Jeanette MacDonald Movies

220px-jeannette_macdonald_-_1934Want to know the best Jeanette MacDonald movies?  How about the worst Jeanette MacDonald movies?  Curious about Jeanette MacDonald box office grosses or which Jeanette MacDonald movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Jeanette MacDonald movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

Jeanette MacDonald (1903-1965) was an American actress and singer.  MacDonald is best remembered for her musical movies with Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy.  Jeanette MacDonald’s IMDb page shows 32 acting credits from 1929-1957.  This page will rank 28 Jeanette MacDonald movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Her television appearances and movies not released in North American theaters) were not included in the rankings. 

Drivel Part:  Recently we have been getting numerous requests for a Victor Mature page.  As we were doing some preliminary research on Mr. Mature….some information on Jeanette MacDonald caught our eye.  When we realized we already had most of her movies in our database….she bumped Mr. Mature.  But for those still waiting patiently….it was close…..as MacDonald is pretty close alphabetically to Mature.

Jeanette MacDonald in her biggest hit....1936's San Francisco.
Jeanette MacDonald in her biggest hit….1936’s San Francisco.

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

Jeanette MacDonald 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 Jeanette MacDonald movies by co-stars of her movies
  • Sort Jeanette MacDonald movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Jeanette MacDonald movies by adjusted worldwide box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Jeanette MacDonald movies 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 Jeanette MacDonald movie received.
  • Sort Jeanette MacDonald movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR)Score.  UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
  • Blue link in Co-star column takes you to that star’s UMR movie page
Jeanette MacDonald and her frequent co-star Nelson Eddy
Jeanette MacDonald and her frequent co-star Nelson Eddy

Possibly Interesting Facts About Jeanette MacDonald

1. Jeanette Anna MacDonald was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1903.

2. Jeanette MacDonald’s singing voice brought her to Broadway at the age of 16.  In 1920 she was the second lead in the play Irene.  The first lead was Irene Dunne.

3.  Film director Ernst Lubitsch was looking through old screen tests of Broadway performers and spotted Jeanette MacDonald. He cast her as the leading lady in his first sound film, 1929’s The Love Parade.

4.  Jeanette MacDonald’s co-star in 1929’s The Love Parade was Maurice Chevalier.  They would appear in three more movies together.

5. In 1935 Jeanette MacDonald was cast opposite Nelson Eddy for the first time. Starting with Naughty Marietta and ending with 1942’s I Married An Angel they would appear in a total of 8 movies together.

6.  Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy became known as “America’s Singing Sweethearts“.

7. Jeanette MacDonald was married one time.  She was married to actor Gene Raymond from 1937 to her death in 1965. They did not have any children.

8.  In 1939 Jeanette MacDonald was crowned “Queen of Hollywood” by a nationwide poll while the reigning King that year was Tyrone Power.

9.  Jeanette MacDonald’s movies earned $3.28 billion when looking at adjusted domestic box office.

10. Check out Jeanette MacDonald‘s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

Wait, Wait, Wait….Don’t go yet…..we have a couple of new things….we do you think of our Jeanette MacDonald graphs?

jean-umrUMR Score takes box office grosses, reviews and awards and jams them altogether….our average UMR Score is 40.00.

jean-box-office-chart

The high water mark is 1936’s San Francisco.  Ok….we are done now.

Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.  Golden Globe® is a registered trademark.

48 thoughts on “Jeanette MacDonald Movies

    1. Hey Paul.
      1. I have added in the Honorary Oscar for Sweethearts….it is now in the database,
      2. That actually moves Sweethearts into 6th place….the next time we do an entire database update….it will move to the correct place.
      3. Thanks for pointing that out to me.
      4. I am thinking I have you to blame for this Jeanette MacDonald page for having a very good day in views yesterday….your efforts are greatly appreciated.
      5. Good to hear from you.

      1. Belated thanks for your kind words. A lot of us movie fans owe you a tremendous debt of gratitude for providing us with a resource that is invaluable and one I turn to on a regular basis and direct others to. Thank you.

