Want to know the best Ray Milland movies? How about the worst Ray Milland movies? Curious about Ray Milland box office grosses or which Ray Milland movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Ray Milland movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Ray Milland (1905-1986) was a Welsh Oscar® winning actor and director. Milland’s movie career spanned over 7 decades. His IMDB page shows 176 credits from 1928-1985. This page will rank 96 Ray Milland movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. His television appearances, cameos, uncredited and movies not released in North America were not included in the rankings.
Drivel part of the page: This Ray Milland page comes from a request by Chris. It is safe to say it was a pain in the ass to put together. We blame his very long and very productive career and the fact that he made so many movies at Paramount for the amount of effort it took to get this page published. For the record….Milland has 96 movies listed on this page, 46 television roles, 9 uncredited roles, and 13 movies not released in North America. That is a grand total of 164…which means there are still 12 movies that we were unable to find box office grosses on. As it stands now….Milland’s 96 movies is the biggest page by an individual performer in our database. Ok…we are done complaining…on to the massive table.
Ray Milland 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 Ray Milland movies by co-stars of his movies
- Sort Ray Milland movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Ray Milland movies by domestic yearly box office rank
- Sort Ray Milland movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations each Ray Milland movie received and how many Oscar® wins each Ray Milland movie won.
- Sort Ray Milland movies by Ultimate Movie Ranking (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Ray Milland Table
- Twenty-six Ray Milland movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 27.08% of his movies listed. Love Story (1970) is his biggest box office hit.
- An average Ray Milland movie grosses $85.10 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Ray Milland’s career adjusted domestic gross is $8.16 billion.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 57 Ray Milland movies are rated as good movies…or 59.37% of his movies. Beau Geste (1939) is his highest rated movie while The Thing With Two Heads (1972) is lowest rated movie.
- Seventeen Ray Milland movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 17.70% of his movies.
- Three Ray Milland movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 3.2% of his movies.
- An average Ultimate Movie Ranking (UMR) Score is 40.00. 44 Ray Milland movies scored higher that average….or 45.83% of his movies. The Lost Weekend (1945) got the the highest UMR Score while The Thing With Two Heads (1972) got the lowest UMR Score.
Possibly Interesting Facts About Ray Milland
1. Alfred Reginald Jones was born in Neath, Wales in 1907.
2. Got his stage name of Milland from the Mill lands area of his Welsh home town of Neath
3. When working on 1941’s I Wanted Wings, Ray Milland went up with a pilot to test a plane for filming. While up in the air, Milland decided to do a parachute jump (being an avid amateur parachutist) but, just before he could disembark, the plane began to sputter and the pilot said not to jump as they were running low on gas and he needed to land. Well, once on the ground and in the hangar, Ray began to tell his story of how he had wanted to do a jump. As he told the story, the color ran out of the costume man’s face. When asked why, he told Ray that the parachute he had worn up in the plane was “just a prop”. There had been no parachute.
4. Ray Milland was only nominated for one Oscar®….but he made it count…as he won the Best Actor Oscar® for 1945’s The Lost Weekend.
5. Ray Milland’s Oscar® acceptance speech was only 10 words long…. “Thank you. Thank you very much indeed. I’m greatly honored.” ..obviously one of the shortest speeches ever.
6. Ray Milland tried to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, but was rejected due to an “impaired left hand”.
7. Ray Milland was married one time and had 2 children. He was married to Muriel Frances Weber from 1932 to his death in 1986.
8. Ray Milland’s biggest box office hit was 1970’s Love Story. When looking at all-time adjusted domestic box office totals….. Love Story sits in 37th place.
Check out Ray Milland’s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
If you do a comment….please ignore the email address and website section.
This is pretty epic. Good job.
Thanks Helakoski for checking out the “epic” page…..appreciate the visit and the comment.
Whoa 96 movies ranked and rated with all the stats is very impressive. I only managed 30 on my video. Good work indeed.
Ray Milland was overdue for the UMR treatment and now all the facts and figures are in place, it should make certain stats-hungry regulars very happy. 🙂
I’ve seen just 16 of the 96 films listed, a poor result. Favorites include – Dial M for Murder, Beau Geste, Reap the Wild Wind, The Big Clock, Premature Burial, The Man With X-Ray Eyes and Battlestar Galactica.
