Want to know the best Tony Curtis movies? How about the worst Tony Curtis movies? Curious about Tony Curtis box office grosses or which Tony Curtis movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Tony Curtis 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.
Tony Curtis (1925-2010) was an Oscar®-nominated American actor whose career spanned over 7 decades. His IMDb page shows 128 acting credits from 1949-2008. This page will rank 61 Tony Curtis movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and movies that were not released in theaters were not included in the rankings. This page was requested many moons ago by Dan and many other people.
Tony Curtis Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Tony Curtis 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 Tony Curtis movies by co-stars of his movies.
- Sort Tony Curtis movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Tony Curtis movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Tony Curtis 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 Tony Curtis movie received and how many Oscar® wins each Tony Curtis movie won.
- Sort Tony Curtis 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.
Ten Possibly Interesting Facts About Tony Curtis
1. Bernard Schwartz was born in the Bronx, New York in 1925.
2. How Bernard Schwartz became Tony Curtis? The first name was from the novel Anthony Adverse and “Curtis” was from Kurtz. a surname in his mother’s family. In Curtis’ first film roles, he was credited as “Anthony Curtis”….which was quickly shortened to “Tony Curtis”.
3. Tony Curtis joined the United States Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He joined the Pacific submarine force after he was inspired by Cary Grant in Destination Tokyo and Tyrone Power in Crash Dive. Curtis witnessed the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay from his ship’s (USS Proteus) signal bridge about a mile away.
4. After World War 2 ended, Tony Curtis attended City College of New York and studied acting at The New School. His contemporaries included Elaine Stritch, Harry Belafonte, Walter Matthau, Beatrice Arthur, and Rod Steiger.
5. Tony Curtis was quickly discovered by talent agent Joyce Selznick (niece of David O. Selznick). He arrived in Hollywood at the age of 23.
6. Tony Curtis was voted as a Top 25 Box Office star 5 times on Quigley Publications’ annual poll: 1954 (23rd), 1959 (18th), 1960 (6th), 1961 (9th) and 1962 (18th).
7. Tony Curtis broke a Hollywood taboo in the 1950s by insisting that an African-American actor, Sidney Poitier, have co-starring billing next to him in the movie 1958’s The Defiant Ones.
8. Tony Curtis was married six times…..he had six children. One of his children is Jamie Lee Curtis.
9. Tony Curtis’ favorite actor was Cary Grant. His favorite movie was Grant’s Gunga Din.
10. Tony Curtis was buried with some of his favorite possessions – a Stetson hat, an Armani scarf, driving gloves, an iPhone and a copy of his favorite novel, Anthony Adverse.
Check out Tony Curtis’ career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Steve’s Updated Tony Curtis Video
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.
Editor’s note: Calculating adjusted is not an exact science. Most of our calculations are based on solid sources that we have collected over the years. A few of his early 1950s low budget movies required us to use biographies, movie books, articles and other sources that do not provide the best statistics. So please keep that in mind when you are looking at the grosses of some of his low budget B movies.
New Tony Curtis Tally Count
Phil….37 Curtis movies watched…Gold Medal
Bern1960 30 Curtis movies watched…Silver Medal
Lupino 24 Curtis movies watched….Bronze Medal
Flora 19 Curtis movies watched
Cogerson 18 Curtis movies watched
Steve 16 Curtis movies watched
Laurent 13 Curtis movies watched
Pierre 11 Curtis movies watched
HI BRUCE
1 I’m so obsessed with calculating grosses that I can never work up enthusiasm for counting movies viewed. If I can get grosses for them then as far as I’m concerned I’ve seen the all !!
2 Curtis is easy for me though as I stopped being interested in watching his movies after The Boston Strangler and have therefore seen only 32 of the movies that you mention in your Curtis stats table which is as usual highly comprehensive so I doubt if I have seen more than 32. That enables me to pinch Bern’s silver but I blush to mention such an achievement when I look at the stats Dan has been throwing about such as, if I remember precisely, 183 of 1941’s movies watched and is it 8000 overall? Wow ! – that guy must be a walking filmography who’d need to watch that Mike Maltin doesn’t kidnap him some day !!
