Want to know the best Linda Darnell movies? How about the worst Linda Darnell movies? Curious about Linda Darnell box office grosses or which Linda Darnell movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Linda Darnell movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Linda Darnell (1923-1965) was an American actress. Darnell was one of the most popular actresses of the 1940s. Her movies earned $3 billion (adjusted gross) between 1940 and 1949….with 15 of her movies crossing the $100 milllion (adjusted) mark. Linda Darnell’s IMDb page shows 57 acting credits from 1939-1965. This page will rank 40 Linda Darnell movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Her television appearances, uncredited roles, shorts and 1955’s It Happens in Roma (not released in North American theaters) were not included in the rankings.
Drivel Part: This page comes from a request by Pierre. Gotta admit that I did not know much about Linda Darnell before doing this page. Now I know enough to be dangerous….lol. Sorry for the delay, Pierre…..but your requested Linda Darnell page is now complete!
Linda Darnell 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 Linda Darnell movies by co-stars of her movies
- Sort Linda Darnell movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Linda Darnell movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Linda Darnell 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 Linda Darnell movie received.
- Sort Linda Darnell 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
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Linda Darnell Table
- Sixteen Linda Darnell movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 40.00% of her movies listed. Forever Amber (1947) was her biggest box office hit.
- An average Linda Darnell movie grossed $91.30 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 19 Linda Darnell movies are rated as good movies…or 47.50% of her movies. My Darling Clementine (1946) is her highest rated movie while City Without Men (1943) is her lowest rated movie.
- Nine Linda Darnell movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 22.50% of her movies.
- Three Linda Darnell movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 7.50% of her movies.
- An average Ultimate Movie Ranking (UMR) Score is 40.00. 22 Linda Darnell movies scored higher that average….or 55.00% of her movies. My Darling Clementine (1946) got the the highest UMR Score while The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe (1942) got the lowest UMR Score.
Possibly Interesting Facts About Linda Darnell
1. Monetta Eloyse Darnell was born in Dallas, Texas in 1923.
2. As a teenager, Linda Darnell landed not one but two movie contracts. Her first contract was with RKO before 20th Century Fox decided to offer her movie roles. At 15 she was living by herself in a small apartment in Hollywood. By the time she was 16 she was Tyrone Power’s leading lady in 1939’s Day-Time Wife.
3. Linda Darnell’s nickname was Tweedles.
4. Linda Darnell really wanted to play the Ava Gardner part in 1954’s The Barefoot Contessa. Apparently Joseph L. Mankiwez wrote the part with Darnell in mind.
5. Linda Darnell was never nominated for any major acting awards….nor was she ever included on the Quigley Publication Top Star lists…..the last fact makes no sense. In 1944 she had 3 $100 million hits….that should have gotten a spot in the Top 25 for sure.
6. Linda Darnell was married three times and had one daughter.
7. Linda Darnell’s character in 1946’s Anna and the King of Siam, was executed by being burned at the stake. In real life, Darnell died at age 41 from burns received in a house fire.
8. Check out Linda Darnell‘s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences. Golden Globe® is a registered trademark.
STEVE
1 The Work Horse’s stats in his excellent profile of Linda illustrate beyond any doubt that her heyday was in the 1940s all her Cogerson 100 million dollar barrier crashers being in the 39/49 period.. In the 1950s she descended into supporting roles and/or B movies and ultimately joined many of her contemporaries in the A C Lyles backwater though of course none of the others of whom I’m aware had the horrific premature death that she suffered.
2 I actually think that your Darnell posters/stills are the best yet for my money because I’ve recorded in my notes a 96% overall marking for the video and I don’t think I’ve gone that far up before. The material was so even in its very high standard that I did not try to make distinctions on grounds of artwork but simply contented myself with listing those that most pleased ME.
POSTERS: Dakota Incident, Stardust, Zero Hour, Blackbeard the Pirate, 13th Letter and the two raunchy ones from Island of Desire [aka Saturday Island] and Summer Storm.
STILLS: (1) the classy solo Indian girl one from Buffalo Bill (2) Kirk and Cornel Wilde with Linda in my favourite Darnell movie The Walls of Jericho (3) displaying her lovely legs in Hanover Square (4) with big Victor in My Darling Clementine. Incidentally I also liked the Work Horse’s miniature coloured still on his Darnell page.
