Nicholas Ray - an "Avant-garde" film director.
by alexanderdavies-99382 | created - 16 Jul 2022 | updated - 16 Jul 2022 | PublicBefore his career was prematurely curtailed due to ill health, Nicholas Ray had a reputation that was centered on his unconventional approach to making films.
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1. Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
PG-13 | 111 min | Drama
A rebellious young man with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus
Votes: 97,970
2. In a Lonely Place (1950)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
A potentially violent screenwriter is a murder suspect until his lovely neighbor clears him. However, she soon starts to have her doubts.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy, Carl Benton Reid
Votes: 35,267
3. Run for Cover (1955)
Approved | 93 min | Drama, Western
Mistaken for train robbers, Matt Dow and Davey Bishop are shot at by the sheriff and his posse but they are cleared and hired as lawmen.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: James Cagney, Viveca Lindfors, John Derek, Jean Hersholt
Votes: 1,794
4. Knock on Any Door (1949)
Passed | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An attorney defends a hoodlum of murder, using the oppressiveness of the slums to appeal to the court.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, John Derek, George Macready, Allene Roberts
Votes: 4,206
5. Flying Leathernecks (1951)
Approved | 102 min | Action, Drama, War
Major Kirby leads The Wildcats squadron into the historic WWII battle of Guadalcanal.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Don Taylor, Janis Carter
Votes: 5,520
6. Born to Be Bad (1950)
Approved | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A woman's attempt to appear innocent and sweet clashes with her lover, who sees through her act, and the wealthy man she tries to trick into marrying her.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Mel Ferrer, Joan Fontaine, Robert Ryan, Zachary Scott
Votes: 2,753
7. On Dangerous Ground (1951)
Approved | 82 min | Drama, Film-Noir
Rough city cop Jim Wilson is disciplined by his captain and is sent upstate, to a snowy mountain town, to help the local sheriff solve a murder case.
Directors: Nicholas Ray, Ida Lupino | Stars: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond, Charles Kemper
Votes: 8,067
8. The Lusty Men (1952)
Passed | 113 min | Action, Drama, Sport
Retired rodeo champion Jeff McCloud agrees to mentor novice rodeo contestant Wes Merritt against the wishes of Merritt's wife who fears the dangers of this rough sport.
Directors: Nicholas Ray, Robert Parrish | Stars: Susan Hayward, Robert Mitchum, Arthur Kennedy, Arthur Hunnicutt
Votes: 3,656
9. Johnny Guitar (1954)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama, Western
After helping a wounded gang member, a strong-willed female saloon owner is wrongly suspected of murder and bank robbery by a lynch mob.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden, Mercedes McCambridge, Scott Brady
Votes: 19,748
10. Hot Blood (1956)
Approved | 85 min | Drama, Musical
Stephen Torino (Wilde), who is tricked by his brother Marco (Adler) into an arranged marriage with tempestuous Annie Caldash (Russell). Annie is willing to give the union a go, but Torino wants none of it.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Jane Russell, Cornel Wilde, Luther Adler, Joseph Calleia
Votes: 607
11. Bitter Victory (1957)
Approved | 82 min | Drama, War
A commander receives a citation for an attack on Erwin Rommel's headquarters, which is actually undeserved, as the commander is unfit for his job. On top of that, unbeknownst to him, his wife is having an affair with one of his officers.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Richard Burton, Curd Jürgens, Ruth Roman, Raymond Pellegrin
Votes: 2,292
12. Wind Across the Everglades (1958)
Approved | 93 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
An ornithologist battles a family of bird poachers in the Florida Everglades.
Directors: Nicholas Ray, Budd Schulberg | Stars: Burl Ives, Christopher Plummer, Chana Eden, Gypsy Rose Lee
Votes: 1,248
13. Bigger Than Life (1956)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama
A seriously-ill schoolteacher becomes dependent on a "miracle" drug that begins to affect his sanity.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: James Mason, Barbara Rush, Walter Matthau, Robert F. Simon
Votes: 8,146
14. The True Story of Jesse James (1957)
Approved | 92 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Biopic loosely based on the last 18 years of Jesse James' life and focused on the relationship between brothers Jesse and Frank James.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Hope Lange, Agnes Moorehead
Votes: 1,696
15. Party Girl (1958)
Approved | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Lawyer Tommy Farrell is a defender of crooks. Vicki Gaye encourages him to go straight, but mob king Rico Angelo insists otherwise.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse, Lee J. Cobb, John Ireland
Votes: 3,747
16. The Savage Innocents (1960)
Not Rated | 110 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
An Eskimo who has had little contact with white men goes to a trading post where he accidentally kills a missionary and finds himself being pursued by the police.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Anthony Quinn, Yôko Tani, Peter O'Toole, Carlo Giustini
Votes: 2,040
17. King of Kings (1961)
PG-13 | 168 min | Biography, Drama
The temporary physical life of the Biblical Savior, Jesus Christ.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Jeffrey Hunter, Siobhan McKenna, Hurd Hatfield, Ron Randell
Votes: 9,027 | Gross: $14.48M
18. 55 Days at Peking (1963)
Unrated | 154 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
During the 1900 Boxer Rebellion, U.S. marine, Maj. Matt Lewis, along with British consul, Sir Arthur Robertson, develop a plan to keep the rebels at bay until an international military relief force can arrive.
