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Josef von Sternberg

Austrian-American film director (1894-1969)

8.50body-of-work score · ranked #106 of 2631 directors · 16 films in our library

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

Born
May 29, 1894 · Vienna
Died
December 22, 1969 · Hollywood
Nationality
United States, Austria
Work
film director, film editor, screenwriter, film producer
Reference
Wikipedia · Wikidata
Portrait of Josef von Sternberg
Paramount Pictures, Josef von Sternberg · 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
    Morocco

    1930 · United States · drama, romance

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1931 #1 · National Film Registry (inducted 1992) · Kurosawa's 100 favorite films

    1.685 citations
  2. 2
    The Docks of New York

    1928 · United States · romance, silent, drama

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1929 #1 · National Film Registry (inducted 1999) · Criterion Collection spine #531

    1.504 citations
  3. 3
    Underworld

    1927 · United States · crime, silent, drama

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1928 #2 · Criterion Collection spine #529

    0.792 citations
  4. 4
    Dishonored

    1931 · United States · drama, romance, thriller

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1931 #5 · Criterion Collection spine #932 · Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.663 citations
  5. 5
    The Last Command

    1928 · United States · romance, war, silent

    TIME All-TIME 100 · National Film Registry (inducted 2006) · Criterion Collection spine #530

    0.653 citations
  6. 6
    Shanghai Express

    1932 · United States · drama, romance

    Oscar Best Picture nominee 1931 · Criterion Collection spine #933

    0.612 citations
  7. 7
    The Scarlet Empress

    1934 · United States · biography, drama

    Criterion Collection spine #109 · Roger Ebert's Great Movies · Edgar Wright's 1,000 favorite movies

    0.524 citations
  8. 8
    The Salvation Hunters

    1925 · United States · drama, silent

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1925 #3

    0.501 citation
  9. 9
    It

    1927 · United States · comedy, romance, silent

    National Film Registry (inducted 2001) · Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.342 citations
  10. 10
    The Case of Lena Smith

    1929 · United States · drama, silent

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1929 #8

    0.321 citation
  11. 11
    An American Tragedy

    1931 · United States · drama

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1931 #10

    0.291 citation
  12. 12
    Blonde Venus

    1932 · United States · drama

    Criterion Collection spine #934

    0.161 citation
  13. 13
    The Devil Is a Woman

    1935 · United States · drama, romance

    Criterion Collection spine #935

    0.161 citation
  14. 14
    Thunderbolt

    1929 · United States · drama, crime

    Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.111 citation
  15. 15
    The Blue AngelDer blaue Engel

    1930 · Germany · drama

    Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.111 citation
  16. 16
    Anatahanアナタハン

    1953 · Japan · drama

    Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.111 citation

Complete filmography

All 35 directorial credits recorded on Wikidata, in chronological order; films in our library link to their canon-score page.