Want to know the best Richard Burton movies? How about the worst Richard Burton movies? Curious about Richard Burton’s box office grosses or which Richard Burton movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Richard Burton 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.
Richard Burton (1925-1984) was a 7 time Oscar® nominated Welsh actor. After gaining fame as the next “Laurence Olivier” of stage, Burton moved to Hollywood and almost immediately had great success. His IMDb page shows 77 acting credits from 1946-1984. This page ranks 46 Richard Burton movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and movies not released in North America were not included in the following table.
Drivel part of the page: This page comes from a request by Albert. We had about 60% of these movies already in our database…so we figured it was going to be a fairly easy page to research. His movies from 1953 to 1968 were very popular and very easy to research. However when Burton reached the 1970s his career pretty much fell off the cliff. After 1970 only 2 of his movies cracked our Top 25. His Equus (1977) got good reviews and his final Oscar® nomination…but tanked at the box. His Exorcist 2 (1978) earned some money at the box office but is considered one of the worst movies ever made. So if you are wondering why so many of his later movies have almost no box office…most (Wild Geese & 1984 did ok) were low budget barely seen movies.
Richard Burton 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 Richard Burton movies by co-stars of his movies.
- Sort Richard Burton movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Richard Burton movies by domestic yearly box office rank or by trivia for that movie
- Sort Richard Burton movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations each Richard Burton movie received and how many Oscar® wins each Richard Burton movie won.
- Sort Richard Burton 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 search and sort button to make this page very interactive.
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Richard Burtonl Table
- Fifteen Richard Burton movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 32.60% of his movies listed. Cleopatra (1963) was his biggest box office hit.
- An average Richard Burton movie grossed $83.00 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 22 Richard Burton movies are rated as good movies…or 47.82% of his movies. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) is his highest rated movie while Boom! (1968) is his lowest rated movie.
- Fifteen Richard Burton movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 32.60% of his movies.
- Nine Richard Burton movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 19.56% of his movies.
- A “good movie” Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 60.00. 19 Richard Burton movies scored higher that average….or 41.30 of his movies. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) got the the highest UMR Score while Doctor Faustas (1967) got the lowest UMR Score.
Possibly Interesting Facts About Richard Burton
1. Richard Walter Jenkins was born in the village of Pontrhydyfen, Neath Port Talbot, Wales in 1928. He was the 12th of 13 children.
2. Phillip Burton was Richard’s school master and mentor. Burton eventually took Burton surname as his stage name…and thus Richard Jenkins became Richard Burton
3. Currently two Richard Burton movies are in the Top 50 Adjusted Box Office Hits of All-Time. 1953’s The Robe is in 47th place and 1963’s Cleopatra 42nd place.
4. Richard Burton was nominated for 7 Oscar® …but he never won. His 7 nominations are the second most without winning. First? Burton’s Beckett co-star, Peter O’Toole who received 8 nominations without winning.
5. Richard Burton was nominated for 7 Golden Globes®…winning twice. He won a Golden Globe® for 1952’s My Cousin Rachel and 1977’s Equus.
6. Richard Burton was married 5 times. His most famous marriage was to Elizabeth Taylor. They were married twice…from 1964 to 1974 and 1975 to 1976. Burton and Taylor would make 11 feature films together. Burton had three children. His daughter, Kate, is an actress with over 80 IMDb credits.
6. Richard Burton sang in the backup chorus for “Rocket to Stardom” on Kris Kristofferson’s 1975 album “Who’s to Bless . . . Who’s to Blame.”
7. Richard Burton appeared in six films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar®: 1953’s The Robe, 1962’s The Longest Day, 1963’s Cleopatra, 1964’s Becket, 1966’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and 1969’s Anne of the Thousand Days.
8. Richard Burton had 3 movies on Variety’s Top Rental Films of 1963 list. Cleopatra was 2nd, The Longest Day was 3rd and V.I.P.s was 7th.
9. In 1968, Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood starred in Where Eagles Dare. The movie had some many stunts done by stuntmen that Eastwood referred to the movie as “Where Doubles Dared.”
10. Check out Richard Burton‘s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
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For comments….all you need is a name and a comment….please ignore the rest.
Hey – this is a good site. I always liked Richard Burton and I agree that he had a great voice. I have enjoyed most of his films. The Wild Geese and Where Eagles Dare are a couple of my favorite ones. I found it interesting that he and Elizabeth Taylor got married in Montreal, the second time I believe. By the way #4 on facts should state: he never RECEIVED one. What part did he play in ZULU? Do you have that film? Did he play the nutty minister? I remember Michael Caine but not Richard Burton but it has been a very long time since I saw that movie. Thanks for this one…………………
Hey BERN1960. Glad you liked the site. The Wild Geese and Where Eagles Dare were two movies dad liked as well. Thanks for the headsup on Fact #4 I will fix that. In Zulu, Burton provided the narration. We have a great Blu-Ray here when ever you want to re-visit Zula….some of the DVD copies are horrible…like watching a VHS tape….but the Blu-Ray has very impressive quality. Thanks for the comment and the visit.