Directors: Nicholas Ray, Guy Green, Andrew Marton | Stars: Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, David Niven, Flora Robson
Votes: 7,420
19. We Can't Go Home Again (1973)
TV-MA | 93 min | Drama
The most complete, newly restored version of Nicholas Ray's experimental masterpiece embodies the director's practice of film-making as a "communal way of life." Ray plays himself in the ... See full summary »
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Richard Bock, Tom Farrell, Danny Fisher, Jill Gannon
Votes: 547
20. They Live by Night (1948)
Passed | 95 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Romance
An escaped convict injured during a robbery falls in love with the woman who nurses him back to health, but their relationship seems doomed from the beginning.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Cathy O'Donnell, Farley Granger, Howard Da Silva, Jay C. Flippen
Votes: 9,356
21. A Woman's Secret (1949)
Approved | 84 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
Failed singer Marian Washburn confesses she shot her friend, successful singer Susan Caldwell, but her manager Luke Jordan and Detective Fowler doubt her story and cannot establish a reasonable motive.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Maureen O'Hara, Melvyn Douglas, Gloria Grahame, Bill Williams
Votes: 1,935
22. Roseanna McCoy (1949)
89 min | Drama, Romance
The saga of the Hatfield-and-McCoy feud is romanticized in Samuel Goldwyn's "Roseanna McCoy." Newcomer Joan Evans stars as the title character, whose elopement with Johnse Hatfield serves ... See full summary »
Directors: Irving Reis, Nicholas Ray | Stars: Farley Granger, Joan Evans, Charles Bickford, Raymond Massey
Votes: 303
23. The Racket (1951)
Approved | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
In New York, two honest cops try to hinder a crime syndicate from moving into the precinct and also to prevent the mob's plan of electing a corrupt prosecutor to a judgeship.
Directors: John Cromwell, Mel Ferrer, Tay Garnett, Edmund Grainger, Nicholas Ray, Sherman Todd | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, Robert Ryan, William Talman
Votes: 3,366
24. Macao (1952)
Passed | 81 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
Nick Cochran, an American in exile in Macao, has a chance to restore his name by helping capture an international crime lord. Undercover, can he mislead the bad guys and still woo the attractive singer/petty crook, Julie Benson?
Directors: Josef von Sternberg, Mel Ferrer, Nicholas Ray, Robert Stevenson | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, William Bendix, Thomas Gomez
Votes: 3,803
25. Androcles and the Lion (1952)
Approved | 98 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
Story of a Christian in ancient Rome who befriends a lion.
Directors: Chester Erskine, Nicholas Ray | Stars: Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Alan Young, Robert Newton
Votes: 1,066
26. General Electric Theater (1953–1962)
TV-G | 30 min | Drama
An American anthology series, with a new episode and different actors and actresses each week. Hosted by Ronald Reagan, the series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.
Stars: Ronald Reagan, Don Herbert, Nancy Reagan, Lee Marvin
Votes: 432
27. The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial (1955–1959)
30 min | Crime
An anthology series hosted by and occasionally starring Joseph Cotten. The show often included court trials or individual's personal trials. The show was technically only "On Trial" but was popularly known as The Joseph Cotten Show.
Stars: Joseph Cotten, Robert Middleton, Everett Sloane, Frank Gerstle
Votes: 166
28. Lightning Over Water (1980)
91 min | Documentary
Wim Wenders abandons the shoot of one of his own films in order to help his friend and fellow director Nicholas Ray create his swan song before he dies.
Directors: Nicholas Ray, Wim Wenders | Stars: Gerry Bamman, Ronee Blakley, Pierre Cottrell, Stefan Czapsky
Votes: 1,504
29. Stranger: Susan Ray on Nicholas Ray (2021 Video)
30 min | Documentary, Short
In this documentary short, director Nicholas Ray's widow Susan discusses first meeting the famous director, his attitude towards actors and passing on his knowledge of filmmaking, and his ... See full summary »
Stars: Tom Farrell, Jim Jarmusch, Nicholas Ray, Susan Ray
30. Nicholas Ray: Especially for Pierre (1979 Video)
38 min | Documentary, Short, Biography
Star: Nicholas Ray
31. I'm a Stranger Here Myself (1974)
60 min | Documentary
A portrait of legendary filmmaker Nicholas Ray while is working as a film professor at a college in upstate New York.
Director: David Helpern | Stars: Natalie Wood, John Houseman, François Truffaut, Nicholas Ray
Votes: 117
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