--- name: "John Huston" canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-huston" fi1m_id: "john-huston" imdb_id: "nm0001379" tmdb_id: 6593 wikidata_id: "Q51575" roles: ["Director","Writer","Producer"] born: "5 August 1906" died: "28 August 1987" reviewed_on_fi1m: 18 average_fi1m_score: 76 average_as: "director" average_over: 11 updated: "2026-09-26T17:30:35.283958+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # John Huston ## Identity John Huston - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/john-huston - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** john-huston - **IMDb ID:** nm0001379 - **TMDB ID:** 6593 - **Wikidata ID:** Q51575 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Huston, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q51575, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001379/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/6593 Director and writer. Born 5 August 1906 in Nevada, Missouri, USA. Died 28 August 1987. ## Details - **Work:** Director, Writer, Producer - **Born:** 5 August 1906, Nevada, Missouri, USA - **Died:** 28 August 1987 - **Active:** 1938–1987 - **Also known as:** John Marcellus Huston, Τζον Χιούστον, 존 휴스턴, Джон Хʼюстон - **Titles on Fi1m:** 18: 2 acting, 11 directing, 5 writing - **Frequently works with:** [Humphrey Bogart](https://film.one/person/humphrey-bogart.md), [Anthony Veiller](https://film.one/person/anthony-veiller.md), [Abem Finkel](https://film.one/person/abem-finkel.md), [Barton MacLane](https://film.one/person/barton-maclane.md), [Jack Nicholson](https://film.one/person/jack-nicholson.md), [Joan Leslie](https://film.one/person/joan-leslie.md), [John Woolf](https://film.one/person/john-woolf.md), [Orson Welles](https://film.one/person/orson-welles.md) - **Academy Awards:** 2 Oscars (2 won · 13 nominated) - **Average Fi1m score:** 76, as director, over 11 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 78 (1), 1940s 80 (6), 1950s 77 (4), 1960s 50 (1), 1970s 67 (3), 1980s 75 (3) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 80 to 78 across 6 titles - **Score spread:** 6 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 2 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 1 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 7, Adventure 4, Comedy 4, Crime 4, Romance 2, Action 1 - **Screen time:** 20 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $149m across 8 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Huston, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q51575, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001379/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/6593 ## Streaming the US now - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Chinatown*](https://film.one/film/chinatown.md) (93), [*Moulin Rouge*](https://film.one/film/moulin-rouge-1952.md) (64) - **Tubi:** [*The Dead*](https://film.one/film/the-dead.md) (86), [*Sergeant York*](https://film.one/film/sergeant-york.md) (66) - **HBO Max:** [*The Maltese Falcon*](https://film.one/film/the-maltese-falcon.md) (87) - **Hulu:** [*The Stranger*](https://film.one/film/the-stranger.md) (76) - **The Roku Channel:** [*Fat City*](https://film.one/film/fat-city.md) (73) - **Apple TV:** [*Beat the Devil*](https://film.one/film/beat-the-devil.md) (72) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on John Huston > John Huston puts difficult people in a room, on a boat or up a mountain and lets them talk until the talk turns dangerous. Over five decades the method rarely failed him, though he could seldom resist explaining what his actors had already shown. The Huston scene is two or three people sitting down to settle something. In *The Maltese Falcon* (1941) Sydney Greenstreet's Kasper Gutman brings a leisurely authority to the bargaining, and the film gives the conversation the attention another thriller would spend on a chase. In *Prizzi's Honor* (1985), forty-four years on, hired killers discuss murder with the seriousness they bring to family obligations, and the camera stays on whoever is weighing the proposition. Huston trusted that watching a person decide something is action enough. Most of the time he was right. He came to directing out of the Warner Bros. writing room in the late 1930s and never stopped writing. He adapted Dashiell Hammett himself for *The Maltese Falcon*, his first film as director, took B. Traven's novel for *The Treasure of the Sierra Madre* (1948) and wrote *The African Queen* (1952) with James Agee. Nearly everything he made began as a book. He left Warners for an independent run through the 1950s, lost his footing in an uneven 1960s, and came back late with *The Man Who Would Be King* (1975), from Kipling, and *Prizzi's Honor*. Humphrey Bogart made six films with him. His method with actors was to