Kathryn Grayson Movies

Want to know the best Kathryn Grayson movies?  How about the worst Kathryn Grayson movies?  Curious about Kathryn Grayson box office grosses or which Kathryn Grayson movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Kathryn Grayson 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.

Kathryn Grayson (1922-2010) was an American actress and soprano who appeared in many successful MGM musicals in the 1940 and 1950s. Her IMDb page shows 26 acting credits from 1941-1989. This page will rank 20 Kathryn Grayson movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Grayson’s 5 television roles and her one uncredited role were not included in these rankings.  This page comes from a request by Flora.

Kathryn Grayson in 1953’s Kiss, Me Kate

Kathryn Grayson 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 Kathryn Grayson movies by co-stars of her movies
  • Sort Kathryn Grayson movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Kathryn Grayson movies by domestic yearly box office rank
  • Sort Kathryn Grayson 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 Kathryn Grayson movie received.
  • Sort Kathryn Grayson 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.
  • Use the sort and search button to make this a very interactive page.  For example type in “Gene Kelly” to see her 3 movies she made with Kelly

Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Kathryn Grayson Table

  1. Ten Kathryn Grayson movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark.  That is a percentage of 50.00% of her movies listed. Till The Clouds Roll By (1946) was her biggest box office hit….but just barely over 1945’s Anchors Aweigh.
  2. An average Kathryn Grayson movie grosses $141.40 million in adjusted box office gross.
  3. Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter.  12 Kathryn Grayson movies are rated as good movies…or 60.00% of her movies.  Kiss Me, Kate (1953) was her highest rated movie while The Vagabound King (1956) was her lowest rated movie.
  4. Five Kathryn Grayson movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 25.00% of her movies.
  5. One Kathryn Grayson movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 5.00% of her movies.
  6. An average Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 40.00. 13 Kathryn Grayson movies scored higher than that average….or 65.00% of her movies. Anchors Aweigh (1945) got the the highest UMR Score while The Kissing Bandit (1948) got the lowest UMR Score.

Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson and Gene Kelly in 1945’s Anchors Aweigh

Possibly Interesting Facts About Kathryn Grayson

1. Zelma Kathryn Elisabeth Hedrick was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1921.  She got her screen name from the ‘Kathryn” in her name and the maiden name “Grayson” of her mother.

2. Kathryn Grayson was spotted by a MGM talent scout at a music festival.  MGM in hopes of finding another Deanna Durbin (ever heard of this one Bob?) signed her to a movie contract.  Durbin had recently left MGM for Universal.

3. Kathryn Grayson’s nickname was “Graysie”.

4. Kathryn Grayson and Mario Lanza made two movies together.  They did not get along during the filming of those two movies….and yet….Kathryn did take his wife Betty and the children into her home, for a time, after Mario’s untimely death.

5. Kathryn Grayson’s average of $141.40 million adjusted domestic box office average per movie is the 10th average for actresses in our database (mininum 19 movies)

6. Kathryn Grayson was married two times and had 1 child.  She was also engaged to Howard Hughes.

7. For the the famous spanking scene in 1953’s Kiss Me Kate, Kathryn Grayson and costume designer Helen Rose played a joke on Howard Keel – Rose put a wooden board under Grayson’s costume.

8.  Kathryn Grayson’s movies grossed $2.82 billion in adjusted domestic box office.  They grossed $4.30 billion adjusted worldwide box office.  We were able to locate worldwide grosses on 95% of her movies.

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

Not enough stats for you?….Then check out 19 Kathryn Grayson worldwide adjusted grosses

  1. Anchors Aweigh (1945) $529.30 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  2. Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary (1941) $233.20 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  3. Desert Song, The (1953) $96.80 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  4. Grounds For Marriage (1951) $76.80 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  5. It Happened in Brooklyn (1947) $163.60 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  6. Kiss Me, Kate (1953) $132.60 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  7. Kissing Bandit, The (1948) $76.70 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  8. Lovely To Look At (1952) $160.50 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  9. Rio Rita (1942) $267.00 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  10. Seven Sweethearts (1942) $140.00 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  11. Show Boat (1951) $367.00 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  12. So This Is Love (1953) $98.50 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  13. That Midnight Kiss (1949) $173.10 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  14. Thousands Cheer (1943) $472.20 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  15. Till The Clouds Roll By (1946) $439.00 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  16. Toast of New Orleans, The (1950) $162.80 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  17. Two Sisters From Boston (1946) $290.00 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  18. Vanishing Virginian, The (1942) $74.90 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  19. Ziegfeld Follies (1946) $347.30 million in adjusted worldwide box office

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33 thoughts on “Kathryn Grayson Movies

  1. My take on Kathryn Grayson/Zelma Hedrick is that she always held a bit of contempt for Hollywood and thought it beneath her and silly. (A thought: in that famous photo of her with the fat tire, is the smirk her playing to the camera, or a comment on the situation? The smirk does appear to a certain degree in other studio portraits around this time.) One wonders what the whole arc of her life would have been like has she rejected Pasternak’s advances, found a husband who could keep up with her artistically, and in time become another Moffo or Callas. Certainly, it seems she was much more satisfied with her professional (and perhaps personal) life in the 60s when she moved permanently onto the stage.

