Want to know the best George Burns movies? How about the worst George Burns movies? Curious about George Burns box office grosses or which George Burns movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which George Burns 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.
George Burns (1896-1996) was an Oscar® winning American actor and comedian. He was one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television. His arched eyebrow and cigar-smoke punctuation became familiar trademarks for over three quarters of a century. Burns’ IMDb page shows 56 acting credits from 1929 to 1994. This page will rank 23 George Burns movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and movies that were not released in North American and a handful of his movies that we could not find box office on, were not included in the rankings.
George Burns Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Year
Movie (Year)
Rating
S
Year Movie (Year) Rating S
1977
Oh, God! (1977)
1937
A Damsel in Distress (1937)
1956
The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956)
1975
The Sunshine Boys (1975)
AA Best Supp Actor Win
1939
Honolulu (1939)
1979
Going in Style (1979)
1932
The Big Broadcast (1932)
1933
International House (1933)
1936
The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936)
1935
The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1935)
1934
We're Not Dressing (1934)
1933
College Humor (1933)
1938
College Swing (1938)
1934
Six Of A Kind (1934)
1936
College Holiday (1936)
1984
Oh, God! You Devil (1984)
1934
Many Happy Returns (1934)
1935
Love in Bloom (1935)
1980
Oh, God! Book II (1980)
1979
Just You and Me, Kid (1979)
1978
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)
1988
18 Again! (1988)
1994
Radioland Murders (1994)
George Burns 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 George Burns movies by his co-stars
- Sort George Burns movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost.
- Sort George Burns movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort George Burns movies 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 George Burns movie received.
- Sort George Burns 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.
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Actual B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | B.O. Rank by Year | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | S |
| 1 | Oh, God! (1977) | Teri Garr | 57.30 | 321.2 | 321.20 | 8 | 66 | 01 / 00 | 93.5 | |
| 4 | A Damsel in Distress (1937) | Fred Astaire & Joan Fontaine |
4.00 | 194.2 | 281.70 | 41 | 65 | 02 / 01 | 93.3 | |
| 3 | The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956) | Judy Holliday | 7.10 | 162.3 | 162.30 | 34 | 74 | 02 / 01 | 92.9 | |
| 5 | The Sunshine Boys (1975) AA Best Supp Actor Win |
Walter Matthau & Richard Benjamin |
21.80 | 133.0 | 133.00 | 31 | 76 | 04 / 01 | 91.0 | |
| 5 | Honolulu (1939) | Robert Young & Eleanor Powell |
5.40 | 241.3 | 241.30 | 26 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 89.5 | |
| 7 | Going in Style (1979) | George Burns & Art Carney |
26.90 | 133.8 | 133.80 | 35 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 87.9 | |
| 7 | The Big Broadcast (1932) | Bing Crosby & Stuart Erwin |
2.30 | 129.9 | 129.90 | 23 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 87.4 | |
| 8 | International House (1933) | W.C. Fields | 1.80 | 98.6 | 98.60 | 42 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 84.0 | |
| 9 | The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936) | Ray Milland | 3.00 | 148.3 | 148.30 | 62 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 83.6 | |
| 11 | The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1935) | Gracie Allen | 2.70 | 142.3 | 142.30 | 38 | 56 | 01 / 00 | 82.7 | |
| 11 | We're Not Dressing (1934) | Bing Crosby & Carole Lombard |
1.80 | 98.3 | 98.30 | 63 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 79.6 | |
| 12 | College Humor (1933) | Bing Crosby & Jack Oakie |
1.80 | 95.5 | 95.50 | 47 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 79.3 | |
| 13 | College Swing (1938) | Bob Hope & Betty Grable |
2.10 | 97.2 | 97.20 | 111 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 78.6 | |
| 13 | Six Of A Kind (1934) | W.C. Fields | 1.50 | 80.8 | 80.80 | 77 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 77.6 | |
| 15 | College Holiday (1936) | Jack Benny | 2.10 | 105.4 | 105.40 | 95 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 73.5 | |
| 16 | Oh, God! You Devil (1984) | Ted Wass | 21.50 | 80.1 | 80.10 | 47 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 64.7 | |
| 18 | Many Happy Returns (1934) | Ray Milland & William Demarest |
1.30 | 71.8 | 71.80 | 86 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 61.8 | |
| 17 | Love in Bloom (1935) | Gracie Allen | 0.90 | 48.6 | 48.60 | 139 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 60.6 | |
| 19 | Oh, God! Book II (1980) | Suzanne Pleshette | 14.50 | 69.7 | 69.70 | 54 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 56.9 | |
| 20 | Just You and Me, Kid (1979) | Brooke Shields | 2.60 | 13.1 | 13.10 | 97 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 37.6 | |
| 22 | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) | Steve Martin | 20.40 | 108.9 | 108.90 | 35 | 26 | 00 / 00 | 30.3 | |
| 21 | 18 Again! (1988) | Charlie Schlatter & Tony Roberts |
2.60 | 7.8 | 7.80 | 152 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 27.8 | |
| 23 | Radioland Murders (1994) | Brian Benben & George Lucas |
1.30 | 4.0 | 4.00 | 185 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 16.1 |
HI BRUCE
Thanks for the considered feedback. My own additional thoughts are:
1/These days when I think of the Sunshine Boys I don’t immediately relate to Burns/Matthau but you and Joel first come to mind!
2/Glad you can see my point about the two Georges. Like Joel Hirschhorn I can see things that most ordinary people can’t so that when I opine that two people look alike there is a 90% chance I’m right. Therefore tell that W o C gal to stop humoring you and to confront you with the fact that you and Hirsch probably look alike at least in photos.
Hope you have a good break and that you ALL take care.
Possible Cogerson new page question: who could be the new George Burns? Possible prizewinning answer: George W Bush! I have always considered that the two Georges looked a lot alike especially when Burnsey was younger as in the very fine reproduced black and white miniature still above. Certainly the one other thing they have in common is that they both have shared a passion for cracking jokes with Mr President reportedly being particularly fond of the naughty variety!
Anyway the only two Burns movies that I have seen are Solid Gold Cadillac and Sunshine Boys so I am indebted to Cogerson for ‘educating’ me on the rest of George’s big-screen career – notwithstanding The Master being initially allowed to give us false information [after all he’s a specialist in THAT].
Despite my previous ignorance about his movies I did though grow up with George, as my parents loved the TV Burns and Allen Show [aka The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show 1950-58] which George holding his trademark cigar and amusingly narrating events, as well as playing in the show the bemused husband to the wacky Gracie to whom he was also married in real life from 1926 until her 1964 death aged 69.
Centurion George [born Nathan Birnbaum] outlived Gracie by over 30 years and when he died in 1996 his net worth was $30 million, said to be worth double that in 2019 dollars. Anyway this new page is “Voted Up!” for (1) as said its educational value to me (2) bringing back to me nostalgic memories of many happy nights in the 1950s watching television with my parents and brothers.
Hey Bob…thanks for the feedback on Mr. George Burns…another Joel subject gets some UMR attention. I can see your point about the two Georges….I had never thought about that before. Well…you have seen his Oscar winning role……I actually did not like The Sunshine Boys too much….I thought he was much better in Going In Style and Oh God. Glad this page opened up your eyes to his movie career….growing up I have the same memory of his cigar and wit. WoC has a book about the marriage of Gracie and George……it was pre-Cogerson….I will have to check that one out in the near future. Good stuff.