Want to know the best Jack Benny movies? How about the worst Jack Benny movies? Curious about Jack Benny box office grosses or which Jack Benny movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Jack Benny 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.
Jack Benny (1894-1974) was an American entertainer. Benny transitioned from modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to a highly popular comedic career in radio, television, and film. His IMDb page shows 57 acting credits between 1928 and 1972. This page will rank Jack Benny movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. His television show appearances were not included in the rankings.
Jack Benny 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 |
| 1935 | Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935) AA Best Picture Nom |
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| 1942 | To Be or Not to Be (1942) |  |
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| 1963 | It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) | |
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| 1944 | Hollywood Canteen (1944) | |
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| 1946 | Without Reservations (1946) | |
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| 1941 | Charley's Aunt (1941) | |
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| 1949 | The Great Lover (1949) | |
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| 1942 | George Washington Slept Here (1942) | |
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| 1929 | The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929) AA Best Picture Nom |
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| 1930 | Chasing Rainbows (1930) |  |
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| 1940 | Love Thy Neighbor (1940) | |
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| 1943 | The Meanest Man in the World (1943) | |
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| 1967 | A Guide For The Married Man (1967) | |
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| 1952 | Somebody Loves Me (1952) | |
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| 1957 | Beau James (1957) | |
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| 1960 | Who Was That Lady? (1960) | |
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| 1940 | Buck Benny Rides Again (1940) | |
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| 1937 | Artists & Models (1937) | |
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| 1936 | The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936) | |
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| 1945 | The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) | |
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| 1945 | It's In The Bag! (1945) | |
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| 1936 | College Holiday (1936) |  |
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| 1934 | Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934) | |
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| 1938 | Artists and Models Abroad (1938) |  |
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| 1933 | Mr. Broadway (1933) |  |
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| 1935 | It's In The Air (1935) |  |
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| 1930 | The Medicine Man (1930) |  |
Jack Benny 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 any way you want.
- Sort Jack Benny movies by co-stars of his movies.
- Sort Jack Benny movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Jack Benny movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Jack Benny 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 Jack Benny movie received and how many Oscar® wins each Jack Benny movie won.
- Sort Jack Benny 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 | Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935) AA Best Picture Nom |
Robert Taylor & Eleanor Powell |
4.70 | 246.3 | 427.20 | 6 | 75 | 03 / 01 | 98.1 | |
| 5 | To Be or Not to Be (1942) | Carole Lombard | 4.30 | 184.7 | 184.70 | 64 | 87 | 01 / 00 | 97.7 | |
| 2 | It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) | Spencer Tracy & Mickey Rooney |
45.90 | 667.6 | 667.60 | 2 | 76 | 06 / 01 | 97.5 | |
| 3 | Hollywood Canteen (1944) | Bette Davis & John Garfield |
12.40 | 483.3 | 737.90 | 6 | 71 | 00 / 00 | 95.0 | |
| 4 | Without Reservations (1946) | John Wayne & Claudette Colbert |
7.40 | 265.4 | 331.10 | 44 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 94.6 | |
| 6 | Charley's Aunt (1941) | Kay Francis & Anne Baxter |
7.70 | 345.6 | 345.60 | 7 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 93.1 | |
| 7 | The Great Lover (1949) | Bob Hope & Rhonda Fleming |
9.20 | 266.5 | 266.50 | 12 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 93.1 | |
| 9 | George Washington Slept Here (1942) | Ann Sheridan & Charles Coburn |
3.70 | 160.1 | 160.10 | 71 | 71 | 01 / 00 | 90.9 | |
| 8 | The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929) AA Best Picture Nom |
Joan Crawford & Buster Keaton |
4.90 | 174.2 | 276.20 | 12 | 59 | 01 / 00 | 90.3 | |
| 10 | Chasing Rainbows (1930) | Marie Dressler | 2.80 | 175.4 | 175.40 | 27 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 89.8 | |