  1. 1 STEVE Jeanette, another of those great singers with trained voices who can reach the highest notes but I suppose you have again been complaining on behalf of your eardrums. You don’t deserve Jeanette’s complimentary remarks about the English in the opening quote and you CAN be a bit of a Philistine at times Lensman but luckily not when it comes to the artwork in your videos! and the material in the MacDonald video was virtually all par excellence and worth a 95% rating. These POSTERS for me were the very best: Cairo, Cat and Fiddle, Monte Carlo, Firefly, Frisco and the especially the Sweethearts two which I thought which reflected such joyousness.

    2 CLASSY STILLS
    (1) Jeanette and Allan Jones in The Firefly
    (2) With the King in San Francisco
    (3) The two with Eddy especially the one from Rose Marie Involving tree romancing [an inspiration for Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr off screen later?]
    (4) The two with Chevalier because of their sumptuous colour, the sauciness of the first one and the tape measuring scene in Love Me Tonight. If that latter still [and indeed the film’s poster] were released back in its day I’m surprised it got past the censors.

    3. In this video we have not only got the Top 5s of you and the Work Horse to compare but I can also gauge your sites’ respective reactions to the 8 MacDonald/Eddy movies and the average score of you both for the 8 is exactly 66.75% by my maths. I thought that figure surprisingly low for the films that such a legendary team made together but possibly your sources did not like the two voices as much as I. Overall you and WH agree on 3 of the Top 5 Jeanette MacDonald films. You both included Love Me Tonight in the Top 5 but my own jury’s still out as to whether the inclusion represented properly considered artistic opinion or some weird fan club of the inconsequential Loy turning out in force. Anyway.your video for me wonderfully complements WH’s MacDonald page.I see that you have again scooped him with another big “screamer” from the musical era who was not the Jane who mated Tarzan. Cant’ wait to see it but haven’t had time yet through watching the MacDonald video 4 times!

    1. Hey Bob
      1. Good breakdown and review on Steve’s You Tube MacDonald video.
      2. 3 out of 5 is about normal for our comparisons.
      3. Any movie with Loy is of course loved by critics and audiences….only a small fraction of anti-Loy fans in Ireland seem to not agree with the masses….lol.
      4. Yep Steve is knocking out the classic performers at a very impressive rate….gotta admit….I am experiencing a period of laziness when it comes to this website…..as producing new material is falling down the list of things to do…..but after two full years of living and breathing UMR…..I think taking a little breather is a good idea.
      5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy6fy06b1TY A link to Steve’s video.

      1. (1) BRUCE – OMNIBUS REPLY TO YOUR POSTS IN RESPONSE TO MY OWN EARLIER ONES (2) JOHN as you are “mentioned in dispatches”

        3 ABOVE IN YOUR 7.06 AM POST
        Touche! I am now in the position of the proverbial biter bit but I don’t HATE you!

        GRANT AND BILLING
        From 1941 until his retirement in 1966 an entire quarter century Grant was NEVER billed 2nd and his name constantly appeared above some of the biggest other stars in the business at that time – Ginger Rogers, Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Audrey Hepburn, Doris Day and so on. To me Grant represents true legendary stardom and indeed if Quigley is to be in any way believed he enjoyed his period of very greatest popularity in the last 6 or 7 years of his long career and I think could possibly be regarded as the biggest male star of the early 60s and certainly your own stats do not contradict that impression.

        JOHN ACCURATELY SPOTTING A SERIOUS OMISSION

        As Richard Nixon apparently said to the first aide who addressed him as Mr President when he had just won the 1968 election “That’s a first. Somebody should be making a note of it for posterity”

        BRANDO AND DRY WHITE SEASON
        (1) Out of respect for the anti apartheid Marlon apparently took a lowly “union to scale fee” for the supporting role rather than getting his arm in for doing nothing as he usually did
        (2) The film’s star Donald Sutherland jokingly complained that his wife was so overawed by Bud’s presence on the set that she forgot her own husband was in the movie!

        Have a good weekend – you’ve well earned it having to respond to c**p from guys like Lensman and John.

        1. Good comment especially those involving Brando and Grant. I think Grant is one of the few performers that went out on top….especially if you look at those stars that retired versus dying like James Dean.

        2. Bob

          “JOHN ACCURATELY SPOTTING A SERIOUS OMISSION”

          Bob, as we used to say back on the farm, even a blind hog will find an acorn now and then.

    2. Hi Bob, thanks as always for the review, rating and comment!

      You have to give me credit for producing videos on stars I have very little interest in and not very familar with their filmographies. If I was just publishing videos on my favorites I would have finished this video ‘game’ months ago.

