100% with …”He inspired thousands of Latino performers to become actors and within the Latino community he was always highly respected.” Sadly his quality roles in Lawrence of Arabia and Ship of Fools were few and far between once the 1960s and 1970s rolled around. As for your books….you can just your books….please add a link to those books…maybe we can generate some sales for you. To avoid our Spam trackers…..please only include one book link per comment box…more than one link in a comment sends it to the Spam God where it is normally through in a trash bin. Good stuff.

      Reply

      1. Hello Cogerson,
        Yes, my two books about film are Latino Image Makers of Hollywood (McFarland & Co., Inc., 2015); and my new one American Indian Image Makers of Hollywood (McFarland & Co., Inc.), which has just been released. The link is McFarlandPub.com
        Thank you for your support and interest. Best wishes.

        Reply

  2. HI BRUCE: Thanks for your feedback on my Rachel and Oscar posts. I remember Jose well: a prestige actor who for a while in the 1950s also became a reasonably important star, getting billed before Van Johnson and Fred MacMurray [and after only Bogie] in The Caine Mutiny and appearing in a long run of top billed stand-alone movies – Moulin Rouge, Cyrano De Bergerac, Cockleshell Heroes, The High Cost of Loving, The Shrike, Anything can Happen, Deep in My Heart, I Accuse and The Great Man.

    The Great Man [1956] is my fave. Jose plays a reporter who exposes popular broadcaster Herb Fuller [The Great Man of the title] as the opposite of the nice guy that he portrays himself as in public. Fuller’s character was apparently based on real-life radio personality Arthur Godfrey whose private behaviour and attitudes contrasted with his warm-hearted public demeanour; though there is noting to say that it could not equally be based on the persona of one of our own number who has lodged posts today on this site!

    Jose wrote and directed The Great Man which gets a 69% approval rating from IMDB though I don’t see it listed above. But break out the champagne as I am in a dead heat with Steve regarding “have seen” movies: I’ve watched 10 of the movies in your chart plus of course The Great Man. “Every one loved the great man – except those who hated his guts!”

    Sadly ultimately mega stardom eluded Jose and today I tend to most think of him as the once-husband of Rosemary Clooney and the nephew of the Great George who claims he was encouraged o go into acting by “Aunt Rosemary and Uncle Jose”. I last saw Ferrer as guest villain in a re-run TV episode of Columbo called Mind over Mayhem [1974]. Jose was good in it but the role was more routine that many of his heyday ones like for example that in 1950’s Crisis in which he provided strong prestige support for Al Leach. Anyway Ferrer’s new page is warmly welcomed with a “Vote Up”.

    Reply

    1. Hey Bob.
      1. Glad you enjoyed my return comments…still have your Jim Brown comment in my que.
      2. Like Brando, Ferrer had a very good 1950s…..unlike Brando he never even came close to reaching those heights again.
      3. Sorry I struck out on The Great Man….I think it was the 3rd or 4th time that I struck out on that movie and it’s box office grosses.
      4. Very cool trivia that Aunt Rosemary and Uncle Jose encouraged George Clooney to act.
      5. As for Crisis….that one is ok at best in my mind…..but far from my favorite Grant movies.
      Good stuff as always.

      Reply

      1. HI BIG BOY. Thanks for the detailed feedback. As Donald Trump gave Jim Brown an audience in The White House to discuss Jim’s political observations, I think that out of respect for your President you should have responded to my Brown post FIRST. I see that according to the press over here Steve’s idol, Brit PM BoJo Johnson, has in fact insulted The Donald by laughing at him behind his back. Still it’s always good to hear from you; indeed these days it’s like capturing lightning in a bottle!

        When you have done your patriotic duty as a Real American by responding to my Brown post you will have ignored just Richard Egan in my posts about your latest stars’ new pages. What’s Richard done on you? Even DeForest Kelley’s gunman Jim Breck didn’t believe all those stories about Egan’s Wes Tancred shooting his best friend in the back!

        I agree with you about Crisis but (1) although I never liked the Al Leach of all those, to me at least, boring and silly screwball comedies[Asta’s input excepted] the more mature Archie of the 1950s was always worth watching (2) Jose provided him with class support [no George Gabby Hayes types allowed near a Leach picture. Gabby was good enough for Al’s pal Randy but this site’s own Great Man ignores Hayes in the 1983 Book of Books].

        I see that sadly Jose’s son Miguel Ferrer died in 2017 of throat cancer. He was just 61 whereas Jose lived until 80. As photos on Wiki strikingly illustrate, Miguel was the image of his dad. Wiki lists Gorgeous George as Miguel’s “maternal first cousin” and to the Gorgeous One, Ferrer Junior was affectionately known as “Miggy”. Miggy’s big screen breakthrough was in 1987’s Robocop and he will have since been heard/seen by audiences as Shan Yu in Mulan; Eduardo Ruiz in Traffic; Vice President Rodriguez in Iron Man 3.

        Regulars on this site will no doubt excitedly spot a Cogerson new page on Miggy in there somewhere. Anyway take care and keep safe. It won’t be long until Christmas, when I’m sure you’ll open your stocking to find a shiny new edition of Dire Hard included! And to think that after experiencing Joel some fools on Cogerson no longer believe in Santa Clause!