| 11 | Love Thy Neighbor (1940) | Jack Carson | 3.90 | 172.2 | 172.20 | 34 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 89.2 | |
| 13 | The Meanest Man in the World (1943) | Priscilla Lane | 3.70 | 154.8 | 154.80 | 83 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 87.5 | |
| 12 | A Guide For The Married Man (1967) | Walter Matthau & Diirected by Gene Kelly |
13.90 | 143.3 | 143.30 | 21 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 87.3 | |
| 14 | Somebody Loves Me (1952) | Betty Hutton & Ralph Meeker |
6.10 | 138.9 | 138.90 | 41 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 87.0 | |
| 15 | Beau James (1957) | Bob Hope & Vera Miles |
5.00 | 111.6 | 111.60 | 46 | 74 | 00 / 00 | 86.0 | |
| 17 | Who Was That Lady? (1960) | Dean Martin & Tony Curtis |
8.90 | 160.5 | 160.50 | 29 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 85.6 | |
| 17 | Buck Benny Rides Again (1940) | Andy Devine & Ellen Drew |
2.60 | 114.8 | 114.80 | 71 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 84.3 | |
| 19 | Artists & Models (1937) | Ida Lupino & Directed by Raoul Walsh |
3.00 | 145.5 | 145.50 | 71 | 58 | 01 / 00 | 84.2 | |
| 20 | The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936) | Ray Milland & George Burns |
3.00 | 148.3 | 148.30 | 62 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 83.6 | |
| 18 | The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) | Alexis Smith & Directed by Raoul Walsh |
2.50 | 91.4 | 99.10 | 113 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 82.5 | |
| 21 | It's In The Bag! (1945) | Don Ameche & John Carradine |
2.50 | 91.8 | 91.80 | 112 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 80.9 | |
| 23 | College Holiday (1936) | George Burns | 2.10 | 105.4 | 105.40 | 95 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 73.5 | |
| 22 | Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934) | Gene Raymond | 1.10 | 60.5 | 60.50 | 104 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 70.2 | |
| 24 | Artists and Models Abroad (1938) | Joan Bennett & Monty Woolley |
1.70 | 78.1 | 78.10 | 141 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 61.1 | |
| 25 | Mr. Broadway (1933) | Ed Sullivan | 0.40 | 21.0 | 21.00 | 173 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 41.2 | |
| 26 | It's In The Air (1935) | Ted Healy | 0.30 | 16.7 | 16.70 | 205 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 27.8 | |
| 27 | The Medicine Man (1930) | Betty Bronson | 0.20 | 15.3 | 15.30 | 189 | 46 | 00 / 00 | 13.3 |
Check out Jack Benny’s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
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Jack Benny never made the Oracle of Bacon Top 1000’s down the years. These are the actors on the 2020 list he appeared with.
38 CHARLTON HESTON All About People (1967)
107 MICKEY ROONEY It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)
126 HENRY FONDA All About People (1967)
131 BURT LANCASTER All About People (1967)
237 PETER FALK It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)
473 TONY CURTIS Who Was That Lady? (1960)
512 RAY MILLAND The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936)
569 TERRY-THOMAS A Guide for the Married Man (1967)
569 TERRY-THOMAS It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)
577 ROBERT STACK To Be or Not to Be (1942)
643 JAMES WHITMORE Who Was That Lady? (1960)
719 WALTER MATTHAU A Guide for the Married Man (1967)
768 EDWARD G. ROBINSON All About People (1967)
780 JOHN DEHNER Hollywood Canteen (1944)
784 BETTE DAVIS Hollywood Canteen (1944)
805 CHARLES LANE Buck Benny Rides Again (1940)
860 MIKE MAZURKI It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)
860 MIKE MAZURKI The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945)
Jack appeared with 20 Oscar winners in films.
ANNE BAXTER Charley’s Aunt (1941)
ART CARNEY A Guide for the Married Man (1967)
BETTE DAVIS Hollywood Canteen (1944)
BURT LANCASTER All About People (1967)
CHARLES COBURN George Washington Slept Here (1942)
CHARLTON HESTON All About People (1967)
DOROTHY MALONE Hollywood Canteen (1944)
EDMUND GWENN Charley’s Aunt (1941)
EDMUND GWENN The Meanest Man in the World (1943)
GEORGE BURNS All About People (1967)
GEORGE BURNS College Holiday (1936)
GEORGE BURNS The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936)
HATTIE MCDANIEL GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE (1942)
HENRY FONDA All About People (1967)
HUMPHREY BOGART Hollywood Canteen (1944)
JANE WYMAN Hollywood Canteen (1944)
JOAN CRAWFORD Hollywood Canteen (1944)
JOAN CRAWFORD The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)
LIONEL BARRYMORE The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)
MARIE DRESSLER Chasing Rainbows (1930)
MARIE DRESSLER The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)
NORMA SHEARER The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)
RAY MILLAND The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936)
SPENCER TRACY It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)
WALTER MATTHAU A Guide for the Married Man (1967)
Thanks Dan. As always, your efforts are greatly appreciated. Not massive lists…but interesting ones. The first thing that got my eye was 1967’s All About People. I will have to do some research on that one. 20 Oscar winning co-stars is very impressive…granted it looks like only a few movies generated most of those 20. Good stuff as always.