Hey Bob….good morning….what a proud day…a tally count from Bob……eyes tearing up…lol.
Poor Bern1960…at one point she finally thought she had the gold…but now she is back to a bronze. When I saw your tally…I had to put all my work stuff done and comment.
Phil….37 Curtis movies watched…Gold Medal
Bob…..32 Curtis movies watched….Silver Medal
Bern1960 30 Curtis movies watched…Bronze Medal
Lupino 24 Curtis movies watched
Flora 19 Curtis movies watched
Cogerson 18 Curtis movies watched
Steve 16 Curtis movies watched
Laurent 13 Curtis movies watched
Pierre 11 Curtis movies watched
I agree with you about Dan….I love how he has all of his records still….sounds a little bit like me….lol. Once again….thanks for the tally count….damn glad to see it. 🙂
Tony Curtis currently #897 on the Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list. He’ll probably be gone the next time they update. In 2000 on the first list he was # 19. These are the people currently on the list who have appeared with him in a film including #1 Eric Roberts.
40 Pounds of Trouble (1962) – 676 Diane Ladd
Arrivederci, Baby! (1966) – 391 Jacqueline Bisset
Brittle Glory (1997) – 196 Richard Portnow, 600 Don Harvey
Captain Newman M.D. (1963) – 71 Robert Duvall
Center of the Web (1992) – 140 Robert Davi, 232 Charles Napier
Club Life (1986) – 83 Robert Miano, 244 Dee Wallace, 420 Michael Parks, 871 Helen Kelly
David & Fatima (2008) – 69 Martin Landau, 83 Robert Miano, 868 David Pearl
Goodbye Charlie (1964) – 325 James Brolin, 419 Ellen Burstyn
Houdini (1953) – 912 Arthur Tovey
Insignificance (1985) – 131 Gary Busey, 415 Raymond J. Barry, 743 Jude Ciccolella, 819 Theresa Russell
It Rained All Night the Day I Left (1980) – 706 Sally Kellerman, 718 Louis Gossett Jr.
Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949) – 781 Shelley Winters
Little Miss Marker (1980) – 460 Brian Dennehy
Louis & Frank (1998) – 50 Steve Buscemi, 498 Sam Rockwell, 575 Steven Randazzo
Midnight (1989) – 61 Tiny Lister Jr., 83 Robert Miano, 896 Lynn Redgrave
Naked in New York (1993) – 93 Luis Guzman, 184 Colleen Camp, 185 Whoopi Goldberg, 540 Griffin Dunne, 561 Paul Guilfoyle, 587 Eric Stoltz, 930 Olek Krupa
Not with My Wife, You Don’t ! (1966) – 912 Arthur Tovey
Play it to the Bone (1999) – 17 Tom Sizemore, 75 Woody Harrelson, 160 Antonio Banderas, 206 Kevin Costner, 217 James Woods, 271 Robert Wagner, 425 Jennifer Tilly, 552 Willie Garson, 618 John Ortiz, 818 Richard Masur, 851 Wesley Snipes, 950 Lucy Liu
Sextette (1978) – 987 Ian Abercrombie
Some Like it Hot (1959) – 912 Arthur Tovey
Spartacus (1960) – 313 George Kennedy
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came (1970) – 142 Ernest Borgnine
Sweet Smell of Success (1957) – 912 Arthur Tovey
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978) – 452 Gene Lebell
The Black Shied of Falworth (1954) – 622 Ralph Moratz
The Blacksmith and the Carpenter (2007) – 692 Robert Picardo
The Boston Strangler (1968) – 313 George Kennedy, 325 James Brolin, 706 Sally Kellerman, 726 George Fisher, 793 Alex Rocco
The Great Race (1965) – 684 Peter Falk
