Hedy Lamarr Movies

Hedy Lamarr in 1940

Want to know the best Hedy Lamarr movies?  How about the worst Hedy Lamarr movies?  Curious about Hedy Lamarr box office grosses or which Hedy Lamarr movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Hedy Lamarr movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000) was an Austrian and American film actress and inventor.  She was one of the most popular actresses making movies from the 1930s to the early 1950s.  Her IMDb page shows 35 acting credits from 1930-1958. This page will rank 26 Hedy Lamarr movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information.  Her early German movies and her few television appearances were not included in the rankings.  This UMR page comes from a request by Bob.

Hedy Lamarr & Victor Mature in 1950’s Samson and Delilah

Hedy Lamarr Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

Hedy Lamarr Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort Hedy Lamarr films by co-stars of her movies
  • Sort Hedy Lamarr films by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Hedy Lamarr films by yearly domestic box office rank
  • Sort Hedy Lamarr films by how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Hedy Lamarr film received.
  • Sort Hedy Lamarr films by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.

1940’s Boom Town had one great cast: Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable, Lamarr & the Wizard of Oz

Possibly Interesting Facts About Hedy Lamarr

  1.  Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler was born in  Vienna in 1913.

2.  In the early 1930s, Hedy Kiesler began to work in the Vienna film industry, first as a script girl, and soon as an actress.  She would appear in 4 movies with 1933’s Ecstasy reaching North American theaters.

3. In London 1937, Hedy Kiesler met Louis B. Mayer, who was scouting for talent in Europe. Mayer persuaded her to change her name to Hedy Lamarr, choosing the surname in homage to the beautiful silent film star, Barbara La Marr. He brought her to Hollywood in 1938 and began promoting her as the “world’s most beautiful woman”.

4. Louis B. Mayer brought Hedy Lamarr to Hollywood in 1938 and began promoting her as the “world’s most beautiful woman”.  Mayer had hoped he had found the next Greta Garbo or Marlene Dietrich.

5. Hedy Lamarr was married six times.  She had three children.

6. Hedy Lamarr owned the mansion used in 1965’s The Sound of Music.

7. Hedy Lamarr was the inspiration for the DC Comics antiheroine and Batman’s love interest, Catwoman.

8. Hedy Lamarr was one of the few stars with whom costume designer Edith Head admitted she did not like working. The others were Claudette Colbert and Paulette Goddard.

9. Hedy Lamarr is a member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame.  Some of her inventions included an improved traffic light and a frequency-hopping signal that could not be tracked or jammed.  The United States Navy started using this technology in 1962.

10. Hedy Lamarr’s movies from 1940 to 1949 earned $2.82 billion in adjusted domestic gross.  That puts her in 37th place when looking at all the stars of that decade. 1940’s Top Box Office Stars.

Check out Hedy Lamarr’s movie career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

But Wait….We Have More Hedy Lamarr Stats….Worldwide Adjusted Box Office Grosses

  1. Boom Town (1940) $511.50 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  2. Ziegfeld Girl (1941) $300.70 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  3. White Cargo (1942) $220.40 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  4. Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945) $219.00 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  5. Tortilla Flat (1942) $216.90 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  6. Crossroads (1942) $193.50 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  7. Lady of The Tropics (1939) $184.50 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  8. Comrade X (1940) $178.80 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  9. Experiment Perilous (1944) $172.30 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  10. Algiers (1938) $168.90 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  11. I Take This Woman (1940) $124.00 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  12. A Lady Without A Passport (1950) $51.40 million in adjusted worldwide gross
  13. The Story of Mankind (1957) $17.50 million in adjusted worldwide gross

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31 thoughts on “Hedy Lamarr Movies

  1. I have seen parts. and it looks like a very confusing movie. Ecstasy made her a star though not for the reason she wanted to be. Ecstasy made her a star. though not for the reason she wanted to be. There is an excellent documentary on her. Mayer persuaded her to change her name to Hedy Lamarr, choosing the surname in homage to the beautiful silent film star, Barbara La Marr.

    1. Hey Olivia….thanks for the mini-review on Ecstasy and for the visit and comment. I assume the documentary you watched was Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story….which I have seen and enjoyed as well. Very good but very sad as well. Good information on Mayer and her name. Good stuff.

  2. I have seen 13 Hedy Lamarr movies. BOOM TOWN is the HIGHEST ranked movie I have seen while THE STORY OF MANKIND is the LOWEST ranked movie I have seen. The highest ranked movie I haven’t seen is ECSTASY. Favorites include BOOM TOWN, ALGIERS, TORTILLA FLAT, ZIEGFELD GIRL, MY FAVORITE SPY, COMRADE X, and SAMSON AND DELILAH. Other Hedy Lamarr movies I have seen include THE STORY OF MANKIND, WHITE CARGO, EXPERIMENT PERILIOUS, THE FEMALE ANIMAL, THE HEAVENLY BODY, and LADY OF THE TROPICS.

    1. Hey Greg….great comment on Hedy Lamarr. I liked Boom Town….though she probably had the 4th best part. For some reason…I have always wanted to see The Story of Mankind….is it as bad as some say it is? I have seen parts….and it looks like a very confusing movie. Ecstasy made her a star…though not for the reason she wanted to be. There is an excellent documentary on her and how her life was….including being the inventor of radar. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts on Hedy Lamarr.

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