Howard Hawks is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He was among the most important and innovative filmmakers of Hollywood’s Golden Age,

known for his social comedies, especially his ensemble films with many characters interacting with each other in a naturalistic setting.

Hawks’ later films include Scarface (1932), Red River (1948), and Rio Bravo (1959).

Who Is Howard Hawks?

Hawks was associated with “Hawksian” style. The concept of this style is that the characters are realistic behind their facades and behavior, but the situations are so over-the-top that they cannot be taken seriously.

In other words, Hawksian characters are not necessarily good or evil; they just behave in certain ways because that is how they feel at that moment.

Howard Hawks was born Howard Winfield Steuerman in Chicago on May 31, 1896. His father was Jewish and his mother was Irish Catholic; neither parent had much money.

He began working as an office boy for several different department stores before he became an assistant animator at a Chicago advertising agency.

Best Howard Hawks Movies

Let’s take a look at the top Howard Hawks films.

1. The Big Sleep (1946) 

Howard Hawks begins his film with a title card that reads: “Marlowe’s so-called dream plays for us like reality.” That’s a clever way to introduce the first of the film’s many false starts. Marlowe is trying to figure out who killed his friend and former informant, Sternwood.

The trail leads him to some dark corners of Hollywood, where he meets a nightclub singer named Carmen Sternwood, who may have been there when the murder took place. But she doesn’t remember much about it—and neither does Marlowe.

This is all very intriguing, but it isn’t quite enough to keep us watching through all those false starts.

The next time we see Marlowe, he’s in a hospital after having been beaten up by thugs in Chinatown. His head has been caved in and his face has been badly scarred; we know what happened to him during this scene because we’ve seen it before,

but it still works as a way of setting up what comes next: an insurance company investigator named Pilar tries to run down some facts about Marlowe’s case from memory alone. It’s here that we find out that Pilar is working on her own case for her boss’s

2. Rio Bravo (1959)         

 Rio Bravo is one of the best Westerns to come out of Hollywood in the 1950s. In fact, it’s a little like a ’50s version of The Magnificent Seven (1960). It’s got an ensemble cast that includes John Wayne, Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson.

As you’d expect from Howard Hawks, there are some creative camera angles and editing techniques used to create tension in this film.

The story begins when Wyatt Earp (Wayne), Doc Holliday (Martin) and his wife Annabelle (Nelson) arrive at a small Texas town called Rio Bravo. They’re looking for work and they’re also looking for their old friend Sheriff Frank McLintock (John Wayne),

who was supposed to protect them during a time when he was off chasing bad guys. But then he ran away with their money.

After arriving in Rio Bravo, Wyatt and Doc decide to ride into town with other two cowboys played by Robert Stanton and Ward Bond. When they get there, they find out that Sheriff McLintock has left town without telling anyone where he was going or why he left so suddenly (he had plans to marry his girlfriend).

Those plans include doing what most people would do when they found out someone else

3. Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Bringing Up Baby is a romantic comedy about a woman who uses science and technology to get her baby’s father out of her life. It was directed by Howard Hawks.

The film was based on the short story “Birth of a Notion” by Mark Hellinger, which had originally been published in the Saturday Evening Post on February 17, 1936. It was adapted as a stage play in 1939, also titled Bringing Up Baby; it also became known as The Foolish Virgin.

Hawks’ screenplay is one of many versions of the plot; however, he has been criticized for changing some of the plot elements from that original story. In particular,

Hawks’s screenplay adds more scenes of comedy involving Katharine Hepburn’s character Ellen Parker (Hepburn having initially wanted to do drama), and expands upon some scenes that were not in Hellinger’s story at all.

4. Scarface (1932)           

 Scarface (1932) Howard Hawks. The great crime drama, which is still considered one of the greatest films ever made. Though it was shot in the 1930s, Scarface was not released until 1932 and its impact on American society was immediate.

Its success launched the gangster genre and ushered in a new era of filmmaking with its stunning cinematography and groundbreaking sound effects as well as its riveting story line.

