The Best 38 films of Henry Fonda.
by jacobyjhn-18-315763 | created - 27 Aug 2011 | updated - 24 Jan 2015 | PublicMaybe the most underrated of all actors of the golden era, quiet, shy and ernest, Henry Fonda, was, in retrospect, one of the best actors of all time, and belongs in the discussion of the best of the Hollywood film stars. Here are 38 of his best films.
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1. 12 Angry Men (1957)
Approved | 96 min | Crime, Drama
The jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam, John Fiedler
Votes: 863,526 | Gross: $4.36M
2. Mister Roberts (1955)
Passed | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, War
In the waning days of World War II, the cargo officer of a Navy supply ship chafes at its role far from the action in the Pacific's backwater areas, his frustration rising when its captain denies the crew liberty over petty irritations.
Directors: John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy, Joshua Logan | Stars: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, Jack Lemmon
Votes: 18,218 | Gross: $21.20M
3. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Passed | 129 min | Drama
An Oklahoma family, driven off their farm by the poverty and hopelessness of the Dust Bowl, joins the westward migration to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Charley Grapewin
Votes: 99,863 | Gross: $0.06M
4. The Ox-Bow Incident (1942)
Passed | 75 min | Drama, Western
When a posse captures three men suspected of killing a local farmer, they become strongly divided over whether or not to lynch the men.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Mary Beth Hughes, Anthony Quinn
Votes: 24,937 | Gross: $1.64M
5. Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
Passed | 100 min | Biography, Drama, History
A fictionalized account of the early life of the American president as a young lawyer facing his greatest court case.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Henry Fonda, Alice Brady, Marjorie Weaver, Arleen Whelan
Votes: 9,169
6. My Darling Clementine (1946)
Passed | 97 min | Drama, Romance, Western
After their cattle are stolen and their brother murdered, the Earp brothers have a score to settle with the Clanton family.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, Victor Mature, Cathy Downs
Votes: 25,723
7. On Golden Pond (1981)
PG | 109 min | Drama
Norman is a curmudgeon with an estranged relationship with his daughter Chelsea. At Golden Pond, he and his wife nevertheless agree to care for Billy, the son of Chelsea's new boyfriend, and a most unexpected relationship blooms.
Director: Mark Rydell | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, Doug McKeon
Votes: 34,804 | Gross: $119.29M
8. Fort Apache (1948)
Passed | 128 min | Drama, Western
At Fort Apache, an honorable and veteran war captain finds conflict when his regime is placed under the command of a young, glory hungry lieutenant colonel with no respect for the local Indian tribe.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Shirley Temple, Pedro Armendáriz
Votes: 19,668
9. Fail Safe (1964)
Approved | 112 min | Drama, Thriller
A technical malfunction sends American planes to Moscow to deliver a nuclear attack. Can all-out war be averted?
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver, Dan O'Herlihy
Votes: 24,379
10. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
PG-13 | 166 min | Western
A mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards
Votes: 348,762 | Gross: $5.32M
11. The Best Man (1964)
Approved | 102 min | Drama
The two front runners for their party's presidential nomination, one principled and the other ruthless, vie for the former president's endorsement.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson, Edie Adams, Margaret Leighton
Votes: 3,725
12. Advise & Consent (1962)
Not Rated | 139 min | Drama, Thriller
The polarizing search for a new Secretary of State has far-reaching consequences.
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Franchot Tone, Lew Ayres, Henry Fonda, Walter Pidgeon
Votes: 7,501
13. Welcome to Hard Times (1967)
Approved | 103 min | Drama, Western
A sociopathic stranger all but destroys a small hardscrabble town but the 'mayor' convinces its survivors to stay and rebuild.
Director: Burt Kennedy | Stars: Henry Fonda, Janice Rule, Keenan Wynn, Janis Paige
Votes: 1,692
14. The Lady Eve (1941)
Passed | 94 min | Comedy, Romance
A trio of classy card sharks targets a socially awkward brewery heir, until one of them falls in love with him.
Director: Preston Sturges | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, Eugene Pallette
Votes: 23,349
15. Jesse James (1939)
GP | 106 min | Western
After railroad agents forcibly evict the James family from their family farm, Jesse and Frank turn to banditry for revenge.
Directors: Henry King, Irving Cummings | Stars: Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, Nancy Kelly, Randolph Scott
Votes: 4,942
16. The Boston Strangler (1968)
Approved | 116 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A series of brutal murders in Boston sparks a seemingly endless and increasingly complex manhunt.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda, George Kennedy, Mike Kellin
Votes: 10,809
17. Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
Approved | 104 min | Drama, Romance, War
Newlyweds Gil and Lana Martin try to establish a farm in the Mohawk Valley but are menaced by Indians and Tories as the Revolutionary War begins.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Henry Fonda, Edna May Oliver, Eddie Collins
Votes: 6,784 | Gross: $1.00M
18. Warlock (1959)
Passed | 121 min | Western
A famous gunman becomes the marshal of Warlock to end a gang's rampages, but is met with some opposition by a former gang member turned deputy sheriff who wants to follow only legal methods.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn, Dorothy Malone
Votes: 7,039 | Gross: $3.71M
19. Madigan (1968)
TV-14 | 101 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In New York City's Spanish Harlem, detectives Madigan and Bonaro are given 72 hours by their superior to capture a hoodlum wanted for homicide in Brooklyn.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Inger Stevens, Harry Guardino
Votes: 4,069
20. The Male Animal (1942)
Passed | 101 min | Comedy, Romance
A college English teacher suddenly finds himself the center of a free-speech debate on campus.