      So I’m always relieved when you, and sometimes John, give my videos a thumbs up. To quote Lina Lamont (again) – “If we bring a little joy into your humdrum lives, it makes us feel as though our hard work ain’t been in vain for nothin’. Bless you all.” 🙂

      Yes it’s true if I was watching a MacDonald / Eddy musical I would probably be fast forwarding thru the trilling bits, how much of the movie would be left? [Bob stares at monitor in horror]

      And I dare to call myself a fan of musicals [Bob bites his fist] I do have a soft spot for Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire musicals, maybe it’s the dancing I like more than the singing?

      FWIW warbling diva Jeanette MacDonald had just one 10 out of 10 movie from my sources and it wasn’t San Francisco.

      Thanks for posting a link Bruce, much appreciated amigo.

  2. Loving your data and admiring your hard work. However, the January, 1949 issue of Variety that lists the top moneymaking films of 1948 lists “Three Daring Daughters” as being the number 26 moneymaking film of 1948 not the number 32. You can link to that Variety page on the Wikipedia page for “Three Daring Daughters”.

      1. As my database has gotten bigger and bigger…I have tended to use the ranking in my database versus the Variety ranking…they normally are pretty close. I like grouping the movies by the year they were made….not that it is the “right”…just the way I prefer.

        Seems I go back and forth as to which way I feel is the best way to do these rankings.

    1. Hey Paul….thanks for the link to that Variety issue…lots of good information on budgets. As for Three Darling Daughters ..you are right….they list it as the 26th biggest hit. In my database….I have it 33rd now (it is always changing when I include a new movie)…my current Top 50 or so.

      MovieYear
      The Red Shoes (1948)
      Red River (1948)
      Johnny Belinda (1948)
      Easter Parade (1948)
      5. The Three Musketeers (1948)
      The Snake Pit (1948)
      Joan of Arc (1948)
      The Emperor Waltz (1948)
      Homecoming (1948)
      10. Sitting Pretty (1948)
      The Paleface (1948)
      State of the Union (1948)
      Words and Music (1948)
      A Date with Judy (1948)
      15. Hamlet (1948)
      When My Baby Smiles at Me (1948)
      Key Largo (1948)
      On A Island With You (1948)
      Fort Apache (1948)
      20. On an Island with You (1948)
      Good Sam (1948)
      Julia Misbehaves (1948)
      Command Decision (1948)
      I Remember Mama (1948)
      25. Sorry Wrong Number (1948)
      Every Girl Should Get Married (1948)
      Whispering Smith (1948)
      Yellow Sky (1948)
      Apartment For Peggy (1948)
      30. Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)
      The Bride Goes Wild (1948)
      Call Northside 777 (1948)
      33. Three Darling Daughters (1948)
      Tap Roots (1948)
      35. The Loves of Carmen (1948)
      A Foreign Affair (1948)
      Blood on the Moon (1948)
      Road House (1948)
      Rachael and the Stranger (1948)
      40. The Babe Ruth Story (1948)
      Beyond Glory (1948)
      The Naked City (1948)
      The Street with No Name (1948)
      The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
      45. A Song Is Born (1948)
      Saigon (1948)
      Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
      Rope (1948)
      Family Honeymoon (1948)
      50. Romance on the High Seas (1948)
      Silver River (1948)
      Adventures of Don Juan (1948)
      I Walk Alone (1948)
      The Miracle of the Bells (1948)
      So Dear To My Heart (1948)

  3. Excellent data on Jeanette MacDonald – great job so please take a bow!!! As usual, you’ve done wonderful research and compiled it in a most readable manner. Jeanette MacDonald only made the Quigley Poll of top-ten box-office stars in America once (1936) although she finished close to the top-ten several times. However, in their International Polling, she finished in the top ten six times in a row (1937 – 1942 inclusive) showing that her popularity, especially in Europe, was enormous. A film like “Smilin’ Through” for instance, made almost twice as much money outside of the US as it did in this country. Again, thanks for compiling this in such a detailed way.

    1. Hey Paul….thanks for the very kind words on our MacDonald movie page. I think her “opera” style of singing really played well in Europe. Good point on Smilin Through….that is great example of her international box office power. I was glad I was able to find worldwide box office numbers on almost 65% of her movies. Thanks for the comment and the visit.

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