Cast: James Arness

Top movies, series, and documentaries starring James Arness. Uncover the most acclaimed works, loved by fans and praised by critics.


Wagon Master

1950 · Movie · 86 min. · United States

Direction John Ford

Cast Ben Johnson · Joanne Dru · Harry Carey Jr. · Ward Bond

Synopsis As Mormon settlers head to the promised land at the San Juan river in Utah, they hire horse traders Travis Blue and Sandy as wagon masters. They have to forge a trail across unknown territory and face many hardships along...

7.1

2K votes

7.1

2K votes

The Thing from Another World

1951 · Movie · 87 min. · United States

Direction Christian Nyby · Howard Hawks

Cast Margaret Sheridan · Kenneth Tobey · Robert Cornthwaite · Douglas Spencer

Synopsis Scientist at an Arctic research station discover a spacecraft buried in the ice. Upon closer examination, they discover the frozen pilot. All hell breaks loose when they take him back to their station and he is accidentally thawed out!

7.0

8K votes

7.0

8K votes

Direction Burt Kennedy · Daniel Mann

Cast James Arness · Eva Marie Saint · Bruce Boxleitner · Kathryn Holcomb

Synopsis In 1865, the Macahans are heading west from Virginia to Oregon. Mrs. Kate Macahan is waiting with her children Laura, Jessie and Josh on a farm they have built for her husband and her oldest son Luke to return from...

7.0

25 votes

7.0

25 votes

Them!

1954 · Movie · 94 min. · United States

Direction Gordon Douglas

Cast James Whitmore · Edmund Gwenn · Joan Weldon · James Arness

Synopsis That ol' cinematic devil the A-bomb has spawned a colony of giant murderous ants bent on destroying humanity in this, the seminal big bug movie (an obvious and oft-credited influence for Alien among countless others). The special effects may be...

6.8

2K votes

6.8

2K votes

The People Against O'Hara

1951 · Movie · 102 min. · United States

Direction John Sturges

Cast Spencer Tracy · Pat O'Brien · Diana Lynn · John Hodiak

Synopsis James Curtayne (Spencer Tracy) has retired from law but he returns to defend John O'Hara (James Arness) on a murder charge. Curtayne's drinking and rustiness result in O'Hara's being found guilty, but Curtayne makes further efforts to prove him innocent.

6.6

294 votes

6.6

294 votes

Hondo

1953 · Movie · 83 min. · United States

Direction John Farrow

Cast John Wayne · Geraldine Page · Ward Bond · Michael Pate

Synopsis Hondo Lane, a despatch rider for the cavalry, encounters Angie Lowe, a woman living alone with her young son in the midst of hostile Apache territory. She presumes she is safe because the Apaches, under their chief Vittorio, have always...

6.4

1K votes

6.4

1K votes

Carbine Williams

1952 · Movie · 92 min. · United States

Direction Richard Thorpe

Cast James Stewart · Jean Hagen · Wendell Corey · Carl Benton Reid

Synopsis This is the story of David Marshall 'Marsh' Williams, the real life inventor of the world famous M-1 Carbine automatic riffle used in WWII. It all started when Marsh, who was one to do things his way, was caught distilling...

6.3

100 votes

6.3

100 votes

Horizons West

1952 · Movie · 81 min. · United States

6.3

484 votes

6.3

484 votes

The Sea Chase

1955 · Movie · 117 min. · United States

Direction John Farrow

Cast John Wayne · Lana Turner · David Farrar · Lyle Bettger

Synopsis As World War II begins, German freighter captain Karl Ehrlich tries to get his ship back to Germany through a gantlet of Allied warships.

6.1

540 votes

6.1

540 votes

Gunsmoke (TV Series)

1955 · Series · 30 min. · United States

Direction Andrew V. McLaglen · Harry Harris · Ted Post · Bernard McEveety

Cast James Arness · Milburn Stone · Amanda Blake · Ken Curtis

Synopsis TV Series (1955-1975). 20 Seasons. 635 Episodes. Marshal Matt Dillon is in charge of Dodge City, a town in the wild west where people often have no respect for the law. He deals on a daily basis with the problems...

6.1

88 votes

6.1

88 votes

Island In The Sky

1953 · Movie · 109 min. · United States

Direction William A. Wellman

Cast John Wayne · Lloyd Nolan · Walter Abel · James Arness

Synopsis A transport plane crash-lands in the frozen wastes of Labrador, and the plane's pilot, Dooley (Wayne), must keep his men alive in deadly conditions while waiting for rescue.

6.0

399 votes

6.0

399 votes

Many Rivers to Cross

1955 · Movie · 94 min. · United States

Direction Roy Rowland

Cast Robert Taylor · Eleanor Parker · Victor McLaglen · Jeff Richards

Synopsis A coonskin-hat-wearing, fur-trapping frontiersmen (Robert Taylor) is set on making his fortune in the Northwest Territory. But that's easier said the done, especially when he passes through Barren River, Kentucky, and meets Mary Stuart Cherne (Eleanor Parker). She's a beautiful...

6.0

322 votes

6.0

322 votes

Hellgate

1952 · Movie · 87 min. · United States

Direction Charles Marquis Warren

Cast Sterling Hayden · Joan Leslie · Ward Bond · James Arness

Synopsis A man is accused of spying for the confedaracy, and sentenced to the notorious Hellgate Prison. After he unsuccessfully attempts to breakout, and is sentenced to solitary confinement, he redeems himself when the prison is taken down by a plague.

5.8

56 votes

5.8

56 votes

The Lone Hand

1953 · Movie · 80 min. · United States

5.7

121 votes

5.7

121 votes

Wyoming Mail

1950 · Movie · 87 min. · United States

Direction Reginald Le Borg

Cast Stephen McNally · Alexis Smith · Ed Begley · James Arness

Synopsis In 1869, the United States begins a railroad mail service to the West Coast which proves highly tempting to train robbers, in particular an organized gang with one of the mail's supposed guardians in their pay. Prizefighter Steve Davis, a...

5.6

87 votes

5.6

87 votes

Gun the Man Down

1956 · Movie · 73 min. · United States

Direction Andrew V. McLaglen

Cast James Arness · Angie Dickinson · Robert J. Wilke · Emile Meyer

Synopsis Three outlaw buddies rob a bank, but one of them is wounded. His two partners and his girlfriend take his share of the loot and run off, leaving him to be captured by the sheriff. Years later, after he gets...

5.6

84 votes

5.6

84 votes

Double Crossbones

1951 · Movie · 75 min. · United States

Direction Charles Barton

Cast Donald O´Connor · Helena Carter · Will Geer · John Emery

Synopsis Falsely accused by the corrupt Governor Elden of Charleston of fencing stolen pirate booty, young Davey Crandall and friend Tom Botts buy passage on the ship of local buccaneer Bloodthirsty Ben. They avoid being killed by faking a case of...

5.2

38 votes

5.2

38 votes

Big Jim McLain

1952 · Movie · 90 min. · United States

Direction Edward Ludwig

Cast John Wayne · Nancy Olson · James Arness · Alan Napier

Synopsis U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee investigators Jim McLain and Mal Baxter attempt to break up a ring of Communist Party troublemakers in Hawaii.

4.0

64 votes

4.0

64 votes