3 Speaking of the Great Man it was nice to again be able to get my teeth into one of his pages with which to make comparisons with your ratings. You both agree on 4 of Linda’s Top 5 but for once he is the more realistic one in excluding in its entirety from his Linda table The Song of Bernadette which you have made No 4. Perhaps Linda’s uncredited 41st cast-listed [in IMDB] appearance in that movie combined with the ironical identity of the character she played was too much for even the often over-generous WH to contemplate adding the film to her grosses.
PS: Did you have a chance to see the exchanges between Phil and me about Chuck which were very interesting [says he modestly!]
Hi Bob, thanks for the review, rating, info and comparison, always appreciated.
I did indeed witness your Chuck Heston postings and I was most amused. Looks like I’m not the only knowledgable Heston fan in the CMT (Cogerson Movie Temple). I’ve read his diaries, ask me any question I dare you! I double dare you! 🙂
Back to… where are we? [checks page] Oh yes Linda Darnell, Hollywood’s fallen angel. What a sad end to one of Hollywood’s prettiest stars. Not a great actress but that didn’t really matter in Hollywood, looks were everything.
I decided to include The Song of Bernadette because a lot of people didn’t realise that it was Darnell playing the ‘Immaculate Conception’ , Bernadettes’s vision of the Virgin Mary. I’m surprised Bruce left it out of the charts he usually includes everything including cameos and narrations.
Glad you liked the photos and posters.
OK STEVE “What film marked Chuck’s professional debut?
Was it Secret of the Mayas? The Wreck of the Hesperus?
I give up.
Did you know – Sergio Leone was an assistant director on Ben-Hur.
STEVE
1 Many people think that Chuck’s debut was in the 1950 Julius Caesar and in a way that’s right because Julius Caesar was “released” in the US in March 1950 followed by Dark City that October.
2 However Chuck’s JC was at least in its original form a 16mm movie and it was initially released in just mainly US schools with a later tiny wider commercial US distribution.
3 Accordingly historians regard Dark City as marking Chuck’s formal professional debut [see for example Wikipedia’s page on Dark City] Chuck is credited with 21 releases in the 1950s including JC and in my first post to Phil I mentioned the 6 Chuck 50s movies that crashed the Cogerson 100 million barrier which would of course leave 15.
4 However because of what I have said I excluded JC from the calculations that I gave Phil and my averaging of Chuck’s grosses after the six 100 million crashers was based on just the remaining 14 movies.
5 In all the circumstances The Work Horse cannot be blamed for including JC in his table though and indeed his stats faithfully reflect the almost non-existent gross derived from the tiny ultimate commercial release. Whatever the convolution distribution history of a movie we can rely on Bruce to rarely get wrong the scale of its actual earnings however they were derived so I think he deserves special prais for his 1950 JC gross.
6 We little chaps in the 1950s – we called ourselves the Mickey Rooneys – were of course oblivious in all the foregoing and indeed we just wanted the Chuck of Arrowhead and Dark City and had no interest in his Julius Caesar nor in the 1953 mumbled version either!
7 Chuck was a complex man as witnessed by his conflicting politics so it is fitting that his debut was not straight-forward either.
8 Thanks for the info about Sergio – didn’t know that.
Thanks for the additonal Heston info. I’ve read the diaries and his autobiography. I have one additonal book – The Films of Charlton Heston, purchased way back in 1981. What I should do is pick up a good bio on Chuck, autobiographies are fascinating but seldom filled with movie by movie facts and stats that a good bio might provide. There is a good one that’s just come out called Charlton Heston – Hollywood’s Last Icon, 900 pages, might be worth a look.
Btw these posts should be on the Charlton Heston page, why are we clogging up Linda’s movie page with chats on Chuck? Who started this? Bob? 🙂
The movie that introduced me to Linda Darnell is Summer Storm, which in my youth was shown quite frequently on german TV. Since then, I added 27 more to that list. My favs apart from Summer Storm would be Letter to three Wives, Fallen Angel, It happened Tomorrow, Second Chance, Anna and the King of Siam. If you blinked, you would have missed her Virgin Mary in Song of Bernadette, but since I love it so much, I include it here.
