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John Cassavetes

Greek-American actor, film director, and screenwriter (1929–1989)

10.45body-of-work score · ranked #76 of 2631 directors · 10 films in our library

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

Born
December 9, 1929 · New York City
Died
February 3, 1989 · Los Angeles
Nationality
United States
Work
film actor, film director, film producer, character actor
Reference
Wikipedia · Wikidata
Portrait of John Cassavetes
NBC Television · 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
    Love StreamsMust-See #192

    1984 · United States · drama

    Berlin Golden Bear winner 1984 · Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #185 · Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 1985 #5

    2.778 citations
  2. 2
    A Woman Under the InfluenceMust-See #216

    1974 · United States · drama

    Sight & Sound 2022 directors' poll #18 · Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #114 · Kehr's annual top 10 1975 #3

    2.6510 citations
  3. 3
    GloriaMust-See #345

    1980 · United States · crime, drama

    Venice Golden Lion winner 1980 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1981 #5 · Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 1981 #10

    2.126 citations
  4. 4
    Faces

    1968 · United States · drama

    National Film Registry (inducted 2011) · Ebert's annual top 10 1968 #4 · NYT Best 1,000 Movies

    1.036 citations
  5. 5
    Shadows

    1958 · United States · drama

    National Film Registry (inducted 1993) · Criterion Collection spine #251 · Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.503 citations
  6. 6
    Opening Night

    1977 · United States · drama

    Letterboxd Top 250 #168 · Criterion Collection spine #255

    0.362 citations
  7. 7
    Minnie and Moskowitz

    1971 · United States · drama, comedy

    NYT Best 1,000 Movies · Ebert's annual top 10 1972 #8

    0.322 citations
  8. 8
    Husbands

    1970 · United States · drama

    Criterion Collection spine #1029 · Siskel's annual top 10 1971 #9

    0.312 citations
  9. 9
    The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

    1976 · United States · crime, drama

    Criterion Collection spine #254 · Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.272 citations
  10. 10
    Too Late Blues

    1961 · United States · musical, drama

    Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.111 citation

Complete filmography

All 12 directorial credits recorded on Wikidata, in chronological order; films in our library link to their canon-score page.