cast well and get out of the way. His father Walter Huston talks his companions half to death in *Sierra Madre* and gives the film most of its humour. Katharine Hepburn and Bogart bicker their way down a river in *The African Queen*, and the bickering carries the film past dangers that feel conveniently arranged. Kathleen Turner holds her own against Jack Nicholson in *Prizzi's Honor* without borrowing his mannerisms, while Andrzej Bartkowiak's camera stays on whoever is talking. We came out of *The Maltese Falcon* liking Sam Spade less than when we went in, and liking the film more for it, because Huston will not soften him and Bogart plays every exchange as though it might cost somebody something. The weakness is that he did not always trust what he had filmed. *Sierra Madre* keeps telling us what greed does after the prospectors have shown us, and Steiner's score presses feelings the actors had already made clear. *The Maltese Falcon* is held so firmly that some exchanges exist only to deliver the next piece of the puzzle. Under the toughness there is a moralist who wants the lesson stated, and the films are most disturbing when he keeps quiet. Start with *The Maltese Falcon* and *The Treasure of the Sierra Madre*, then *Prizzi's Honor* for proof that the method still worked in his last years. Huston told an interviewer in 1965 that he was not aware of having a style as a director, and that when people told him he did, he could not recognise it. Anyone who has watched two of his people sit down and come to an appalling agreement can recognise it for him. ## Biography John Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. Born on 5 August 1906 in Nevada, Missouri, he died on 28 August 1987 in Middletown, Rhode Island. He began his career in Hollywood as a screenwriter in the 1930s before making his directorial debut with *The Maltese Falcon* (1941). Huston directed numerous films, often writing the screenplays himself. Among those for which he is best known are *The Treasure of the Sierra Madre* (1948), *Key Largo* (1948), *The Asphalt Jungle* (1950), *The African Queen* (1952), *The Man Who Would Be King* (1975) and *Prizzi's Honor* (1985). He also acted in several productions, including the role of Noah Cross in *Chinatown* (1974). *Sources: imdb.com, sensesofcinema.com, britannica.com, screenonline.org.uk.* ## On Fi1m (18) ### Performed in (2) - *Chinatown* (1974), Fi1m 93, as Noah Cross — [page](https://film.one/film/chinatown.md) - *Battle for the Planet of the Apes* (1973), Fi1m 36, as The Lawgiver — [page](https://film.one/film/battle-for-the-planet-of-the-apes.md) ### Directed (11) — the average rests on these - *The Dead* (1987), Fi1m 86, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-dead.md) - *Prizzi's Honor* (1985), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/prizzis-honor.md) - *Annie* (1982), Fi1m 58, as Actor on Radio (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/annie.md) - *Fat City* (1972), Fi1m 73, Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/fat-city.md) - *Casino Royale* (1967), Fi1m 50, as McTarry — [page](https://film.one/film/casino-royale-1967.md) - *Beat the Devil* (1953), Fi1m 72, Director, Producer, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/beat-the-devil.md) - *Moulin Rouge* (1952), Fi1m 64, Screenplay, Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/moulin-rouge-1952.md) - *The African Queen* (1952), Fi1m 84, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/the-african-queen.md) - *The Asphalt Jungle* (1950), Fi1m 88, Screenplay, Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-asphalt-jungle.md) - *The Treasure of the Sierra Madre* (1948), Fi1m 88, as American in Tampico in White Suit (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-treasure-of-the-sierra-madre.md) - *The Maltese Falcon* (1941), Fi1m 87, Screenplay, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-maltese-falcon.md) ### Wrote (5) - *The Killers* (1946), Fi1m 84, Writer, Additional Writing — [page](https://film.one/film/the-killers.md) - *The Stranger* (1946), Fi1m 76, Producer, Co-Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-stranger.md) - *High Sierra* (1941), Fi1m 79, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/high-sierra.md) - *Sergeant York* (1941), Fi1m 66, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/sergeant-york.md) - *Jezebel* (1938), Fi1m 78, Screenplay, Second Unit — [page](https://film.one/film/jezebel.md) ## Complete filmography (109) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *100 Years of Marilyn Monroe* (2026), as (archive footage) - *The Other Side of the Wind* (2018), as J.J. 