Michael Curtiz, who directed more than 70 films in a career spanning over five decades, is considered one of the world’s greatest directors of all time. Born in Budapest, he made his directorial debut in the silent era at the age of 25, with his feature film Today and Tomorrow. At the age of 39, after directing 64 films in Europe, he accepted an invitation from Warner Brothers and moved to the United States. During his time in Hollywood, he directed a staggering 102 films, winning two Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Short Subject, respectively. Some movie directors that were influenced by him, include William Friedkin and Steven Spielberg.

From musical romantic comedy, to historical adventure, to noir crime drama, the directorial collection of Michael Curtiz is diverse, having something for everyone.

Because of such a diverse filmography, his signature style never stayed the same, and he is one of the few legendary directors who did not have much of an auteur style. These are Michael Curtiz’s best movies, ranked.

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7 Black Fury (1935)

     Warner Bros.

Set in a studio-built coal mining town, Black Fury follows the story of an immigrant miner named Joe who is unknowingly manipulated into leading a union of strike workers. When his close friend Mike gets murdered by the same people who manipulated him, he realizes his mistake and starts working to get the striker’s demands recognized by the mine owners.

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Based on the real life story of a mine worker, John Barcoski, Black Fury went on to get an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor (Paul Muni).

6 White Christmas (1954)

     Paramount Pictures

White Christmas is a story about two war veteran-turned-singers, named Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, who end up meeting two music performers, Betty & Judy, at a nightclub in Florida. Bob and Betty start developing feelings for each other while Phil and Judy have the same thing going on for them as well. Betty & Judy insists Bob & Phil join them on their tour to a fictional town “Pine Tree” in rural Vermont for a musical performance. In town, they run into their ex-army general, Waverly. After learning that he’s having a really tough life filled with financial difficulties, they decide to help him and what follows after is their effort to turn his life around.

White Christmas, which is a loose remake of the 1942 film Holiday Inn, was the highest-grossing movie of the year 1954.

5 King Creole (1958)

Based on the novel A Stone for Danny Fisher by Harold Robbins, King Creole is a musical crime drama film featuring the story of a 19-year-old man named Danny Fisher (played by Elvis Presley). Because of his father’s unemployment, he took up on himself to take care of his father and sister financially by working before and after school hours. One day after work, he gets into a fight with a boy at his high-school and ends up hitting him when the boy makes teasing remarks. Because of this fight, he was denied the high-school diploma, which was convincing enough for him to drop out of high-school. After seeing him fight, a man named Shark invited Danny to join his gang, which he accepted.

Later on, a club owner comes across Danny while he was singing. Because of his singing abilities, that club owner offered him a job at his club. What follows is an effort by Danny’s ex-boss to lure him through different tactics like threats and charms, to come back to his club.

Besides being one of the greatest movies from the directorial point of view, King Creole is also considered to be one of the best narrative films of Elvis Presley as well.

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4 The Comancheros (1961)

     20th Century Fox

Written by Paul Wellman, The Comancheros is a story about a Texas Ranger named Jake, who is given the task of capturing Paul Regret, the killer of his partner, and returning him back to town. Jake manages to capture Regret, but while returning to Louisiana, they end up encountering The Comancheros, a criminal gang headed by a former officer. After this encounter, Jake decides to fight the gang and hesitantly teams up with Regret on this mission.

During the shooting of the film, Michael Curtiz became seriously ill with cancer, and was not able to complete the production. As a result, filmmaker and Academy Award-winning actor John Wayne was roped in to shoot the rest of the film. Michael Curtiz died a year later in 1962, which makes The Comancheros the last film of his directorial career.

3 Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

     Warnet Bros.

Based on the life of George Michael Cohan, Yankee Doodle Dandy, a biographical musical, starts with George (played by James Cagney) being brought to the White House to receive a Congressional Gold Medal. There, during a conversation, he recalls his life events starting from childhood, which is shown in the form of flashbacks throughout the movie.

George Michael Cohan is famous for his patriotic songs, and the movie was released in 1942, at a time when World War II was happening. This is an indication that perhaps the movie was meant to awaken feelings of patriotism in every American at that crucial time of war.

Yankee Doodle Dandy is considered to be one of the best movies of Michael Curtiz’s career, made $6.5 million at the box office, and went on to win three Academy Awards.

2 Mildred Pierce (1945)

Mildred Pierce, a noir film, starts with a successful businesswoman’s second husband, Monte Beragon, getting shot and murdered. His last words were “Mildred”. We see police later framing a man named Wally, whom Mildred met and brought back to her beach house, being framed for Monte’s murder. During the investigation, the inspector informs Mildred about his theory of what exactly happened. He was of the view that her second husband was killed by her first husband, which Mildred refused to accept, and instead shared the story of what exactly happened.

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1 Casablanca (1942)

Casablanca, set in the year December 1941, is a story about Rick Blaine, famous café owner in Morocco, which was the only exit point for people desperate to flee from Europe. Rick, who once used to side with loyalists in Spain, is now neutral because all types of people hang around in his café. Rick is given two letters of transit which are equivalent to a Visa, by a man named Ugarte who stole it from the Germans after murdering them. He tells him about his plan to sell the letters, and asks Rick to hold the letters for him because the German Major is in town to capture him.

Rick later finds out that the main reason Major is in town is to catch a notorious rebel, Victor Laszlo, who is expected to arrive in Casablanca soon to flee from Europe. Ugarte is captured and afterwards Laszlo arrives along with his wife Ilsa, looking for Ugarte but unable to find him. Rick, upon finding out that Laszlo’s wife is Ilsa, with whom he used to have romantic chemistry, decides to help them.

Casablanca won three Academy Awards and is considered to be one of the greatest movies of all time.