Scarface stars Paul Muni as Tony Camonte, a Cuban immigrant who becomes an infamous drug lord after being released from prison. His rise to power is matched only by his fall when he is finally brought down by the FBI.

The film also stars Al Simmons (William Holden), who becomes an undercover agent in order to bring down his friend Tony Camonte. As they fight over territory, Al comes face-to-face with a corrupt system that will do anything to protect itself — even if it means destroying those who threaten its existence.

5. His Girl Friday (1940)

The film’s screenplay by Charles Lederer and Howard Hawks was based on short stories by British playwright and novelist G.B. Shaw. The story concerns newspaperman Alexander (Cary Grant), who is trying to stop his editor, Franklin K. Lane (Fredric March),

from buying out his paper’s founder, J.T. Walsh (Walter Connolly). However, Lane ignores Alexander’s advice and buys out Walsh anyway, making him the new owner of the newspaper and its reporters include a beautiful reporter that Alexander secretly loves named Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell). One night,

after a dinner party at Roosevelts’ home where he meets Eleanor Roosevelt (Clara Blandick), Alexander finds himself in love with her but does not know how to tell her about it without revealing his true identity as an editor at the paper he works for. Meanwhile,

Hildy begins having trouble with her boss because she is not revealing information about Lane’s corrupt practices that lead up to Walsh’s takeover of The New York Star Bulletin newspaper; however, she is also having trouble with a former boyfriend named Max Van Doren (Charles Coburn) who has become a famous writer under his own name instead of

6. Red River (1948)         

 Red River (1948) is a superb western that tells the story of two families forced to cross the Red River during a harsh winter. While only one of the families is able to make it across safely, they must remain united in order to survive. It’s a classic American adventure tale that features a number of great actors in supporting roles.

The film opens with a young boy named Toby (John Wayne) who is played by the same actor who plays his father in The Searchers. Toby and his father travel on horseback through Texas, where they encounter various obstacles along the way. As they cross into Mexico,

they encounter bandits who try to rob them but are stopped by local authorities. However, when one of these bandits gets killed, another bandit reveals himself as being an American named Keane (John Ireland).

Keane and Toby become friends and before long, he joins Toby’s father in trying to find his way back home across Texas. Their journey takes them through Indian Territory and into Oklahoma where they finally make it across the Red River into Texas territory.

After reaching their destination at Fort Arbuckle, Toby’s father decides to return eastward while Keane goes

7. Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

Only Angels Have Wings is the second film by director Howard Hawks, and the first to star Cary Grant. It was also the second of three films that Cary Grant and Dorothy Lamour made together, and one of the two films that Hawks directed for Lamour.

The film is based on a story by Frank Launder, who wrote it as a vehicle for his own character of “Rip” Morgan.[1] The screenplay was written by Charles Lederer. The film features other notable actors including Miriam Hopkins and George Sanders, who plays a rival to Grant’s character in an early role for both men.

Only Angels Have Wings was shot on location in California and Arizona, specifically in Palm Springs and Grand Canyon National Park. Much of the filming took place at Lake Tahoe,

where Grant and Lamour were married between June 1937 and January 1938.[2] The film was not well received at first release but has since become a classic.[3][4][5]

8. Ball of Fire (1941)

Ball of Fire (1941) is one of the best comedies of the 1940s, and it’s a real charmer. It’s also one of Howard Hawks’ most important films and a major step in his career as a director.

It begins with a contest to see who can get more women to quit their jobs. The contest is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, which explains why it’s being held in a small town on the edge of the Ozarks. The winner gets $20,000 cash and an all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii.

The men who enter don’t seem to care about winning; they’re just interested in getting laid as much as possible without getting caught. But there are some women who do have something at stake namely,

their reputations and jobs so they enter too. One woman is even quite desperate for money; she plans to buy herself a new house with it.

