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Howard Hawks

American film director, producer and screenwriter (1896–1977)

14.61body-of-work score · ranked #43 of 2631 directors · 22 films in our library

A director's score is the sum of their films' composite canon scores — methodology.

Born
May 30, 1896 · Elkhart County
Died
December 26, 1977 · Palm Springs
Nationality
United States
Work
screenwriter, film producer, film director, actor
Reference
Wikipedia · Wikidata
Portrait of Howard Hawks
Hal McAlpin · Public domain

Films in our library, ranked

Ranked by composite canon score across 20+ authoritative lists, awards and polls — our ordering, with every placement citing its evidence on the film's page.

  1. 1
    His Girl Friday

    1940 · United States · comedy, drama, romance

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #129 · TIME All-TIME 100 · Empire 500 (2008) #58

    1.617 citations
  2. 2
    Rio Bravo

    1959 · United States · western, romance

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #101 · Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 1959 #6 · National Film Registry (inducted 2014)

    1.617 citations
  3. 3
    Bringing Up Baby

    1938 · United States · comedy, romance

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #108 · AFI 100 (2007) #88 · AFI 100 (1998) #97

    1.536 citations
  4. 4
    Only Angels Have Wings

    1939 · United States · drama

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #122 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1940 #4 · National Film Registry (inducted 2017)

    1.536 citations
  5. 5
    Sergeant York

    1941 · United States · war, biography, drama

    Oscar Best Picture nominee 1941 · National Film Registry (inducted 2008) · NYT Best 1,000 Movies

    0.843 citations
  6. 6
    The Big Sleep

    1946 · United States · crime, film-noir, drama

    National Film Registry (inducted 1997) · Kurosawa's 100 favorite films · NYT Best 1,000 Movies

    0.815 citations
  7. 7
    Red River

    1948 · United States · western, drama, action

    National Film Registry (inducted 1990) · NYT Best 1,000 Movies · Criterion Collection spine #709

    0.694 citations
  8. 8
    Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

    1953 · United States · comedy, romance, musical

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 1954 #5 · NYT Best 1,000 Movies · Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.673 citations
  9. 9
    Twentieth Century

    1934 · United States · comedy, romance

    National Film Registry (inducted 2011) · NYT Best 1,000 Movies · Edgar Wright's 1,000 favorite movies

    0.624 citations
  10. 10
    Scarface

    1932 · United States · drama, crime, action

    National Film Registry (inducted 1994) · Criterion Collection spine #1239 · Edgar Wright's 1,000 favorite movies

    0.614 citations
  11. 11
    Man's Favorite Sport?

    1964 · United States · comedy, romance

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 1964 #5 · Sarris's annual top 10 1964 #6

    0.562 citations
  12. 12
    Hatari!

    1962 · United States · comedy, romance, action

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 1962 #3

    0.501 citation
  13. 13
    To Have and Have Not

    1944 · United States · romance, drama, war

    Empire 500 (2008) #424 · NYT Best 1,000 Movies · Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.453 citations
  14. 14
    Viva Villa!

    1934 · United States · biography

    Oscar Best Picture nominee 1934

    0.451 citation
  15. 15
    Red Line 7000

    1965 · United States · action, drama

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 1966 #9 · Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.412 citations
  16. 16
    Ball of Fire

    1941 · United States · comedy, romance

    National Film Registry (inducted 2016) · NYT Best 1,000 Movies

    0.392 citations
  17. 17
    El Dorado

    1966 · United States · western

    Sarris's annual top 10 1967 #3 · Ebert's annual top 10 1967 #15

    0.382 citations
  18. 18
    The Thing from Another World

    1951 · United States · horror, sci-fi

    National Film Registry (inducted 2001) · Edgar Wright's 1,000 favorite movies

    0.342 citations
  19. 19
    The Big Sky

    1952 · United States · western

    NYT Best 1,000 Movies · Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.282 citations
  20. 20
    Fig Leaves

    1926 · United States · silent

    Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.111 citation
  21. 21
    Monkey Business

    1952 · United States · comedy, sci-fi

    Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.111 citation
  22. 22
    Land of the Pharaohs

    1955 · United States · drama

    Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.111 citation

Complete filmography

All 51 directorial credits recorded on Wikidata, in chronological order; films in our library link to their canon-score page.