    At times, I think it’s worth considering the human cost of these great Hollywood musicals to those who became consumed by the System. On the other hand, we wouldn’t have Hedrick’s films, and we would have had Moffo and Callas anyways.

  2. 1 STEVE We have previously discussed how the decline of the Hollywood musicals in the mid-1950s savaged the careers of the many of the big stars of the genre. Some struggled on in inferior fare as did Howard Keel in A C Lyles’ cheapie westerns; Esther Williams tried and failed to make a new career in dramatic roles; but poor Kathryn stopped making cinematic movie altogether after the 1956 Vagabond King [with exception of a documentary]. Many resorted to bit parts etc on television and indeed I have just watched Kathryn in a virtual walk-on role in a 1985 episode of Murder She Wrote. However her career has always interested me as a movie predominately Classic Era buff because of her 1940’s glories and I personally found her sexier and a much better singer than Garland for example [and probably my Doris though I will never admit that!] I therefore welcome this video as I did Bruce’s page.

    2 Because in your last 4 videos you scooped the Work Horse I was getting withdrawal symptoms over not having his critic/audience ratings to compare with your markings. You both agree on all Top 5 and should be congratulated for ranking Kiss Me Kate No 1 as historians reckon that the fiery Kate was Kathryn’s finest performance I do feel that we viewers benefit from your graphic profiles being available alongside Bruce’s statistical and facts pages the combination giving a good all round profile of stars. Your profile of Kathryn equates to a 95% quality in my McCormack comparison ratings chart as the excellence of the posters/stills is pretty even throughout.

    3 Best POSTERS for me were Kissing Bandit, Lovely to Look At, Rio Rita and the saucy So This is Love [aka The Grace Moore Story]. GREAT STILLS Kathryn and Rooney, her with Sinatra only , the gorgeous colour one with Ava from Showboat, and who could not admire the closing one of the beautiful young Kathryn in that mini skirt! Well done. I also admired Bruce’s colour miniature of Kathy
    PS I liked your incisive comments on Bruce’s excellent 1940s stats compilations and I agree with your apparent implication that you did not regard Van as the biggest box office star of the 1940s though to be fair he [like Dana Andrews] did have a reasonable number of stand-alone hits unlike say Loy.

    1. Thanks Bob, appreciate the review, rating, comparison and comment!

      Glad you liked the pictures.

      Bruce and I do occasionally achieve harmony in our rankings. (I did spell that last word correctly I hope, phew!) 🙂

      Kathryn looks great but her high notes have been known to pierce eardrums. So best to keep the volume control handy. [Bob grits his teeth]

      That last photo of her in the skirt – I was about to post the usual smiling profile when I saw those legs, and threw the profile in the bin. 🙂

      More legendary trilling coming up later tonight or tomorrow. (but I can’t guarantee the shapely legs)

  3. Thank you for another page on a classic star. I’ve seen 9 Kathryn Grayson Movies, my favorites are Show Boat, Anchors away and So this is Love. Strangely, I just loved Kiss me Kate at first viewing, but for me, it didn’t hold up the second time. Would love to see it in 3D though, unfortunately there is no european release for that one and my BR player can’t read american discs. Miss Grayson certainly was a pretty Lady with a good voice and she seemed to be a gentle woman, too, judging from the few interviews I’ve seen or read with her- still, there was something missing to make her one of the Greats. Can’t put my finger to it, but, that’s how I feel about her. I must admit, though, that she surprised me in So this Love- maybe there was more to her than her usual sweet ingenue roles showed. Some great movie memories for sure, and some great boxoffice, too!

    1. Hey Lupino….thanks for an interesting break down on Grayson’s movies. I want to see Kiss Me Kate….some of the 3D from the 1950s is pretty weak….but maybe if this one came from a major studio it will be better.

      Tally count

      Flora from Canada…13 Grayson Movies Watched
      BERN1960 from Canada…..9 Grayson Movies Watched
      Lupino from Germany…..9 Grayson Movies Watched
      Steve Lensman from Englad…..6 Grayson Movies Watched
      Cogerson from United States…..1 Grayson Movie Watched

      You are the second person to mention So This Love….I will have to check that movie out.

      Thanks for the feedback.

  4. Never a big fan of Kathryn, too wimpy or something. She’s in the Judy Garland/Jane Powell type of class, sort of boring or wimpy personalities to me. Judy not as much but never cared for her. I liked the louder hyperactive singers like Doris Day or Betty Hutton. These are the people on the current Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe List (that is a mouthful) who worked with her.

