Top 20 Ranked

Top Richard Burton Movies Ranked

The Definitive Filmography of a Shakespearean Titan

Discover the essential films of Richard Burton, from gripping dramas like Virginia Woolf to epic war classics and powerful stage adaptations.

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About Richard Burton

Richard Burton

To listen to Richard Burton was to hear the sound of gravel being poured over velvet. He possessed a voice that could make a shopping list sound like a Shakespearean soliloquy, a resonant baritone that anchored some of the most intellectual and visceral performances of the twentieth century. While he was often defined by the volcanic nature of his personal life, his true legacy lies in his ability to weaponize stillness on screen. He was the son of a Welsh miner who conquered the stage before becoming the ultimate symbol of Hollywood’s mid-century excess, yet he never lost that edge of working-class grit that made his characters feel dangerously real.

His presence was rarely subtle. In Becket, he played the rogue-turned-saint with a searing intensity that outmatched even Peter O'Toole, while his turn in The Spy Who Came In from the Cold stripped away the glamour of espionage to reveal the cold, lonely heart of the Cold War. Audiences connected with him because he seemed to carry the weight of the world in his eyes. He didn't just play men in crisis; he inhabited the very concept of spiritual exhaustion. Whether he was the cynical schoolteacher in Look Back in Anger or the tormented psychiatrist in Equus, he projected a restless intelligence that suggested his characters were always thinking three steps ahead of everyone else in the room.

The public fascination peaked, of course, during the era of the Taylor-Burton phenomenon. Their collaboration on the set of Cleopatra changed the industry forever, but their best work together was far more intimate and abrasive. In Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, he delivered a masterclass in psychological warfare, trading jagged insults with Elizabeth Taylor in a performance that felt less like acting and more like an exorcism. He brought that same marital fireworks to The Taming of the Shrew, proving he could handle slapstick and domestic combat with equal agility.

Even when he leaned into the spectacle of big budget cinema, he remained the most compelling person in the frame. In the high-altitude action of Where Eagles Dare, he lent gravity to a popcorn thriller, just as he gave the biblical epic The Robe a sense of genuine human stakes. He was a man of contradictions, equally comfortable as the tragic King Henry VIII in Anne of the Thousand Days or the menacing O'Brien in his final screen role in Nineteen Eighty-Four. That last performance, filmed while he was physically frail, showed that the fire hadn't dimmed. He remained a titan of the craft, an actor who understood that the loudest moments often come from the quietest whispers. Richard Burton did not just occupy space on a screen; he commanded it, leaving behind a body of work that serves as a monument to the power of the spoken word and the heavy burden of a brilliant mind.

The Complete Rankings

Based on the top picks in drafts on SnakeDrafts

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20
Richard Burton in Absolution (1978)
Absolution
1978

At a Catholic boys' school, domineering disciplinarian Father Goddard rules over his pupils with an iron hand. When one of his teenage charges confesses to murder, the dogmatic but deeply repressed Goddard finds his faith challenged and his life spiralling dangerously out of control.

Drama
Thriller
1h 35m
Anthony Page
Richard Burton, Dominic Guard, David Bradley, Billy Connolly
19
Richard Burton in Alexander the Great (1956)
Alexander the Great
1956

An engrossing spectacle set in the 4th-century BC, in which Alexander of Greece leads his troops forth, conquering all of the known world, in the belief that the Greek way of thinking will bring enlightenment to people. The son of the barbaric and ruthless King Philip of Macedonia, Alexander achieved glory in his short but remarkable life.

Adventure
History
2h 16m
Robert Rossen
Richard Burton, Fredric March, Claire Bloom, Danielle Darrieux
18
Richard Burton in Massacre in Rome (1973)
Massacre in Rome
1973

In the Nazi occupied city of Rome, an assault on an SS brigade draws retaliation from the military governship. "Massacre in Rome" is the true story of how this partisan attack led to the mass execution of Italian nationals under the orders of SS-Lieutenant Colonel Kappler.

Drama
History
1h 39m
George P. Cosmatos
Richard Burton, Marcello Mastroianni, Peter Vaughan, Leo McKern

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17
Richard Burton in Villain (1971)
Villain
1971

In 1970s London, Scotland Yard orchestrates the downfall of mob boss Vic Dakin after he crosses the line by blackmailing Members of Parliament.

Crime
Drama
1h 38m
Michael Tuchner
Richard Burton, Ian McShane, Nigel Davenport, Donald Sinden
16
Richard Burton in The Wild Geese (1978)
The Wild Geese
1978

A British multinational company seeks to overthrow a vicious dictator in central Africa. It hires a band of (largely aged) mercenaries in London and sends them in to save the virtuous but imprisoned opposition leader who is also critically ill and due for execution. Just when the team has performed a perfect rescue, the multinational does a deal with the vicious dictator leaving the mercenary band to escape under their own steam and exact revenge.