I watched The Uninvited again a few weeks ago, a couple of creepy moments but so many missed opportunities for some good scares. The director simply wasn’t interested in the supernatural aspects of the film.
The Lost Weekend tops the UMR, it’s not a favorite I’d much rather watch Dial M for Murder. I own a nice 3D Blu-ray of that Hitchcock classic.
His highest grosser was Love Story, was he in that? Never seen it. But I did see Frogs. 🙂
Looking at the trivia – Milland’s expression when he was told there was no parachute must have been priceless.
An epic addition to your movie site Bruce. Voted Up!
Hey Steve….yep 96 freaking movies…..the most ever….though Samuel L. Jackson sits at 92….and I have a few of his movies to include so Mr. Glass will eventually take back that title….heck the way SLJ makes movies it will be by the end of the year.
I agree…..there are lots of stats here….sadly very few worldwide grosses were found…I sure if Bob wants them…I will post those numbers as well….but I was so ready to be done with Mr. Milland.
So your tally is 16….mine is….counting…12….not too impressive for either of us.
Tally counts so far
Lupino 30 movies
Steve 16 movies
Cogerson 12 movies
Flora 11 movies…….not sure Flora has ever finished last when it comes to a classic star like this….but I guess there is always a first time
I have seen Battlestar Galactica but can not really remember his part…..that is a movie that has faded away…..Richard Hatch just passed away….hard to believe he was 71 already.
I would agree….Dial M For Murder is much funner movie to watch than The Lost Weekend…..I actually felt his performance in The Lost Weekend….was too showy….and not too believable….but at the time it was ground breaking. I enjoyed The Uninivited way more than you….and really liked Milland in the movie.
Yep the news that the parachute was a prop had to create a classic expression….imagine his look if he had jumped and then found out it was a prop….lol.
Thanks for the visit and the comment….both are greatly appreciated.
Wow! I’m glad to read you were able to include 96 movies on this page. It is 11:30pm here, so I will wait until tomorrow to give you my total of seen movies and a list of favourites.
Hey Flora…this one took so much out of me….that I did not even bother to go to UMR a single time yesterday…thankfully it is now done. Actually I was looking at my Paramount Studio book….and with the Milland page done…we now have UMR pages on 18 of the 23 stars shown on the book….very pleased with the %….as I have tended to avoid Paramount stars when I can…..the missing 5?
Adolphe Menjou, Maurice Chevalier, Clara Bow, Veronica Lake and Gloria Swanson…just in case you were wondering.
Hello Bruce.
Very good page on Ray Milland. It took a lot of research to do this page. I had gathered a lot of box office information on Milland’s films and the ones I couldn’t find you have found.
Thank You. Great page.
Hey Lyle…thanks for the nice words about this page. WoC (my wife) helped me with our Michael Caine many years ago….and after awhile….she said…”How many damn movies does this guy have?”…..while….I was saying the same thing when I was doing this page…lol.
WoC has a confidence rating in the box office numbers based on the source that was used….happy to say 84 of these movies have a very high confidence rating….with only 12 coming from less reliable sources like books and internet sources. That is a much higher percentage than I thought would happen.
Thanks for the comment and the visit.