    A Century of Cinema (1994) – 9 Donald Sutherland, 12 Morgan Freeman, 32 Anthony Hopkins, 48 Nicolas Cage, 54 Harrison Ford, 86 Dan Aykroyd, 89 Robert Downey Jr., 96 Burt Reynolds, 121 Bob Hoskins 122 Geraldine Chaplin, 147 Dennis Quaid, 150 Sylvester Stallone,171 Julia Roberts, 206 Kevin Costner, 245 Mickey Rooney, 247 Charlton Heston, 279 Meryl Streep, 361 Denzel Washington 400 Arnold Schwarzenegger, 434 Clint Eastwood, 455 Shirley MacLaine, 624 Kim Basinger, 781 Shelley Winters, 788 Chevy Chase, 805 Jane Fonda, 897 Tony Curtis

    Anchors Aweigh (1945) – 198 Dean Stockwell
    Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary (1941) – 245 Mickey Rooney
    The Vagabond King (1956) – 855 Leslie Nielsen

    Kathryn appeared with 25 Oscar winners that I can find

    A Century of Cinema (1994) – Jessica Tandy, Liza Minnelli, George Burns, Kim Basinger, Nicolas Cage, Sally Field, Jane Fonda, Morgan Freeman, Charlton Heston, Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Shirley MacLaine, Sidney Poitier, Julia Roberts, James Stewart, Meryl Streep, Jessica Tandy, Denzel Washington, Shelley Winters
    Anchors Aweigh (1945) – Frank Sinatra
    It Happened in Brooklyn (1947) – Frank Sinatra, Gloria Grahame
    Seven Sweethearts (1942) – Van Heflin
    That Midnight Kiss (1949) – Ethel Barrymore
    The Kissing Bandit (1948) – Frank Sinatra
    The Toast of New Orleans (1950) – David Niven, Rita Moreno
    The Vagabond King (1956) – Rita Moreno
    Thousands Cheer (1943) – Donna Reed, Mary Astor
    Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) – Frank Sinatra, Van Heflin

    As for the big 10

    Donald Sutherland appears in A History of Cinema (1994) with Kathryn

    8 of the other 9 connect in 2 steps.

    Eric Roberts was in Restraining Order (1999) and The Shadow Men (1997) with Dean Stockwell who was in Anchors Aweigh (1945) with Kathy

    Michael Madsen was in Scary Movie 4 (2006) with Leslie Nielsen who was in The Vagabond King (1956)

    Michael was in Now Here (2010) with Mickey Rooney who was in Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary (1941)

    Michael was in Bad Guys (2000) with John Philip Law who was in Show Boat (1951)

    Danny Trejo was in Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003) and Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002) with Ricardo Montalban who was in The Kissing Bandit (1948)

    Danny was in Chinaman’s Chance: America’s Other Slaves (2008) with John Phillip Law

    Samuel L. Jackson does not connect to Kathryn in 2 steps

    Harvey Keitel was in Exposed (1983) with Ron Randell who was in Kiss Me Kate (1953)

    Robert De Niro was in Marvin’s Room (1996) with Hume Cronyn who was in Ziegfeld Follies (1946)

    Robert was in New York, New York (1977) with Arthur Tovey who was in So This is Love (1953)

    Willem Dafoe was in To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) with Dean Stockwell

    Malcolm McDowell was in The Player (1992) with Dean Stockwell

    Malcolm was in Mr. Magoo (1997) with Leslie Nielsen

    Malcolm was in The Player (1992) with Richard Anderson (Six Million Dollar Man) who is in Grounds for Marriage (1951)

    Malcolm was in Happily Ever After (1990) with Zsa Zsa Gabor who was in Lovely to Look at (1952)

    Michael Caine was in Hurry Sundown (1967) with John Phillip Law

    Michael Caine was in Pulp (1972) with Mickey Rooney

    Michael was in California Suite (1978) with Arthur Tovey

    Yes the Oracle of Bacon counts documentaries, that’s why so many people in A Century of Cinema, all interviewed for this film made by the British Film Institute.

    1. Hey Dan….thanks for taking the time to share this information….especially since she is not of our your favorites.
      1. So give you Day and Hutton over those others….duly noted.
      2. “Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe List”…that is indeed a mouthful….it sounds like one of my old titles in my previous life….I was the “Harris Teeter Northern Region Financial Training Facilitator”.
      3. So…after reading your entire comment….my question about “A Century of Cinema” has been answered….documentaries are included. Well that documentary is packed with stars for sure.
      4. Dean Stockwell is along with Rooney…a great puzzle piece to use when you get stuck thinking about Bacon game….such a long long career.
      5. 25 Oscar winners for 20 movies is pretty impressive.
      6. Malcolm McDowell has the most 2 person connections….as for Caine…Hurry Sundown is one of the few Caine movies that I have not seen.
      7. I see Arthur Tovey did his share of the work….lol.
      Good feedback…and thanks again for including it here.

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