The Immortals (1995) – 1 Eric Roberts, 183 William Forsythe, 200 Joe Pantoliano, 209 James Lew, 800 Chris Rock
The Last Tycoon (1976) – 6 Robert De Niro, 15 Seymour Cassell, 323 Donald Pleasence, 382 Anjelica Huston, 491 Jack Nicholson, 809 Robert Mitchum, 819 Theresa Russell
The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) – 809 Robert Mitchum, 912 Arthur Tovey
The Midnight Story (1957) – 966 Kathleen Freeman
The Mirror Crack’d (1980) – 122 Geraldine Chaplin, 226 Pierce Brosnan
The Outsider (1961) – 85 Lance Henriksen
The Purple Mask (1955) – 622 Ralph Moratz
The Rat Race (1960) – 912 Arthur Tovey
The Square Jungle (1955) – 142 Ernest Borgnine
The Vikings (1958) – 142 Ernest Borgnine
Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies (1969) – 767 Robert Rietty
Title Shot (1979) – 375 Michael Wincott
Where is Parsifal? (1988) – 323 Donald Pleasence
Who Was That Lady? (1960) – 912 Arthur Tovey
Winchester ’73 (1950) – 781 Shelley Winters
I count 38 Oscar winners for Tony.
Captain Newman, M.D. (1963) – Robert Duvall, Gregory Peck
Criss Cross (1949) – Burt Lancaster
Goodbye Charlie (1964) – Ellen Burstyn, Walter Matthau
It Rained All Night the Day I Left (1980) – Louis Gossett Jr.
Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949) – Shelley Winters
Kings Go Forth (1958) – Frank Sinatra
Little Miss Marker (1980) – Walter Matthau, Lee Grant, Julie Andrews
Naked in New York (1993) – Whoopi Goldberg
Not with My Wife, You Don’t ! (1966) – George C. Scott
Paris, When it Sizzles (1964) – William Holden, Frank Sinatra, Audrey Hepburn
Pepe (1960) – Jack Lemmon, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Charles Coburn, Donna Reed, Shirley Jones
Sex and the Single Girl (1964) – Henry Fonda
Sierra (1950) _ Burl Ives
Some Like it Hot (1959) – Jack Lemmon
Spartacus (1960) – George Kennedy, Peter Ustinov, Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came (1970) – Ernest Borgnine, Don Ameche
Sweet Smell of Success (1957) – Burt Lancaster
Taras Bulba (1962) – Yul Brynner
The Boston Strangler (1968) – George Kennedy, Henry Fonda
The Defiant Ones (1958) – Sidney Poitier
The Great Imposter (1961) – Karl Malden, Edmond O’Brien
The Great Race (1965) – Jack Lemmon
The Last Tycoon (1976) – Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, Angelica Huston, Ray Milland
The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) – Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, George C. Scott
The Mirror Crack’d (1980) – Elizabeth Taylor
The Square Jungle (1955) – Ernest Borgnine
The Vikings (1958) – Ernest Borgnine
Trapeze (1956) – Burt Lancaster
Winchester ’73 (1950) – James Stewart, Shelley Winters
Hey Dan
1. Glad you found your requested page….sorry it took so long to finish.
2. Wow from 19th to probably off the next list….that seems sad.
3. Thanks for sharing all of these Curtis Oracle links… Bob and Steve were doing a version of that in previous Curtis comments.
4. 38 Oscar winners seems low for a person with such a long career.
Your suggestion to do this page seems to be a good one…lots of views and comments…..and I have not even had time to share the link in all the places I normally do. So thanks again for your request.
