The Quigley Top 25 Stars of 1939 list is a fun list to look at…as are many of their annual lists. All though we have been looking at the Quigley lists for years…we have to admit there are many years that have been very confusing. Supposedly the list is based on a poll in which the owners of movie theaters across the country are asked to name the previous year’s top 10 money making stars. Maybe our anti-George Clooney stance has clouded our judgement but we never understood how Clooney made Top 10 list after Top 10 list all the while generating one box office disappointment after another.
Quigley Publications began publishing these annual lists in 1932. They were still publishing them as late as 2013…when Jennifer Lawrence topped their polls. Recently there have been many comments on our website about the Quigley lists. This got us thinking we should do a statistical analysis on one of the years that Quigley published and compare their results with actual box office grosses.
Since 1939 is considered the best year in movie history…we picked that one as our guinea pig. So here is what you will see on this page. (1) Top 25 Stars from the 1939 Quigley list. (2) A table that shows how they should have been ranked based on actual box office results. (3) Some explanations of some of the numbers….namely our logic when it comes to Mr. Clark Gable.
Quigley Top 25 Stars of 1939
- Mickey Rooney….ranked 1st ….he would be first in 1940 again
- Tyrone Power….ranked 2nd …..his peak position
- Spencer Tracy….ranked 3rd…only one movie in 1939
- Clark Gable……ranked 4th…dropped to 4th after being 2nd for three years
- Shirley Temple…..ranked 5th….ended her 4 year run in the top spot
- Bette Davis……ranked 6th…she was about to go on a serious box office roll
- Alice Fay….ranked 7th….one of two surprises in the Top 10
- Errol Flynn…ranked 8th….this was at his peak
- James Cagney…ranked 9th…back to Warner Brothers and back to the Top 10
- Sonja Henie…ranked 10th…the other surprise
- Bing Crosby 11th, Deanna Durbin 12th, Jane Withers 13th, Robert Taylor 14th, Wallace Beery 15th, Myrna Loy 16th, Bob Burns 17th, Gary Cooper 18th, Jeanette MacDonald 19th, Don Ameche 20th Ginger Rogers 21st, Henry Fonda 22nd ,Paul Muni 23rd, Irene Dunne 24th & Cary Grant 25th
The top 25 earners in World Wide Box Office for 1939
Problems/Things We Noticed/Possible Answers To Your Questions
- Clark Gable did not get get credit for Gone With The Wind…..why? Quigley released their poll numbers in December…..Gone With The Wind opened in Atlanta in late December 1939….it was actually 1940 when Gone With The Wind blew the box office doors off.
- Humphrey Bogart was a supporting actor in 1939 and should not be listed with the leading performers. We originally agreed….but then we saw Bob Burns making the Quigley list….and our thinking was Bogart was a bigger name than Burns in late 1939.
- Do you have the correct Bob Burns? Think so….hope so….but we do acknowledge that there were a couple of Bob Burns working in the 1930s and 1940s.
- Jeanette MacDonald was ranked 19th on the Quigley poll….and yet she only had one movie and it was only a moderate box office success? That seems to be a problem with the Quigley poll….it took the movie theater owners a long time to realize a star was no longer the draw they used to be.
- How did James Stewart not make Quigey’s Top 25? No idea…he was the star of one of the biggest hits of the year….and still had 4 other successful movies….and yet could not crack the Top 25? That makes no sense.
- How did Judy Garland not make Quigley’s Top 25? Once again….she was the only star with two movies in the Top 10 for the year….granted The Wizard of Oz was considered a disappointment….but it still brought in lots of money.
- Did you use any websites for your research? Well yes we did…we found this UMR page….1939 Top Grossing Movies very very useful. Highly recommend people checking that one out.
Informative and educating. I think your stats prove the theater owners were either biased in their picks or did not take the time to fill out the survey. Good page. You should do one of these breakdowns on a more current year.
Hey Helakoski….thanks for checking out this page….I know they (the movie theater owners) did not have access to box office numbers…but they seem so far off. Good suggestion on doing a page on a more recent year. 🙂
As always I find these lists interesting. As much for who;s not on the list. I have to be honest I’ve never heard of Bob Burns. Looking up on Wikipedia I see he was a popular radio comedian entertainer who ventured into movies in the late 30’s. I doubt the AFI will be doing a season of his work.
I was surprised that you were surprised that Alice Faye was on the list. In 1939, a lot of people would still have been going to see Alexander’s Ragtime Band. Like you, I’m surprised that Stewart doesn’t get a mention. These lists were compiled by cinema owners. Were they independent owners or part of a chain belonging to the studios?
