157 Michael Curtiz Movies, Ranked Best to Worst

The multiple ‘Academy Award’ winning classic set during World War II depicts the story of American expatriate Rick Blaine who owns a night club in Casablanca, Morocco. It serves as a safe haven for refugees. Things get complicated when he tries to help his former lover Ilsa Lund and her husband, Victor Laszlo, a Czech resistance leader escape the Germans.  

Mildred Pierce is an award-winning romantic crime drama film which tells the story of a hard-working mother, Mildred, whose husband leaves her for another woman. She starts a restaurant business in order to support her two daughters, and soon the business becomes quite a success. Despite this, her elder daughter doesn’t appreciate her mother's efforts.

Angels with Dirty Faces is a crime drama film which revolves around two young boys who were pickpockets, but gets separated when one of them gets arrested. Later one of them becomes a gangster while the other becomes a priest.

This action film tells the story of Robin Hood, a famous outlaw, who stands up against the oppression of the Norman Lords, and robs from the rich to help the poor. 

This musical is a biopic about the life of George Cohan, who used to produce, direct, write and star in his own musical shows and eventually received a legendary status.

Captain Blood is an action adventure film which takes us to late 17th century England. It tells the story of a young Irish doctor who is exiled as a slave to Jamaica. However, he manages to turn his life around, and eventually he becomes a nefarious pirate.

The Sea Hawk is a historical romantic action adventure film which tells the story of Don Alvarez, who is sent by King Philip II of Spain to England as a part of his plan for world conquest. However, things take a turn when on the way, his ship is captured by The Albatross, and her captain Geoffrey Thorpe. Thorpe however instantly finds himself drawn to Dona Maria, Don’s niece.  

After WWII, Bob Wallace and Phil Davis form a successful Broadway entertainment act. Soon they team up with sister act Betty and Judy Haynes to present a Christmas Show in a rural Vermont lodge. As the boys discover that their WWII commander Gen. Waverly is the lodge owner and is in financial difficulty, the foursome creates a musical extravaganza to help Waverly. 

Three convicts named Joseph, Albert and Jules, manage to escape prison from Devil’s Island in French Guiana, just before Christmas and they arrive at the nearby French colonial town named Cayenne. They soon befriend a poor store owner and help him in running his store.

Ward Guisenberry never aspired to become a boxer, but when he fought Sam McGraw at a party in order to defend the honor of Fluff, he left McGraw unconscious. McGraw is a member of the gang of Turkey Morgan who insists that the two should fight in a fair match at the ring. Ward unanticipatedly wins the match. However, with the growing fame he earns some new rivals.

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex is a historical romantic drama film which revolves around the relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Devereux, who was the 2nd Earl of Essex.

Reporter Ellen Garfield doesn’t want to marry her boyfriend, Curt Devlin, also a journalist until he admits she is as good as a reporter as him. Curt tricks her into misreporting the verdict on a murder trial leading to her getting fired. Ellen not only catches the real murderer but forces Curt to admit defeat. 

A woman becomes the main ‘hostess’ in a nightclub, after being abandoned by her lover. She soon decides to put her past behind her, and sets off to Mandalay.

While stationed in India, British army-officer Geoffrey Vickers saves life of Rajah Surat Khan, who later attacks the British barracks at Chukoti and massacres several British including women and children, and then joins Russians against British. Determined to avenge the massacre, Maj. Vickers countermands the orders, leads the 27th Lancers in ‘Battle of Balaclava’ and Kills Surat Khan before laying his life.

Upon his return from the war, John Chandler finds his life turned upside down. His wife died in a cannon fire and his son David, who witnessed the event, turned mute due to shock. The father son duo, along with their dog, travel to a town in Illinois in search of good treatment. However, they soon run into trouble when they meet sheep-herder Burleigh brothers.

After losing her father at an early age, Louise was left with her mother and her sisters in the middle of financial problems. Determined to find success in a man’s world, she enrolls at a business college, but her plans for her career change when she falls for a handsome man named Rodney Crane, despite the fact that the two have very little in common.

Pauline ‘Paulie,’ the wife of wealthy real-estate developer Ralph Nevins, is having a secret affair with Ralph’s assistant Marshall ‘Marsh,’ but is unwilling to leave Ralph because of his money. After overhearing a jewel robbery plan, Paulie persuades a reluctant Marsh to rob the thieves after their robbery. Suspicious of Paulie’s behavior, Ralph follows her with his gun on the same fateful night. 

Adam is a musician, who has been blessed with four daughters, Emma, Thea, Kay and Ann, who are musical prodigies just like him. Out of them, Kay seems to be the most skilled, and she also has great promise as a performer. Their lives take a turn with the arrival of a troubled young composer.