The film has great characters: Sonny (William Powell), who’s trying to win over his wife so he can get into politics; Sam (Frank Morgan), whose wife is out of town; and Vivian Blaine (Ruth Chatterton), who wants nothing more than an

9. The Thing from Another World (1951)

The Thing from Another World is a 1951 science fiction film directed by Christian Nyby and written by Curt Siodmak, based on his story “Who Goes There?” The film stars Richard Carlson,

Peggy McCay, Kenneth Tobey and Mary Castle. The film’s special effects were created by Phil Tippett who won an Academy Award for his work on the film.

The film is about a deep space probe that crashes on earth and brings an alien life form back with it. The creature kills two people in a remote cabin,

but when it escapes the government takes over handling the investigation and tries to keep it under wraps. It eventually ends up in a circus where it kills several people including the ringmaster before being hunted down by Dr. Robert Block (Carlson).

The Thing from Another World was shot at various locations in New Mexico including Albuquerque Airport, Fort Bayard Historic Site and Kirtland Air Force Base (where they filmed the opening scene).

They also used part of El Morro National Monument as well as local hospitals for various scenes involving medical procedures and equipment.

10. To Have and Have Not (1944)

To Have and Have Not is a film noir from a director who was known for his action-packed thrillers. It’s also one of the best examples of how to make a film that is both stylish and well-written.

The story revolves around two men, Harry Morgan (Bing Crosby) and Jim Williams (Dana Andrews), who are traveling around Cuba in search of jobs when they get caught up in a murder plot involving the wealthy Fontaine family.

The film begins with the murder of the Fontaine family patriarch, Pierre Fontaine. His son, Bart (Paul Henreid), is left to inherit his father’s vast fortune,

but he has fallen in love with his housekeeper Margot (Mary Astor). Bart’s mother was killed by her husband when she tried to escape him, and now she wants revenge against him after he kills their son.

Pierre’s wife Marie-Ange (Vera Ralston) is aware of her husband’s affairs with other women, including Margot. When she finds out about another affair with Margot’s daughter Marie-Rose (Madlyn Rhue), she gets bent out of shape over it but still wants to keep Margot around

11. Twentieth Century (1934)

Many of the movies that people most want to see are things that they don’t like. The film was made at a time when Hollywood was going through a phase of making what I call “prestige pictures,” which means prestige pictures for big stars, prestige pictures for big directors and prestige pictures for big studios.

Twentieth Century is the story of an alcoholic writer who tries to write a play about his life. His sister comes to visit him and they fall in love with each other, but she marries another man. He then has an affair with his sister’s best friend, who turns out to be his second wife.

It’s all very complicated, but it’s simple enough so that you can understand what’s going on without having to read a lot of editorial commentaries about what it means or why it’s important or how it relates to anything else that happened earlier in history or any such thing.

12. El Dorado (1966) 

El Dorado, a film about a man searching for his father, is said to be one of the best films from director Howard Hawks. The movie stars John Wayne as El Dorado, a man who seeks to find his father after he was presumed dead. The movie had a limited release in 1966 and has been available on DVD for years.

El Dorado is based on the novel by Jules Verne (The Mysterious Island) and set in 1883 during the Spanish-American War. The film follows El Dorado’s quest to find his father and learn more about him as well as what happened between them before he went missing.

El Dorado will also save an entire town from an attack by Apaches led by Geronimo (Henry Fonda).

In order to save himself and the townspeople, El Dorado must discover who he really is and why it matters so much to him that he wants to find his father. Unfortunately, he doesn’t realize that there are many people who want to keep him out of their business until it’s too late.

13. The Dawn Patrol (1930)        

 The Dawn Patrol (1930) Howard Hawks. The Dawn Patrol is one of the most beloved films of all time. It is a comedy, but it also has a serious side to it as well. The film chronicles the exploits of an army unit in France during World War I.

The film starts out with a scene where we see some soldiers training for battle. Their commanding officer is played by Cary Grant and he has a very commanding presence in front of the camera. He is surrounded by his men and they seem to respect him greatly, which makes sense because he’s obviously a good leader.