'Jake' Hannaford - *Orson Welles: The One-Man Band* (1995), Actor - *Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker* (1991), as Glennon (archive footage) (uncredited) - *Mr. North* (1988), Screenplay, Executive Producer - *Mister Corbett's Ghost* (1987), as Soul Collector - *The Dead* (1987), Director — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/the-dead.md) - *Momo* (1986), as Meister Hora - *The Black Cauldron* (1985), as Narrator (voice) - *Prizzi's Honor* (1985), Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/prizzis-honor.md) - *Herman Melville: Damned in Paradise* (1985), as Narrator - *Epic* (1985), as The Narrator (US version) - *Under the Volcano* (1984), Director - *To The Western World* (1984), Actor - *A Minor Miracle* (1983), as Father Cardenas - *Lovesick* (1983), as Larry Geller, M.D. - *Annie* (1982), as Actor on Radio (uncredited) · Director — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/annie.md) - *Cannery Row* (1982), as Narrator - *Escape to Victory* (1981), Director - *Phobia* (1980), Director - *Head On* (1980), as Clarke Hill - *The Return of the King* (1980), as Gandalf (voice) - *John Huston's Dublin* (1979), Actor - *Wise Blood* (1979), as Grandfather · Director - *Jaguar Lives!* (1979), as Ralph Richards - *Winter Kills* (1979), as Pa Kegan - *Love and Bullets* (1979), Director - *The Visitor* (1979), as Jerzy Colsowicz - *The Word* (1978), series, as Nathan Randall - *The Bermuda Triangle* (1978), as Edward - *The Biggest Battle* (1978), as Sean O'Hara - *The Hobbit* (1977), as Gandalf the Grey (voice) - *Angela* (1977), as Hogan - *The Rhinemann Exchange* (1977), series, as Ambassador Henderson Granville - *Tentacles* (1977), as Ned Turner - *Hollywood on Trial* (1976), as Narrator - *Sherlock Holmes in New York* (1976), as Professor James Moriarty - *Independence* (1976), Director - *Circasia* (1976), as Ringmaster - *The Man Who Would Be King* (1975), Director, Screenplay - *The Wind and the Lion* (1975), as John Hay - *Breakout* (1975), as Harris Wagner - *Chinatown* (1974), as Noah Cross — Fi1m 93, [page](https://film.one/film/chinatown.md) - *The MacKintosh Man* (1973), Director, Producer - *Battle for the Planet of the Apes* (1973), as The Lawgiver — Fi1m 36, [page](https://film.one/film/battle-for-the-planet-of-the-apes.md) - *The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean* (1972), as Grizzly Adams · Director - *Fat City* (1972), Director, Producer — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/film/fat-city.md) - *Man in the Wilderness* (1971), as Captain Filmore Henry - *Appointment With Destiny* (1971), series, as Narrator - *The Bridge in the Jungle* (1971), as Sleigh - *The Deserter* (1970), as General Miles - *Myra Breckinridge* (1970), as Buck Loner - *The Unfinished Journey of Robert Kennedy* (1970), as Narrator - *The Kremlin Letter* (1970), as Admiral · Director, Screenplay, Producer - *Ride This Way Grey Horse* (1970), as Director - *A Walk with Love and Death* (1969), as Robert the Elder · Director, Producer - *De Sade* (1969), as The Abbe - *Sinful Davey* (1969), Director, Executive Producer - *Candy* (1968), as Dr. Arnold Dunlap - *Reflections in a Golden Eye* (1967), Director, Producer - *Casino Royale* (1967), as McTarry · Director — Fi1m 50, [page](https://film.one/film/casino-royale-1967.md) - *The Legend of Marilyn Monroe* (1966), as Narrator - *The Bible: In the Beginning...* (1966), as Noah · Director - *National Geographic Specials* (1965), series, as Narrator (voice) - *The Night of the Iguana* (1964), Director, Screenplay - *The Cardinal* (1963), as Kardinal Glennon - *The List of Adrian Messenger* (1963), as Lord Ashton (uncredited) · Director - *Freud: The Secret Passion* (1962), as Narrator (voice) (uncredited) · Director, Screenplay - *The Misfits* (1961), as (uncredited) · Director, Producer - *The Unforgiven* (1960), Director - *The Roots of Heaven* (1958), Director - *The Barbarian and the Geisha* (1958), Director - *Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison* (1957), Director, Screenplay - *Moby Dick* (1956), as Barman / Ship's Lookout (voice) (uncredited) · Director, Screenplay, Producer - *Beat the Devil* (1953), Director, Producer, Screenplay — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/beat-the-devil.md) - *Moulin Rouge* (1952), Director, Screenplay, Producer — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/moulin-rouge-1952.md) - *The African Queen* (1952), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/the-african-queen.md) - *The Red Badge of Courage* (1951), as Grizzled Union Veteran (uncredited) · Director, Writer - *The Prowler* (1951), Producer - *The Asphalt Jungle* (1950), Director, Screenplay, Producer — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/the-asphalt-jungle.md) - *We Were Strangers* (1949), as Señor Muñoz · Director, Screenplay - *Key Largo* (1948), Director, Screenplay - *The Treasure of the