Action
2h 14m
Andrew V. McLaglen
Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Roger Moore, Hardy Krüger
15
Richard Burton in The Longest Day (1962)
The Longest Day
1962

The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadians, and the Free French. Marshall Erwin Rommel, touring the defenses being established as part of the Reich's Atlantic Wall, notes to his officers that when the Allied invasion comes they must be stopped on the beach. "For the Allies as well as the Germans, it will be the longest day"

War
Action
2h 58m
Ken Annakin
14
Richard Burton in Look Back in Anger (1959)
Look Back in Anger
1959

A disillusioned, angry university graduate comes to terms with his grudge against middle-class life and values.

Drama
1h 38m
Tony Richardson
Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, Mary Ure, Edith Evans
13
Richard Burton in My Cousin Rachel (1952)
My Cousin Rachel
1952

A young man plots revenge against the woman he believes murdered his cousin, but his plans are shaken when he comes face to face with the enigmatic beauty.

Mystery
Romance
1h 38m
Henry Koster
Olivia de Havilland, Richard Burton, Audrey Dalton, Ronald Squire
12
Richard Burton in The Medusa Touch (1978)
The Medusa Touch
1978

A French detective in London reconstructs the life of a man lying in hospital with severe injuries with the help of journals and a psychiatrist. He realises that the man had powerful telekinetic abilities.

Horror
Thriller
1h 49m
Jack Gold
Richard Burton, Lino Ventura, Lee Remick, Harry Andrews
11
Richard Burton in The Taming of the Shrew (1967)
The Taming of the Shrew
1967

Italy, 16th century. Petruchio, a choleric, lying and poor rural landowner from Verona, arrives in Padua in search of fortune and a wife, while Baptista, a wealthy merchant, announces that he will not allow Bianca, his youngest daughter, to marry until the temperamental and unruly Katherina, his eldest daughter, does.

Comedy
Romance
1h 57m
Franco Zeffirelli
Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Natasha Pyne, Michael York
10
Richard Burton in The Robe (1953)
The Robe
1953

Drunk and disillusioned Roman, Marcellus Gallio, wins Jesus' robe in a dice game after the crucifixion. Marcellus has never been a man of faith like his slave, Demetrius, but when Demetrius escapes with the robe, Marcellus experiences disturbing visions and feels guilty for his actions. Convinced that destroying the robe will cure him, Marcellus sets out to find Demetrius — and discovers his Christian faith along the way.

Drama
History
2h 15m
Henry Koster
Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Richard Boone
Why it ranks

In the film that secured his first Oscar nomination and solidified his Hollywood stardom, Burton brings a brooding intensity to the role of a Roman tribune. Even within the rigid constraints of a Technicolor biblical epic, his inherent stage-trained power provides the film with its necessary emotional heartbeat.

9
Richard Burton in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
Anne of the Thousand Days
1969

Henry VIII of England discards his wife, Katharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favor of the young and beautiful Anne Boleyn.

Drama
History
2h 25m
Charles Jarrott
Richard Burton, Geneviève Bujold, Irene Papas, Anthony Quayle
Why it ranks

His Henry VIII is a volatile cocktail of ego and insecurity, avoiding the typical caricatures of the monarch in favor of someone genuinely dangerous. Burton dominates the screen with a ferocious physicality that captures the erratic whims of a man who changed history to satisfy his own heart.

8
Richard Burton in Cleopatra (1963)
Cleopatra
1963

Determined to hold on to the throne, Cleopatra seduces the Roman emperor Julius Caesar. When Caesar is murdered, she redirects her attentions to his general, Marc Antony, who vows to take power—but Caesar’s successor has other plans.

Drama
History
4h 11m
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Pamela Brown
Why it ranks

While the production was defined by off-screen scandal, Burton’s Marc Antony is a fascinating study of a powerful man undone by his own obsessive desires. He brings a genuine tragic scale to the character, ensuring the human drama isn't entirely swallowed by the film’s massive archaeological scale.

7
Richard Burton in Equus (1977)
Equus
1977

A psychiatrist, Martin Dysart, investigates the savage blinding of six horses with a metal spike in a stable in Hampshire, England. The atrocity was committed by an unassuming seventeen-year-old stable boy named Alan Strang, the only son of an opinionated but inwardly-timid father and a genteel, religious mother. As Dysart exposes the truths behind the boy's demons, he finds himself face-to-face with his own.

Drama
Mystery
Richard Burton, Peter Firth, Joan Plowright, Harry Andrews
Why it ranks

Returning to the role that reinvigorated his late-career prestige, Burton portrays a psychiatrist gripped by his own envy of a boy's primal passions. His monologues are delivered with a razor-sharp intellectualism that barely masks a void of professional and personal disillusionment.

6
Richard Burton in The Night of the Iguana (1964)
The Night of the Iguana
1964

A defrocked Episcopal clergyman leads a bus-load of middle-aged Baptist women on a tour of the Mexican coast and comes to terms with the failure haunting his life.

Drama
Romance
Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr, Sue Lyon
Why it ranks

Burton captures the chaotic disintegration of a defrocked priest with a sweat-soaked intensity that feels dangerously autobiographical. He navigates Tennessee Williams’ florid dialogue with a rhythmic brilliance, turning a spiritual crisis into a mesmerizing display of poetic desperation.