I have seen 9 Jack Benny movies.
The HIGHEST rated movie I have seen is Broadway Melody of 1936
The highest rated movie I Have NOT seen is Without Reservations.
The LOWEST rated movie I have seen is The Horn Blows at Midnight.
Favourite Jack Benny Movies I Have Seen:
Broadway Melody of 1936
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
To Be Or Not To Be
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
The Horn Blows at Midnight
Other Jack Benny Films I Have Seen:
George Washington Slept Here
A Guide For the Married Man
Who Was That Lady
Hey Flora…thanks for the visit and the comment on our brand new Jack Benny page. Tally count: You lead the way with 9, Bob has second with 5 and I am at the bottom with 2 seen. I want to see Without Reservations…besides Benny’s cameo….there is a Cary Grant cameo as well. One of the few times Grant did that. The two I have seen are on your favorites list….so I think I have seen the right two. Those two To Be or Not To Be in a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. Good stuff as always.
One classic “tight-wad” sketch in The Jack Benny Show revolved round Jack and his sidekick Rochester standing beside the fountain in Rome looking down at the coins in the water and Benny saying “Do people really throw good money in there?” to which Rochester answers yes. Just then a couple come up and throw a lot of coins in the water – and Rochester hears a BIG splash beside him and turning around cannot see Benny any longer standing beside him!
In another sketch Jack thinks back to his days as a young man when to accumulate wealth he became a gigolo. The camera shows him suitably “younged down” Al Leach fashion prancing about a darkened arcade in gigolo-type loud clothing and a straw hat with Bing’s voice-over singing in the background
I’m just a gigolo and everywhere I go
People know the part I’m playing
Paid for every dance, selling each romance
Ooh, what they’re saying.
Hilarious to probably anybody who has seen that sketch; my brother regularly laughs when he thinks of it. Today Benny is maybe regarded as more of a TV personality/all-round entertainer than as a movie star; but from my perspective he did enough on the big screen to earn his Cogerson page. “Voted Up” Bruce as another deserving profile of a true Great of yesteryear.
Hey Bob…thanks for describing some of the famous Jack Benny moments…I will have to check them out on YouTube. I agree….today he seems to fit into the same category as Ed Sullivan, Johnny Carson and Steve Allen. He was big enough of a movie star for Joel to give him a part in his book. Good stuff as always.
I have seen 5 of the movies listed above: Mad Mad World; Who was that Lady; Somebody Loves Me; Beau James and To Be or Not to Be.
Most critics seem to regard the last named as Benny’s classic on the Big Screen. In it he plays an over-the-top actor who helps save Poland from the Nazis. The oft quoted line in it is I seem to recall “Who would have thought that Poland would be saved by a ham actor.”
Of course movie history has now overtaken that one-liner as nowadays it is taken as a given that Sylvester Stallone will always save not just Poland but the world. However if I remember correctly at the end of To be Or Not to Be Benny as a reward for helping save Poland gets to play Shakespeare’s Hamlet on stage. I can’t see the comparisons with Stallone stretching that far!
Whilst I may not have seen may of Jack’s movies I certainly saw plenty of him on TV. The Jack Benny show ran from 1950 until 1965 and my parents and I were glued to virtually every episode that was aired over here. Jack’s stock in trade in it was the practice of financial meanness. Various sketches and jokes were built around Benny being a tight-wad in the real-life tradition of Al Leach and Randy Scott.
Hey Bob…thanks for sharing your thoughts on Jack Benny. So you have seen 5 of his movies. I have seen 2…..and one was a cameo…..and that was It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World. For a very long time, that was the only thing I knew Benny from….as my dad always pointed him out when we watched that one.
To Be Or Not To Be is the other Jack Benny movie that I have seen. I agree critics loved the movie…and it is considered a cult classic…..sadly Carole Lombard passed away before the movie opened. Thanks for sharing your memories of watching the Jack Benny show with your parents…that sounds like a great memory. Good stuff.
Excellent UMR page
Wow…you discovered that one fast…heck all three new pages I posted you spotted right away…a 4th is coming in about 15 minutes….lol.