One of Hollywood’s all-time leading men, John Wayne is most associated with the stoic man archetype. The iconic actor’s most memorable performances are of strong but reserved cowboys or soldiers.
Wayne was among the top box office draws for much of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1970s, starring in more than 100 movies. As American author Garry Wills wrote about Wayne, “He embodies the American myth,” explaining that the archetypal American is a person with a difficult past, fearless and on the move, turning his life around to become successful and feared by others.
To identify Wayne’s best movies, 24/7 Tempo reviewed all the movies Wayne was in and ranked them on their combined scores. Combined scores are an index of each movie’s IMDb rating, Rotten Tomatoes audience score, and Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score.
Wayne is one of few actors not only to have enjoyed a long career in Hollywood but to have starred in several movies that continue to be praised by critics, even though they were released decades ago when the standards for making movies were different. These are the 76 movies with a perfect score from critics.
Wayne is a Hollywood legend. He died more than three decades ago, but in 2016 Wayne was No. 1 on the Most Patriotic Brands list by Brand Keys, a brand research consultancy. Wayne may have a place well beyond that as the top “person” brand in recent American history. Consumers ages 16 to 65 were included in the poll.
Click here for John Wayne’s best movies, ranked
Methodology
To identify John Wayne’s best movies, 24/7 Tempo reviewed a database of over 17,000 movies and selected all of the movies Wayne was in and ranked them on their combined scores. Combined scores are an index of each movie’s IMDb rating, Rotten Tomatoes audience score, and Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score. Casting and directing data comes from IMDb, and domestic box office figures come from industry website The Numbers, which is up to date as of April 2021. Box office figures are not inflation adjusted.
8. True Grit (1969)
> Fellow leads: Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, Jeremy Slate
> Director: Henry Hathaway
> Domestic box office: $31.13 million
This is the original “True Grit” movie. (The 2010 version stars Jeff Bridges, playing Wayne’s character.) Wayne plays the role of aging U.S. marshal Rooster Cogburn, who is recruited by a teenage girl to find the man who killed her father. The role brought Wayne the only Oscar of his career.
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7. The Longest Day (1962)
> Fellow leads: Robert Ryan, Richard Burton, Henry Fonda
> Director: Ken Annakin
> Domestic box office: $39.10 million
In this movie, Wayne plays Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort, who fought in World War II in real life and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross twice and numerous other honors. The film tells the story of D-Day from the perspective of Americans like Vandervoort, as well as Nazis on the other side.
6. The Quiet Man (1952)
> Fellow leads: Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond
> Director: John Ford
> Domestic box office: $10.55 million
“The Quiet Man” is a comedy in which Wayne plays a retired American boxer Sean Thornton. Hoping to buy his father’s land, Thornton moves back to the Irish village where he was born. There, he falls in love with a fiery woman whose brother is against the union between her and Thornton.
5. Stagecoach (1939)
> Fellow leads: Claire Trevor, Andy Devine, John Carradine
> Director: John Ford
> Domestic box office: N/A
Wayne and Claire Trevor top the bill in director John Ford’s classic 1939 picture “Stagecoach.” The stars appear as wagon train passengers coping with interpersonal conflict as they try to cross through Native American country unscathed. “Stagecoach” was a big budget film at the time and was Ford’s first picture using Monument Valley as a location.
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4. Red River (1948)
> Fellow leads: Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru, Walter Brennan
> Director: Howard Hawks
> Domestic box office: $9.01 million
“Red River” director Howard Hawks worked briefly with Howard Hughes on “The Outlaw” in 1940. Hughes filed injunctions to stop the premier of “Red River” in 1948. Hughes claimed Hawks copied sections of a gun fight scene between Wayne’s character Thomas Dunson and Montgomery Clift’s Matt Garth. Wayne plays Clift’s stepfather in the film and the pair square off during a cattle drive.
3. The Searchers (1956)
> Fellow leads: Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond
> Director: John Ford
> Domestic box office: N/A
“The Searchers” was shot in Technicolor and stars Wayne in one his most iconic roles as Ethan Edwards. He’s a Civil War veteran in search of his niece (Natalie Wood), who has been kidnapped by Native Americans. Wayne loved the role so much he later named his son Ethan.
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2. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
> Fellow leads: James Stewart, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin
> Director: John Ford
> Domestic box office: $8.00 million
“The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” stars James Stewart as Senator Ranse Stoddard, who returns to his small western town and tells the story of his battle against a ruthless gunfighter years earlier. Despite being shot in the 1960s, the film is photographed entirely in black and white. Director John Ford claimed that he filmed the picture in black and white to build tension, but many have speculated that Paramount made the decision to cut production costs.
1. Rio Bravo (1959)
> Fellow leads: Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson
> Director: Howard Hawks
> Domestic box office: $12.54 million
In “Rio Bravo,” Wayne plays a sheriff charged with detaining a murderer, who is also the brother of a powerful businessman, for several days until a U.S. marshal arrives with backup. Dean Martin co-stars as Wayne’s newly sober ex-deputy.
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