Miss Darnell had a hard time keeping her career going after the 40’s ended and Fox didn’t renew her contract. According to one biographer Joseph L. Mankiewicz, with whom she had an ongoing affair, let her to believe that he was going to cast her her in The Barefoot Comtessa, but when he took Ava Gardner instead, it not only ended that relationship but it also was a huge blow to her self-esteem as an actress. Thus, she did some more medium budgeted pictures as a freelancer, then gradually drifted into B’s, Guest spots on TV, Summer Stock Theater. Personally troubled, drinking too much, and alway fighting to keep her figure, Miss Darnell went to Italy, where she starred in 2 Pictures that didn’t do anything to save her fading career. If I remember correctly, she was quite active there in charity work benefitting children in need, but soon she had to take any offered acting job to support herself and her family. Darnell’s last two solid box hits were Island of Desire/Saturday Island in 1952 (looking breathtakenly beautiful next to “new discovery” , unbelievably wooden Tab Hunter) and RKO’s 3D outing Second Chance, costarring her with Mitchum and Palance. So, while still in her early thirties, she had fallen from star to has-been. Throughout her career Darnell had to live with the fact that “important” critics ridiculed her acting chops and merely saw her as a highly beautiful, highly uncapable actress. If you watch her in 4 Wives, No Way Out and Fallen Angel and contrast them with her performances as an ingenue or a comedienne, it becomes clear that in fact she was a very versatile actress indeed. What remains of her career today is the image of one of the most beautiful faces ever to grace the screen, her tragic descent into oblivion, and her sad ending due to burning in a fire.
Hey Lupino.
1. First of all…thanks for a detailed comment on Linda Darnell.
2. Wow your tally count is pretty impressive…27 out 40 is right under 75%….Steve and I have a combined total of 15…10 for him and only 5 for me.
3. Since her role in Song of Bernadette was pretty much a cameo (an one people strongly disagreed her playing) I did not include it here.
4. I read the same thing about her being so disappointed that she did not get the Gardner role in Barefoot Contessa….especially since she was the inspiration for the character.
5. Those 2 Italian movies barely played in theaters.
6. Good points about her acting skills….sadly not many people felt the same way…especially when the critics were involved.
7. I agree…her beauty jumps off the screen…..especially in movies with Tyrone Power.
Thanks again for sharing your movie knowledge on Linda Darnell.
3. Since her role in Song of Bernadette was pretty much a cameo (an one people strongly disagreed her playing) I did not include it here.
I am absolutely sure the Virgin Mary is played by Darnell, no matter what others might say. I know my Linda when I see her ..lol!
But it is absolutely correct NOT to include Bernadette in your ranking- that movie belongs to Jennifer Jones and no other actress. (Although Gladys Cooper and Anne Revere were fantastic in it, too!)
Hey Lupino…..sorry….I did not phrase that correctly…..people knew it was her….they just did not think she should have been playing the Virgin Mary…as she was not “pure” enough to play her.
Hello Bruce,
I am glad that you have known now about Linda Darnell News things like me with all your pages you have done on américan movie and so many actors.
And dont be Sorry for the délay because now we have so many pages to see.
A bientôt
Pierre
Hey pierre…..one of the books really looked at her last hours….so tragic….and something I will never forget now….I was completely clueless before. No issues with the delay…the website is open 24/7….365 days a year….lol.
A very lovely lady. I have not seen many of her movies but I found your Darnell page interesting. Tragic death indeed.
Hey Stein…..Well thanks for checking out one of our latest pages. It was an interesting page to do….because my knowledge of Linda Darnell was pretty limited as well.
Hi
Darnell was very beautiful. In The Mark of Zorro she looked stunning. But it could be argued that her looks was a double edged sword. I don’t think the top brass at Fox took her very seriously as an actress.
Finally she was given the role of Forever Amber, although a massive box office, it was critically panned. I think this was the film she hoped would launch her into the big time. Another problem was that Gene Tierney got all the big offers first and of course Betty Grable was the musical star.
By the end of the 40’s her career seemed to go down hill and then her tragic end.
What people forget is that for every Davis and Hepburn, there were many actresses who just didn’t make the big time. Not because of lack of talent but they lacked that self confidence and drive and probably luck that kept them on the top for so long.
Hey Chris.
1. Thanks for the Darnell feedback.
2. You might be correct about her looks holding her back. Her success was right out of the box…so she pretty much got stuck in the same (though lovely) roles movie after movie.
3. As her lifestyle caught up with her…..her looks started to diminish….but did not have the acting skills to overcome that…so her career evaporated very quickly.
4. I had seen Forever Amber on so many box office charts….but this is the first time I actually looked at other parts of the movie….so it was surprising to see it’s low rating….almost low enough to make my Bad Blockbuster page.
5. The forgotten actress club is filled with millions of actresses….Darnell might not have reached the Davis and Hepburn level…..but her level of success is barely reached by all of those actresses that try to succeed in movies.
Thanks for the visit and the comment.