The Mayor of Hell is a romantic crime drama film which tells the story of Patsy, a former gangster, who is appointed as the new officer of a state reform school.  He falls for an activist nurse, and she inspires him to take over the administration to run the place on radical principles.  

Jake Cutter is an aging Texas ranger, who is assigned to capture Paul Regret, a gambler, who was imprisoned and scheduled for hanging, but had managed to escape. He eventually manages to capture Regret, but things get ugly when they encounter a group of fierce outlaws. The two are forced to unite to stop and defeat them. Regret proves his worth in the fight, after which Cutter begins to have second thoughts about taking him back to the authorities.  

Prolific lyricist Gus Kahn’s luck changes for the better when he meets and falls in love with Grace LeBoy, who becomes his composer. Later Gus and Grace get married and he achieves even more success until he loses all his savings in the 1929 stock-market crash. 

Alison Drake is the tough female CEO of a company, who not only succeeds in the man’s world of business, but she also makes sure to date and dump nearly every attractive man working with her. Things take a turn when she meets Jim Throne, an engineer, who rebuffs her attempts to seduce him.

Brant Royle returns to his hometown in Kingsmont, North Carolina, to build a new tobacco company and go up against tobacco magnate, Major Singleton, who had driven Brant and his father out of town. While Brant manages to win initially, his marriage to Singleton’s daughter Margaret contributes to his downfall. 

When Rhoda Montaine learns that her former husband, Gregory Moxley, is still alive she contacts Perry Mason. Starting on his investigation, Mason finds that Moxley has recently been murdered, leading to Rhoda’s arrest for murder and bigamy. Based on an eponymous novel by Erle Stanley Gardner, the story focuses on how Mason solves the case.   

US Marshal Bovard is called ‘The Hangman’ because no outlaw could escape getting caught and hanged by him. But as he tries to trace robbery suspect Johnny Bishop in a small town, his efforts are blocked by the town’s people and the Sheriff who protect the well-liked Bishop. After apprehending him, the Marshal allows Bishop to escape as he realizes Bishop’s innocence.  

Just as a single mother, with four grown up daughters, decides to remarry, her freewheeling husband turns up. Missing for last twenty years and declared dead, he initially receives a cool reception from his daughters, but gradually wins their affection, endorsing his youngest daughter’s relationship with a maverick, who reminds him of himself.  

The Story of Will Rogers is a biography comedy drama film which revolves around the life of well-known humorist, actor and social critic, Will Rogers. 

The grandson of a wealthy woman has been kept secluded for a long time, in order to make him mentally, physically and morally perfect. However, an accidental encounter with a newspaper reporter gets him introduced to the outside world, and he decides to go on an adventure with her, while his grandmother tries to trace him down.

Joe is a simple immigrant who is working as a coal miner. He wants to buy a farm and marry Anna, the girl whom he is in love with, but things get complicated as he finds himself in the middle of a dispute between the workers and the mine owners.

Opening with Noah and his family praising the Lord after the Great Flood, the film goes on to depict the building of the Tower of Babel and worshipping of the golden calf. It then switches on to the present, depicting the death and destruction during First World War, drawing a parallel with the ancient events, going back and forth in time. 

Frustrated that he will never become a dancer, a crippled puppeteer adopts a boy and trains him to become the greatest dancer. Over the time, the young man grows up and falls in love. Concerned about his disciple’s career, the master tries his best to keep the lovers apart, not realizing that true love will surmount every hurdle.  

Bright Lights is a musical romantic drama film which tells the story of a successful Broadway actress named Louanne, who is planning her retirement. However, she is soon marrying a rich man, instead of the man whom she is in love with.    

Realizing that Pat Buckley, owner of the paper, is planning to close it down, reporter Jean Christy suggests that he hire former employee,  Robert Lansford, now in public relation business, to improve the paper’s circulation. Initially unwilling, Robert agrees to take up the assignment only after he learns that Pat is dating Lorri, whose grandfather is a millionaire.  

Four Wives is an American drama film, which tells the story of Ann, who loses her husband, Mickey, shortly after her marriage. She decides to start living with her father again, and her two sisters. She eventually falls in love with another man, but on the day of the engagement, she discovers that she is pregnant with Mickey’s child. 

Force of Arms is a romantic drama film, which tells the story of an American infantryman who is on leave, who falls in love with an officer from the Women’s Army Corps. 

Anthony Adverse is an adventure romantic drama film which revolves around a young man named Anthony, who was abandoned at a convent by his rich and heartless father, as his mother had passed away during childbirth. However, he is later mentored by his kind-hearted grandfather. He soon meets a beautiful woman named Angela Giuseppe, and the two fall in love. However, circumstances separate Anthony and Angela, and eventually, he is forced to embark on a long journey, in order to reunite with her.    

