The Best John Ford Movies Ranked And Where to Watch them

If you're looking for the best John Ford movies of all time then here is a definitive list. We rank every movie directed by John Ford based on their popularity score from IMDB from best to worst. Click on the ‘see more’ button to find out where to watch them in Australia covering all streaming services. In April 2024 there are 24 films in this list.

List of the Best Movies Directed by John Ford In Order of Popularity

  1. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
  2. The Grapes of Wrath
  3. The Searchers
  4. Stagecoach
  5. The Quiet Man
  6. How Green Was My Valley
  7. My Darling Clementine
  8. Young Mr. Lincoln
  9. Sergeant Rutledge
  10. Fort Apache
  11. The Last Hurrah
  12. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
  13. The Long Gray Line
  14. The Iron Horse
  15. The Horse Soldiers
  16. 3 Godfathers
  17. Rio Grande
  18. Wee Willie Winkie
  19. Cheyenne Autumn
  20. Two Rode Together
  21. Donovan's Reef
  22. Mogambo
  23. The Fugitive
  24. Mary of Scotland

Stream the top 24 Movies directed by John Ford

1. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Rated: Not Rated

8.1/10

A senator, who became famous for killing a notorious outlaw, returns for the funeral of an old friend and tells the truth about his deed.

2. The Grapes of Wrath

Rated: Passed

8.1/10

Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure. He catches up with them on his Uncle’s farm, and joins them the next day as they head for California and a new life... Hopefully.

3. The Searchers

Rated: Passed

7.8/10

As a Civil War veteran spends years searching for a young niece captured by Indians, his motivation becomes increasingly questionable.

4. Stagecoach

Rated: Passed

7.8/10

A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo, and learn something about each other in the process.

5. The Quiet Man

Rated: Passed

7.7/10

An American man returns to the village of his birth in Ireland, where he finds love and conflict.

6. How Green Was My Valley

Rated: Not Rated

7.7/10

At the turn of the century in a Welsh mining village, the Morgans (he stern, she gentle) raise coal-mining sons and hope their youngest will find a better life.

7. My Darling Clementine

Rated: Passed

7.7/10

Wyatt Earp and his brothers Morgan and Virgil ride into Tombstone and leave brother James in charge of their cattle herd. On their return they find their cattle stolen and James dead. Wyatt takes on the job of town marshal, making his brothers deputies, and vows to stay in Tombstone until James' killers are found. He soon runs into the brooding, coughing, hard-drinking Doc Holliday as well as the sullen and vicious Clanton clan. Wyatt discovers the owner of a trinket stolen from James' dead body and the stage is set for the Earps' long-awaited revenge.

8. Young Mr. Lincoln

Rated: Passed

7.5/10

In this dramatized account of his early law career in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln is born into a modest log cabin, where he is encouraged by his first love, Ann Rutledge, to pursue law. Following her tragic death, Lincoln establishes a law practice in Springfield, where he meets a young Mary Todd. Lincoln's law skills are put to the test when he takes on the difficult task of defending two brothers who have been accused of murder.

9. Sergeant Rutledge

Rated: Approved

7.4/10

Respected black cavalry Sergeant Brax Rutledge stands court-martial for raping and killing a white woman and murdering her father, his superior officer.

10. Fort Apache

Rated: Passed

7.4/10

Owen Thursday sees his new posting to the desolate Fort Apache as a chance to claim the military honour which he believes is rightfully his. Arrogant, obsessed with military form and ultimately self-destructive, he attempts to destroy the Apache chief Cochise after luring him across the border from Mexico, against the advice of his subordinates.

11. The Last Hurrah

Rated: Approved

7.3/10

In a changing world where television has become the main source of information, Adam Caulfield, a young sports journalist, witnesses how his uncle, Frank Skeffington, a veteran and honest politician, mayor of a New England town, tries to be reelected while bankers and captains of industry conspire in the shadows to place a weak and manageable candidate in the city hall.

12. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

Rated:

7.2/10

After Custer and the 7th Cavalry are wiped out by Native Americans, everyone expects the worst. Capt. Nathan Brittles is ordered out on patrol but he's also required to take along Abby Allshard, wife of the Fort's commanding officer, and her niece Olivia Dandridge, who are being evacuated. Brittles is only a few days away from retirement and Olivia has caught the eye of two of the young officers in the Company. She's taken to wearing a yellow ribbon in her hair, a sign that she has a beau in the Cavalry, but refuses to say for whom she is wearing it.

13. The Long Gray Line

Rated: Approved

7.2/10

The life story of a salt-of-the-earth Irish immigrant, who becomes an Army Noncommissioned Officer and spends his 50 year career at the United States Military Academy at West Point. This includes his job-related experiences as well as his family life and the relationships he develops with young cadets with whom he befriends. Based on the life of a real person.

14. The Iron Horse

Rated: Passed

7.2/10

Brandon, a surveyor, dreams of building a railway to the west. He sets off with his son, Davy, to survey a route. They discover a new pass which will shave 200 miles off the expected distance, but they are set upon by a party of Cheyenne. One of them, a white renegade with only two fingers on his right hand, kills Brandon and scalps him. Davy is all alone now.

15. The Horse Soldiers

Rated: Approved

7.1/10

A Union Cavalry outfit is sent behind confederate lines in strength to destroy a rail supply center. Along with them is sent a doctor who causes instant antipathy between him and the commander. The secret plan for the mission is overheard by a southern belle who must be taken along to assure her silence.

16. 3 Godfathers

Rated: Passed

7/10

Three outlaws on the run discover a dying woman and her baby. They swear to bring the infant to safety across the desert, even at the risk of their own lives.

17. Rio Grande

Rated: Passed

7/10

Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke is posted on the Texas frontier to defend settlers against depredations of marauding Apaches. Col. Yorke is under considerable stress by a serious shortage of troops of his command. Tension is added when Yorke's son (whom he hasn't seen in fifteen years), Trooper Jeff Yorke, is one of 18 recruits sent to the regiment.

18. Wee Willie Winkie

Rated: Approved

6.9/10

In 1897, little Priscilla Williams, along with her widowed mother, goes to live with her army colonel paternal grandfather on the British outpost he commands in northern India.

19. Cheyenne Autumn

Rated: PG

6.7/10

A reluctant cavalry Captain must track a defiant tribe of migrating Cheyennes.

20. Two Rode Together

Rated: Not Rated

6.7/10

Two tough westerners bring home a group of settlers who have spent years as Comanche hostages.

21. Donovan's Reef

Rated: Approved

6.7/10

'Guns' Donovan prefers carousing with his pals Doc Dedham and 'Boats' Gilhooley, until Dedham's high-society daughter Amelia shows up in their South Seas paradise.

22. Mogambo

Rated: Approved

6.6/10

Victor Marswell runs a big game trapping company in Kenya. Eloise Kelly is ditched there, and an immediate attraction happens between them. Then Mr. and Mrs. Nordley show up for their gorilla documenting safari. Mrs. Nordley is not infatuated with her husband any more, and takes a liking to Marswell. The two men and two women have some difficulty arranging these emotions to their mutual satisfaction, but eventually succeed.

23. The Fugitive

Rated: PG

6.3/10

Anti-Catholic and anti-cleric policies in the Mexican state of Tabasco lead the revolutionary government to persecute the state's last remaining priest.

24. Mary of Scotland

Rated:

6.3/10

The recently widowed Mary Stuart returns to Scotland to reclaim her throne but is opposed by her half-brother and her own Scottish lords.