I’m not as knowledgeable as Bob and Steve think I am. The connections via 2nd parties they can do on the Oracle of Bacon site which also has a link to the baseball version. There is also a Vince Gill version connecting him to people but I don’t care for that. That links through anything (musicians, songwriters, producers). So if anyone makes say a Christmas album of standards or a decade salute they link faster. If you sing White Christmas and they’ll connect you though Irving Berlin to anything else he wrote. I mean in the film for instance if they made a film at MGM the Art Director (one guy) is listed on every film they made for 50 years, and he just oversees. Through the Gill site say even though Bing Crosby is big say 1931 to 1955, tons of people have recorded songs he sang but not with him but they connect through the songwriter.
DAN::
You have a great flair for bringing it all together but the beauty of this site is that many people bring things to the table so that we have a pool of knowledge to draw upon to compensate for any gaps in one’s own overview. For example Bruce is peerless when it comes to not just supplying us with stats but also interpreting them, Steve is well up in the graphic arts and also has a good general knowledge of movies, Flora has seen an enormous number of movies past and present and John seems to have a very good technical knowledge of matters such as colour processes. Certainly for me a lifelong movie buff discovering this site was like finding the proverbial bot of gold at the end of the rainbow and it has answered many questions that I have pondered down the years. If you read my forthcoming post about the new Tony Curtis page you’ll see what I mean.
Anyway keep up your good work in providing those great links.
Hey Dan….I am sure your musical background has you interested in the musical Oracle….for some reason music has never been a huge thing in my life….but I still found those musical connections very interesting.
No matter what you say….you are our Oracle expert…..so you should just proudly wear it….modesty not required…lol.
Good feedback.
Hey Bob….great comment and great compliment on Dan….and I agree with you 100%…thanks for sharing these thoughts.
Growing up I always liked The Persuaders. It was very big on British and Irish T.V. As a kid I always remember Houdini, especially the ending with him in the tank of water. In the late 70’s I went to see a movie called The Manitou, admittedly not one of his best or successful, but it was actually entertaining.
If you take from 1956 to 60, he had a fantastic run of movies. I think his best movie and performance was in The Sweet Smell of Success. He was fantastic in the part as a real sleaze. The Viking, Trapeze, Operation Petticoat, The Defiant Ones and of course Some Like it Hot. He shone in every one of them.
Late in his life I watched him in an interview where he talked about his childhood. He lost his younger brother in an accident, he got very emotional and always felt guilty. It was really touching. Another great page, thanks.
Hey Chris. Wow …. I probably need to check out his show The Persuaders. That is now three people on two countries that were really impressed with that show….and I had never even heard of it before.
I agree his late 1950s career is very impressive. Box office hits, critic love and Oscar recognition. 6 of his Top 7 UMR movies fall in that time range.
I imagine that was a powerful interview. His childhood had so many tragic incidents. Thanks for the feedback and for the kind words. 🙂
I’m glad you finally completed a Tony Curtis page. I’ve always enjoyed Tony Curtis.
I have seen 19 Tony Curtis films.
The highest rated film I have seen is Spartacus.
The highest rated film I have not seen is Francis.
The lowest ranked film I have seen is Don’t Make Waves.
My favourite films are:
Operation Petticoat
Some Like it Hot
The Defiant Ones
The Great Race
Trapeze
Hey Flora….thanks for checking out our new Tony Curtis page. 19 Curtis movies watched is only beaten by BERN1960’s 30. Currently I have the bronze spot with 18.
I have seen 4 of your Top 5 with Trapeze being the one that I have not seen. Operation Petticoat is the Curtis movie I re-watch on a regular basis. I own and like Some Like It Hot but I rarely re-watch that one.
As always ….glad to hear your movie thoughts…..:)
I have always admired his he overcame some serious obstacles in his childhood to achieve such success. I like your Top 5 with the exception of The Great Race as that one seems out of place compared to these other all time classics.
Hey SteinHOF….I think you make a good point about The Great Race not being as good as his other movies. It is a fun movie though. His childhood was rough for sure…. but some help he was luckily able to overcome it. Thanks for the comment.