Director: Elliott Nugent | Stars: Henry Fonda, Olivia de Havilland, Joan Leslie, Jack Carson
Votes: 1,439
21. The Return of Frank James (1940)
Approved | 92 min | Drama, Western
Frank James continues to avoid arrest in order to take revenge on the Ford brothers for their murder of his brother Jesse.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Henry Fonda, Gene Tierney, Jackie Cooper, Henry Hull
Votes: 3,680
22. How the West Was Won (1962)
G | 164 min | Adventure, War, Western
A family saga covering several decades of Westward expansion in the 19th century, including the Gold Rush, the Civil War, and the building of the railroads.
Directors: John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, Richard Thorpe | Stars: James Stewart, John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Henry Fonda
Votes: 23,260 | Gross: $46.50M
23. The Longest Day (1962)
G | 178 min | Action, Drama, History
The events of D-Day, told on a grand scale from both the Allied and German points of view.
Directors: Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Gerd Oswald, Bernhard Wicki, Darryl F. Zanuck | Stars: John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Richard Burton, Henry Fonda
Votes: 59,024 | Gross: $39.10M
24. The Fugitive (1947)
Approved | 104 min | Drama, History
Anti-Catholic and anti-cleric policies in the Mexican state of Tabasco lead the revolutionary government to persecute the state's last remaining priest.
Directors: John Ford, Emilio Fernández | Stars: Henry Fonda, Dolores Del Río, Pedro Armendáriz, J. Carrol Naish
Votes: 2,585
25. Jezebel (1938)
Approved | 104 min | Drama, Romance
In 1850s Louisiana, a free-spirited Southern belle loses her fiancé due to her stubborn vanity and pride, and vows to win him back.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, George Brent, Margaret Lindsay
Votes: 15,033
26. There Was a Crooked Man... (1970)
R | 126 min | Comedy, Western
A charming but totally ruthless criminal is sent to a remote Arizona prison. He enlists the help of his cellmates in an escape attempt with the promise of sharing his hidden loot.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Hume Cronyn, Warren Oates
Votes: 5,227 | Gross: $0.64M
27. Midway (1976)
PG | 132 min | Action, Drama, History
A dramatization of the battle that was widely heralded as a turning point of the Pacific Theatre of World War II.
Director: Jack Smight | Stars: Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford
Votes: 21,468
28. Firecreek (1968)
Approved | 104 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A peace-loving, part-time Sheriff in the small town of Firecreek must take a stand when a gang of vicious outlaws takes over his town.
Director: Vincent McEveety | Stars: James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Inger Stevens, Gary Lockwood
Votes: 4,052
29. The Cheyenne Social Club (1970)
GP | 103 min | Western
An aging cowboy finds to his embarrassment that the successful business he has inherited from his brother is actually a house of prostitution.
Director: Gene Kelly | Stars: James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Shirley Jones, Sue Ane Langdon
Votes: 5,073 | Gross: $0.11M
30. The Mad Miss Manton (1938)
Passed | 80 min | Comedy, Mystery
After the murdered body discovered by beautiful, vivacious socialite Melsa Manton disappears, police and press label her a prankster until she proves them wrong.
Director: Leigh Jason | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Sam Levene, Frances Mercer
Votes: 2,806
31. Gideon's Trumpet (1980 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 104 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of Clarence Earl Gideon and his fight for the right to have publicly funded legal counsel for the needy.
Director: Robert L. Collins | Stars: Henry Fonda, José Ferrer, John Houseman, Fay Wray
Votes: 1,184
32. Clarence Darrow (1974 TV Movie)
81 min | Biography, Drama
The taped performance of Henry Fonda's one-man show was aired as "IBM Presents Clarence Darrow" on September 4, 1974, on NBC.
Director: John Rich | Star: Henry Fonda
Votes: 161
33. Sometimes a Great Notion (1971)
PG | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A family of fiercely independent Oregon loggers struggle to keep the family business alive amidst changing times.
Director: Paul Newman | Stars: Paul Newman, Henry Fonda, Lee Remick, Michael Sarrazin
Votes: 4,487 | Gross: $9.20M
34. A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966)
Approved | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Western
Comedy western in which a traveler bets more money than he can afford in a poker game, and unusual events follow.
Director: Fielder Cook | Stars: Henry Fonda, Joanne Woodward, Jason Robards, Paul Ford
Votes: 4,646
35. War and Peace (1956)
PG | 208 min | Drama, Romance, War
Napoleon's tumultuous relations with Russia, including his disastrous 1812 invasion, serve as the backdrop for the tangled personal lives of two aristocratic families.
Director: King Vidor | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Mel Ferrer, Vittorio Gassman
Votes: 10,852 | Gross: $12.50M
36. Slim (1937)
Passed | 85 min | Drama, Romance
A veteran lineman takes an awe-struck young farmer under his wing, but problems arise when he introduces him to his occasional girlfriend, a pretty nurse.
Director: Ray Enright | Stars: Pat O'Brien, Henry Fonda, Stuart Erwin, Margaret Lindsay
Votes: 434
37. The Tin Star (1957)
Approved | 93 min | Western
A cynical former sheriff turned bounty hunter helps a young, recently appointed acting sheriff with his advice, his experience and his gun.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: Henry Fonda, Anthony Perkins, Betsy Palmer, Michel Ray
Votes: 6,532
38. Sex and the Single Girl (1964)
Not Rated | 110 min | Comedy, Romance
A womanizing reporter for a sleazy tabloid magazine impersonates his hen-pecked neighbor in order to get an expose on renowned psychologist Helen Gurley Brown.
Director: Richard Quine | Stars: Lauren Bacall, Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Henry Fonda
Votes: 4,688 | Gross: $9.27M
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