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Leo McCarey

American film director, screenwriter and producer (1898-1969)

11.30body-of-work score · ranked #65 of 2631 directors · 13 films in our library

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

Born
October 3, 1898 · Los Angeles
Died
July 5, 1969 · Santa Monica
Nationality
United States
Work
film director, screenwriter, film producer, director
Reference
Wikipedia · Wikidata
Portrait of Leo McCarey
Unknown authorUnknown author · 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
    Going My WayMust-See #171

    1944 · United States · comedy, drama, romance

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1944 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1946 #1 · National Film Registry (inducted 2004)

    2.894 citations
  2. 2
    Duck SoupMust-See #419

    1933 · United States · musical, comedy

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #211 · AFI 100 (2007) #60 · AFI 100 (1998) #85

    1.929 citations
  3. 3
    The Awful TruthMust-See #499

    1937 · United States · comedy, romance

    Oscar Best Picture nominee 1937 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1938 #8 · TIME All-TIME 100

    1.697 citations
  4. 4
    Ruggles of Red Gap

    1935 · United States · comedy, romance

    Oscar Best Picture nominee 1935 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1936 #9 · National Film Registry (inducted 2014)

    1.265 citations
  5. 5
    Make Way for Tomorrow

    1937 · United States · drama

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1937 #5 · National Film Registry (inducted 2010) · NYT Best 1,000 Movies

    1.196 citations
  6. 6
    Love Affair

    1939 · United States · drama, romance

    Oscar Best Picture nominee 1939 · NYT Best 1,000 Movies · Criterion Collection spine #1114

    0.894 citations
  7. 7
    The Bells of St. Mary's

    1945 · United States · drama, musical

    Oscar Best Picture nominee 1945

    0.451 citation
  8. 8
    Mighty Like a Moose

    1926 · United States · silent

    National Film Registry (inducted 2007)

    0.231 citation
  9. 9
    Pass the Gravy

    1928 · United States · silent

    National Film Registry (inducted 1998)

    0.231 citation
  10. 10
    Big Business

    1929 · United States · comedy, silent

    National Film Registry (inducted 1992)

    0.231 citation
  11. 11
    Good Sam

    1948 · United States · comedy, romance, drama

    Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.111 citation
  12. 12
    My Son John

    1952 · United States · drama

    Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.111 citation
  13. 13
    An Affair to Remember

    1957 · United States · comedy, romance, drama

    Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.111 citation

Complete filmography

All 109 directorial credits recorded on Wikidata, in chronological order; films in our library link to their canon-score page.

  • 1921No Woman Knows
  • 1921Society Secrets
  • 1924A Ten-Minute Egg
  • 1924Accidental Accidents
  • 1924All Wet
  • 1924Bungalow Boobs
  • 1924Jeffries Jr.
  • 1924Outdoor Pajamas
  • 1924Publicity Pays
  • 1924Seeing Nellie Home
  • 1924Short Kilts
  • 1924Sittin' Pretty
  • 1924Stolen Goods
  • 1924Sweet Daddy
  • 1924The Poor Fish
  • 1924The Royal Razz
  • 1924Too Many Mammas
  • 1924Why Husbands Go Mad
  • 1924Why Men Work
  • 1924Young Oldfield
  • 1925Bad Boy
  • 1925Big Red Riding Hood
  • 1925Fighting Fluid
  • 1925Hard Boiled
  • 1925Hello Baby!
  • 1925His Wooden Wedding
  • 1925Hold Everything
  • 1925Innocent Husbands
  • 1925Is Marriage the Bunk?
  • 1925Isn't Life Terrible?
  • 1925Looking for Sally
  • 1925No Father to Guide Him
  • 1925Plain and Fancy Girls
  • 1925Should Husbands Be Watched?
  • 1925The Caretaker's Daughter
  • 1925The Family Entrance
  • 1925The Rat's Knuckles
  • 1925The Uneasy Three
  • 1925What Price Goofy
  • 1926Be Your Age
  • 1926Bromo and Juliet
  • 1926Charley My Boy
  • 1926Crazy like a Fox
  • 1926Dog Shy
  • 1926Long Fliv the King
  • 1926Mama Behave
  • 1926Mighty Like a Moose
  • 1926Mum's the Word
  • 1926Tell 'Em Nothing
  • 1927Don't Tell Everything
  • 1927Eve's Love Letters
  • 1927Flaming Fathers
  • 1927Jewish Prudence
  • 1927Should Men Walk Home?
  • 1927Should Second Husbands Come First?
  • 1927Sugar Daddies
  • 1927The Way of All Pants
  • 1927Us
  • 1927What Every Iceman Knows
  • 1927Why Girls Say No
  • 1928Blow by Blow
  • 1928Came the Dawn
  • 1928Do Gentlemen Snore?
  • 1928Feed 'em and Weep
  • 1928Habeas Corpus
  • 1928Imagine My Embarrassment
  • 1928Pass the Gravy
  • 1928Should Married Men Go Home?
  • 1928Should Women Drive?
  • 1928Tell It to the Judge
  • 1928That Night
  • 1928The Family Group
  • 1928The Fight Pest
  • 1928We Faw Down
  • 1929Bacon Grabbers
  • 1929Big Business
  • 1929Dad's Day
  • 1929Going Ga-ga
  • 1929Liberty
  • 1929Madame Q
  • 1929Red Hot Rhythm
  • 1929The Sophomore
  • 1929The Unkissed Man
  • 1929When Money Comes
  • 1929Why Is a Plumber?
  • 1929Wrong Again
  • 1930Let's Go Native
  • 1930Part Time Wife
  • 1930Wild Company
  • 1931Indiscreet
  • 1932The Kid from Spain
  • 1933Duck Soup
  • 1934Belle of the Nineties
  • 1934Six of a Kind
  • 1935Ruggles of Red Gap
  • 1936The Milky Way
  • 1937Make Way for Tomorrow
  • 1937The Awful Truth
  • 1939Love Affair
  • 1942Once Upon a Honeymoon
  • 1944Going My Way
  • 1945The Bells of St. Mary's
  • 1948Good Sam
  • 1950Love Happy
  • 1951You Can Change the World
  • 1952My Son John
  • 1957An Affair to Remember
  • 1958Rally Round the Flag, Boys!
  • 1962Satan Never Sleeps