        Reply

        1. Hey Bob….just commented on your Egan and Brown comments…sorry for the delay. As for Ferrer’s son…..you are sadly correct…that he passed away a couple of years ago. He indeed looked just like his father. It might be awhile before Miguel gets an UMR page…I think…though not 100% sure…most of his work was done on television. Speaking of Die Hard…I saw a nifty Christmas decorated Die Hard dvd case last night….I of course thought of you and how much this dvd would interest you….lol. Good stuff.

          Reply

          2. BRUCE: So that you, Steve and anyone else who sees my posts about Dire Hard: The non-Christmas Movie don’t get the wrong idea I should explain that:

            1/ I like the film as an action movie/thriller and enjoyed a few of the sequels too until the makers [as all these franchise people seem to do] started to tear the a** out of the series.

            2/as I have said before I thoroughly enjoy Willis when he is at his best in non-repetitive material and am a fan of even some of his weaker vehicles such as Striking Distance and Last Man Standing [a remake of Kurosawa’s classic Yojimbo] though I wouldn’t immediately think of his screen persona as having any affinity with Santa Claus! Santa says”What can I give you?” not Gimme More!

            3/So the latter being the case, among other things, I do not consider Dire Hard a Christmas movie. However the bulk of your Christmas movie page entries are recognised movies old and new that I can see them as such so I am hoping that you again update the page as the Big Day nears because I think it is a valuable document that merits Re-showcasing around Xmas time.

          3. HI BRUCE: Thanks for the feedback on “Miggy”. Is there no limit that can be placed on Gorgeous George’s talented dynasty?

            You are quite right about Miguel’s television career: he appeared in 77 presentations of various kinds as against 43 accredited feature films . I particularly enjoyed him as the smarmy villain who [like Robert Wagner in A Kiss Before Dying] murders his own pregnant girlfriend by way of an ‘abortion’ in 1994’s TV movie Jack Reed: Search for Justice starring Brian Dennehy in the title role.

            Miggy also made 3 video games and appeared in 2 musical videos. His net worth at the time of death was said to be just under $5 million in 2019 money.

  3. Joel and Jose…. posting comments from the.. other side… [brrrr] 😉

    Bruce you’re usually a completist why did you shear Jose’s filmography from 121 films, as stated in your 2nd paragraph up top to just 31? A bit drastic eh? Were the rest too obscure? Too foreign? Too horrible to contemplate? Worse than The Swarm?

    I’ve seen 11 of the 31 films on the chart, favorites are – The Swarm… um and that’s about it for this particular subject…

    Oh alright… Lawrence of Arabia, Greatest Story Ever Told, The Michael Caine Mutiny, The Sentinel and my most watched film of this group – Dune.

    Ship of Fools is among the films on todays video from yours truly. I haven’t seen it. (The film not the video)

    Looking at the grosses – Lawrence of Arabia was a bigger hit than I thought in the US, adjusted dollars of course. I know Lean’s next film Doctor Zhivago was a lot bigger, probably near a billion $ adjusted USA?

    Nice work Bruce. Vote Up!

    Reply

    1. Hey Steve. Yes he had 121 credits. Almost 70 of them were television roles. Of the remaining 50 or so credits we found box office on 31 movies…leaving about 20 movies. His post 1950s career was filled with movies that never got released here, were so low budget they never even saw theaters. There are only a few movies I wish I could include…The Great Man being one of those. I will keep searching for that one. Will comment on the rest of your comment later today.

      FYI I see the new Bond trailer is out….I am sure you have already seen it.

      Reply

    2. Hey Steve…..the rest of our return comment. Tally count….8 for me and 11 for you. I am sure The Swarm is right there with Lawrence of Arabia, Greatest Story Ever Told, The Caine Mutiny, and Dune. I have not seen one of your favorites…The Sentinel….I will have to check that one out. Interesting that my page and your video had Ship of Fools as the common link. As for Dr. Z….we have it in 8th place all-time….with $1.1 billion in adjusted domestic gross. Good stuff as always.

      Reply

  4. Rating The Movie Stars 4 Star José Ferrer Performances

    1948’s Joan of Arc
    1950’s Whirlpool
    1950’s Cyrano de Bergerac
    1953’s Moulin Rouge
    1954’s The Caine Mutiny
    1955’s The Shrike
    1962’s Lawrence of Arabia
    1976’s Voyage of the Damned
    1982’s A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy

    Reply

  5. “José Ferrer can do anything and do it well — produce, direct, write, and act. He has star quality even in supporting roles and a natural ease in any period or costume drama. Although Ferrer’s films varied in quality from the artistic high of Lawrence of Arabia to the low of The Swarm, his own contributions have seldom been less than excellent.” – Rating The Movie Stars book (1983)

    Reply

    2. HI JOEL:

      When you re-surface on this site I am always reminded of the Fu Manchu films: we Cogerson regulars constantly live under the threat of ‘the world hearing from you again’.

      Luckily I am familiar with a reasonable quantity of Ferrer’s work so I can have confidence that your assessment of the subject’s talents is on this occasion reasonably accurate; well done!

      Actually If you look at my 10.18am post above today to your pupil you will see that Jose was involved in a movie about a media personality who [The Duke and The Great Mumbler might well agree if they were still about] may well have shared some of your own characteristics.

      Reply

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