Ray Milland is no longer on the Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list. However he was #187 on the original list which may explain why he’s actually worked with a few on the current list and actually 2 of the top 10. People on the current list who appeared in a movie with him are;
A Life of Her Own (1950) – 966 Kathleen Freeman
Aces High (1976) – 8 Malcolm McDowell, 26 Christopher Plummer, 592 John Gielgud
Blackout (1978) – 750 Robert Carradine
California (1947) – 681 Anthony Quinn
Embassy (1972) – 20 Max Von Sydow, 517 Richard Roundtree
Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) – 323 Donald Pleasence
Frogs (1972) – 753 Sam Elliott
Game for Vultures (1979) – 517 Richard Roundtree
Gold (1974) – 592 John Gielgud, 848 Roger Moore
Hostile Witness (1968) – 523 Harry Fielder
Love Story (1970) – 133 Tommy Lee Jones
Oliver’s Story (1978) – 528 Josef Sommer
Premature Burial (1962) – 772 Dick Miller
Something to Live For (1952) – 912 Arthur Tovey
The Confession aka Quick, Let’s Get Married (1964) – 58 Elliott Gould
The Imperfect Lady (1947) – 681 Anthony Quinn
The Last Tycoon (1976) – 6 Robert De Niro, 15 Seymour Cassel, 323 Donald Pleasence, 382 Anjelica Huston, 491 Jack Nicholson, 809 Robert Mitchum, 819 Theresa Russell, 897 Tony Curtis
The River’s Edge (1957) – 681 Anthony Quinn
The Swiss Conspiracy (1976) – 478 John Saxon
The Thing with Two Heads (1972) – 571 William Smith
The Uncanny (1977) – 323 Donald Pleasence
Three Brave Men (1956) – 142 Ernest Borgnine
X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes (1963) – 772 Dick Miller
I count 42 Oscar winners that Ray appeared with;
A Woman of Distinction (1950) – Edmund Gwenn
Aces High (1976) – Christopher Plummer, John Gielgud
Alias Nick Beal (1949) – Thomas Mitchell
Arise, My Love (1940) – Claudette Colbert
Beau Geste (1939) – Broderick Crawford, Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward
Blonde Crazy (1931) – James Cagney
California (1947) – Anthony Quinn, Barry Fitzgerald
Dial M for Murder (1954) – Grace Kelly
Ebb Tide (1937) – Barry Fitzgerald
Embassy (1972) – Broderick Crawford
Forever and a Day (1943) – Charles Coburn, Charles Laughton, Edmund Gwenn, Donald Crisp, Victor McLaglen
Gold (1974) – John Gielgud
I Wanted Wings (1941) – William Holden
Lady in the Dark (1944) – Ginger Rogers, Warner Baxter
Let’s Do it Again (1953) – Jane Wyman
Miss Tatlock’s Millions (1948) – Barry Fitzgerald
Next Time We Love (1936) – James Stewart, Hattie McDaniel
Payment Deferred (1932) – Charles Laughton
Piccadilly (1929) – Charles Laughton
Polly of the Circus (1932) – Clark Gable
Reap the Wild Wind (1942) – John Wayne
Sealed Verdict (1948) – Broderick Crawford
Skylark (1941) – Claudette Colbert
Something to Live For (1952) – Joan Fontaine, Teresa Wright
Star Spangled Rhythm (1942) – Bing Crosby, Susan Hayward
Strangers May Kiss (1931) – Norma Shearer
Terror in the Wax Museum (1973) – Broderick Crawford
The Big Clock (1948) – Charles Laughton
The Confession aka Quick, Let’s Get Married (1964) – Ginger Rogers
The Doctor Takes a Wife (1940) – Edmund Gwenn, Loretta Young
The Gilded Lily (1935) – Claudette Colbert
The Imperfect Lady (1947) – Anthony Quinn, Teresa Wright
The Last Tycoon (1976) – Robert De Niro, Anjelica Huston, Jack Nicholson
The Lost Weekend (1945) – Jane Wyman
The Major and the Minor (1942) – Ginger Rogers
The Man Who Played God (1932) – George Arliss, Bette Davis
The River’s Edge (1957) – Anthony Quinn
The Trouble with Women (1947) – Teresa Wright
The Uninvited (1944) – Donald Crisp
The Well-Groomed Bride (1946) – Olivia De Havilland
Three Brave Men (1956) – Ernest Borgnine, Dean Jagger
Three Smart Girls (1936) – Alice Brady
Untamed (1940) – Jane Darwell
Variety Girl (1947) – Burt Lancaster, William Holden, Barry Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Gary Cooper
Way for a Sailor (1930) – Wallace Beery
We’re Not Dressing (1934) – Bing Crosby, George Burns
Hey Dan…..good lists on Ray Milland. You originally posted this on my Milland post update….but I moved it here…..as this page will have a longer shelf life than that post….which pretty much disappears after a few days.
So he went from the Top 200 to off the list..what a shame…I guess the same thing will be happening to Michael Caine as well. So I will enjoy Caine’s Top 10 ranking for as long as possible.
Aces High and The River’s Edge are two movies I look long and hard for information….but came up empty handed. That is now twice for Aces (researched that on my Plummer page) and three times for River’s (as I tried twice when doing Quinn and his update). It is a movie that seems only to have the fact it was made as the only bread crumb out there….but I will keep looking.
42 Oscar winners is actually low for such a long career….I figured he would be in the Caine range in this category…5 from Variety Girl….too bad studios do not make all-star movies like that anymore….unless you count Movie 43 as one of those movies…lol. Thanks for sharing this information.