Broadway star Al Howard’s irresponsible behavior costs him his work. His sister Molly unsuccessfully tries to find him job; then request friend Dorothy to team up with him, which fetches great success. Al decides to open his own club on Broadway for which he not only borrows money from a gangster, but also gets entangled with his wife, ignoring dedicated Dorothy’s warnings.

Released in the UK as Both Ends of the Candle, the film traces the life of torch singer and actress Helen Morgan. Beginning her career as a Chicago carnival dancer, Helen catches the attention of Larry Maddux, a fast-talking bootlegger and with his help reaches stardom. But her fame and wealth cannot bring her happiness and she soon turns to alcohol. 

The romance of Jared, a mining engineer, and Serena, the daughter of a prominent farmer, is set against the backdrop of a gold strike in California, where farmers are protesting the mining methods that are destroying their wheat farms in Sacramento Valley.

This drama film tells the story of Al Fuller, star of a traveling minstrel troupe. He falls for the beautiful Nora, who is the daughter of the owner of the troupe. However, Nora seems to have feelings for another man.

When advertising artist leaves his job in New York to settle down in sleepy town, he is not welcomed by the community, especially the adults, although the children become friendly with him. His wife is also unhappy about it and starts lashing out at him, falsely accusing him of beating her. Therefore, when she goes missing, he becomes the prime suspect. 

Blackwell’s Island is a crime drama film, which tells the story of a New York Reporter, who infiltrates a crime syndicate after he befriends ‘the boss who is serving time inside Blackwell Island prison.

A dancer in Paris gets married to a British playboy after which he convinces her to give up her career and move to a small cottage in the country. During a party, when she performs one of her dances which she was known for, it causes a fight with her husband and he runs out of the party, despite the fact that there is a raging storm outside.

Janie is a teenage girl living in a small town named Hortonville. Since the World War II is going on, an army camp is set up near the town. Despite already having a boyfriend, she starts dating one of the soldiers.

Jennifer is the head of the oceanography firm, and is known for her honesty. However, she is in need of money for running the firm. After her trip to an oceanographic research, she claims that she has discovered a prototype submarine.

The musical is inspired from the careers of 1920’s songwriting team of Buddy DeSylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson. As a successful team the Tin Pan Alley songwriters Buddy, Lew and Ray earn several Broadway hits to their credit. But when Buddy announces major business decisions without consulting the other two, it sows the seeds of bitterness, leading to a partnership break-up. 

Mary is a young girl who is in love with a sculptor named Harry. However, due to financial issues, she gets engaged to a rich banker named Jackson Harber, who is quite older to her, and is the former lover of her mother. She eventually attempts to seduce not only Harber’s son but also his tutor. Eventually, she drives Harber to the verge of suicide.

Tom Brewster, a correspondence law school student, who is good with ropes but not guns, reaches corrupt Western town Blue Rock and mails his exams. He declines when incumbent Mayor Turlock offers him sheriff’s post. But when mail-coach is robbed, Brewster is compelled to take up the job. He starts investigating former sheriff’s death, and discovers that the clues point to Turlock.

Jess Robin wants to be a popular jazz singer but his father, who lives as a traditional Jew, doesn’t want his son following this particular career. Defying both his father as well as his wife, Jess leaves New York in order to pursue his dreams.  

Austrian Princess, Olympia, falls in love with Pittsburg mining engineer Charlie Foster who is not of noble birth. But her father Prince Philip wants her to marry the Prince of Prussia. With a royal scandal breathing down the neck, will true love survive?

This musical romance film takes us to 1461, and tells the story of several French nobles, who join forces with the rebellious Duke of Burgundy, and plan to overthrow the King. Soon they decide to enlist the help of Francois Villon, the leader of the Vagabonds, a vigilante group that is known to rob the rich in order to help the poor people.

Based on the book by U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union, Joseph E. Davies, the movie depicts his experience in the Union between World War I and World War II. As Davies tries to navigate the world of Russian politics and communism, his family has to come to terms with the Russian way of daily life. 

The Woman from Monte Carlo is a drama film which tells the story of a wife of a French battleship captain Walter Huston, who is quite younger than her husband. She finds herself attracted to Warren William, a younger officer.

God’s Gift to Women is a romantic comedy film which revolves around Toto, a French womanizer, a descendant of Don Juan, who indulges in relationships with various women. Eventually, things take a turn for him, after he falls for an American woman, but in order to marry her, he has to prove himself to her disapproving father.

After manager Doug Blake is dumped by star Gary Mitchell, Doug travels to New York to discover a new star and finds Martha Gibson. After a series of mishaps, Martha makes it big and even falls in love with Doug but her kindness towards Gary causes more problems.