Henry King Ranked

Henry King on the set of Jesse James with Nancy Kelly and Tyrone Power

In 2019, I put together a tribute to Henry King in Bologna where Il Cinema Ritrovato featured 12 films by this gentle giant of American cinema. The reception was overwhelming and the enthusiasm contagious. Rounding up that year with King, I'm posting the programme notes written for that retrospective here on this blog along with this ranking of the King's filmography. Feel free to add yours in the Comments section below.

Undisputed Masterpieces

Twelve O'Clock High (1949)

The Gunfighter (1950)
State Fair (1933)



Nearly Perfect

The Bravados (1958)
The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926)

Essential King

Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)

In Old Chicago (1937)
Prince of Foxes (1949)
Seventh Heaven (1937)
The Woman Disputed (1928)
Over the Hill (1931)
The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)
Wait till the Sun Shines, Nellie (1952)
Tol'able David (1921)
Jesse James (1939)
The White Sister (1923)
The Song of Bernadette (1943)
A Bell for Adano (1945)
She Goes to War (1929)
The Gift of the Magi [segment from O. Henry's Full House] (1952)

Good Ones, Yet Something's Missing

Margie (1946)

I'd Climb the Highest Mountain (1951)
Deep Waters (1948)
The Sun Also Rises (1957)
Tender Is the Night (1962)
Remember the Day (1941)
One More Spring (1935)
The Country Doctor (1936)

Unpretentious and Fun

The Black Swan (1942)

Lloyd's of London (1936)
Marie Galante (1934)
Hell Harbor (1930)
Little Mary Sunshine (1916)
Little Old New York (1940)

Uneven Efforts, Mastery of Form Impaired by a Poor Script

The Seventh Day (1922)

A Yank in the RAF (1941)
David and Bathsheba (1951)
Ramona (1936)
Untamed (1955)
Stanley and Livingstone (1939)
Carousel (1956)
Way Down East (1935)
King of the Khyber Rifles (1953)

Vaguely Interesting, Depending on Your Mood

Beloved Infidel (1959)

This Earth Is Mine (1959)
Chad Hanna (1940)
Captain from Castile (1947)
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)

I Wish King's Name Was Not There

Maryland (1940)

Wilson (1944)