Sierra Madre* (1948), as American in Tampico in White Suit (uncredited) · Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/the-treasure-of-the-sierra-madre.md) - *Let There Be Light* (1946), Director, Writer - *The Killers* (1946), Writer, Additional Writing — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/the-killers.md) - *The Stranger* (1946), Producer, Co-Writer — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/the-stranger.md) - *Three Strangers* (1946), Screenplay - *Know Your Enemy: Japan* (1945), Writer - *The Battle of San Pietro* (1945), Narrator, Director - *Tunisian Victory* (1944), Director - *Report from the Aleutians* (1943), as Narrator (voice) · Director, Writer, Editor - *Across the Pacific* (1942), Director - *Winning Your Wings* (1942), Director - *In This Our Life* (1942), Director - *The Maltese Falcon* (1941), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/film/the-maltese-falcon.md) - *Sergeant York* (1941), Screenplay — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/sergeant-york.md) - *High Sierra* (1941), Screenplay — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/film/high-sierra.md) - *Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet* (1940), Screenplay - *Juarez* (1939), Screenplay - *The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse* (1938), Screenplay - *Jezebel* (1938), Screenplay, Second Unit — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/jezebel.md) - *It Happened in Paris* (1935), Adaptation - *Death Drives Through* (1935), Story - *Law and Order* (1932), Adaptation - *Murders in the Rue Morgue* (1932), Additional Dialogue - *A House Divided* (1931), Dialogue - *The Storm* (1930), Dialogue - *Hell's Heroes* (1929), as Church Member (uncredited) - *Two Americans* (1929), Actor ## Gallery - ![Director John Huston's grave at Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery, 1990](https://film.one/media/person/59474/gallery-27d9f52e8966.jpg) Director John Huston's grave at Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery, 1990 — Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Grave_of_John_Huston.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Portrait photograph of John Huston in U.S. Army uniform, published in New Movies, the National Board of Review Magazine (1946)](https://film.one/media/person/59474/gallery-38e34ba3919b.jpg) Portrait photograph of John Huston in U.S. Army uniform, published in New Movies, the National Board of Review Magazine (1946) — Unknown photographer, published by National Board of Review, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/John-Huston-uniform.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![John Huston](https://film.one/media/person/59474/gallery-76c1e82f591c.jpg) John Huston — Unknown authorUnknown author, distributed by: Embassy Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/John_Huston_1979.jpg/1280px-John_Huston_1979.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![John Huston](https://film.one/media/person/59474/gallery-51262acf3273.jpg) John Huston — Image via TMDB - ![John Huston](https://film.one/media/person/59474/gallery-f4d2fc4b8ad4.jpg) John Huston — Image via TMDB - ![John Huston](https://film.one/media/person/59474/gallery-b2751156d76e.jpg) John Huston — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 2 won, 13 nominated - 1986: Best Director (nominated), for *Prizzi's Honor* - 1976: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *The Man Who Would Be King* - 1964: Best Supporting Actor (nominated), for *The Cardinal* - 1958: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison* - 1953: Best Director (nominated), for *Moulin Rouge* - 1953: Best Picture (nominated), for *Moulin Rouge* - 1952: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *The African Queen* - 1952: Best Director (nominated), for *The African Queen* - 1951: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *The Asphalt Jungle* - 1951: Best Director (nominated), for *The Asphalt Jungle* - 1949: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (won), for *The Treasure of the Sierra Madre* - 1949: Best Director (won), for *The Treasure of the Sierra Madre* - 1942: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *The Maltese Falcon* - 1942: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated), for *Sergeant York* - 1941: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated), for *Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet* ### Other awards — 1 won, 1 nominated - AFI Life Achievement Award 1983: AFI Life Achievement Award (won) - Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director 1983: Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director (nominated), for *Annie* *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/john-huston