Great Work Bruce! It was Richard Burton’s voice that captivated me. Not all of his films were great but his voice was always worth listening to. I love “The Night of the Iguana” (1964), “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” (1965), “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), “The Taming of the Shrew” (1967), “The Comedians” (1967) and “Where Eagles Dare” (1968). And I love Richard Burton’s performance in “Equus” (1977). Oh, and I forgot “Becket” (1964), though it is O’Toole’s performance in that one that I like the best.
Thanks Lyle. I agree 100%…Burton’s voice is one of the Top 5 of all-time. Mason, Welles, Burton, James Earl and a battle for the 5th spot. I have seen and enjoyed most of the ones you mentioned. I have not seen Equus….but I want to …..as it seems like it was his last great performance. I did not include this tidbit in the trivia….but when O’Toole and Burton were doing Beckett….do you think they would think it was possible for them to go 0-15 for their careers when it came to winning an Oscar. O’Toole got a Honorary one….but had to settle on two Golden Globes. Thanks for the visit and the comment.
Hi, Bruce.
I continue to enjoy your drivel explanations.
I am quite familiar with Richard Burton’s best known films. I saw Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf for the first time after Mike Nichols died on TCM’s tribute to him and for me that was a one time only viewing. The ending is terribly sad and the movie is emotionally draining. But it is the highest ranking movie of his that I have seen.
The lowest ranking movie of Burton that I have seen is The Comedians at number 32.
Views By Ranking:
I have seen 3 of the top 5 (missing Beckett and Anne of a Thousand Days)
I have seen 8 of the top 10
I have seen 13 of the top 20
I have seen 14 movies overall.
Top of my to-see list The Sandpiper, Anne of a Thousand Days and Ice Palace -the last I don’t know at all.
My top 5 Richard Burton movies:
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold
Where Eagles Dare
Night of the Iguana
The Desert Rats
The V.I.P.S
Cheers,
Flora
Hey Flora.
1. Glad you like the “drivel part”. I think it is a good way to share what I am thinking….or what is going on while I am doing the page. I did avoid mentioning that my Denver Broncos won the SuperBowl….that was hard to do…..have I mentioned the Broncos upset the Panthers?….lol.
2. I agree with you about Va Woolf. Performances are outstanding..but I never want to spend another evening with those characters.
3. The Comedians might be the worst title for a movie…not thinking there is a single funny…or even light moment in the entire movie.
4. 80% of the Top 10….then only 16% of the rest of the 46……looks like you have managed to avoid some of his weaker movies. Under Milk Wood is brutal to watch. I have not seen Klansman….but it might be the worst movie ever made.
5. I have seen all 5 of your Top 5. I would take out The VIPs and Night of the Iguana (though I loved Ava Gardner’s performance in that one) and include The Longest Day and Beckett (seeing O’Toole and Burton at their peak is fun.)
6. I was not too impressed with The Sandpipers….it has not aged very well.
7. Tally count….it is shocking….Steve 22….me? what how can that be 15….and you at 14. That does not happen much.
Thanks for sharing some of your thoughts on Mr. Burton.
Richard the Great. That voice! I’ve listened to Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds countless times over the decades, not just for the superb music but also for Richard Burton’s wonderful narration.
Married 5 times, twice to Liz Taylor, wow! And she was married 8 times! Laurence Olivier once told Burton “make up your mind dear boy, what do you want to be, a great actor or a movie star?”, “both”, he replied.
I’ve seen 22 of the 46 films you’ve listed. oooh whats this, Cleopatra not topping the UMR? You have been tweaking your ranking formula. 🙂
Virginia Woolf isn’t a favorite of mine but I do put it on occasionally just to watch two movie icons jousting verbally. Zulu is a big favorite of mine and Burton was in it in voice only. It’s disconcerting seeing it way down on the chart, we Brits practically worship that film, and The Italian Job too of course. [wink]
Other Burton favorites include – The Wild Geese, The Robe, The Longest Day, 1984, Becket, The Medusa Touch and Where Eagles Dare.
Hammersmith is Out is worth a look if you can find a copy, a strange film with an oddball performance by Burton as an escaped mental patient.
Excellent work a usual Bruce. Voted Up!
Hey Steve…thanks for checking out my latest.
1. He had one of the best voices ever in the history of movies.
2. Cool quote that Olivier shared with him….at one point Burton was considered the next Laurence Olivier….who would have thought Larry would have lived Burton…and by 5 years.
3. Tally count….mmmm Flora is at 14….you are at 22…and I am at….15….Flora in 3rd…I am somewhat shocked…..congrats on the win.
4. Yep Cleopatra would have been a Top 5 on the old formula….on my Elizabeth Taylor page Cleopatra actually fell out of Top 10. So early results are favorable so far?
5. If you sort the movies by critic/audience…Zulu jumps to 2nd….14th is pretty good…especially since he does not even appear in the movie. Zulu was much bigger your way than my way….but I love that movie.
6. So you liked The Medusa Touch….he was really worried about that movie…but it does sound interesting.
7. I think I saw parts of Hammersmith on television many years ago….”a strange film” seemed a good way to describe it…I will have to re-visit that one now that I am older and wiser.
Thanks for your Burton thoughts.
THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD and WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? are my two favorite Burton movies so I am glad to see that Virgina is first in almost all categories.
Hey McReady…..pretty sure he made those movies back to back….he was at his peak as an actor when he made those two movies. Yep Virginia is indeed first in lots of categories…it is actually one of the highest ranked movies in my entire database.