After this training scene, we see them on their first mission as an army unit. They are sent into battle and they have to fight against German soldiers who are attacking them from behind their lines.

The men are outnumbered and they are forced to retreat back into their own trenches where they plan on mounting another attack later on that day when they get reinforcements from another unit coming over a hill nearby who will allow them to launch another counterattack against their enemy,

which should be enough support so that they can win this battle and end up winning this war!

14. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a 1953 American romantic comedy film directed by Howard Hawks and starring Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell and George Sanders. It was produced by David O.

Selznick through his production company, Selznick International Pictures, and distributed by United Artists. The screenplay was written by Julius J. Epstein and Howard E. Koch. It was based on Rosalind Russell’s best-selling novel of the same name that had been published in 1949.

In a nightclub lounge scene at the beginning of the film, Marilyn Monroe delivers her famous line: “I’m not dumb – I’m just not smart.” She plays Lorelei Lee, an aspiring singer who poses as an innocent ingenue to get into the upper echelons of society during the Roaring Twenties.

However, she soon learns that men prefer blondes over brunettes as well as being more beautiful than brunettes with much larger breasts than Lorelei Lee’s small ones due to her being a natural blonde with large breasts being one of her assets in order to further her career since she has no talent other than posing as an innocent ingenue so she could become a star like some other women who

15. The Big Sky (1952)   

The Big Sky is one of the best films from the director of Rio Bravo, Rio Lobo and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The film stars John Wayne as a former cavalry officer who finds himself in a small Montana town where he meets up with friends and his ex-partner (a young Rock Hudson). Their goal is to catch a bandit who stole from them years before.

It’s hard to imagine that this movie was made in 1952 because it has such an old-fashioned feel to it, but it was actually made by a young William Wyler and was based on a novel by Louis L’Amour.

The cast is great and includes Gary Cooper as an old sheriff who’s also friends with Wayne’s character, Lee Marvin as one of the town founders and Arthur Kennedy as an underling for Cooper’s character.

There’s also some good support work from Henry Fonda, Vera Miles and Richard Widmark – all three would go on to have very successful careers in Hollywood at this point – although they don’t appear in this particular movie very much at all.

I really enjoyed this film when I first saw it more than fifty years ago, but it

16. Hatari! (1962)            

 The film is a comedy about a man who wants to steal the treasure of a dying king. He is helped in his endeavor by his two friends, and with the help of their combined efforts they succeed in stealing the treasure.

The two friends are some sort of thieves, but they aren’t really that good at it. They are constantly being caught by the authorities and put into jail. Hamid (Tariq Ali),

who has just been released from prison, finds out that he has been robbed of his inheritance because his father made him sign over all his property to a friend who betrayed him. As revenge he decides to steal from a rich man named Ali (Fahd Ahmed).

This time Hamid has more success than before, but when he comes back to get more money from Ali’s house he finds that someone else has already stolen the money he took from Ali’s safe.

This time Hamid decides to use his skills as an actor in order to play different parts so that no one can identify him as being involved in any thefts or robberies. It works well enough until one day when he gets caught red-handed trying to break into Ali’s house again!

17. Sergeant York (1941)

Sergeant York is a biography film about Sergeant Alvin C. York, the most decorated soldier in American history. His life story has been told many times, but this was the first time it had been made into a motion picture.

The film stars Gary Cooper as York, who won the Congressional Medal of Honor while fighting in World War I. He did so by single-handedly killing 25 German soldiers with only a rifle and bayonet, proving that Americans could fight just as well as they could build things.

The film was directed by Howard Hawks, who also directed Red River and To Have and Have Not. It was based on a play called The Song of Bernadette, but it’s hard to tell how much of the play stayed in the movie version.

It’s still one of my favorite films because it has so many great moments: Gary Cooper walking through the trenches; Gary Cooper running across a field barefoot; Gary Cooper talking to his wife about how she should make him some socks before he goes back into battle; Gary Cooper refusing an apple from an old woman because she won’t give him any money for it; Gary