Naturally if your cinema only showed MGM, you would only be voting MGM stars.
Anyway, an interesting list!
Hey Chris….there were a few of the original Top 25 that I was not too aware of. I knew of Alice Faye….but I did and still do get her mixed up with Fay Wray…so I was surprised with her Top 10 appearance. As for Bob Burns….good to know that I have included the right one…the other Burns I found was an extra in 100s and 100s of movies.
Stewart not making the Top 25….is my final comments to the jury….”If they can not include one of the biggest stars having a monster year in the Top 25….then you have to return a verdict of this list makes no sense.” lol. I am not sure which owners provided the information….my father-in-law has a vague memory of his dad filling out these reports….but they were not taken too serious by my dad’s movie theater team. Glad you enjoyed this statistical breakdown.
BRUCE:
1 It’s even worse than you suggest as Stewart did not make Quigley Top 10 until 1950 some 15 years after the start of his career and as we discussed previously the Duke had to wait over 20 years before a mention (1949) in their Top 10.
2 Just a scandalous in my view Carry Grant had hit after hit THROUGHOUT his career and is now regarded as the 2nd greatest Screen legend ever but he reached Quigley Top 10 only 3 times during the first 27 YEARS of his career [in 1944, 1948, and 1949] and it was not until 1959 – 1966 that he began one of those sustained runs that his great contemporaries such as Stewart, Duke, the King, Tracy and even Bob Hope had hitherto enjoyed. No wonder Joe Yule Jr laughed when he was told Quigley had made him bigger than the King.
3 It is true that great stars missing from the Top 10 were usually recognised further down the Quigley lists when they were in their heyday but normally only the Top 10 was ever published or mentioned so it acquired a mystique all of its own and as someone once said in relation to the music industry “Who ever remembers the lesser entries in a Hit Parade?”
4 Anyway your very interesting and informative 1939 table has given us all food for thought.
Yeah they dropped the ball on Jimmie for sure….as well as Cary…..sadly by doing this little breakdown….I respect the Quigley list even less. In sports they hardest all-pro spot to get is the first….after you win once….it is easier because people assume you are good……so people like Stewart and Wayne had to wait to get that first notice.
I am glad I did this page…I have been re reading it many times. Thanks for the feedback.
An interesting read on a subject which until recently I was blissfully ignorant of, Bruce old chum. um I still don’t get it. [cue Bruce biting fist] I’m kidding.
I do remember reading in various film books and articles that in early 1940s Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland were the most popular movie people on the face of the Earth. [cue hushed silence] Was that part of the Quigley thing? Bruce? Bob? Anyone? * …tumbleweed crossing the screen.. *
FWIW ‘Quigley’ Down Under is my favorite Tom Selleck movie. Anyone remember Tom Selleck? eh? * sound of pin dropping *
1 As I mentioned recently Rooney’s inclusion in Quigley as the No 1 star is said to have discredited Quigley in the eyes of studio executives as it did not accord with their own ledger returns. I don’t think Garland was bigger than King Gable in those days either.
2 As you like Selleck, the tank would have been half empty/half full for you if you had read one review of Christopher Columbus the Discovery (1992) “A porky Brando mumbles his way through his brief role while Tom Selleck’s toupee keeps moving every time he raises his eyebrows.”
3 However I too think Selleck’s a wonderful performer and I loved his very atmospheric 9 TV movies in the Jessie Stone series from 2005 until 2105 and am delighted that the production of a 10th has just been announced – can’t wait.
Funny quote for Christopher Columbus, I love the ‘porky mumbles’ bit in particular. 😉
Who in their right minds would cast Tom Selleck as the King of Spain? I like Tom, but really? Wat Burt Reynolds unavailable? Honestly. I don’t think that film had a single good review. And Ridley Scott’s 1492, released the same year, didn’t fare much better either. They both flopped into theaters in 1992 and quickly disappeared from sight.
Scott’s 1492 is one of the few Scott movies that I have not seen….like the Columbus quotes.
Hey Steve…thanks for checking out this different type of page. Pretty sure Quigley was the main source for those book references. It was a very popular list back then…especially when you consider how little box office information was available.
I am sure a Cogerson and Lensman type people were complaining about their selections….which is what a list is created to do. Thanks for the visit and the comment and the Tom Selleck trivia….all are greatly appreciated.
Hey Stein…..I might not like Clooney too much…but I have seen everyone of his movies….so I do have some respect for him. Glad you like my Top 10 better…..thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Interesting. I would say your Top Ten is more impressive than their Top Ten. As you wrote, Quigley is fun but hard to take serious. I do have a question for you “Anti-George Clooney?” How can that be he seems to be a good person on and off camera.