5
Richard Burton in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
Nineteen Eighty-Four
1984

Imagine a world where absolute conformity rules, and word and thought, including loyalty to Big Brother is demanded. It's the year 1984 and such a world exists. Divided into three vast states, whose inhabitants are dominated by all powerful governments, an illegal love affair begins. Soon, worker drone Winston becomes the target of a brain-washing campaign to force him back to conformity.

Drama
Science Fiction
1h 53m
Michael Radford
John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton, Cyril Cusack
Why it ranks

As the inquisitor O'Brien, a terminal Burton delivers a haunting final performance characterized by a terrifying, whisper-quiet cruelty. His gaunt appearance and philosophical detachment provide the film with its most potent source of dread, marking a somber and sophisticated end to his career.

4
Richard Burton in Where Eagles Dare (1968)
Where Eagles Dare
1968

World War II is raging, and an American general has been captured and is being held hostage in the Schloss Adler, a Bavarian castle that's nearly impossible to breach. It's up to a group of skilled Allied soldiers to liberate the general before it's too late.

Action
Adventure
2h 35m
Brian G. Hutton
Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, Mary Ure, Patrick Wymark
Why it ranks

In this peak escapist vehicle, Burton brings an incongruous but welcome Shakespearean gravitas to the role of a quintessential action hero. He anchors the explosive spectacle with a steely authority, proving his commanding presence could elevate genre cinema into something truly formidable.

3
Richard Burton in Becket (1964)
Becket
1964

Thomas Becket, Henry II's longtime advisor, finds his friendship with the debauched king corroding when he is unwillingly appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury in an attempt to gain absolute loyalty from the Church.

Drama
History
2h 28m
Peter Glenville
Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, John Gielgud, Gino Cervi
Why it ranks

The actor finds a magnetic dignity in Thomas Becket, playing the internal shift from hedonistic courtier to somber martyr with profound liturgical weight. His chemistry with Peter O'Toole creates a high-stakes psychological duel that defines the golden age of the historical epic.

2
Richard Burton in The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965)
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
1965

British agent Alec Leamas refuses to come in from the Cold War during the 1960s, choosing to face another mission, which may prove to be his final one.

Drama
Thriller
1h 52m
Martin Ritt
Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, Oskar Werner, Sam Wanamaker
Why it ranks

Trading grandiosity for a chilling, hollowed-out exhaustion, Burton embodies the moral decay of the Cold War. His Alec Leamas is a masterclass in stillness and cynicism that remains the definitive cinematic interpretation of John le Carré’s weary espionage world.

1
Richard Burton in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1966

A history professor and his wife entertain a young couple who are new to the university's faculty. As the drinks flow, secrets come to light, and the middle-aged couple unload onto their guests the full force of the bitterness, dysfunction, and animosity that defines their marriage.

Drama
Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis
Why it ranks

Burton weaponizes his theatrical booming voice into a rasp of domestic fatigue, matching Elizabeth Taylor’s fury with a devastatingly precise portrait of intellectual impotence. This performance stripped away his matinee idol veneer, proving he could master the gritty realism of the New Hollywood era.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about this list and SnakeDrafts

"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is ranked highest due to Burton's masterful performance alongside Elizabeth Taylor, showcasing his exceptional ability to convey complex emotional turmoil and theatrical intensity. The film's critical success and enduring cultural impact solidify its place as his most iconic role.

Burton's top films often explore deep psychological and emotional conflicts, as seen in dramas like 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' and 'The Spy Who Came In from the Cold.' Many also delve into historical and political intrigue, such as 'Becket' and 'Cleopatra,' highlighting his versatility in both intimate and epic narratives.

'Where Eagles Dare' stands out as a thrilling action-adventure war film, showcasing Burton's ability to anchor high-energy, suspenseful storytelling. Its inclusion highlights his range beyond drama, engaging audiences with intense war-time suspense and adventurous plots.

The list features collaborations with acclaimed directors like Mike Nichols ('Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'), Martin Ritt ('The Spy Who Came In from the Cold'), and John Huston ('The Night of the Iguana'), illustrating Burton's appeal to visionary filmmakers who crafted some of his most memorable performances.

While comprehensive, some might note the absence of 'The Sweet Smell of Success' (1957), where Burton gave a compelling performance. However, the list prioritizes his most critically and culturally impactful roles, focusing on films that best showcase his dramatic prowess.

Burton's voice, described as a resonant baritone with velvet-like texture, brought a unique gravitas to his characters, making even simple dialogue sound profound. This vocal quality is a hallmark of performances like in 'Becket' and 'The Medusa Touch,' enhancing his commanding screen presence.

'Nineteen Eighty-Four' marks Burton's venture into science fiction drama, demonstrating his adaptability to varied genres. His portrayal of O'Brien adds a chilling layer to the dystopian narrative, underscoring his skill in embodying complex, morally ambiguous characters.
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